The Penguins made some progress in bolstering their prospect pool over the last year. From drafting 14th overall in last year's draft to acquiring three significant prospects in the Jake Guentzel trade, the pool has grown deeper over the course of the season.
Before the Penguins add further to the pool via this summer's draft or any potential offseason trades, let's take a look at where things stand now and rank the top 10 prospects in the Penguins' system.
First, some guidelines:
1. The goal is to balance both a player's long-term ceiling and how ready he is now in deciding where he ranks.
2. The Penguins have to actually hold the rights to those players -- that means either signed to NHL contracts or drafted and unsigned but their rights are still held. No AHL-contracted players. We'll also throw out any prospects whose NHL rights the Penguins still hold but have left and aren't coming back (e.g. guys like Filip Hallander).
3. As for who counts as a prospect, we'll use Calder Memorial Trophy eligibility rules as always -- a player cannot turn 26 years old before Sept. 15, and cannot have played more than 25 games in any single preceding season, nor in six or more games in each of any two preceding seasons in any major professional league. So, that mainly rules out Valtteri Puustinen (over 25 games last season) and newly-signed goaltender Filip Larsson (turns 26 in August). They're past the point of being considered prospects.
With that all in mind, here are the top 10, working our way up to No. 1.
10. Tristan Broz
Position: Center/wing
Age: 21
Size: 6-0, 190
Shoots: Left
Acquired: Second-round pick, 2021
2023-24 stats: 43 games, 16 goals, 24 assists (NCAA)
Broz's final season of college hockey was a strong one.
This past season was Broz's junior year, and his second year with the University of Denver. He's taken major offensive strides each season -- going from six goals as a freshman, 10 as a sophomore and 16 as a junior, and five assists as a freshman, 18 as a sophomore, and 24 as a junior. This year he finished third in goals and fourth in scoring for Denver.
Broz, who is a skilled, playmaking forward who can play both center and wing, helped lead Denver to a national championship this season. He scored two overtime goals during the run to the title.
Broz signed his three-year entry-level contract with the Penguins after the championship and joined Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on an amateur tryout contract for the remainder of the AHL season. He made his AHL debut in Wilkes-Barre's brief playoff run, going scoreless in two games.
As Broz makes the jump to pro hockey full-time next season, he'll almost surely start the year in Wilkes-Barre
9. Sergei Murashov
Position: Goaltending
Age: 20
Size: 6-0, 167
Catches: Right
Acquired: Fourth-round pick, 2022
2023-24 stats: 34 games, 2.02 GAA, .930 SV% (MHL), 6 games, 1.84 GAA, .925 SV% (KHL)
Murashov's talent is good enough to have him ranked higher on this list. The main knock on him is that it's hard to say when he might even make it over to North America.
Murashov had an exceptional 2022-23 season in the MHL -- the Russian junior league. He appeared in 42 games with Lokomotiv's affiliate, posting a 1.65 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage. He recorded 11 shutouts, two shy of an MHL record. He won the MHL's award for the top Russian junior goaltender, and was one of three finalists for the league's top player. But with no real opening at the KHL level for his club, he spent most of the season in the MHL. He only played one KHL game that season, making 18 saves on 19 shots in a win.
It was much of the same for Murashov this year, spending most of the season in the junior league. But he got a longer look in the KHL this year and fared well in his six games.
Murashov's KHL contract with Lokomotiv expires this summer. Ideally, he has at least one full, good season at the KHL level before moving over to North America.
The good news is there's no real need to rush to bring him over. The NHL and Russia have no transfer agreement -- that means that when a player is drafted out of Russia, his signing rights with the NHL team never expire. He can take as long as he needs, the Penguins won't lose his rights.
8. Cruz Lucius
Position: Wing
Age: 20
Size: 6-0, 178
Shoots: Right
Acquired: Jake Guentzel trade
2023-24 stats: 36 games, 13 goals, 21 assists (NCAA)
Lucius was only a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin this past season, so he's likely the furthest off of the three forward prospects the Penguins got in the Guentzel deal. But he seems to have a pretty high ceiling.
Lucius is a right-shot forward who plays both wings. He plays on the power play and doesn't kill penalties, but hopes to add penalty-killing as a skill of his next season.
"I think my strengths are my shot -- I feel like I can shoot from distance -- and I say also my playmaking ability," Lucius told me in an interview for this feature I did on him after the trade.. "I think I can make a lot of plays, whether it's through guys' sticks, or just little plays that maybe some guys can't think of. I also think I'm a pretty competitive guy. I always want to win and succeed."
Lucius seemed to have no problem adjusting to college hockey -- he led Wisconsin in scoring as a freshman with 34 points, scoring 11 goals and 23 assists. While his point total was identical this season, leading Wisconsin again with 34 points, Lucius felt as he made major strides when it came to his two-way game, with a more increased focus in backchecking.
Lucius won't be turning pro just yet. He'll be returning to college for at least one more season ... but not to Wisconsin. Lucius transferred to Arizona State last month, one of six players who transferred to coach Greg Powers' Sun Devils this summer.
