Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's chase for the franchise's first Calder Cup begins tonight here in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. when the puck drops at 7:05 p.m. for Game 1 of the first-round series against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

This might just be the best chance Wilkes-Barre has had at a run in a long time, and it's because of the latest wave of prospects.

The Penguins last week sent all their healthy eligible skaters -- Ville Koivunen, Vasily Ponomarev, Sam Poulin, Valtteri Puustinen, Joona Koppanen and Filip Kral -- back down to the AHL following the conclusion of the NHL regular season. Rutger McGroarty, already skating after a foot injury late in the season, is expected to not be far behind and join the team at some point for the playoff run.

McGroarty said at the Penguins' locker room cleanout day last week that they "have a young team, and everybody knows that." And while he knows some may look at their group as one that's "immature," he thinks they'll have fresh, fast legs throughout the entire lineup.

"I feel like from the forwards to the D corps all the way to the goalies, we have a really deep team," McGroarty said. "Guys are really bought in. I feel like we're bought in for each other."

McGroarty had a slower start to his pro career. He was getting chances, but he just wasn't able to finish on them. And when he wasn't producing offensively, he didn't have a ton else going for him. He worked on growing the rest of his game, and eventually was able to break through offensively, and was one of Wilkes-Barre's hottest players late in the season, scoring eight goals and 10 assists in his last 19 games before his recall. He finished his rookie year with 14 goals and 25 assists in 60 games. Now, once healthy, Wilkes-Barre is getting back a more well-rounded player who can score too.

"Developing a 'B' game, being impactful on the penalty-kill, on the power play, in the D zone, making good wall plays, I feel like my overall game has just grown so much," McGroarty said of his season.

Koivunen had no slow start. He produced from the beginning, and likely would have finished the year as the league's rookie leading scorer had he not been recalled at the end. His 56 points (21 goals, 35 assists) led Wilkes-Barre and was four points shy of leading the AHL's first-year players.

Puustinen, having been sent down to the AHL early in the year, was with Koivunen for most of the season. And he said it was "no surprise for me" to see Koivunen come up to the NHL and immediately click, picking up seven assists in eight games in the top six.

"He helped us so, so much in the games in Wilkes," Puustinen said. "He's so good. He's a really, really smart player. He can play with the best players here, 100%."

I asked Koivunen about his confidence in Wilkes-Barre's ability to make a real run and he said, "Oh, it's big."

"We have very good team there," he added. "A great group, a lot of fun always. We played pretty good the whole season, so I'm pretty happy and excited about what's going to happen."

Ponomarev, at 23, is still one of the young guys himself. But he's only one of a few guys on the team with Calder Cup experience, winning it in 2022 with the Chicago Wolves.

"You have to grind, play north," he said of what it'll take to win. "I think in Wilkes, the team is building up more confidence right now with the wins, with the games that we've played there. I think that's really good for us."

Wilkes-Barre is dealing with some newer injuries late in the year, including goaltender Filip Larsson. That leaves Joel Blomqvist as the starter, backed up by last year's ECHL Goaltender of the Year Taylor Gauthier. But the biggest blow is the loss of Emil Bemstrom, whose 23 goals tied for the team lead and 48 points ranked third despite only skating in 48 of the team's 72 games. He requires season-ending surgery, and won't be able to return at any point in this run.

It's tough to replace what Bemstrom was able to bring at the AHL level this year, but Wilkes-Barre isn't exactly short on supply at forward. In addition to the reinforcements who were just returned, there's winger Avery Hayes, whose 23 goals tied Bemstrom for the lead and helped earn him an NHL entry-level contract with the Penguins during the year. Tristan Broz had a hot start to his rookie season until it was interrupted by a bout of mononucleosis, but has regained his strength and returned to form, and finished the year with 19 goals and 18 assists in 59 games. There's also Atley Calvert, an AHL-contracted rookie forward who came up from Wheeling midseason and finished with nine goals and five assists in 26 games.

Kral rejoins a blue line that is led by Owen Pickering and Jack St. Ivany on the top pairing. And if the pairs shake out the way they were before Kral's recall, he'll be back with Harrison Brunicke, who played his first 10 professional games after his WHL season ended.

Some key veterans round out the group, namely forward Boris Katchouk, whose 49 points (21 goals, 28 assists) was second in team scoring to only Koivunen. Defenseman Dan Renouf is a two-time Calder Cup champion himself. And while he might find himself out of the lineup with recalls and injured players returning, his presence and leadership with his experience could provide a huge boost.

Still, the first round could prove to be a tall task. Wilkes-Barre dominated the season series between the two, going 8-2-1-1 in their 12 meetings. But in a best-of-three series, there's little room for error, and things can end quickly, as Wilkes-Barre found out in last year's first-round sweep by the Phantoms.

If Wilkes-Barre can make it out of this first round and continue to get (and stay healthy), that can go a long way toward their chances of making a deep run this year. And a deep run can go a long way for the Penguins' young prospects coming into next season.