Live Wire: Day off today ... DeSmith gets another start

Welcome to our Penguins Live Wire, a round-the-clock feature that offers news that's fast, friendly to use and fun. Older Live Wire updates can be found here.

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GAME NIGHT!

6:32 p.m.: Warmups are underway, which means it's time to matriculate over to our game file! -- DK

SULLIVAN QUIET ON
PLANS FOR KAPANEN

11:35 a.m. Tuesday: Kasperi Kapanen will make his Penguins debut against Washington tonight, but where -- and how much -- he’ll be used is hard to say.

Mike Sullivan was asked directly about both of those issues when he spoke with reporters after the Penguins’ optional game-day skate, but declined to elaborate on his plans for Kapanen, who is expected to work alongside Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel on the No. 1 line.

“We have a real clear idea of how we’re going to try to utilize him and to incorporate him into the game plan,” Sullivan said. “That’s something we prefer not to share.”

• Sullivan also confirmed that Casey DeSmith, the Penguins’ backup goalie, will make his second consecutive start, but did not go into detail about how he made the decision. 

• Sullivan blamed “a lack of diligence on our part” for too-many-men penalties the Penguins were assessed in each of their first two games of the season in Philadelphia, but said the one they got while playing the Capitals Sunday was mostly bad luck. “Our guy was actually off the ice, and the puck hits him,” he said. “That, for me, is a tough one. Sometimes, that happens.”

• Sam Lafferty, who was shifted from the active roster to the taxi squad after the games in Philadelphia, needs to be more consistent, Sullivan said. “He’s a good player,” Sullivan said. “He can really skate, he brings good size, he brings a physical dimension to his game. ... He just has to bring more consistency to his game. When Sam’s at his best, he brings an element of reckless abandon to his approach.” -- Molinari

DESMITH IN NET,
KAPANEN WILL PLAY

11:20 a.m. Tuesday: Mike Sullivan spoke after the optional morning skate and provided updates on a few players:

• Casey DeSmith will start in net tonight against the Capitals.

• Kasperi Kapanen will be in the lineup tonight.

• Zach Aston-Reese, who participated in the optional skate, is "getting a whole lot closer," but there's no specific timeframe on when he might be able to return. -- Taylor

TWELVE IN OPTIONAL SKATE

10:35 a.m. Tuesday: Twelve players are participating in the Penguins' optional game-day skate at PPG Paints Arena.That total includes both goaltenders and winger Zach Aston-Reese, who is recovering from shoulder surgery.

From far above ice level, it looks like the participants are forwards Kasperi Kapanen, Evgeni Malkin, Sam Lafferty, Drew O'Connor, Teddy Blueger, Jared McCann and Aston-Reese, defensemen Marcus Pettersson, Cody Ceci and P.O. Joseph and goalies Casey DeSmith and Tristan Jarry.  -- Molinari

THESE GUYS AGAIN

4:12 a.m. Tuesday: It's Penguins and Capitals all over again, 7:08 p.m. today, and I'll cover that from the familiar PPG Paints Arena perch. There's an optional morning skate scheduled for 10:30 a.m., and a Mike Sullivan call at 11:15 a.m. Dave Molinari will have both of those. -- DK

LAFFERTY TO TAXI SQUAD

5 p.m. Monday: The Penguins on Monday assigned Sam Lafferty from the active roster to the taxi squad and recalled defenseman Kevin Czuczman from Wilkes-Barre and added him to the taxi squad. Forwards Anthony Angello and Frederick Gaudreau were sent from the taxi squad to Wilkes-Barre, where informal skates began Monday morning to prepare for training camp.

The changes leave the taxi squad as goaltenders Max Lagace and Alex D'Orio, defensemen Pierre-Olivier Joseph and Czuczman, and forwards Drew O'Connor and Lafferty.

The Penguins didn't need to clear a roster spot for Kapanen; he was on the active roster once he cleared COVID protocol. This wasn't necessary for Kapanen to play tomorrow, but it's a pretty good sign that he will, given that this now only leaves 12 forwards on the active roster. If for whatever reason he can't, Lafferty can still be re-added from the taxi squad. -- Taylor

KAPANEN 'GAME-TIME DECISION'

12:48 p.m. Monday: Mike Sullivan said that Kasperi Kapanen will be a "game-time decision" tomorrow, a phrase that really makes it feel like hockey season again. For what it's worth, Kapanen sounds ready: "If I am playing tomorrow, I'm up for it." -- Taylor

PRACTICE STARTING SOON

10:50 a.m. Monday: Practice is starting sometime in the next few minutes. I'll keep you updated below. -- Taylor

• As expected, Kasperi Kapanen is on the ice for practice.

