We now have the first month of the 2019-2020 hockey season in the books. The season started off looking like it could become a disastrous one. Bryan Rust was injured in the last preseason game. As a team our Pittsburgh Penguins’ came out rather flat against the Buffalo Sabres and lost 3 – 1, when the regular season started. And even though they then beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 7 – 1, they lost Evgeni Malkin and Nick Bjugstad, 2 – Centers. Soon after that Alex Galchenyuk’s nagging lower body injury from the preseason finally took him off the ice too. Things looked bleak.
Fortunately, between a friendly schedule and the efforts of some of our kids who were called up from Wilkes Barre – Scranton (WBS) our favorite hockey team has done a little bit better than tread water. They have a firm grasp on the top Wild Card spot and aren’t that far off the Division lead. Prospects like Sam Lafferty, Adam Johnson, and Joseph Blandisi held the fort.
Now as October has closed out and November is about to start, injured forwards Rust, Bjugstad, and Galchenyuk are already back, while Malkin appears to be on the verge of returning. With the return of those veterans, The Penguins’ farm hands will be rejoining WBS. So I figured it may be a good time to take a peek at all of the other prospects in the organization, honing their skills for the time they too may be called on to don the Black and Gold.
| Skaters | Po | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PM | +/- |
| Addison, Calen | D | Lethbridge | 15 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 0 |
| Agozzino, Andrew | C/W | WBS Penguins | 8 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 4 | -1 |
| Airola, Santeri | D | Ketterä | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 |
| Airola, Santeri | D | SaiPa Loan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| Almari, Niclas | D | WBS Penguins | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| Almeida, Justin | C/W | WBS Penguins | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -3 |
| Angello, Anthony | RW | WBS Penguins | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | -3 |
| Bellerive, Jordy | C | WBS Penguins | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 15 | -4 |
| Bengtsson, Lukas | D | St. Petersburg | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Björkqvist, Kasper | LW | WBS Penguins | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -3 |
| Caufield, Judd | RW | Univ N Dakota | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Cramarossa, Joseph | C | WBS Penguins | 8 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 14 | -1 |
| Czuczman, Kevin | D | WBS Penguins | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| DiPauli, Thomas | C/L | WBS Penguins | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -2 |
| Drozg, Jan | W | Wheeling Nailers | 6 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 4 | -2 |
| Haggerty, Ryan | RW | WBS Penguins | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -4 |
| Hållander, Filip | F | Luleå HF | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Hållander, Filip | F | Sweden U20 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | |
| Jones, Ryan | D | Univ Nebraska-Omaha | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 21 | 4 |
| Joseph, Pierre-Olivier | D | WBS Penguins | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 |
| Legare, Nathan | RW | Baie-Comeau Drakkar | 14 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 8 | -11 |
| Lucchini, Jake | C/L | WBS Penguins | 9 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | -4 |
| Martinsen, Andreas | W | San Diego Gulls | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Masonius, Joseph | D | Manchester Monarchs | 12 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 25 | -1 |
| Miletic, Sam | LW | WBS Penguins | 9 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
| Ölund, Linus | C | Brynäs IF Loan | 11 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Palojärvi, Antti | D | Lukko U20 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | -3 |
| Palojärvi, Antti | D | Lukko | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Palve, Oula | C | WBS Penguins | 9 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | -7 |
| Pavlychev, Nikita | C | Penn State | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | -2 |
| Pedan, Andrey | D | AK Bars Kazan | 18 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 18 | 11 |
| Phillips, Clayton | D | Penn State | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Poulin, Samuel | LW | Sherbrooke | 14 | 9 | 16 | 25 | 19 | 16 |
| Puustinen, Valtteri | LW | HPK | 17 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 6 | 1 |
| Warsofsky, David | D | WBS Penguins | 9 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 6 | -9 |
| Goalies | Team | GP | GAA | Sv% |
| DeSmith, Casey | WBS Penguins | 7 | 3.46 | 0.880 |
| D’Orio, Alex | Wheeling Nailers | 5 | 3.86 | 0.887 |
| Larmi, Emil | WBS Penguins | 3 | 4.05 | 0.882 |
At Center, there doesn’t seem to be too much depth. Lafferty impressed during training camp and is the only Center that appears to be doing anything. I have been hopeful that Jordy Bellerive and Nikita Pavlychev would have strong showings but they are off to slow starts. Bellerive finally scored his first professional Goal (G) in the last WBS game of October. GM Jim Rutherford’s big off-season signing, Oula Palve does have 4 assists but is a -7.
On Left Wing (LW), Samuel Poulin has been lighting up the QMJHL. He set a single game scoring record with 2 Gs and 6 Asssists (A). It looks like he wants to make that big leap up to Pittsburgh next season. Some of our Canadian friends have had a chance to see him play and have commented here on how well he looks in games.
Valtteri Puustinen has 7 G and 7 A in 17 games in the Finnish league Liiga. He is also built like Coach Mike Sullivan likes them, tiny. He is only listed as 5′-9″
Outside of Poulin, Puustinen and Johnson (who has been playing with the big club on emergency recall), no one else is really seems to be distinguishing themselves. Even Sam Miletic who, 2 years ago, impressed enough to earn a contract as an undreafted Free Agent (FA) is struggling with only 1 G and 3 A.
