With the salary cap only rising by $1 million next season, the Penguins are going to be in a tight cap situation.
The cap crunch could be eased if some players on entry-level deals or otherwise affordable contracts are able to make the jump from the minors to the NHL next season.
Which of the Penguins' young players who spent time in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton next season are ready to take that step, either full-time out of training camp or as midseason call ups?
Let's take a look.
READY NOW
P.O Joseph
Position: Defenseman
Shoots: Left
Age: 22
Size: 6-2, 185
2021-22 stats: 4 NHL games; 10 goals, 23 assists in 61 AHL games
Cap hit: Unsigned, RFA
WBS coach J.D. Forrest said: "He's gone stretches for us where he's been the best player on the ice for a few games in a row. His consistency is better, it's still a thing that we need to just get to that NHL level."
Joseph was Wilkes-Barre's No. 1 defenseman for much of the season. He was on the left side of the top pairing for most of the year, quarterbacked the second power play unit, and was one of the regular penalty-killing defenseman.
I'll have a deeper look at Joseph's season with video sometime soon, but one takeaway is that he seemed to be more physical this season, or at least physically stronger so his hits were much more noticeable. He's able to dish out some heavy hits and was really effective at knocking guys off the puck this season. Each offseason he's added strength and some weight -- something both he and coaches have said don't always go hand, because the internal measures the team uses to quantify strength have grown significantly for Joseph in his time as a pro, even if the number on the scale doesn't change quite so drastically. Another full offseason in the weight room will be good for him.
With Pittsburgh having an expensive D corps, Joseph could be an affordable option to get in on the left side if the Penguins choose to move out a defenseman.
Drew O'Connor
Position: Center/wing
Shoots: Left
Age: 23
Size: 6-3, 200
2021-22 stats: 3 goals, 2 assists in 22 NHL games; 12 goals, 20 assists in 33 AHL games
Cap hit: $750,000
J.D. Forrest said: "Up ice, he's been really, really effective on the forecheck on the penalty-kill. He just has a knack for hitting pucks and getting a stick on things and making it hard to make a play out of their zone. He's doing really well in that area. In-zone it's the same, he has that ability to knock pucks down and be in the way. His speed and reach are deceptive, it's a little bit harder for the opponent to read sometimes if they think he's coming a little bit slower. They don't realize how close he is, how fast he gets there."
O'Connor was in Pittsburgh for 22 games before suffering a collapsed lung on Jan. 15. After O'Connor was cleared to return just over a month later, he reported to Wilkes-Barre, where he worked to regain his strength and conditioning after so much time off. Once he was back to 100 percent, salary cap constraints limited the Penguins' ability to bring O'Connor back up from Wilkes-Barre, forcing him to remain in the AHL until the playoffs. He was scoreless in two postseason games before the Penguins' first-round exit.
An area in which Mike Sullivan said he was hoping to see growth from O'Connor during his stint in the AHL was the penalty kill. O'Connor had killed penalties in college before turning pro, but he just needed to get better at it if he's going to be a bottom-six player in the NHL. By all accounts, O'Connor made great strides in that area in Wilkes-Barre. He's ready to make that jump.
With Brian Boyle presumably not being back next season, and some other bottom-six forward free agents potentially pricing themselves out of Pittsburgh, there will likely be a spot open for O'Connor. He seems like a no-brainer to fill one of those spots, and he'd be doing it at league-minimum salary.
Radim Zohorna
Position: Center/wing
Shoots: Left
Age: 26
Size: 6-6, 233
2021-22 stats: 2 goals, 4 assists in 17 NHL games; 12 goals, 9 assists in 39 AHL games
Cap hit: $750,000
Mike Sullivan said: "He's a big, strong guy. He has the ability to play with pace. That's something that I think he's really developed over the last season and a half since he's been a Pittsburgh Penguin. We're trying to help him just to be able to sustain that pace, shift in and shift out. That's something that we're working with Z with, but he's working extremely hard. I think he's getting better at it. But I just think it's a process."
Zohorna is another one of those candidates for a bottom-six opening, and someone who could do so at league-minimum.
Sullivan and Zohorna himself both spoke this season about the need to get Zohorna's conditioning up. Zohorna was in a tough spot to start the season. He had a mystery illness in training camp that made him feel sick for about a month and zapped his conditioning, so he was behind the eight ball from the beginning. Both Sullivan and Zohorna said that Zohorna's conditioning improved over the course of the season, and Forrest thought that Zohorna did a fine job of adjusting to the increased ice time that came with a top-line role in Wilkes-Barre.
Still, Zohorna's ability to maintain a high level of pace throughout a game remains a point of concern. It'll be interesting to see how he looks coming out of camp after a summer of training.
