Undrafted players Brochu, Williams among development camp attendees

The Penguins on Tuesday announced the list of 24 players who will be participating in this summer's development camp, which will take place from Saturday through Tuesday in Cranberry.

More on that can be found here.

Of the 13 forwards, eight defensemen, and three goaltenders attending, a few might be unfamiliar to Penguins fans. Five of the forwards, two of the defensemen, and two of the goaltenders attending camp weren't drafted by the Penguins, and don't have an NHL contract with the team either. They're undrafted free agents, or AHL-contracted players getting a look from the big team.

Who are those players? Let's take a look.

FORWARDS

KYLE OLSON
Position: Right wing/center
Age: 22
Size: 5-11,178
Shoots: Right
2020-21 team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
Contract: AHL (2021-22) with Wilkes-Barre

Olson was a fourth-round pick of the Ducks in 2017 but went unsigned and became an unrestricted free agent. He signed a one-year AHL contract with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season, and was re-signed to another one-year contract in July.

He primarily plays wing, but has experience at center as well.

“I am a versatile player that can play in any situations and wherever coach wants me to be whether it’s center or the wing,” Olson said of his game in juniors. “I like to play a good honest 200-foot game and play a physical game on top of it."

Olson played 23 games for Wilkes-Barre last season, primarily as the third-line right wing. He scored two goals and four assists.

Wilkes-Barre head coach J.D. Forrest spoke of Olson's fearless, "hard-nosed game" after this moment in Hershey last season:

"That was huge," Forrest said. "He plays a hard-nosed game. It was a really good hit, a clean hit. Then he gets jumped by that guy on the other team and I thought he handled it really well. We fed off of that energy. Olly doesn't fear anyone, as evidenced by his play. The guys certainly appreciated that type of effort from him."

FELIX ROBERT
Position: Left wing/center
Age: 22
Size: 5-8, 165
Shoots: Left
2020-21 team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
Contract: AHL (2021-22) with Wilkes-Barre

Robert was signed to a one-year AHL contract last summer, and was re-signed to another one-year deal in June.

Robert began his rookie year in Wheeling, where he scored five goals and one assist in 10 games before the AHL season got underway. He was recalled to Wilkes-Barre when AHL training camps began, and earned his spot at that level for the rest of the season. He scored six goals and seven assists in 27 games with Wilkes-Barre and was versatile, slotting in at both center and wing over the course of the season.

"He's a little waterbug out there," Forrest told me of Robert's game during the season. "He doesn't give up. He's a guy that has a knack for stealing pucks. Sometimes he has to steal them once or twice. He's undersized, but he's pretty fearless. ... He just doesn't stop working."

Robert is on the smaller side, but doesn't play like he's aware of that, like in this moment where he jumped in against 6-2 Wade Allison after Allison crosschecked P.O Joseph:

... or in this moment, where he threw a Syracuse player into the bench with a hard hit, then had no fear defending himself when the Crunch took exception:

SHAW BOOMHOWER
Position: Left wing/center
Age: 22
Size: 5-11, 210
Shoots: Left
2020-21 team: None
Contract: AHL (2021-22) with Wilkes-Barre

Boomhower played for the ECHL's Cincinnati Cyclones for his first two professional seasons, scoring seven points (three goals, four assists) in 26 games in 2018-19 and seven points (four goals, three assists) in 24 games in 2019-20. He earned a two-game stint in the AHL with the Rochester Americans in 2019-20, and was scoreless. The Cyclones did not play last season due to COVID-19, and Boomhower didn't sign anywhere else for the season.

Boomhower has been in 11 fights in his two professional seasons.

Boomhower previously attended the Blackhawks' training camp in 2018.

SAMUEL HOUDE
Position: Center/left wing
Age: 21
Size: 5-11, 170
Shoots: Left
2020-21 team: Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL)
Contract: AHL (2021-22) with Wilkes-Barre

Houde was originally a fifth-round pick of the Canadiens in 2018, but went unsigned by Montreal and became a free agent.

Houde spent the last five years in the QMJHL, all with Chicoutimi. He served as the Sagueneens' captain last season in his overage year, and finished No. 4 on the team in scoring with nine goals and 19 assists in 29 games. His most productive season game in 2019-20, when he ranked second on Chicoutimi in scoring with 19 goals and 33 assists in 44 games.

In an interview with Le Quotidien, Houde said that the offer from the Penguins was the best one he received, and that he sees the AHL deal "as a one-year trial to prove what I'm capable of." He said that his biggest focuses this offseason were improving his muscle mass and endurance.

JOSH WILLIAMS
Position: Right wing
Age: 20
Size: 6-1, 188
Shoots: Right
2020-21 team: Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)
Contract: Unsigned

Williams, an undrafted free agent, attended the Penguins' last development camp in 2019.

“He’s got a shot that can beat goalies from almost anywhere,” Oil Kings coach Brad Lauer said of Williams. “That’s one area where obviously on the power play he’s our trigger guy. ... He’s a guy that doesn’t need a lot of time to get open. His biggest thing is finding that area on the ice in the offensive zone.”

Williams' Oil Kings saw success over the last two seasons, and he was a significant part of that. The Oil Kings finished No. 1 in their division in 2019-20, and Williams ranked No. 2 on the team in goals (25) and No. 4 in points (52) in 64 games. The Oil Kings were regular-season WHL champions in 2020-21, and Williams led the team in goals (17) and finished No. 2 in points (30) in 22 games.

Since Williams is 20 years old and has played in four WHL seasons, he's eligible to play in the AHL next season if signed to a professional contract. He also has the option of returning to the WHL for another overage season if he goes unsigned by a team.

