CRANBERRY, Pa. -- The Penguins' rookie camp begins Thursday in Cranberry, an event that includes four practices at the Lemieux Complex and a game Saturday against the Bruins' prospects in the Prospects Challenge tournament in Buffalo.
Rookie camp differs from the development camp the Penguins held in July in that rookie camp leans more toward players with AHL experience or who will be in the AHL next season, whereas development camp is geared more toward brand-new prospects getting acclimated within the organization. None of the Penguins' college or European prospects will attend rookie camp due to the school year and the European seasons being underway.
The full roster of nine defensemen, 13 forwards and three goaltenders who will be participating in the camp can be found here.
The four practices at the Lemieux Complex -- Thursday and Friday at 10 a.m. and Monday and Tuesday at 9:45 a.m. -- are open to the public and free to attend.
As we prepare for camp, here is a look at the six prospects I'm most interested in following throughout the course of the week.
FILIP LINDBERG
Position: Goaltender
Age: 23
Size: 6-0, 180
Catches: Left
Lindberg is without a doubt the prospect I'm most intrigued by entering this camp. Originally a free agent signing by the Penguins last summer out of UMass, Lindberg had an outstanding start to his professional career and 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 the season.
Lindberg suffered an ankle injury on Nov. 12, his seventh game of the season. He and the Penguins initially tried rehabbing the injury, and Lindberg was back on the ice and skating before the AHL's holiday break. After the break, though, it was clear that Lindberg wasn't progressing the way the team originally thought he would. After learning more about the nature of Lindberg's injury, the Penguins realized that Lindberg would likely be done for the season.
Lindberg was back on the ice and skating at the Penguins' development camp in July, albeit in a limited capacity. He wasn't on the ice every single day, and when he was on the ice, he wasn't a full participant in the drills.
Skills coach Ty Hennes has begun leading a small group of prospects who are in town early in informal skates this week, and Lindberg is among those I've seen participate. Monday's group was small -- just Lindberg, another goaltender and six skaters -- but Lindberg didn't seem limited in any capacity. He and Tommy Nappier were splitting the workload equally, and Lindberg looked totally fine in my eyes. He didn't seem to be favoring anything as he was moving around the ice, he was mobile.
Right now, I'd consider Lindberg the Penguins' No. 2 goaltending prospect behind Joel Blomqvist. But if Lindberg can return this season and play as well as he did before his injury, then it's awfully close between those two for the top spot in the rankings.
If Lindberg can return to form and maintain or improve that level of play over the course of the season, then I wouldn't rule him out as someone who could earn a call to the NHL later in the season if the opportunity presents itself.
If Lindberg gets to play in Sunday's game in Buffalo, it'll give us a little idea of where his game is at this point.
JOSH MANISCALCO
Position: Defenseman
Age: 23
Size: 6-2, 205
Shoots: Right
Maniscalco was a highly-coveted prospect when he left Arizona State in 2020 following his sophomore season. A number of members of the Penguins' front office made calls to Maniscalco to make their pitches to Maniscalco. Then-director of player development Scott Young pointed to the success of John Marino out of college as an example of a path Maniscalco could take. Maniscalco was teammates with Austin Lemieux at Arizona State. Mario Lemieux, who was familiar with Maniscalco from the trips he made to watch Austin play, made his own pitch to Maniscalco, something Maniscalco told me was "surreal" after signing.
Maniscalco's foray into professional hockey wasn't exactly Marino-esque.
Maniscalco spent his entire 2020-21 rookie season in Wilkes-Barre, and spent most of that time as a healthy scratch. He only appeared in eight of Wilkes-Barre's 32 games that year, recording no points, four penalty minutes, and a plus-1 rating. When I spoke with head coach J.D. Forrest throughout the year and would ask about Maniscalco's continued absence from the lineup, he made it clear that the coaching staff just didn't think that Maniscalco was ready to be an AHL regular yet.
"It's not easy when you're starting to play pro, in particular with a couple of guys back in the lineup that were up in Pittsburgh earlier," Forrest told me at the time. "That's a hard nut to crack, to be an everyday player. He's got some things that we've talked about where he's focusing on it in practice. He's making the most of his time on the ice. He's paying attention to particular players in our games and trying to learn from watching."
With the sheer number of available defensemen in Wilkes-Barre this past season, Maniscalco didn't see much AHL playing time either, just two games during a run of COVID-related absences affecting Wilkes-Barre. Unlike his rookie season, though, Maniscalco did get to play somewhere -- Wheeling.
Maniscalco was dominant at the ECHL level. He was the team's top defensemen and was relied upon in all situations. He produced offensively, leading the team's blueliners and ranking No. 3 on the team overall with 53 points (17 goals, 36 assists) in 64 games.
When the Penguins first signed Maniscalco, the "pool" of right-handed defensemen was more like a puddle, a group that only included two seventh-rounders in Will Reilly and Santeri Airola. After the departure of Reilly and the additions of Nolan Collins (sixth round, 2022), Ryan McCleary (seventh round, 2021), Jack St. Ivany (free agent signing), Colin Swoyer (undrafted free agent signing), the pool of right-handed defensemen at least has grown in depth, even if it is just to that of a kiddie pool.
If Maniscalso can finally crack Wilkes-Barre's lineup and have a good season, that would be huge for the status of the defensive prospect pool.
