DK: One really BIG first impression for these Penguins
Only thing better than making my way up here to cover hockey for the first time in a few months ... is coming across not one practice but two.
On the main rink here at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, the Penguins' NHL-level players skated through a volunteer, coach-free scrimmage, a dozen seconds of which are below:
And on the alternate rink, then later on the main, the 24 youngsters who'll represent the franchise in the annual five-team Prospects Challenge for the coming week in Buffalo, N.Y., went through a final hour of prep before embarking up Route 79.
A few first impressions:
• I'm not about to do the math on the measurements, but it's the biggest group I've ever seen in this setting. And I've now seen more than 40 of these events.
On the NHL rink alone, three offseason additions -- Anthony Mantha (6-5, 234), Alexander Alexeyev (6-4, 229) and Justin Brazeau (6-6, 227) -- stood out in the literal sense, but not as much one might think on the same sheet as Kevin Hayes (6-5, 216), Joona Koppanen (6-5, 215) and Boko Imama (6-2, 221). That's not to suggest they're all bruisers like Imama, but the sheer volume's striking.
Not to be omitted, on the other rink, the three most important defense prospects -- Owen Pickering (6-5, 201), Emil Pieniniemi (6-3, 180) and, of course, Harrison Brunicke (6-3, 203) -- can scrape ceilings, as well.
And, from what I was told by a management source here, it wasn't an accident. Part of the priority in bolstering the broader performance in the defensive zone this offseason was, plain and simple, to get bigger and stronger, to win battles in front of the net, in the corners and along the boards all over the rink.
It's all overdue but also outstanding. A half-decade of watching this team get rag-dolled night after night, that's plenty enough.
• It's absurd to assess almost anything that occurs in early-September fare like this, but I'll go ahead regardless and blurt out that Sergei Murashov's a blast. An absolute blast.
• Might as well blurt out this, as well: What makes Brunicke such an enticing prospect is ... nothing at all, really. He's not about to floor anyone with any specific trait. But he makes all the little plays, he prioritizes the defending, and he's so cool, so comfortable in commanding from that perspective. On one drill, he reached with one hand to block a lane and use the other to instruct a forward which opponent to pick up.
"I know I've got to take care of the defensive side first," Brunicke would tell me later. "I know I've got to do that to make it to the NHL."
And how did his terrific showing in the 2024 camp make him feel about that status?
"I'm close. I know that."
• Two quality minutes I spent with Ville Koivunen:
This might sound awfully unfair, but I feel like Koivunen, Rutger McGroarty and no more than a couple other kids will be the swing votes in the coming season. If they rise, maybe sooner than some expect, everything changes.
• Koivunen had a clean breakaway against Murashov, executed a sleight of hand worthy of Vancouver magician Elias Pettersson ... and was stoned by the left pad, after which Koivunen playfully skated back into the line drill with both gloves over his helmet and mouth agape.
• Dan Muse was observing but from above, while minor-league coaches, chiefly Kirk MacDonald from the AHL affiliate, conducted the prospects' practice. As such, because the schematics will be the same in Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre, I took note of the one team tendency that seemed to be stressed above all: Stick together. Like, really together.
Mike Sullivan also preferred to have the players move in a pack, but this was at another tier. And in both directions, to boot. Rapid-fire passing. Puck support galore.
DEJAN KOVACEVIC / DKPS
Kirk MacDonald gathers the players for a dry-erase board session Thursday in Cranberry, Pa.
• Anyone expecting Evgeni Malkin to slow down this winter will be disappointed. His famed leg drive was evident with each stride, especially between the blue lines.
• Anyone expecting Sidney Crosby to decline in any capacity ... is out of their minds.
• They're both still here. They're both still very good to occasionally excellent at what they do. No matter how dour so much of the public discourse about the Penguins can be these days, particularly related to their older guys getting older, this also is true.
• I'm not sure where Kris Letang's trajectory happens to be headed, though the past season and change, respectfully, haven't been encouraging. But I still think a lot of what Erik Karlsson can do ... when sufficiently motivated. And in a season that'll set up a strong Swedish side entering the Olympics, I couldn't be more convinced he'll be motivated. He did not enjoy the criticism he endured back home in advance of Four Nations, and he won't want a sequel.
• Yes, the goal's to make the Stanley Cup playoffs. No longer guessing at this. Doesn't mean management went bonkers to achieve that goal at the expense of forfeiting something more sizable in the longer-term future. But it does mean there'll be a collective focus of ending a three-year drought of missing out on relevant hockey. And within that, remember that the $13 million-plus in remaining cap space can still be put to use closer to the NHL trade deadline if this team should ascend.
• Taylor Haase is bound for Buffalo to cover the Prospects Challenge as only she can, and the big camp begins in a week.