Valtteri Puustinen
Position: Wing
Shoots: Right
Age: 22
Size: 5-9, 183
2021-22 stats: 1 assist in 1 NHL game; 20 goals, 22 assists in 72 AHL games
Cap hit: $842,500
J.D. Forrest said: "He's a smart player. He's not the biggest guy, but he knows how to win battles, and make some good plays on the wall coming out of our D zone. He reads the game extremely well, and that helps us with positioning in the D zone. I'm not afraid to put him out there in any situation. He's a tough little player. As far as his D zone, he definitely understands what we're trying to do in there. He's able to play that system."
Puustinen's nickname back in Finland was Kuopion Phil Kessel -- in part due to his shot, but mainly due to a bit of physical resemblance. Throughout his rookie season, Puustinen got in much better shape, trimmed his body fat percentage, and it allowed him to play with more pace.
Really, Puustinen's adjustment to the North American game couldn't have gone better. Even at the start of the season, he was never a liability defensively. He's a responsible player.
Puustinen had a one-game opportunity in March when Kasperi Kapanen was a healthy scratch, skating on the right side of the third line. Puustinen being sent down after that game had more so to do with line combinations -- Brock McGinn had been injured in the game, a left winger was needed, so Puustinen was swapped for Zohorna.
Puustinen's surely earned a longer look. There just has to be a spot open for him.
MIDSEASON CALL UPS
Sam Poulin
Position: Center/wing
Shoots: Left
Age: 21
Size: 6-1, 208
2021-22 stats: 16 goals, 21 assists in 72 AHL games
Cap hit: $863,333
Director of player development Scott Young said: "He has made adjustments and accepted what we spoke to him about. Managing the puck better, limiting turnovers and recognizing what's high-risk? What's low-risk? The right time to get pucks in? I think he's made huge strides. He's been really good for us."
Poulin's adjustment to the professional game didn't go smoothly in the beginning. He was making mistakes. There was a game in Utica in January in which Poulin committed an egregious turnover in his own end that quickly led to a Utica goal. It proved costly, with Wilkes-Barre losing the game by one goal. Poulin watched the next game from the press box, with Forrest later telling me that the decision was a result of "repetitive" mistakes.
After that game, Poulin's game did a complete 180 turnaround. Part of it was due to him just getting the message after the scratch. Part of it was due to some immediate chemistry with linemate Alex Nylander, who was acquired via a trade right around that time. Perhaps the biggest part for Poulin's turnaround at that time was his move to center, a decision by the coaching staff made with the goal of speeding up Poulin's learning process, since centers get more puck touches. Poulin excelled in the role, and remained at center for the rest of the season. Poulin's ability to be strong on the puck down low helped him make plays as a center and be responsible in his own end.
I wouldn't pencil Poulin in on the NHL lineup just yet. He should be in Wilkes-Barre and playing at that high level for more than the half of a season he did. But if he comes in next season and is able to pick up where he left off and continue developing, he's someone who could be knocking on the door sometime later in the year.
Alex Nylander
Position: Wing
Shoots: Right
Age: 24
Size: 6-1, 192
2021-22 stats: 14 goals 16 assists in 44 AHL games with Wilkes-Barre; 8 goals, 4 assists in 23 AHL games with Rockford.
Cap hit: Unsigned, RFA
J.D. Forrest said: "For him playing in Pittsburgh's system, it's more adjusting to that consistent pace, and the fact that every single player is counted on to do certain things, regardless of your skill level, or your position in the lineup, or any of that, which I think he's grasping. We've had no issues with how hard he's worked or what he's willing to do out there since we've gotten him."
Even though Nylander didn't get a call up to Pittsburgh during the year, that trade for him that sent Sam Lafferty to the Blackhawks can still be viewed as a success if only for his big contributions to Wilkes-Barre. After a strong finish to the regular season, Nylander scored three goals and three assists in 6 games in Wilkes-Barre's postseason run, scoring the overtime game-winner in the winner-take-all Game 3 of the first round.
Nylander's ability to score wasn't ever a question. Forrest said the adjustment process for him was about playing with pace and his defensive responsibilities, two things that are pretty important if a player wants a shot to play with the big club. He made progress over the course of the season, and if he's re-signed this summer, Nylander is another guy who could be pushing for a spot later in the season.
Filip Hallander
Position: Wing
Shoots: Left
Age: 21
Size: 6-1, 190
2021-22 stats: 1 NHL game; 14 goals, 14 assists in 61 AHL games
Cap hit: $764,167
Mike Sullivan said: "He's hard to play against. He can help us on the penalty-kill. He could play in the bottom six for us and just check well. I think that's the strength of his game. He's hard on pucks. He's good on the wall. He has penalty-killing ability. He just makes us harder to play against. So he gives us some versatility in the bottom six."
Hallander admitted back in January that the adjustment to the North American style of play was "a bigger adjustment" than he had originally anticipated. He didn't seem poised for a shot in the NHL early on.