• Light mood today to start. Juuso Riikola stepped on the ice and immediately started cheering. Teddy Blueger was chasing Jake Guentzel around lightly slashing him. Brandon Tanev is just skating around laughing to himself.

• Kapanen worked with Evgeni Malkin and Jason Zucker on the first drill. Bryan Rust skated with Guentzel and Sidney Crosby. Interesting.

• Kapanen's skating with Crosby and Guentzel now, Rust is back with Malkin and Zucker.

• Line combinations in regular line rushes:

Guentzel-Crosby-Kapan
Zucker-Malkin-Rust
McCann-Jankowski-Tan
Rodrigues/Lafferty-Blueger-Sceviour

• The defensemen all rotated, all three pairings, and not just the lefties with righties. Righties were going with righties, lefties were going with lefties, they all took turns together. 

• First power play: Letang, Crosby, Malkin, Rust, Guentzel 

• Second power play: Riikola, Marino, Zucker, McCann, Rodrigues

• Kapanen is taking turns with both the first and second penalty-killing units.

UNSCHEDULED PRACTICE
ADDED FOR TODAY

4:14 a.m. Monday: The Penguins were supposed to be off today, but they made known they'll instead practice, beginning at 11 a.m., in Cranberry. That means they'll now get Wednesday off instead. And if I had to guess, this has everything to do with getting Kasperi Kapanen on the rink with the team to best gauge his level of readiness. Taylor Haase will cover. -- DK

GAME TIME

11:30 a.m. Sunday: As always, things move to the Live File for the actual start of the game. Lines, pairings, game updates, etc. always go there this time. -- Taylor

PENGUINS LINEUP

10:08 a.m. Sunday: Mike Sullivan says that Casey DeSmith will get the start in goal tonight. Kasperi Kapanen has cleared COVID protocol and skated for the first time this morning, but he will not play in the game. -- Taylor

SPRONG IN, SHEARY OUT

9:49 a.m. Sunday: The Capitals are making two lineup changes from last game: Ilya Samsonov will be in net, and Daniel Sprong will make his season debut and take Conor Sheary's spot in the lineup. -- Taylor

IT'S GAMEDAY!

3:46 a.m. Friday: It's the home opener, and Taylor Haase will have your coverage from PPG Paints Arena. Just a reminder that all our gameday activity goes on our game file, so we all migrate over there. Mike Sullivan's scheduled to speak at 10 a.m., and the puck drops at 12:08 p.m. In case anyone's forgotten who's playing, a friendly reminder below. -- DK

NO SUSPENSION
FOR MCCANN

3:50 p.m. Saturday: Jared McCann was fined $10,000, the maximum allowed under the CBA, for elbowing Travis Sanheim on Saturday. He did not receive a suspension. --Taylor

SIGHTS, SOUNDS

2:40 p.m. Saturday: Here is video from the Penguins' practice on Saturday, courtesy of the Penguins.

KAPANEN'S LAST DAY
OF QUARANTINE

1:15 p.m. Saturday: Mike Sullivan says that today is on track to be Kasperi Kapanen's last day of quarantine, and that if his final COVID test comes back negative, then he's free to join the team tomorrow. Sullivan wouldn't give any indication whether he'll play against the Capitals.

"We'll make decisions once we get that result." -- Taylor

PRACTICE UNDERWAY

11:55 a.m. Saturday: Updates from today's practice in Cranberry will go below. -- Taylor

• Drew O'Connor is on the ice for practice with the main NHL group today. The taxi squad skated as a group prior to the main practice.

• Jared McCann, who has a hearing today with NHL Player Safety, is on the ice for practice.

• Still no sign of Kasperi Kapanen, who I believe is in his last day of quarantine. Even if he is allowed to rejoin the team Sunday, I wouldn't expect him to play in the home opener, given that it's a noon start and he wouldn't even have a chance to practice with the team first. 

• Same lines and pairings as last game, plus Juuso Riikola and Cody Ceci skating as the extra defensemen. O'Connor is rotating with McCann, who has a disciplinary hearing later today.