DEFENSEMEN

DYLAN MACPHERSON
Age: 23
Size: 6-3, 190
Shoots: Right
2020-21 team: Wheeling Nailers, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
Contract: Unsigned

MacPherson started the year in Wheeling, and earned a mid-season professional tryout contract with Wilkes-Barre, where he spent some time before returning to Wheeling. 

In total, MacPherson played in 28 ECHL games last season and recorded seven assists. He recorded one assist in 10 AHL games.

Before joining the Penguins' organization, MacPherson spent the 2019-20 season with the Greenville Swamp Rabits in the ECHL, where he ranked No. 2 among defensemen in goals (four) and No. 3 among defensemen in points (17) in 54 games. He earned a two-game call up to the AHL that season with the Springfield Thunderbirds, and was scoreless.

CHRISTOPHER MERISIER-ORTIZ
Age: 20
Size: 5-11, 172
Shoots: Left
2020-21 team: Baie-Comeau Drakkar, Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (QMJHL)
Contract: AHL (2021-22) with Wilkes-Barre

Merisier-Ortiz will make his professional debut next season after signing a two-year AHL contract with Wilkes-Barre this offseason.

Merisier-Ortiz spent the last four seasons in the QMJHL, and was teammates with Penguins prospect Nathan Legare for the first three and a half seasons with the Drakkar. When the Drakkar drafted both players in the 2017 QMJHL Draft, Merisier-Ortiz and Legare said that they had been playing with each other since they were six or seven years old.

Merisier-Ortiz spent the first half of the 2020-21 season with the Drakkar, recording 12 assists in 15 games while quarterbacking the power play. He was traded to the Armada midseason, and recorded four goals and 20 assists in 24 games to finish the regular season. He scored one goal and five assists in nine postseason games.

Advanced stats show that Merisier-Ortiz was one of the best draft-aged defensemen in the QMJHL last season at leading breakouts:

Merisier-Ortiz scored a total of 20 goals and 109 assists in his 231 QMJHL games over four seasons. He set career highs in 2019-20 with nine goals and 36 assists in 64 games.

The EliteProspects 2021 Draft Guide had the following scouting report on Merisier-Ortiz: 

"His neutral zone defense is as solid as ever both in terms of stick and footwork. The trademarks of his game are solid posture, no reaching, and a gap almost always closed before the defensive blue line. He can feed the offense through short and long passes or by activating north or east-west off the rush, giving an extra passing option to teammates."

Merisier-Ortiz previously attended the Canadiens' 2019 development camp and the Flames' 2019 training camp.

GOALTENDERS

BRETT BROCHU
Age: 19
Size: 5-11,176
Catches: Left
2020-21 team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
Contract: Unsigned

The unique circumstances of last season allowed Brochu to spend the year in Wilkes-Barre, when he typically would not have been old enough for the AHL due to the NHL-CHL transfer agreement, which only allows junior-eligible players to go pro if it's for the NHL, not the minor leagues.

With the three Canadian junior leagues either having delayed starts or no season at all last year, those players were able to join AHL teams and play there until their junior seasons began. The OHL never had a season, so any OHL players were able to stay in the AHL all season. That was the case for Brochu, who joined Wilkes-Barre in training camp on an amateur tryout agreement. Brochu had a record of 32-6 (no, that's not a typo, it's really 32-6) with the London Knights in 2019-20, with a 2.40 goals-against average and .919 save percentage.

Brochu practiced with the team all season, but didn't get a chance to play until the final game of Wilkes-Barre's season. He made 31 saves on 36 shots in the loss, which was his first game in 14 months.

"He's been great," Forrest said of working with Brochu in practice throughout the year. "He'll stay out there and take 1,000 shots with the guys. Whether he's on the ice for three and a half hours or 30 minutes depending on the kind of day we have, he's just non-stop, enthusiastic, and he has that young energy. I know he's really grateful to be able to go out on the ice with us every day as opposed to being at home and not being able to get that experience. We've really liked having him around, I know the guys love having him around."

Because Brochu is not yet 20 years old, he's not eligible to return to Wilkes-Barre for next season. He'll go back to London in the OHL. That doesn't prevent him from being signed to a contract, though.

TOMMY NAPPIER
Age: 23
Size: 6-3, 220
Catches: Left
2020-21 team: Ohio State (NCAA), Wheeling Nailers, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
Contract: AHL (through 2022-23) with Wilkes-Barre

Nappier was signed to a three-year AHL deal with Wilkes-Barre last season, something unusual to see since most AHL contracts are one year only. He started 24 of 27 games last season as a senior at Ohio State and posted a 3.26 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage.

"Tommy has had some real success at the college level," goaltending coach Andy Chiodo told me of Nappier after the signing. "He's a big goaltender, he reads the release really well. He makes a really good first save, covers a lot of net, reads the play very well. Like everybody else, he's going to take some time to develop as a pro and get acclimatized to the environment of professional hockey and the demands. But we all think there's a pretty good talent base there and skillset for him to add to."

Nappier joined Wilkes-Barre after his season with Ohio State ended. He appeared in three AHL games, going 1-2 with a 4.06 goals-against average and .829 save percentage. He was then re-assigned to Wheeling, where he was able to finish the season as the Nailers' starter. He posted a 2-5 record with a 2.46 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage.

With the goaltending depth the Penguins have -- Louis Domingue, Alex D'Orio and Filip Lindberg are all on NHL contracts -- I'd expect Nappier to spend the year in Wheeling.