Roster spots aren't won or lost in a rookie camp, but Maniscalco could certainly make an impression this week that could help his case. And with this being the last year of his three-year entry-level deal, he won't have many more chances to make those impressions.
JACK ST. IVANY
Position: Defenseman
Age: 23
Size: 6-3, 201
Shoots: Right
Speaking of right-handed defense prospects acquired as college free agent signings ... How about St. Ivany?
St. Ivany was the sixth prospect the Penguins signed as a free agent over the last year, and the only one we haven't had the opportunity to actually see yet, given that he was signed in August and thus didn't attend development camp like the others.
St. Ivany was drafted by Ron Hextall in the fourth round in 2018 when Hextall was general manager of the Flyers. He played two seasons at Yale before transferring to Boston College as a result of the Ivy League cancelling the 2020-21 season due to COVID-19. He's coming off of a successful senior season, having scored four goals and 20 assists in 35 games, all career highs. His four goals were tied for the second-most among Boston College defensemen, and his 24 points ranked fifth overall in team scoring and second among defensemen.
The Penguins have one of the weakest prospect pools in the league, but they seem to be making a concerted effort to compensate for the years of trading prospects and picks by dipping heavily into the undrafted/unsigned free agent market. Six prospects signed in one year via those routes is exceptional. If they can hit on just one of those signings, that can go a long way toward the restocking of the pool.
Given that we haven't seen St. Ivany yet, it's hard to say where he ranks within the current group of defense prospects in the Penguins' system. This camp will hopefully give us a decent idea of where he fits.
SAM POULIN
Position: Center/wing
Age: 21
Size: 6-1, 208
Shoots: Left
Poulin is still working toward his NHL debut, but that in no way makes him a "bust." He's only played one professional season. It was an interesting -- but overall successful -- first year of pro hockey.
We've covered Poulin's rookie year pretty extensively here, and you're surely familiar with the storyline by now: He had a rough time in the beginning making the adjustment to the pro game, and was eventually a healthy scratch in January for what Forrest called "repetitive" mistakes. His season made a 180 degree turnaround from that point on, and he finished with 16 goals, 21 assists in 72 AHL games while also playing responsible hockey.
Part of the reason for the turnaround 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.
If Poulin starts this season looking more like second-half Poulin than first-half Poulin, then he could be a candidate for a call up later in the season.
A rookie camp isn't going to be the best setting to be making any sweeping assessments, we'll have to wait until the regular season to get a better idea. But it's going to be interesting to see how much Poulin stands out compared to some of the more inexperienced players at this camp.
Something I'm also looking forward to seeing with Poulin is how he's utilized. If he's going to break into the NHL, it's likely going to be as a winger first. Typically, forwards like him who are capable of playing both center and wing start off as a wing in the NHL and maybe move back to center later on. He really didn't see much time as wing in the second half of last season, so I'm a little interested to see what he can do at wing now. I'm curious as to where he'll play this week.
NATHAN LEGARE
Position: Wing
Age: 21
Size: 6-0, 205
Shoots: Right
Legare's season started out much like Poulin's. He wasn't producing offensively the way some had hoped, and he wasn't playing responsible hockey either. He was a healthy scratch the same weekend Poulin was, for the same reason. "Repetitive" mistakes.
Legare's game saw somewhat of a turnaround shortly after the scratch, but it was short-lived. He was a healthy scratch more often than not for the last month-plus of the season.
"He's still adjusting," Scott Young told me of Legare at the time. "It's just something that he is still adapting. We still have all the belief in the world in him as a prospect. But he still has to adjust to the AHL, making simple plays getting pucks in deep, playing better on the walls, a lot of details of the game that he's still figuring out. But we're very high on him. We know eventually that it'll click with him."
One season in is far too early to write off Legare as a prospect, but he certainly has a lot to prove this season. I don't think there's much a player can "prove" in a rookie camp setting, but it'll definitely be interesting to see how Legare looks compared to the rest of the group, and I'm looking forward to talking to him and learning about what he worked on this summer.
OWEN PICKERING
Position: Defenseman
Age: 18
Size: 6-4. 180
Shoots: Left
While rookie camp is geared more toward players who have played in Wilkes-Barre or will play there next season, there are a handful of prospects from juniors included in the group too. That includes two members of the Penguins' 2022 draft class -- sixth-round pick Collins and first-round pick Pickering.
Pickering will be playing for Swift Current in the WHL this season, that's a certainty. Because of the NHL-CHL transfer agreement, he's not yet old enough to play in the AHL. His only options are the NHL or back to juniors, and given that he has some growing to do -- including literal growth, he has to fill out his 6-4 frame -- he's definitely going back to juniors.
Pickering won't be coming into this camp trying to improve his chances at earning any kind of a roster spot, but he'll definitely be someone to watch. After so many years of trading first-round picks, he's easily one of the Penguins' top prospects at the moment. His skating and two-way game stood out in the development camp setting against players similar to him in age and experience level. Now, I'm interested in seeing how he fares in a group with some more experienced players, and in the tournament game against some more AHL-level competition.
Pickering is looking to add more physicality to his repertoire over these next few years. That's an area of his game that is understandably still a work in progress, given that he shot up from 5-foot-7 to his current 6-foot-4 in a span of just three years. There's not exactly much physicality in camp drills, but the game against the Bruins' prospects should provide an opportunity for players to showcase their physical side.
