CRANBERRY, Pa. -- On Day 1 of training camp on Thursday, Mike Sullivan said that the line combinations and defense pairings used in these early practices probably wouldn't be the ones used when the season opens on Oct. 12 in Tampa Bay.
"I would anticipate those changing throughout the course of training camp as we get closer to a semblance of our roster," he said.
One combination used in camp that has the potential to stick once the season starts is the line of Zach Aston-Reese, Teddy Blueger and Brock McGinn, with the newcomer McGinn taking Brandon Tanev's former spot on that line.
The line played its best game in Friday's scrimmage, with Blueger setting up McGinn for a late goal in the game.
I asked Mike Sullivan afterward for his thoughts on McGinn's camp and that line as a whole. He said that McGinn had a "strong couple of days," and praised the way McGinn fit on that line.
"You know, I think playing with a guy like Teddy, that could be a fit," Sullivan said of that line. "I know we could move him up and down the lineup if we have to, he's an intelligent player. I think he makes good decisions. He has good awareness defensively away from the puck. Positionally, he's a really solid player. He's got great recognition skills, anticipation skills. And he's a pretty good skater. So we've liked what we've seen so far."
When I asked Blueger for his impressions of McGinn on his line after Day 1, McGinn's puck possession skills were what he pointed to first.
"He's been great," Blueger said. "He's really strong on the puck, he protects the puck really well. A solid player, defends well. I'm looking forward to playing a little bit with him hopefully, and seeing where we can go from there."
After Saturday's practice, McGinn said that he thinks the line has meshed well so far because they all "like to work."
"We're going to get to those greasy areas where we're going to get pucks back and hopefully get bodies to the net and create those seconds and thirds," he said.
McGinn, 27, was signed to a four-year, $11 million contract with the Penguins in free agency after spending the last four years in the Hurricanes organization. After signing with the Penguins, McGinn described himself as "a 200-foot player who's going to bring energy, who's going to play that physical style and can also contribute offensively," qualities that aren't unlike those of Tanev, making him a suitable replacement on that line.
The Hurricanes used McGinn in a top-six capacity last season, and McGinn produced at a rate just shy of his career-high in 2020-21 with eight goals and five assists in 37 games. Nearly all of that production (seven goals, four assists) came in the first 16 games of the season, though, bolstered by often playing on a line with Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho. By late February, McGinn was shifted to the third line, and only recorded one goal and one assist in the last 21 games of the regular season he played before being injured in April.
While Ron Hextall pointed to McGinn's physicality as a strength of his after the signing, the last two seasons saw the lowest rate of hits at five-on-five in McGinn's career. He averaged 5.37 per 60 minutes in 2020-21 and 6.53 per 60 minutes in 2019-20. In his other four seasons, his rate of hits ranged from 7.4 to 8.67 per 60 minutes.
McGinn said that his focus in these opening days of training camp was just being a "sponge," trying to learn the systems and get to know his new team. He called the style that the Penguins play pretty similar to the one Rod Brind'Amour instilled in Carolina.
"I think both teams work hard," he said. "I think when I was in Carolina, Roddy has the same aspects as Sully does here. I think if you put in the work, he's going to respect you and respect the game. Just coming here, I don't think it's very different. It's just the mentality to come and work every single day."
It's still too early to know if McGinn will stick on that line in the regular season. That might be something we get a better idea of when the preseason begins on Monday at home against Columbus. Early impressions, though, are that McGinn has the potential to be a pretty close replacement for Tanev on that line.
MORE FROM TRAINING CAMP
• Filip Hallander again didn't practice. Sullivan said Friday that Hallander was day-to-day with a nagging lower-body injury, and his status on Saturday remained the same. Everyone else was present.
• The Penguins used the following lines and pairings in practice:
Team 1:
Jake Guentzel - Jeff Carter- Danton Heinen
Sam Poulin - Brian Boyle - Bryan Rust
Kasper Bjorkqvist - Lukas Svejkovsky/Jonathan Gruden - Kyle Olson
Mike Matheson - Will Reilly
Matt Bartkowski - Chad Ruhwedel
Ryan McCleary - Mark Friedman
Team 2:
Jason Zucker - Radim Zohorna - Kasperi Kapanen
Dominik Simon - Evan Rodrigues - Nathan Legare
Justin Almeida - Jordy Bellerive/Sam Houde - Sam Lafferty
Cam Lee - Brian Dumoulin
Juuso Riikola - John Marino
Niclas Almari - Mitch Reinke
Isaac Belliveau - Chris Merisier-Ortiz
Team 3:
Zach Aston-Reese - Teddy Blueger - Brock McGinn
Drew O'Connor - Michael Chaput - Valtteri Puustinen
Anthony Angello - Felix Robert - Jan Drozg/Josh Williams
P.O Joseph - Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson - Taylor Fedun
Chris Bigras - Josh Maniscalco
• Teams 1 and 3 scrimmaged, and Team 1 won, 3-2.
Danton Heinen opened the scoring for Team 1, taking a feed from Jake Guentzel and putting it past Louis Domingue.
Brian Boyle extended Team 1's lead to 2-0, capitalizing off of a misplay by Team 3 and turnover in their own zone.
With Team 1 leading at the half, Tommy Nappier replaced Domingue in net for Team 3. Filip Lindberg came in for Casey DeSmith, who had a shutout in his half.
P.O Joseph opened the scoring for Team 3 with a shot from the blue line to beat Lindberg.
Marcus Pettersson tied the game for Team 3, dropping to one knee at the top of the right circle for a goal.
Sam Poulin scored the game-winner for Team 1 with 13.7 seconds remaining, redirecting a shot from Bryan Rust.
• Sullivan had a new mark across his nose today, and it looked like it might have been from a stick or puck to the face in practice. He said after practice, though, that the upper-body injury wasn't a result of anything on the ice, but rather his dog jumping on him while he was sitting on the couch.
• Radim Zohorna spoke after practice, and his English is much improved from last season, but it's still something he's trying to work on.
"My English is still not so good, so I need to learn more words," he said. "But I hope it will be better in like two to three years."
Zohorna said that it was "so good" to have another Czech player in Dominik Simon, but added that it helped that he was the only Czech player in his rookie season, because it forced him to speak only English.
• Zohorna continues to center Jason Zucker and Kasperi Kapanen in practice, an indication that he could be their second-line center when the season opens.
"I'm just trying to (learn) something from from them," he said. "I hope I'll be playing some games with these two guys, they are unbelievable."
• Zohorna was asked if there's anything about the culture in the U.S. that he's grown to like over the culture in the Czech Republic. He didn't have to think very long.
"No, no," he said with a laugh. "Not so much."
• Simon is wearing gloves that say "Kahun" on them. He said that his own gloves haven't arrived yet, and the last pair left here from Dominik Kahun are a fit, so he's using them until his get delivered.