On Right Wing (RW), no one is really lighting it up. I wanted to see Kasper Björkqvist and he did impress during the preseason with Lafferty and Nathan Legare but like Bellerive and Miletic, he only has 1 G so far this season. Perhaps that is because the team is trying to force him to play LW and like many European’s he may be more comfortable on his off wing.
Anthony Angello does have 2 goals, but I was hoping to see more out of him this season.
Legare is getting some scoring, but not like he did last year or during this years preseason and his +/- looks a bit concerning.
Last years draft pick Filip Hållander is injured (broken leg) and will be out until December.
On Defense the cupboard really looks barren once you get below the big club. Calen Addison‘s offensive numbers are off his pace of the last couple of seasons and his +/- is so-so at 0. Niclas Almari seems to have the best numbers of the WBS defensive corps with 3 Points (Pts) and a +3. We still retain the rights to Andrey Pedan, at least until this summer and he really may be the best defenseman the team holds the rights too not in Pittsburgh. Pedan has 9 Pts in 18 games, 33 hits and 13 Blocks and is a +11; that may look rather good in Pittsburgh – just saying.
Tell me again, why did we resign David Warsofky. He is a -9 in 9 games.
Penguins Goalie Prospects are struggling. Maybe Casey DeSmith needs a bit of time to get his game back after his demotion. As for Emil Larmi, he may still be adjusting to North American Hockey. Or it could be that the Baby Penguins Defense is leaving them high and dry (but then again it could be the other way around, I don’t get a chance to see too many WBS games).
What’s Next
The November schedule looks like it will be starting off a bit rough; our hometown heroes have to take on the Edmonton Oilers and Boston Bruins for their first 2 games. Both the Oilers and Bruins lead their respective divisions. Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl leads the league in scoring with 25 points and his teammate Connor McDavid tied for 3rd only 2 points behind. Boston’s David Pasternak is 2nd in the League in scoring with 24 points and his teammate Brad Marchand checks in at 5th with 21 points. Our Penguins will have their Defense and Goalies tested
Defensively Boston’s will also be a challenge for our favorite flightless fowl’s offense. Anything is possible but I will not expect to see Crosby and Crew post 7 Goals (G) against Tukka Rask. The bean town Bruins’ Goalie currently has a Save Percentage (Sv%) of 0.951% and Goals Against Average (GAA) of 1.41.
Hi TOR!
Thanks for this update! I knew that Poulin would be the most successful prospect. His team, the Sherbrooke Phoenix, is freaking hot! They are 14-1-2 for 30 points. They have the best record in Canada!
As for Legare, it is more difficult for him but his team, the Baie Comeau Drakkar, is struggling this year. They are 5-8-3 for 13 points. Just to give you an idea, Legare is leading his team in points with 13!! They also have 7 rookies. I guess it will take some to get things back on track.
The baby Pens are playing for 0.500 and I am not impressed so far. The chemistry is not quite there. Well, hope the numbers are going to be better by December.
Hey Jorenz,
What do you think, if Poulin carries his game all season and into next, do you keep him in Pgh? And if so, how do you play him?
Do you play him with Crosby and flip Guentzel to RW?
Or do you play him and Guentzel on Seperate lines, giving Crobsy and Malkin each a legitimate NHL LW for a change?
Or something else?
Legare – Interesting insight. If Legare is saddled with a bunch of rookies then maybe his 13 points and -11 are really not that bad, trying to carry the team himself.
The Baby Pens – I was hoping for better, but I guess it will take time for Mike Vellucci to get his team where he wants it. It also may be due to the turn over at Center. Blueger is on the Big Club and Lafferty was here on emergency recall. Linus Olund was Loaned to the SHL
The Defense also looks bad. The team let Ethan Prow go (FA) and signed old man Warsofsky (who ended up -1 more tonight dropping his +/- to – 10. The word I heard about their disatisfaction with Prow was that he was developing at a late age, but they signed a 29 year old? Sounds like they are talking out of both sides of their mouth. 10 of the Baby Penguins that are actually signed by the parent club are 25 years old or older and they let the AHL 2nd team All Star walk this past off season. That is my frustration with the team.
Hi TOR!
Well, not a long time ago, Poulin was interviewed by TVA Sports Montreal. He told the show host that his main focus this year was the Sherbrooke Phoenix. But in the back of my mind, he prepares himself to make the team in Pittsburgh next year. He is so confident this year.
Here are answers to your following questions:
Captain Sid would be happy to have Poulin on his line! But for the team’s benefit, I would put Poulin on the 2nd line with Geno. Since Geno tends to struggle defensively, Poulin could complement him very well. Poulin’s trademark is his excellent North-South game. He has the ability to retrieve puck in corners pretty quickly. He can be physical when necessary. He is also a very good playmaker.
I would leave Poulin on LW, his natural position. A 2nd line with Geno-Lafferty-Poulin would be a pretty good one. Lafferty is a pretty good finisher. He would also bring some speed. I think to play with young and fresh legs would rejuvenate Geno.
You are right about Ethan Prow. I still don’t understand why they let him go. I mean they aren’t too many defensemen who finish with 50 points in Professional hockey (even if it is in the AHL). He would be way better thatn Jack Johnson for sure!