7. Sam Poulin
Position: Center/wing
Age: 23
Size: 6-1, 208
Shoots: Left
Acquired: First-round pick, 2019
2023-24 stats: 41 games, 16 goals, 15 assists (AHL), 3 games (NHL)
Poulin had the best year of his AHL career. But in a way it was also a tough season when it came to his luck.
Poulin, after missing most of the 2022-23 season for a mental health absence, started the year in the AHL. That was the right move at the time, given that he was essentially coming off of a lost season and needed the big minutes. He was playing well and likely in line for a call up, but then suffered a high-ankle sprain that sidelined him for a month. He came back, returned to form, and was again looking to be in line for a call up before he suffered another injury that sidelined him for a month.
Cap constraints kept Poulin in the AHL much of the year. When he finally got recalled late in the year, he seemed poised to settle into a bottom-six role. But the stomach bug that started sweeping the locker room at the start of April knocked him out again, and also was responsible for him ending up back in Wilkes-Barre when cap space was needed to replace Tristan Jarry when he got sick. Poulin just couldn't win. But he managed to stay positive and keep smiling regardless. He was just happy to be playing hockey again.
Poulin, who signed a two-year contract with the Penguins this summer, should push for a regular spot in the Penguins' bottom-six next season. He can play both center and wing, and he could surely handle at least fourth-ling wing duties next to Noel Acciari.
Poulin has potential. We likely would have seen that realized at the NHL level by now, if not for the extenuating circumstances he's dealt with. But he only just turned 23 years old. He's still young.
6. Jack St. Ivany
Position: Defenseman
Age: 24 (25 next month)
Size: 6-3 198
Shoots: Right
Acquired: Free agent signing in 2022
2023-24 stats: 54 games, 4 goals, 11 assists (AHL), 14 games, 1 assist (AHL)
St. Ivany will be sticking around for awhile after signing a three-year contract with the Penguins last month.
It's been quite the rise for St. Ivany. After originally being a fourth-round pick of the Flyers in 2018, he went unsigned and became a free agent, picked up quickly by Ron Hextall. St. Ivany went from a third-pairing AHL defenseman and occasional healthy scratch in his first professional season to an NHL regular toward the end of his second professional season.
It just took some time for St. Ivany to be ready for a full-time role in the NHL. Consistency was his main issue in his rookie year. Then-coach J.D. Forrest gave him an increased role on the top-pairing this past season, and St. Ivany grew into it. He found that consistency.
"This year he's just a much steadier, confident player," Forrest told me of St. Ivany after his recall. "He's got a physical edge to him that he's been bringing on a nightly basis. Last year, he could have a couple good games here and there then he'd fall off a bit. This year he's been very steady. If he hasn't been his best, he's still been good. He's figured out how to do that. It's one of those things that comes with maturity. Jack's done a nice job of that."
The third pairing was the best it was all season with St. Ivany there on the right side, and he was entrusted with penalty-killing time too, even from his first NHL game. It'll be interesting to see what he can do with a full season -- and more -- in the NHL moving forward.
5. Ville Koivunen
Position: Wing
Age: 20 (21 this month)
Size: 6-0, 172
Shoots: Left
Acquired: Guentzel trade
2023-24 stats: 59 games, 22 goals, 34 assists (Liiga)
Two facts: Koivunen's 56 points are the most by a 20-year-old player in nearly 30 years in the Finnish league. From the start of December until the end of the regular season, Koivunen led the entire league in points.
Koivunen blew his previous career highs of 12 goals and 18 assists away last season. He picked up steam as the season went on, too, which was encouraging.
Koivunen's a skilled winger with good hockey IQ and puck-handling abilities. His main weakness is his skating, with him spending his summers working on becoming more explosive.
I had more on Koivunen in this feature from after the trade.
Koivunen made his AHL debut in Wilkes-Barre's short-lived playoff run, scoring a goal and an assist in two games. He didn't look out of place in that short sample size, which bodes well for next season as he looked to adjust to the North American game full-time. He'll most likely start the season in the AHL, but it wouldn't be surprising to see him get a recall midseason.
4. Vasily Ponomarev
Position: Center
Age: 22
Size: 5-10, 180
Shoots: Left
Acquired: Guentzel trade
2023-24 stats: 45 games, 9 goals, 21 assists (AHL), 2 games, 1 goal, 1 assist (NHL)
Ponomarev was the top prospect the Penguins got out of the Guentzel deal, and he likely would have seen NHL time after the trade had he not been injured.
Ponomarev only played four games with Wilkes-Barre, recording one goal, before suffering a high-ankle sprain that ended his season. But even in that short stint, Forrest was excited about what Ponomarev could bring.
"He's got a great motor," Forrest said. "He doesn't give up on any plays, and he's got some skill too. He's a guy who gets second opportunities, third opportunities because he just stays on pucks and doesn't quit. Then he has the ability to make plays within that. He has that third-liner mindset but a skill to operate in the top two lines with us."
I had more on Ponomarev in this feature from after the trade.
Ponomarev has played professional hockey in North America for the last two full-seasons, including two games in the NHL with Carolina last season before the trade. He's a real candidate for a bottom-six role coming out of next training camp. While he's primarily a two-way, playmaking center, he does have limited experience at wing as well.