Guentzel-Crosby-Rodrigues
Zucker-Malkin-Rust
McCann/O'Connor-Jankowski-Tanev
Lafferty-Blueger-Sceviour

Dumoulin-Letang
Pettersson-Marino
Matheson-Ruhwedel
Riikola-Ceci

• The top power play stayed the same: Letang, Rust, Guentzel, Crosby, Malkin

• The second power play was Zucker, Rodrigues, Matheson, Marino, McCann, with O'Connor rotating in for McCann again

• The top penalty kill was Dumoulin, Ruhwedel, Jankowski, and Tanev, with Lafferty taking some shifts in Tanev's place. When Lafferty wasn't taking a turn, he was on the sideline deep in conversation with Mike Sullivan.

• Formal practice is wrapping up after about 25 minutes.

• Mike Vellucci is working on faceoffs with Jankowski, Blueger, Rodrigues, and Lafferty after practice.

MCCANN TO HAVE
HEARING TODAY

9:50 a.m. Saturday: Jared McCann will have a hearing with NHL Player Safety today for elbowing Travis Sanheim in last night's game. -- Taylor

BACK TO PRACTICE

4:49 a.m. Saturday: Fresh off two tough losses in Philly, the Penguins are back on more familiar ice, scheduled to practice today, noon, in Cranberry. Taylor Haase will cover that, as well as the home opener tomorrow against the Capitals. -- DK

TROTMAN HAS SURGERY,
OUT 4-6 WEEKS

3:10 p.m. Friday: Zach Trotman underwent right knee surgery on Thursday to repair a torn meniscus and is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks, Jim Rutherford announced on Friday. The surgery was performed in Wilkes-Barre. -- Taylor

SULLIVAN ADDRESSES
DEFENSE CORPS

12:15 p.m. Friday: Mike Sullivan, predictably, did not confirm that the reconfigured defense pairings deployed during the game-day skate will be the ones he uses against Philadelphia this evening.

"We're looking for combinations that are complementary of one another, that give us a solid group of six that allows us to cast them in certain role and bring different things to the table," he said. "Regardless of what those pairs look like tonight, that's what we're looking for. We have eight defensemen on our active roster that we believe are capable of helping us win games on any given night."

Kris Letang made it clear that he's confident Ruhwedel will handle whatever duty he is given.

"He's a guy who is really reliable, defensively, and he can bring some offense," Letang said. "He has a really good shot. He's a good skater, plays hard. He has a physical element to his game."

• Sullivan confirmed that Tristan Jarry will make his second consecutive start, but declined to say how the Penguins plan to split the goaltending workload between Jarry and Casey DeSmith.

• Letang noted that the Penguins have to do a better job of clearing the front of the net while killing penalties. Jarry was screened on both of Philadelphia's power play goals in the first period of the opener. "Obviously, they were shots that usually, if there's no tip or no screen, it's an easy save for the goalie."

• Teddy Blueger volunteered that the Penguins "didn't do a good enough job" on faceoffs Wednesday, when they won just 22 of 51 draws. Blueger was 2-5 in the opener.

• Sullivan said that "barring any setbacks," Kasperi Kapanen, who is serving a COVID-19 quarantine, "would be available fairly soon here." He added that "we're going to try to assimilate him into the group as quickly as we can."

• Letang cited zone entries and "movement around the zone" as two areas of the power play the Penguins hope to improve tonight. "There are new breakouts, new guys in different spots," he said. -- Molinari

THAT DIDN'T TAKE LONG

11:50 a.m. Friday: The Penguins are stretching at center ice, which means the formal portion of the game-day skate is over. -- Molinari

DEFENSE PAIRINGS
RECONFIGURED

11:35 a.m. Friday: If the personnel combinations deployed at the Penguins' game-day skate remain intact, there will be some changes on the blue line when they face Philadelphia tonight at 7:08.

Marcus Pettersson has been reunited with John Marino on the No. 2 pairing this morning, while Mike Matheson and Chad Ruhwedel are on the third pairing.

The first pairing of Brian Dumoulin and Kris Letang has not changed, and Jusso Riikola and Cody Ceci make up the fourth pair.

