[Penguins] Defenseman Harrison Brunicke has been assigned to Kamloop Blazers in the WHL
January 7, 2026
[Penguins] Defenseman Harrison Brunicke has been assigned to Kamloop Blazers in the WHL
17 comments
Well that’s unexpected. Guess we’ll see him back up with the big club in 26-27?
Probably the right call, he did not have a great world juniors
Yeah, he had an awful World Juniors, I get it
Might see some AHL games at the end of the WHL season.
Kinda expected, had an ok World Juniors. Had a feeling Dubas had a talk about what would happen after being loaned out and this was one of the options.
Best of luck to ya kid!
So he goes to the WHL and McGroarty is going on IR, are they setting up for a move here, or am I looking too much into this?
Well Kamloops is in a playoff spot right now so hopefully he goes down there and gets some playoff experience and we’ll see him in Wilkes at least next season.
Wasted half a season where he could have been developing. What a mess.
Hockey Newbie here. Why not just assign him back down to Wilkes?
Kid’s got a bright future, but making the jump to the NHL for defensemen is often difficult. Let him play a bunch in the WHL and try again next year.
Finally
Right choice. If he’s just going to sit in the press box here send him down and let him play.
They should have done that before deciding to stop playing him in games. Huge mistake.
Seattle did this with Shane Wright a few years ago. They didn’t think he’d get much out of the CHL, so they kept him on the NHL roster until after the World Juniors before sending him down.
He wasn’t very good during the Tournament, so I 💯 agree with it.
![[Penguins] Defenseman Harrison Brunicke has been assigned to Kamloop Blazers in the WHL](https://www.rawchili.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1sp0loxtwxbg1-1080x1024.jpeg)
17 comments
Well that’s unexpected. Guess we’ll see him back up with the big club in 26-27?
Probably the right call, he did not have a great world juniors
Yeah, he had an awful World Juniors, I get it
Might see some AHL games at the end of the WHL season.
Kinda expected, had an ok World Juniors. Had a feeling Dubas had a talk about what would happen after being loaned out and this was one of the options.
Best of luck to ya kid!
So he goes to the WHL and McGroarty is going on IR, are they setting up for a move here, or am I looking too much into this?
Well Kamloops is in a playoff spot right now so hopefully he goes down there and gets some playoff experience and we’ll see him in Wilkes at least next season.
Wasted half a season where he could have been developing. What a mess.
Hockey Newbie here. Why not just assign him back down to Wilkes?
Kid’s got a bright future, but making the jump to the NHL for defensemen is often difficult. Let him play a bunch in the WHL and try again next year.
Finally
Right choice. If he’s just going to sit in the press box here send him down and let him play.
They should have done that before deciding to stop playing him in games. Huge mistake.
Seattle did this with Shane Wright a few years ago. They didn’t think he’d get much out of the CHL, so they kept him on the NHL roster until after the World Juniors before sending him down.
He wasn’t very good during the Tournament, so I 💯 agree with it.
As expected.
Did Dubas burn a year of his entry level deal ?