While our Penguins may be headed to the golf course or parts unknown, their Wilkes-Barre/Scranton farm club is preparing to take on Lehigh Valley in the first round of the AHL Calder Cup playoffs. Stocking up for the best-of-three set (and, hopefully, a long and successful playoff run), the Baby Pens have bolstered their roster with five prospects.
Defenseman Owen Pickering, the Pens’ first-round pick in 2022, joins the team following a solid regular season and playoff run with his junior team, Swift Current. The rangy blueliner tallied seven goals and 46 points during 59 regular season games with the Broncos and seven points in nine playoff games.
In addition, three other skaters…center Cooper Foster, defenseman Emil Pieniniemi and trade deadline acquisition Ville Koivunen…have signed amateur tryout agreements (ATOs).
I’ll be especially interested to see how Koivunen performs. A second-round pick of the ‘Canes in ’21 and a key piece of the Jake Guentzel deal, the 20-year-old forward notched an impressive 22 goals and 56 points in 59 games while ranking sixth in the Liiga (Finland’s top pro league) in scoring.
Broz Signed
Speaking of young players, the Pens signed their own second-round pick in ’21, forward Tristan Broz, to a three-year-enter level contract on Saturday. A huge contributor to the University of Denver’s recent national championship run, the 6’0” 190-pounder also joins the Baby Pens on an ATO.
Work to be Done
No fewer than eleven players who skated for the Pens this season are eligible to become free agents this summer.
UFAs include forwards Jansen Harkins, Vinnie Hinostroza, Valtteri Puustinen and Radim Zohorna, along with defenseman Ryan Shea and goalie Alex Nedeljkovic.
RFAs include forwards Emil Bemström, Jonathan Gruden, Sam Poulin and defensemen Pierre-Olivier Joseph and Jack St. Ivany. All of the RFAs with the notable exception of Poulin have arbitration rights.
Forward Jeff Carter, also a UFA, has announced his retirement. During a recent press conference, POHO Kyle Dubas hinted that the Pens are unlikely to re-sign Nedeljkovic, who started the final 13 games of the regular season, citing the development of prospect Joel Blomqvist.
Personally, I hope Dubas reverses his course and re-ups Ned while finding a taker for Tristan Jarry.
It’ll be interesting to see what becomes of Joseph, who redeemed a season in the shadows with a solid second half while skating alongside Kris Letang.
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Hey all,
Just wanted to point out a nice article on the Trib by Seth Rorabaugh titled, "Penguins have options with their bottom-6 forwards." Essentially of a quickie status review of the 15 players who manned those spots this past season, from A (Noel Acciari) to Z (Radim Zohorna).
Rick
Thanks for the update Rick,
However, in re Pickering, I watched his games against the Oil Kings (3/6), Medicine Hat (3/15), Red Deer (3/20), and Calgary (3/23) and 2 playoff games against Lethdridge, he still is totally underwhelming. very little has changed in my opinion of him. Ryan McCleary who was a Penguin draft pick, only a couple months older than Pickering but whose rights we relinquished impressed me more and had better numbers.
Dubas passing up McCleary was a total head scratcher to me. He's 6'2, right-shot, and has some offensive instincts. I'm afraid Dubas might do the same to Jagger Joshua.
Hey Jim,
I've written two articles about Joshua this season and mentioned signing him on at least two other occasions. He seems to be following in the footsteps of his older brother, Dakota, who scored 18 goals for the Canucks this season. Two more in the Canucks' Game 1 victory over the Preds.
Following a sluggish start to his pro career, Jagger has really come on, and he plays a physical/fighting style that IMHO we so desperately lack.
I may be prematurely and unfairly affixing blame where none is due, but if Dubas doesn't sign the kid it'll have Mike Sullivan's fingerprints all over it. Sully's aversion to tough guys is well documented. I'm really surprised John Ludvig got as much of a look as he did...perhaps at the insistence of Dubas.
Welcome to PenguinPoop, by the way!
Rick