CRANBERRY -- Two days into training camp, the line combinations don't exactly mean much. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton guys get time on lines with NHL guys, just for the experience and to see how the prospects fare in those situations.
In the Penguins' scrimmage on Saturday between Team 2 and Team 3, one of the lines that certainly stood out was the line of Thomas Di Pauli, Jean-Sebastien Dea and Bryan Rust. Definitely not a line we'll see in the NHL anytime soon, but it was interesting to see how their playing styles meshed and the chemistry they had.
It was fitting that Di Pauli was paired with Rust, his former linemate at Notre Dame. Di Pauli told me last season that Rust is a player he tries to model his game after, in terms of both play on the ice, and work ethic off the ice. Both are strong two-way players who can play a bottom-6 type role and chip in offensively. They're the same size as well, at 5-foot-11 and roughly 190 pounds.
"He's a fun player to watch, he's definitely a fun player to play with," Di Pauli said of Rust. "It seems like our line created a lot yesterday and today. A lot of quick transition plays, which suit our game with speed. It's definitely fun to play with him and J.S."
For Di Pauli, it was also just cool to be reunited with his good friend from college. It wasn't his first time working with Rust this summer, though.
"I just played with him at the Notre Dame pro camp about two weeks ago," Di Pauli said. "We were actually a line together, me, him, and Riley (Sheahan). We got a little chance to play together then, too."
Di Pauli and Dea were on Wilkes-Barre's top line for much of the final two months of the 2017-18 season. If Dea ends up back in Wilkes-Barre (and he should), Di Pauli sees the two being reunited this season.
"Obviously everyone's goal is to make a good impression here and fight for a spot here," Di Pauli said. "The better you play, the better of a mark you leave. If you do get sent down, they know that combination works. That's what everyone's fighting for, that's what we've been trying to prove on our line."
Di Pauli, who is comfortable playing both center and wing, will begin his third professional season this fall, but he's still looking to play his first full professional season. His 2016-17 rookie season ended after 21 games, after he elected to have back surgery. It wasn't a surgery he needed immediately; he was able to play with shots to cope with the pain. He chose to have his surgery his rookie year and "get it over with", as he put it, so he could feel 100 percent.
Last season, Di Pauli was briefly injured in November, and then suffered a season-ending upper-body injury after a hit on March 23. He played 58 games in total, during which he recorded 12 goals and eight assists.
Now, Di Pauli feels as if he's back to 100 percent, and it showed during the physical play of Saturday's scrimmage. He and his linemates were great at getting themselves open and in good position, and creating chances for each other. With his health where he wants it to be, he feels confident about starting this season.
"Mentally, that has a lot to do with how you go into the corners when you do feel 100 percent," he said. "It's definitely great, and a lot of fun so far."
MORE PROSPECTS FROM DAY 2
• Joe Masonius, a 21-year-old rookie defenseman on an AHL deal, didn't practice today. He left Friday's practice with an injury of some sort.
• The teams were slightly adjusted to even out the scrimmaging teams. The Freddie Tiffels-Sam Lafferty-Troy Josephs line moved from Team 3 to Team 2. The Justin Almeida-Linus Olund-Jan Drozg line moved from Team 2 to Team 1.
• Some other notable prospect lines:
Joey Cramarossa - Jordy Bellerive - Sam Miletic
Adam Johnson - Teddy Blueger - Anthony Angello
Garrett Wilson - Tobias Lindberg - Ryan Haggerty
• There really aren't any set prospect defense pairings here to report, at least not this early into camp. During the scrimmages, teams were running with five defensemen, and they rotated spots. While Kris Letang and Olli Maatta are an obvious actual pairing, they also were playing with Wilkes-Barre guys like Ethan Prow and Chris Summers just as often during the scrimmage. That's just training camp for you.
• Ryan Haggerty scored the only goal in Team 3's scrimmage win, ripping a shot past Casey DeSmith from the right circle. Haggerty had one of the more powerful shots on Wilkes-Barre last season, a shot Clark Donatelli called "NHL-ready."
• If the Di Pauli-Dea combination stays together in Wilkes-Barre, I'd like to see Haggerty take the right wing spot on that line. The three of them complement each other well. Haggerty has looked great with Garrett Wilson and Tobias Lindberg too, though. So there are options. Line combinations are constantly changing throughout the AHL season anyway.
• These guys take the scrimmages seriously. There was definitely a lot more physicality in Saturday's scrimmage compared to Friday. Lindberg and Sam Lafferty got in each other's faces for a moment.
• Adam Johnson's lack of size was noticeable during the scrimmage. He's tall, just skinny. He hit Di Pauli at one point and just bounced off of him. Johnson is one of the faster prospects in this camp, but guys can easily knock him off the puck when they do catch up to him.
• Lindberg was again wearing a Tim Tebow Binghamton Rumble Ponies shirt. Just incredible.