3. Owen Pickering
Position: Defenseman
Age: 20
Size: 6-3, 194
Shoots: Left
Acquired: First-round pick, 2022
2023-24 stats: 59 games, seven goals, 39 assists (WHL)
Pickering is the Penguins' top defense prospect, that's clear.
Pickering's junior career wrapped up this season, and he set career highs in assists (39) and points (46), and finished two goals shy of his previous career high set in each of the two preceding seasons.
Pickering's big concern since he was drafted was needing to get bigger and stronger. He came into his first development camp in 2022 weighing only 175 pounds, and weighed in at 194 pounds on the first day of the Penguins' development camp last summer.
"I haven't felt the weight yet run too heavy, it's not there yet," Pickering explained last summer. "It's been pretty good, I feel stronger and more powerful."
Even nearly 20 pounds heavier, Pickering still looked pretty lanky last summer, and Pickering himself added that he's still not where he wants to be in that regard. But given how quickly he was able to put that weight on with the right diet and exercise plan from the Penguins, it'll be interesting to see how Pickering comes into this summer's development camp. Another summer in the gym will have him in a good position for pro hockey.
With Pickering being 20 years old, he's now eligible for the AHL starting next season. That's where he'll be to start. Defensemen generally take longer to develop, so it wouldn't be surprising to see Pickering spend most -- if not all -- of next season in the AHL.
2. Joel Blomqvist
Position: Goaltender
Age: 22
Size: 6-2, 183
Catches: Left
Acquired: Second-round pick, 2020
2023-24 stats: 45 games, 2.16 GAA, .921 SV%, 1 shutout (AHL)
Blomqvist is the goaltender of the future, and he had an exceptional rookie season in the AHL this year.
Blomqvist went 25-12-6 in Wilkes-Barre's regular season, tying Matt Murray for the second-most wins by a rookie goaltender in Wilkes-Barre history and coming one win shy of Marc-Andre Fleury's record of 26. He was an All-Star. He was also very consistent -- in his 45 appearances, he only allowed more than three goals six times, and three of those instances came in a single three-game stretch starting in November. He had one shutout, and 17 games where he only allowed one goal. Blomqvist started the year in a 1A/1B tandem situation with Magnus Hellberg, taking on more of the workload as the season went on. When Hellberg was moved out at the trade deadline, it was a move made with the goal in mind of making Blomqvist the clear No. 1, and he didn't falter with the increased workload.
The Penguins still don't have a backup goaltender entering next season, with Alex Nedeljkovic unsigned and an unrestricted free agent. Blomqvist may very well be in the running for that spot, as will be Larsson after he was signed as a free agent last month.
Dubas said in his season-ending media availability that Blomqvist's playoff run with Wilkes-Barre would give them more information on how to proceed with the backup goaltending position. Blomqvist's playoff run was brief, but it's also hard to put much stock into it. The AHL first round is best-of-three, it only takes two wins to move on. Wilkes-Barre was swept by Lehigh Valley, and Blomqvist recorded a 3.49 goals-against average and a .894 save percentage. Blomqvist looked good in the first loss, a 2-1 Phantoms win in which he stopped 30 of 32 shots. The guys in front of him just couldn't get much off in terms of offense. Wilkes-Barre was eliminated the next game with a 5-4 overtime loss, and Blomqvist stopped 29 of 34 shots. And if the AHL had video review, it would have made up for the terrible officiating in that game. At least one Phantoms goal came directly off a missed Phantoms penalty call, and the Phantoms' tying goal to force overtime was scored with a blatant high-stick.
Blomqvist might not see Wilkes-Barre again. But if he does go back to the AHL to start, he'll almost surely be the next man up in the event a recall is needed.
1. Brayden Yager
Position: Center
Age: 19
Size: 5-11, 173
Shoots: Right
Acquired: First-round pick, 2023
2023-24 stats: 57 games, 35 goals, 60 assists (WHL)
No surprise here. Yager's their top prospect -- and with no first-round pick this year, he'll almost certainly remain their top prospect over the course of the season.
Yager set career highs in goals and points this year, up from his 28 goals and 50 assists in 67 games in his previous season. He carried over his strong play into the playoffs with 11 goals and 16 assists in 20 games in Moose Jaw's run to a WHL championship, followed by three goals and three assists in four Memorial Cup games.
Yager projects as an eventual top-six forward, and he's really not far off from seeing NHL time ... but next year might be a little too soon. Because of the NHL-CHL transfer agreement, Yager isn't yet old enough to play in the AHL next season. It's either play in the NHL or go back to junior until his team's season ends. He'll get every chance to prove that he can earn a spot in the NHL, but if I had to bet I'd bet on him going back to junior. He needs to get bigger and stronger before he makes the jump to playing against professionals. He's still got a ways to go in faceoffs if he wants to be a center at the professional level, and another year working with Matt Cullen on those wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.
Going back to junior doesn't necessarily mean that he'll stay in Moose Jaw, either. If the Warriors aren't contenders next season, what often happens in those scenarios is they'll sell off their final-year good players like Yager to contenders to retool.