THE ASYLUM
DK: One really BIG first impression for these Penguins
Only thing better than making my way up here to cover hockey for the first time in a few months ... is coming across not one practice but two.
On the main rink here at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, the Penguins' NHL-level players skated through a volunteer, coach-free scrimmage, a dozen seconds of which are below:
And on the alternate rink, then later on the main, the 24 youngsters who'll represent the franchise in the annual five-team Prospects Challenge for the coming week in Buffalo, N.Y., went through a final hour of prep before embarking up Route 79.
A few first impressions:
• I'm not about to do the math on the measurements, but it's the biggest group I've ever seen in this setting. And I've now seen more than 40 of these events.
On the NHL rink alone, three offseason additions -- Anthony Mantha (6-5, 234), Alexander Alexeyev (6-4, 229) and Justin Brazeau (6-6, 227) -- stood out in the literal sense, but not as much one might think on the same sheet as Kevin Hayes (6-5, 216), Joona Koppanen (6-5, 215) and Boko Imama (6-2, 221). That's not to suggest they're all bruisers like Imama, but the sheer volume's striking.
Not to be omitted, on the other rink, the three most important defense prospects -- Owen Pickering (6-5, 201), Emil Pieniniemi (6-3, 180) and, of course, Harrison Brunicke (6-3, 203) -- can scrape ceilings, as well.
And, from what I was told by a management source here, it wasn't an accident. Part of the priority in bolstering the broader performance in the defensive zone this offseason was, plain and simple, to get bigger and stronger, to win battles in front of the net, in the corners and along the boards all over the rink.
It's all overdue but also outstanding. A half-decade of watching this team get rag-dolled night after night, that's plenty enough.
• It's absurd to assess almost anything that occurs in early-September fare like this, but I'll go ahead regardless and blurt out that Sergei Murashov's a blast. An absolute blast.
• Might as well blurt out this, as well: What makes Brunicke such an enticing prospect is ... nothing at all, really. He's not about to floor anyone with any specific trait. But he makes all the little plays, he prioritizes the defending, and he's so cool, so comfortable in commanding from that perspective. On one drill, he reached with one hand to block a lane and use the other to instruct a forward which opponent to pick up.
"I know I've got to take care of the defensive side first," Brunicke would tell me later. "I know I've got to do that to make it to the NHL."
And how did his terrific showing in the 2024 camp make him feel about that status?
"I'm close. I know that."
• Two quality minutes I spent with Ville Koivunen:
This might sound awfully unfair, but I feel like Koivunen, Rutger McGroarty and no more than a couple other kids will be the swing votes in the coming season. If they rise, maybe sooner than some expect, everything changes.
• Koivunen had a clean breakaway against Murashov, executed a sleight of hand worthy of Vancouver magician Elias Pettersson ... and was stoned by the left pad, after which Koivunen playfully skated back into the line drill with both gloves over his helmet and mouth agape.
• Dan Muse was observing but from above, while minor-league coaches, chiefly Kirk MacDonald from the AHL affiliate, conducted the prospects' practice. As such, because the schematics will be the same in Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre, I took note of the one team tendency that seemed to be stressed above all: Stick together. Like, really together.
Mike Sullivan also preferred to have the players move in a pack, but this was at another tier. And in both directions, to boot. Rapid-fire passing. Puck support galore.
DEJAN KOVACEVIC / DKPS
Kirk MacDonald gathers the players for a dry-erase board session Thursday in Cranberry, Pa.
• Anyone expecting Evgeni Malkin to slow down this winter will be disappointed. His famed leg drive was evident with each stride, especially between the blue lines.
• Anyone expecting Sidney Crosby to decline in any capacity ... is out of their minds.
• They're both still here. They're both still very good to occasionally excellent at what they do. No matter how dour so much of the public discourse about the Penguins can be these days, particularly related to their older guys getting older, this also is true.
• I'm not sure where Kris Letang's trajectory happens to be headed, though the past season and change, respectfully, haven't been encouraging. But I still think a lot of what Erik Karlsson can do ... when sufficiently motivated. And in a season that'll set up a strong Swedish side entering the Olympics, I couldn't be more convinced he'll be motivated. He did not enjoy the criticism he endured back home in advance of Four Nations, and he won't want a sequel.
• Yes, the goal's to make the Stanley Cup playoffs. No longer guessing at this. Doesn't mean management went bonkers to achieve that goal at the expense of forfeiting something more sizable in the longer-term future. But it does mean there'll be a collective focus of ending a three-year drought of missing out on relevant hockey. And within that, remember that the $13 million-plus in remaining cap space can still be put to use closer to the NHL trade deadline if this team should ascend.
• Taylor Haase is bound for Buffalo to cover the Prospects Challenge as only she can, and the big camp begins in a week.
Might as well step on the damned gas, right?
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