The Penguins' forward units are unchanged:

Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Evan Rodrigues
Jason Zucker-Evgeni Malkin-Bryan Rust
Jared McCann-Mark Jankowski-Brandon Tanev
Sam Lafferty-Teddy Blueger-Colton Sceviour

THE GANG'S ALL HERE

11:25 a.m. Friday: The Penguins' game-day skate in Philadelphia is scheduled to get underway in a few minutes, and all 22 players who made the trip across the Commonwealth for this two-game set against the Flyers are on the ice. -- Molinari

OK, LET'S TRY THIS AGAIN

5:12 a.m. Friday: It's Penguins vs. Flyers, Part II, here tonight. But first, the visitors will have a morning skate at 11:30 a.m. at Wells Fargo Center. Stay right here for updates on that. The Flyers have no skate. Dave Molinari and I are both here for your coverage. Faceoff is 7:08 p.m.

Oh, and here's today's podcast below. -- DK

OPENER SETS NBC RECORD
FOR REGULAR SEASON

1:38 a.m. Friday: The Penguins-Flyers opener Wednesday night drew a total audience of 972,000 viewers, the largest for an NHL regular-season game in NBC Sports Network's history. Pittsburgh had the top TV rating at 9.35, Philly second at 4.72. And I'll remind: This was a 5:32 p.m. faceoff. -- DK

MORE FROM CROSBY

12:50 p.m. Thursday: More from Sidney Crosby's session today. He:

• Said he "felt pretty good" during the opener, adding that "timing and execution, that's going to come."

• Downplayed the impact of playing in an empty arena. "Once the puck drops, it felt somewhat normal, as far as competing and that sort of thing."

• Offered a flattering assessment of Flyers goalie Carter Hart. "He's pretty poised. You don't see too often where he gets rattled. He's been consistent. For a young goalie, that's never easy."

• Noted that because players on road clubs are restricted to being at the arena, practice facility or team hotel, the Penguins had "not much" to do when they weren't involved with work Thursday. "We're pretty much in our own little bubble here." -- Molinari

MAKING THE GRADE, DEFENSIVELY

12:45 p.m. Thursday: Sidney Crosby and Mike Sullivan agree that it was not the number of scoring chances the Penguins allowed during their 6-3 loss in Philadelphia Wednesday that was the problem, but the quality of them.

"The chances we gave up were Grade-A chances," Crosby said. "We didn't give up a ton, but the ones we did give up were pretty big ones. ... You're going to make mistakes, but you don't want to make big ones that (lead to) Grade-A chances like that."

"We didn't give up a lot of chances ... but the ones we gave up were fairly high quality," Sullivan said. "You have to give Philadelphia credit. They've got a real good quick-strike offense, very much like ours. They can make you pay for some of the mistakes you make."

He added that, most of the time, goals are given up because the errors come in clusters.

"It's a game of mistakes," Sullivan said. "Everybody is going to make them out there. Usually, if one mistake is made, teams can recover. It's when a mistake is chased with a second or third mistake, that's when it ends up in the back of the net. I thought there were a few instances last night where we chased one mistake with a second or third, and it ended up in the back of our net."

As noted below, the Penguins tried to correct the flaws in their game with off-ice work today.

On other matters, Sullivan:

• Did not say whether he expects to change personnel or combinations for the rematch with the Flyers Friday. "We have that discussion before every single game we play. ... The criterion I always use is trying to put the best 20 players in the lineup every night who give us the best chance to win."

• Praised the Jared McCann-Mark Jankowski-Brandon Tanev line. "Their performance last night was really strong. They were stiff on pucks. They were physical. They helped us gain momentum. They scored a couple of goals. That's really what our expectation is of that third line. They're not going to score two goals every single night that we play, but they should be a line that's hard to play against that brings an offensive threat, each and every night."

• Offered a lighthearted response when asked about wearing a mask on the bench. "Players have a hard time understanding, and the referees, as well. I think the referees are probably the happiest guys of anybody on the rink, that the coaches have to wear these masks, so maybe they could ignore some of our banter from behind the bench." -- Molinari

FILM DAY

11:55 a.m. Thursday: No, Mike Sullivan didn't reward the team with a day off today. On-ice practice was canceled, but that's because today's focus was film study.

“We’re trying to strike the balance between improving and getting better," Sullivan said. "Sometimes it’s going to be on the ice, sometimes it’s going to be in the film room.” -- Taylor

ANYONE STILL WITH US?

