After years of trading away picks and prospects, the Penguins' prospect pool is a shallow group.
Still, there are some exciting young prospects coming up through the system. Forward Filip Hallander, the Penguins' 2018 second-round pick, is back in the organization after being re-acquired in the Jared McCann trade and will be moving to North America next season. The Penguins' top two forward picks from the 2019 draft -- first-round pick Samuel Poulin and third-round pick Nathan Legare -- are turning pro next season after their junior careers ended this summer.
Tom Reed, Dave Molinari and I spoke with Penguins director of player development Scott Young for our 66 to 87 podcast on Monday to talk about Hallander, Poulin, Legare and more prospects, an interview that starts at the 31-minute mark of this episode:
Here is the full transcript of the interview with Young:
Haase: I know something fans want to hear about is Filip Hallander, back in the organization. If you can just talk about what kind of player he is for listeners who may have forgotten in the last year, and then how do you think his game will translate to North America if that is the plan for next year for him to move over?
Young: You know what, it's great to have him back. He's a big, strong winger that is strong in the corners, protects the puck really well and likes to get to the front of the net. And I remember before we traded him, you know, we were showing him some clips of Patric Hornqvist. And how to position himself in front of the net and create some havoc like Hornqvist used to do. That's the type of player we envision him. And you know, I think he's added a step and to his to his feet and his speed. So we're excited to have him back.
Molinari: Scotty, on Hallander, how do you see his game translating to the smaller sheet in North America? And how far away from contending for a spot in the NHL do you see him being at this stage?
Young: Well, after the trade, I didn't see him a lot after the trade. But I think it's going to be better for him to play on the smaller rink with his type of play, and his size and his strength. It's going to be a smaller area for him to be able to get to the corner from the front of the net and from from the corners to the net. And I just think it's going to benefit him to play that more physical, grinding style in a smaller rink. So we'll have to see how he progresses. But I would hope that he comes over, he's probably going to need to spend a little bit of time in in Wilkes-Barre, and I'm hoping maybe it's halfway through the season that he's pushing for a spot.
Haase: Another guy who has drawn Hornqvist comparisons before, Kasper Bjorkqvist. Just what was this last year like for him playing most of the year in Finland, and were able to see many improvements in his game in that short sample size when he came back to Wilkes-Barre at the end? I know when he was hurt the previous season, he talked a lot about how he used that as an opportunity to really improve on his hands.What was he able to really improve on?
Young: Well, I think it was good for him to play over in KooKoo, in his home country, a little more space there. But it's a skilled league. And I think he had a good year there. He put up some decent numbers there. And then when he got back over to Wilkes here, I think it was important for him to get back over to readjust because -- not that he's played over in Finland a lot because he was at Providence College -- but it is a different game. And you know, he got back to his North American habits pretty quickly. But the first few games in Wilkes you could tell it was an adjustment coming from the big sheet over there in Europe. And once he got going and started to feel much more adjusted -- and nevermind all the COVID quarantines he had to go through, I think he had to go through like six different ones, which is kind of crazy -- but he ended up playing a good hard physical game. And that's something we definitely want to see from him. And I think the skill work that he worked on over in Finland really did help him.
Haase: Valtteri Puustinen, another Finnish forward prospect, signed his entry level deal to start next season. Just what kind of player is he, what can you tell our listeners about him? And what kind of growth have you really seen from him since since he was drafted, what are you hoping to see from him as he makes that adjustment North America too?
Young: Well, we're hoping he brings some offense because he can certainly shoot the puck, he can score, he's got good speed. A little bit of a smaller guy, but he can really move. He's got good feet. He's got excellent offensive instincts, offensive hockey sense. And he can make plays, he can find the soft areas of the ice to get open to get his shot off. And he really did put up some good numbers this year. And that was great to see. So we're looking forward to getting them over and in getting him adjusted, again, from that big sheet over to the North American style.
Haase: And then (defenseman) Niclas Almari, what's the plan for him next season? Is the plan to bring him back to North America?
Young: Yeah, he'll be back. He'll be back in Wilkes. He would have been here last year if it was a normal year. But it was just strictly COVID. We had to get these guys playing, we wanted to make sure that they were playing as much as they could. And with all the questions over here, we decided to keep them over there. And he will be back.
Haase: When he does come back what aspect of his game do you think he needs to really work on to take that next step and maybe fight for an NHL spot at some point?
Young: He's got the tools, he's a good skater, he sees the ice very well. He moves the puck well. We want to see him be a little bit more assertive, play with more confidence and start to jump up into the play a little bit more, trust his instincts, trust himself and have confidence in himself with the puck because he does have all the tools. At times he can maybe play a little bit conservative, and he certainly has to tools to be able to jump up and add a little bit of offense. And he's got a great stick defensively. He's a good size and he defends really well stick-on-puck. So we like a lot about Niclas.
Molinari: Your top pick from a couple of years ago, Samuel Poulin, how much if at all was his development affected by the the strange pandemic season in junior hockey? And is he at a stage where he could realistically hope to compete for a spot in the NHL in the coming season?
Young: I think he should come in definitely expecting to compete for a spot training camp, no question about it. He went through what everybody went through with all this quarantining and all these different things, these different challenges that all the prospects had to go through. But he was playing hockey. And you know, they went to the finals and came up short with Val d'Or. But he ended up playing a good amount of hockey compared to some other players. I mean, some players didn't play at all, you know, if you look at the Ontario Hockey League, they didn't play at all. So I don't think it affected his development in a negative way, especially under all the circumstances. He should come in expecting and looking and pushing to make our team. And if he needs a little bit more development, he's not far off. We have high expectations. Obviously, he's a first-round pick. But it's not just because he's a first-round pick. It's because we see how he's come along and his abilities and he's an extremely driven young man, and he's going to do everything he can to make our team.
Molinari: A couple rounds after, you got Nathan Legare. How far away is he and what aspects of his game have to be upgraded for him to be a serious contender for a job in the NHL?
Young: So what happened with Nathan this year is we talked to him about becoming quicker, becoming faster. His first three strides. He's got a great shot. He's really strong, he competes hard. He's an extremely driven player. He finishes checks, he gets in hard on the forecheck. He needed to get a little quicker. And he's lost, the last time I talked to him I think he said he was down 12 pounds. And so he's changed his eating habits. He's changed his diet, and he's seen immediate results. So you know, when a player gets to that realization that they have to change their habits and they can see the results right away, we noticed that he looks a lot faster on the ice. So he might even try to lose a couple more pounds, because he knows how fast the NHL is. And I think that's going to be a big part of him having a chance to make our team because he's a guy too that is not far off.
