BUFFALO, N.Y. -- It's the best time of year.
Starting on Friday, a group of Penguins prospects will head to the LECOM Harborcenter in Buffalo, N.Y., to participate in the annual Prospects Challenge, a tournament between the young players of the Penguins, Sabres, Bruins, Devils, Blue Jackets and Senators.
Here's everything you need to know about the Penguins participating:
SCHEDULE, STREAMING
Friday, Sept. 13, 12 p.m vs Bruins
Saturday, Sept. 14, 12 p.m. vs. Senators
Monday, Sept. 16, 5 p.m. vs. Sabres
The Penguins will stream the games on their own website, and we'll share the links here on the site each day. It'll just be a video feed -- no broadcasters. Some of the opponents (definitely the Sabres on Monday) may stream the games against the Penguins on their own sites as well.
WHO IS COMING?
The Penguins are bringing a 24-man roster of 13 forwards, eight defensemen and three goaltenders.
Forwards: Jack Beck, Tristan Broz, Atley Calvert, Justin Cloutier, Matheiu De St. Phalle, Cooper Foster, Avery Hayes, Beau Jelsma, Gabe Klassen, Ville Koivunen, Logan Pietila, Vasily Ponomarev, Rutger McGroarty
Defensemen: Isaac Belliveau, Scooter Brickey, Harrison Brunicke, Caeden Carlisle, Finn Harding, Donovan McCoy, Owen Pickering, Emil Pieniniemi
Goaltenders: Taylor Gauthier, Sergei Murashov, Charlie Schenkel
Unlike development camp, which is geared more toward players with limited to no professional experience, a number of regulars from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Wheeling are a part of this crew, including Gauthier, Belliveau and Ponomarev.
The lone absence due to injury this year is second-round pick Tanner Howe, who took a puck to the face recently and is day-to-day with a facial injury. Doesn't sound too serious, but he looked like he was missing at least one tooth earlier today. It's too bad -- usually the "rats" like Howe stand out in this setting.
Wilkes-Barre's coaching staff of Kirk MacDonald, Sheldon Brookbank and Nick Luukko and Nailers head coach Derek Army will lead the team. The Penguins typically send a large contingent of staff from hockey operations, the development department, and the NHL coaching staff to watch the prospects too. No pressure.
WHO TO WATCH?
Here are the top five prospects I'm interested in watching in this setting -- who may not necessarily be the top five in terms of skill.
1. Sergei Murashov
Murashov posted two shutouts and only conceded one goal in a third game in the Penguins' four-on-four development camp tournament earlier this summer. But this will be Murashov's first "real" game in North America, and a good opportunity to see how he fares in the transition to the smaller ice and different style of play. Joel Blomqvist, who has graduated from these tournaments, posted a 34-save shutout in his full game last year for context.
For more on Murashov signing his entry-level contract now and his mindset going into some training camp battles, check out my story from Thursday.
2. Rutger McGroarty
This one's obvious, too. McGroarty is the Penguins' new top prospect, and this will be his first time playing in any kind of game since being acquired in the trade with the Jets. Because McGroarty is coming from college, he hasn't had the opportunity to play in a tournament like this before with and against other NHL prospects. This will provide a chance to play against some bigger and older players with some AHL experience, and it'll be interesting to see how he stacks up.
3. Isaac Belliveau
Last year one person in the organization told me that there were two future NHL players in Wheeling -- Gauthier and Belliveau.
The Penguins are still pretty lacking in defense in the prospect pool, and Belliveau remains an intriguing option. He spent almost the full season in the ECHL last season -- mainly in an effort to get him big minutes as he adjusted to the pro game, but also because he was a victim of the numbers game. Wilkes-Barre had too many defensemen (including some key veterans) and never really needed to recall any from Wheeling. Belliveau made the most of his time with the Nailers, which I wrote about for this feature when I went to Wheeling for the ECHL playoffs.
Belliveau also plays with an edge, he has a bit of a mean streak to his game. Guys with that element typically stand out in these settings as they do what they can to catch the eyes of management. Expect him to get under the skin of opponents and get physical.
4. Ville Koivunen
Koivunen't another player who is making the move to North America this season, and so this tournament is an opportunity to see him on the smaller ice. He does have limited AHL experience -- 12 games in 2022-23 when he was still in the Hurricanes' organization, and then two games in Wilkes-Barre's short-lived playoff run last season, in which he had a goal and an assist.
Koivunen also finished last season hot in Finland. He set career highs with 56 points (22 goals, 34 assists) in 59 games, the most by a 20-year-old player in nearly 30 years in the Finnish league. From December until the end of the season, Koivunen lead the entire league in points. Can he pick up where he left off? We'll get a chance to see here.
5. Donovan McCoy
Of the few undrafted free agents here, the right-handed defenseman McCoy intrigues me the most as potential option to sign this summer. For one, he's at the age where he could either go back to the OHL next season or be eligible to play in the minors. He could be in Wilkes-Barre next year. And outside of St. Ivany -- who may or may not still be considered a "prospect" depending on your definition -- the Penguins have no NHL-contracted right-handed defense prospects who will be playing in the AHL or ECHL this season. There's an opportunity and a need for someone like McCoy to come in and take a spot. If he can impress at this tournament, that might be what gets him that contract.
I spoke with McCoy at the Penguins' development camp earlier in the summer for this feature, if you want to learn more about him as a player. He's also another guy who tries to bring a bit of an edge to his game, so that's one way he could stand out here.