5:14 a.m. Thursday: Presuming the entirety of the fan base hasn't abandoned the Penguins after a single game, Dave Molinari and I have extensive coverage from Wells Fargo Center, including his analysis, my column, a Morning Java and this podcast:

Meanwhile, back home, Taylor Haase's weekly Drive to the Net does what the Flyers did and picks apart Mike Matheson. -- DK

PRACTICE CANCELED

3:32 a.m. Thursday: Mike Sullivan canceled the Penguins' scheduled practice for today and instead will have the team take a morning skate tomorrow, 11:30 a.m., at Wells Fargo Center in advance of the 7:08 p.m. game. So don't expect a ton of developments from this end of the commonwealth today, to put it mildly. Maybe we'll go out and make some friends here. -- DK

FACEOFF!

5:32 p.m. Wednesday: For anyone new to our Live Wire fun around here, we abandon all processes once any game starts and migrate to the corresponding live game file. Don't be the one left out on your block! -- DK

THREE PLACED ON IR,
MANISCALCO REASSIGNED

4:30 p.m. Wednesday: The Penguins put Zach Aston-Reese, Zach Trotman, and Sam Miletic on injured reserve prior to the start of Wednesday's game. Aston-Reese has been skating with the taxi squad for a couple of days. Trotman and Miletic were absent from the last few days of camp for undisclosed reasons.

Additionally, Josh Maniscalco has been re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He also missed the last few days of camp for an unknown reason. -- Taylor

SULLIVAN SPEAKS

12:55 p.m. Wednesday: Mike Sullivan just concluded an online press conference ahead of the Penguins' season-opener this evening. Here's what he had to say on a variety of topics:

The arena atmosphere tonight: "We've got a lot of respect for how good Philadelphia is. It's not an easy place to play. It's always been an exciting place to play, because of the rivalry and the fan engagement and all of those things. But I would anticipate both sides manufacturing their own emotion. I know our guys are excited to get going. I'm sure Philly is the same way."

Whether a particular facet of Penguins' game suffered because of the shortened training camp: "I don't know if there's any one aspect. It would be nice to spend more time on all the aspects of our game. With the training camp as short as it was, it's hard to cover any one aspect with the detail that we'd like to."

A possible Mike Matheson-John Marino defense pairing: "If we choose to go with Matheson and Marino together, they're two guys who have great size, long reach and real good mobility. They're guys who can get back to pucks. They think time and space and close s good as any defense pair that we have, with their mobility."

Thinking behind when to shuffle personnel combinations: "That's always an ongoing discussion that coaching staffs have, when to intervene. What I think about is, having some patience and allowing defense pairs and line combinations to work through struggles in order to develop the chemistry they need to be successful. Or, if the coach feels it's necessary to be proactive and tweak the lines or the defense pairs in order to create a spark or a different look that might help the group, that's the art of coaching, as opposed to the science of coaching."

Knowing his personnel after a short camp: "We feel good about our group. The majority of the group as been together here for quite some time now. We have a pretty good understanding of what we have, what we're capable of and how to play to our strengths. ... We know we're a competitive group. Now, we just have to go out and make sure we pay attention to detail and focus on the task at hand."

The return of hockey: "It's given all of us an opportunity, maybe, to reflect on some of the things that we normally take for granted and that we haven't had the ability to enjoy. ... I've certainly gained much more appreciation for how fortunate we are to do what we do and to be able to play the game that we love. To be able to get back on the ice with these guys is a thrill for me." -- Molinari

ASTON-REESE
MAKING PROGRESS

12:48 p.m. Wednesday: Mike Sullivan says that they're encouraged by the progress Zach Aston-Reese has made, and skating with the taxi squad the past two days means that he's "that much closer" to joining the main group for a practice. -- Taylor

EUROPEAN PROSPECTS
CALLED BACK

2:10 p.m. Tuesday: Prospects on loan to European clubs are starting to be called back to North America to prepare for Wilkes-Barre's training camp. Defensemen Jesper Lindgren, forward Jan Drozg, and Emil Larmi are among those confirmed to be on their way back at this point. -- Taylor

POST-PRACTICE
INTERVIEWS

1:33 p.m. Tuesday: Evgeni Malkin spoke first on Tuesday:

MALKIN, TANEV
TALKING NEXT

11:45 a.m. Tuesday: Only two players are talking today, Evgeni Malkin and Brandon Tanev. I'll keep you posted below. -- Taylor

• Malkin started out the call by showing the camera the clock on his phone and joking that he only wants to talk for two minutes.

• Malkin on the core: "We're still hungry. We still want one more Cup for sure."