Over the course of the season, Hallander adjusted to the style, grew more comfortable on the penalty kill, and started producing more offensively. He made his NHL debut on April 7 in New York after Sidney Crosby and Zohorna were ruled out the day of with non-COVID illnesses. Hallander, who was golfing on Wilkes-Barre's off day at the time he got the call, picked up his suit and his gear, stopped at Sheetz for a pregame meal and drove to New York (briefly getting lost on the way) and just barely made it to the Garden in time for warmups. He only played 5:52 in a 3-0 shutout loss, and his debut ended with him trying to pull a couple of Rangers players off of a pile on top of Teddy Blueger in a brawl after the final whistle. It was a rough game for all involved.
Hallander earned a shot in the NHL. Assuming he picks up where he left off next season, he deserves another real look. Hopefully, one where he's able to eat something other than a Sheetz wrap beforehand.
Jordy Bellerive
Position: Center/wing
Shoots: Left
Age: 23
Size: 5-10, 195
2021-22 stats: 8 goals, 21 assists in 72 AHL games
Cap hit: Unsigned, RFA
Mike Sullivan said: "He plays with a lot of moxie. He's an energy guy. He has a physical dimension to his game, he's real competitive. I thought he played hard (in the preseason). He's a real competitor."
Bellerive is one guy who I'm surprised hasn't gotten a chance in the NHL yet.
If you want a player comparison, he's a Brandon Tanev-type. Bellerive loves giving heavy hits, getting under the skin of other teams, drawing penalties. He's at the center of every scrum, usually grinning in the face of an opponent as the guy is yelling at Bellerive. Bellerive drops the gloves more often than Tanev does, with four fights this season, plus one dominant one in the preseason.
His offensive production dropped a little this year after the shortened 2020-21 season, a season in which he scored 10 goals and 8 assists in 29 games. But his defensive game, the strong penalty-killing, physicality, and agitating was all still there.
Sullivan seemed to really, genuinely like Bellerive the couple of times I asked about him in training camp and the preseason. If the Penguins want to add some energy to the lineup with a midseason call up, Bellerive can bring that.
Kasper Bjorkqvist
Position: Wing
Shoots: Left
Age: 24
Size: 6-1, 198
2021-22 stats: 1 goal in 6 NHL games; 8 goals, 4 assists in 54 AHL games
Cap hit: Unsigned, RFA
Mike Sullivan said: "I think Kasper this year for me has a noticeable difference in his pace, not only his foot speed, but his ability to think the game and see the game, his awareness skills. He's good on the wall. He has good size. He has good strength. He's strong on the puck. He's willing to block shots. He's a good penalty-killer."
This really was Bjorkqvist's first season in North America. His rookie 2019-20 season ended after he tore his ACL six games into the season, and he spent the 2020-21 season in Finland due to COVID's impact on the season, only coming to Wilkes-Barre for a five-game stint after his Finnish team's season ended.
Bjorkqvist produced more offensively in Finland than he did here, putting up 11 goals and 15 assists in 44 games to win the 2021 Liiga rookie scoring title. In Wilkes-Barre, he took on a more defensive role and was one of the regular penalty-killers.
Nailers head coach Derek Army, who has never coached Bjorkqvist but is very familiar with his game from watching him at Providence College, summed up what Bjorkqvist brings in a chat we had earlier this season: "He could be a top line guy, he could be a fourth line in Pittsburgh, and you would know exactly what you're going to get from him. He's going to be hard on pucks, he's going to be strong on pucks. He's going to go to the net. He's going to be good on the forecheck. He's going to be detailed. And some of the aspects you can't teach guys, he has. He's big, he's a big strong kid. ... He's a guy who fits that that build of a guy you can plug and play anywhere."
Bjorkqvist's probably never going to be a big point-producer at the NHL level, but he's a reliable, consistent bottom-six option if he's ever needed.
Filip Lindberg
Position: Goaltender
Catches: Left
Age: 23
Size: 6-1, 194
2021-22 stats: 7 games, 2.76 GAA, .915 SV%
Cap hit: $925,000
Scott Young said: "It's unfortunate, because he was playing so well. It was just a short period there in the beginning of the year, but he was really playing well. We really liked it, what he's going to be, and it's just too bad that it was cut so short. ... He wants to play, a competitive kid. He just came off from winning the national championship the year before. So he was full of confidence. It was a bit devastating for him."
Lindberg is more of a long shot here, but the little bit we saw of him in his rookie season was very encouraging.
Lindberg started the year in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and had a phenomenal start to the season. He was named the AHL goaltender of the month for the month of October after posting a a 4-0 record, a 1.71 goals-against average and a .942 save percentage through the first four starts of his professional career.
Three games later, Lindberg suffered a season-ending ankle injury. He remained in Wilkes-Barre for the rest of the year, rehabbing the injury.
With Lindberg and rookie goaltender Taylor Gauthier under NHL contract for the minors next season, the Penguins will still surely add an older, experienced goaltender as the No. 3 to start the season. But if Lindberg comes into the season 100 percent and is able to play like he was before his injury, he might be the guy who comes up in the event a goaltender is needed.
