Penguins director of player development Tom Kostopoulos said Thursday that the next step for Harrison Brunicke in his development is to just "keep going."
"I don't want to put a goal there for him, but I think he's come a long way," Kostopoulos said. "I think the time in Wilkes-Barre was really beneficial. His time with the coaching staff there, with some of our development staff, he took constructive criticism and was able to apply it right away. If you watch his games in Wilkes-Barre, there was growth. It took off. It was impressive how he grew into the games in the playoffs, he looked very confident for a young kid. We're really excited about his potential. He's could be a really good two-way defender with offensive upside."
Brunicke remains ineligible for the AHL next season, so if he doesn't make the NHL roster, he's heading back to junior. For a lot of reasons, the move back to junior is likely the best for him: If he's in the NHL, there's no AHL re-assignment fallback plan if he regresses. There'd be the risk of burning a year of his contract and his waiver-exempt status and still having to send him back to junior midseason if it turns out that's what he needed. Going back to junior, too, would allow him to play for Canada in the World Junior Championship. Sending him back to junior would also make his contract slide a year and not count toward the 50-man limit.
There's still room for Brunicke to grow and develop at the WHL level. No need to rush him.
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Taylor Haase
9:23 pm - 07.03.2025Cranberry, Pa.Kostopoulos: Brunicke's growth 'impressive'
Penguins director of player development Tom Kostopoulos said Thursday that the next step for Harrison Brunicke in his development is to just "keep going."
"I don't want to put a goal there for him, but I think he's come a long way," Kostopoulos said. "I think the time in Wilkes-Barre was really beneficial. His time with the coaching staff there, with some of our development staff, he took constructive criticism and was able to apply it right away. If you watch his games in Wilkes-Barre, there was growth. It took off. It was impressive how he grew into the games in the playoffs, he looked very confident for a young kid. We're really excited about his potential. He's could be a really good two-way defender with offensive upside."
In case you missed it, I went to Wilkes-Barre during the playoffs and wrote this feature on Brunicke's growth.
Brunicke remains ineligible for the AHL next season, so if he doesn't make the NHL roster, he's heading back to junior. For a lot of reasons, the move back to junior is likely the best for him: If he's in the NHL, there's no AHL re-assignment fallback plan if he regresses. There'd be the risk of burning a year of his contract and his waiver-exempt status and still having to send him back to junior midseason if it turns out that's what he needed. Going back to junior, too, would allow him to play for Canada in the World Junior Championship. Sending him back to junior would also make his contract slide a year and not count toward the 50-man limit.
There's still room for Brunicke to grow and develop at the WHL level. No need to rush him.
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