• Malkin said that if he wins another Cup, he'll be the first Russian to win four, and that that is one of his motivations this season.

• Tanev says he'll cut his long hair if it starts slowing him down. Hard-hitting stuff today.

FINAL PRACTICE
OF CAMP UNDERWAY

10:45 a.m. Tuesday: It's the last practice before the team heads off to Philadelphia for the season opener. I'll keep you posted below. -- Taylor

• Tristan Jarry was the first player on the ice for practice. He took a shot and managed to snap his stick in half within seconds of being on the ice. Casey DeSmith laughed loudly from the bench. Last practice of camp is off to a good start. 

• The practice helmets now have UPMC stickers on the sides. PPG remains the sponsor for the game helmets.

• They did this drill at center ice, everyone was in the circle and fought to be the last man standing in the circle with the puck. I only caught the last bit on video where Teddy Blueger knocked Bryan Rust's puck away, but the ensuing celebrations from both groups was great:

The pictures the Penguins captured of the moment are even better:

• Same lines and pairings today as the last two days:

Guentzel-Crosby-Rodrigues
Zucker-Malkin-Rust
McCann-Jankowski-Tanev
Lafferty-Blueger-Sceviour

Dumoulin-Letang
Matheson-Marino
Pettersson-Ceci
Riikola-Ruhwedel

• The Penguins are practicing some 6-on-5 situations. with Crosby, Malkin, Guentzel, Rust, McCann, and Letang being the group of six.

• Top power play is Crosby, Malkin, Guentzel, Rust, Letang.

• Second power play is Marino, Pettersson, Zucker, Rodrigues, McCann

• Top PK is Tanev, Blueger, Dumoulin, and Matheson

• Second PK is Jankowski, Sceviour, Ceci, Lafferty, with Ruhwedel mixing in.

• Vellucci is working on faceoffs with Jankowski, Blueger, Lafferty, Rodrigues, and Sceviour after practice.

ASTON-REESE SKATES
WITH TAXI SQUAD AGAIN

10:10 a.m. Tuesday: The taxi squad is required to practice separately from main group, since only players on the active roster are permitted to practice with the NHL team. Doors open at the rink for media at 10 a.m., and when I got here right as the doors opened the taxi squad was wrapping up their session. Zach Aston-Reese skated with the group for a second day. I didn't see the other three players who have missed practice -- Zach Trotman, Josh Maniscalco, or Sam Miletic -- but I can't be sure they weren't out there before. -- Taylor

LAST DAY OF CAMP!

12 a.m. Tuesday: Today is the final day of training camp! I'll be at today's session, which is being held in Cranberry at 11 a.m. I'll be there while Dave and Dejan drive to the Philadelphia for the opener. No scrimmage today, just a regular practice. -- Taylor

FANS SOON?

5 p.m. Monday: Deputy commissioner Bill Daly mentioned that "it's possible" that the Penguins could have fans in the building soon, along with the Predators and Columbus. The Panthers, Stars, Coyotes, and Blues will already have limited fans to start the season.

The Penguins already announced earlier in the day that they will not have fans at home games for at least the month of January. -- Taylor

ASTON-REESE SKATES

1:05 p.m. Monday: Zach Aston-Reese made his first appearance at training camp, joining the taxi squad players in a separate skate after practice. He's in the white jersey in this video. -- Molinari

ROSTER, TAXI SQUAD FINALIZED

12:53 p.m. Monday: The Penguins' season-opening roster and taxi squad has been finalized. There are no surprises for the 23-man roster, it's the same group who has been practicing regularly in camp, plus Kasperi Kapanen.

The taxi squad will be forwards Anthony Angello, Frederick Gaudreau, Drew O'Connor, defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph, and goaltenders Alex D'Orio and Max Lagace. The biggest surprise here is that the Penguins are choosing to carry two goaltenders, especially since Jim Rutherford said prior to camp that the plan was for D'Orio to go to Wheeling after camp.

Forwards Samuel Poulin and Nathan Legare have both been sent back to their QMJHL teams.

Zach Aston-Reese, who is still recovering from surgery, and Zach Trotman, Sam Miletic, and Josh Maniscalco, who missed practice Sunday and Monday, "will be appropriately assigned on Tuesday when rosters are submitted to the NHL."

The taxi squad makeup could then conceivably still change once any of those players are eligible to be assigned anywhere. -- Taylor