Penguins Prospects 2023 – 2024 Are Already Playing League Games

In an effort to at least not start off this post with any negativity let’s talk Pittsburgh Penguins’ Prospects. There are Penguins in this organization out there playing real live games, not just meaningless preseason games. The European Leagues are about 1 month into their schedule and the Canadian Juniors have started up for a couple games.

For me, the most exciting thing this season is seeing that Kirill Tankov is back on the ice. If any of you follow the Penguins Prospects as closely as I do, you will remember that Tankov was the 3^rd of 3 – 7^th round draft picks our Penguins had in 2021 out of Khanty-Mansiysk Russia.

Now, don’t assume that means he is/was really a serious limited talent project. His low draft positioning could be more of a reflection of the difficulty in getting players out of Russia and into the NHL is no easy feat. Tankov has/had both decent size and skill; he is 6’-2”, 196lbs.

I has/had because again, if you remember is Tankov was seriously injured in his first game last season, when he was hit from behind and drilled into the boards. He ended up missing the rest of the season.

The good news is that he is back playing, and he started the season off with a very strong 6 Points (Pnts) in his 1^st 6 games, but his production has fallen off the last 4 games. I am very hopeful for the young Russian. I don’t want to see another Penguins’ Prospect felled before he could really display his talent in Pittsburgh like Jordy Bellerive (Although Bellerive’s injury was off the ice not on like Tankov)

This season’s 1^st round pick, Brayden Yager, also started the year off on fire, notching 5 points in his first 2 games. Perhaps his first taste of the pros whetted his appetite. He has 3 Goals (G) and 2 Assists (A) in his first 2 games back with his junior team.

Mikail Ye. Ilyin, this past draft’s 5th round pick, has 5 Pnts. in 11 Games Played (GP). What makes those numbers interesting to me is that Ilyin is only 18 and he is playing in Russia’s top professional league, the KHL.

Zam Plante and Kasper Björkqvist both have 4 Pnts; Plante 3 G and 1 A in 3 GP and Björkqvist 2 G and 2 A in 6 GP.

However, don’t get too excited at some of these kids’ good starts, they are way too young for our resident archaeologist and head coach, Mike Sullivan, to have any interest in them. Björkqvist is the only one old enough for Sullivan’s “Character”. However, after the way he was treated here, even if he keeps playing this well, I doubt he would want to come back to our Coach.

In Goal, Sergei Murashov has already pitched 2 Shutouts (SO) but he is not having anywhere near the year he had last season. His numbers are good but last season he had a microscopic Goals Against Average (GAA) of 1.53 with an astronomical Save Percentage (Sv%) of 0.948. Filip Lindberg is also having a pretty good start with a GAA of 1.81. By the way Kyle Dubas has wasted $5.3745 million on Tristan Jarry a good and cheap Goalie would help greatly.

Unfortunately, is in Russia, so getting him over to the US anytime soon, like Tankov, will be a trick.

As for Lindberg, don’t look for him to be too amenable to return to North America, either; not after Sullivan and Wilkes Barre – Scranton’s Head Coach J.D. Forrest, in their infinite uselessness, buried him behind journeyman Goalies Louis Domingue and Dustin Tokarski. It seems that neither Coach understands that inherent to the term Coach is teacher. Neither Coach seems to want to show kids how to play the game. No wonder Penguins’ Prospects wither on the vine.

Odds and Sods

Over the las couple of days, I just can’t help but remember the old Jeff Foxworthy Comedy Skit about “You might be a Redneck.”

• “If lose your last 2 regular season games, against the 2^nd and 3^rd worst teams in the league, when you only need 1 win to make the playoffs, you might be in trouble.”
• “If 2 more of your better prospects jump ship and run back to the European Leagues, before the season starts, you might be in trouble.”
• “When you double down on failed policies and are dangerously close to starting the coming season with a team that is older, smaller, but heavier than it was the season before, a season of failure, you might be in trouble.”
• “If you get shutout in a preseason game, in your Captains hometown, particularly when you outshoot your Opponent 40-24, but the vast majority of your shots came from the perimeter because no one wanted to penetrate the prime scoring areas, you might be in trouble.”
• “If you are checking the waiver wire (Jansen Harkins) before the season even starts, you might be in trouble.”
• “If you send 4 players down to your farm club (Avery Hayes, Xavier Oullet, Rem Pitlick, Ty Smith), having to waive some of them, in the preseason, and then bring them back up a couple of days later, you might be in trouble.” Pierre – Olivier Joseph joins the injury list.

The years of serious asset mismanagement over the past several years could finally come to roost and have our team potentially fighting for a top 5 pick. Since this is a post about prospects, I figure a quick look at the current top 5 Draft eligible kids. (It is early so rankings may change.)

• Macklin Celebrini – Nationality: Canadian, Height: 72”, Weight: 199lbs, Position: Center, Amateur Team: Boston University
• Cole Eiserman – Nationality: American, Height: 71”, Weight: 192lbs, Position: Left Wing, Amateur Team: US National U18
• Artyom Levshunov – Nationality: Belarus, Height: 72”, Weight: 198lbs, Position: Right-Handed Defenseman, Amateur Team: Michigan State
• Ivan Demidov – Nationality: Russian, Height: 71”, Weight: 168lbs, Position: Right Wing, Amateur Team: Petersburg
• Aron Kiviharju – Nationality: Finnish, Height: 70”, Weight: 165lbs, Position: Left-Handed Defenseman, Amateur Team: HIFK

It is early. It is only preseason. However, I have seen this show before. It is in syndication all ready. The reruns are trite and burned out. There doesn’t seem to be a new script idea anywhere. They’ve changed the cast and it is still hackneyed. It is time to get new writers (Coaches) on this show.