Penguins Prospects Update thru March

Its that time of the month my friends, time for me to look back across our Pittsburgh Penguins prospects pool and see what they are up to. There have been several changes since my last update. GM Ron Hextall has been rather busy trading players and signing others.

On the way in

Hextall has been a busy bee signing undrafted free agents from the Juniors and College ranks. Way back on March 1st, Jordan Frasca, a Center, out of the OHL and Taylor Gauthier, a Goalie, from the WHL. On March 10th our GM signed Corey Andonovski, a Right Wing (RW) and Colin Swoyer, a Right-Handed Defenseman (RHD), on March 28th, from the NCAA. Frasca and Gauthier have continued their seasons with their Junior teams while Adnonovski and Swoyer have been assigned to our AHL farm club, the Wilkes Barre – Scranton (WBS) Penguins – now that the NCAA season, at least for them is over.

Swoyer not only is an RHD, but he put up 23 Points (Pts) in 36 Games Played (GP). At 24 he is also close to that magical age of 27, where most Defensemen really mature into their position. Now, I am just throwing this out there, not saying I know anything for sure, but doesn’t that seem as though it might be a tip of the hand about the resigning of Kris Letang?

Almost all the video I have found so far of Swoyer shows off his offensive game, mostly sneaking in on the weakside for some pretty Goals (G). Therefore, the little bit of evidence I have seen shows that he is a Mike Sullivan type Defenseman, best suited for trying to drive the offense from the blue line.

On the way out

Mr. Hextall traded Goalie prospect Calle Clang and a 2nd round pick in the coming draft for Rickard Rakell at the trade deadline. I said it before, and I will say it again. If the team can resign Rakell, the trade is probably worth it. If Rakell is a rental, we lost a prospect that looks like he will be an NHL player some day.

Who is still in WBS?

Valterri Puustenin still leads the team in Gs 18 and Pts 35, but it was Samuel Poulin, Drew O’Connor, and Michael Chaput that tied for the most Pts in March (11). Poulin had 7 G, O’Connor and Chaput 3 G. Juuso Riikola checked in for the month of March with 9 Pts, all Assists (A).

The new kid, Andonovski, has not had a chance to really do anything yet. He has only played 5 games. As Penguins go, he is on the larger size, 6’-1”, 194 lbs – not really a typical Mike Sullivan Smurf.

Goaltending was suspect in March for our baby Penguins; they struggled. Louis Domingue did improve his Win-Loss-OTL record a little from (3-4-2 to 8-7-2) but he was very inconsistent. He had a couple of really bad outings. And with Domingues return to WBS, Alex D’Orio was sent back down to the Wheeling Nailers.

Defensively, Riikola was the most noticeable Defenseman in March, as mentioned above. Pierre-Olivier Joseph’s offense tailed off. He only posted 1 G and 2 A in the month but still managed to be +3

April will should see a couple of new faces on the baby Penguins blue line. Not only did the Pens AHL affiliate add Swoyer but Clayton Phillips finished his career up at Penn State, was signed and should be seeing some action in WBS.

I have mentioned before, I have been watching Phillips, now with Swoyer, there are 3 defensemen down on our farm I will be watching. Swoyer may be the most interesting one to watch. With Letang looking all but gone this off-season, to free agency, I will be very interested to see how far away he is.

What’s up in Wheeling?

Justin Almeida stayed on a Pt per Game pace notching 6 G and 8 A in 14 GP in March. He has 26 G and 57 Pts in 45 GP for the season for the Nailers Unfortunately, he has never been able to take advantage of his opportunities to stick in WBS let alone raise up to NHL level.

On Defense Josh Maniscalco added another 9 Pts in 14 GP, this month but defensively, he struggled more than a bit, posting a -13 in the +/- department.

In goal, D’Orio has struggled going back down to the ECHL. His GAA has ballooned up from 3.25 to 4.01 and his Sv% has dropped from 0.885 to 0.868.

Around the Junior Ranks

The big addition to the team seems to be Jordan Frasca. This kid is lighting it up in the OHL, after going undrafted during his draft year. He plays on a team with wunderkin Shane Wright, every pundits choice as this years number 1 overall draft pick. Frasca leads the Kingston Frontenacs with 41 G and is tied with Wright for 2nd in Pts with 83. I wrote about him before. From the video I have seen of him Frasca in not afraid to go to the net. Maybe this kid could provide that Center drive that Phil, Mike, and I were coveting just a couple of days ago.

Among the kids that started the month in the organization, Lukáš Švejkovský had another good month with his new team in Seattle. Švejkovský scored 10 G and added 9 A in 14 GP and was +10 for the month. Raivis Ansons also added 19 more Pts to his totals in March, including 5 G and was a +8 in 14 GP as well.

The Russian version of the AHL started their playoffs in March. Kirill Tankov had 5 pts in 13 GP.

Defensively, there are no players in our junior ranks that really stood out for me.

In Goal, Joel Blomqvist finished the Liiga season as its top Goalie. His GAA dropped a couple of points, down from 1.34 to 1.32 and his Sv% rose from 0.939 to 0.940. In 3 playoff games he is still a top Liiga with a GAA of 0.91 and a Sv% of 0.947, posting a W-L record of 2-1.

The Penguins other Goalie prospect in the Junior ranks also leads his league. Taylor Gauthier leads the WHL with combined totals of 2.25 GAA and a 0.931 Sv% between his time with the Prince George Cougars and Portland Winterhawks. His W-L-OT record is 26-9-0 with 4 Shutouts (SO).

Between Blomqvist, Gauthier, and Frasca, it looks like there may be a couple pf pretty good prospects in the pipe line