Pittsburgh Penguins training camp
CRANBERRY — The young ones were having a day at Pittsburgh Penguins training camp.
Just over 24 hours after Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas not only opened the door to adding more young players to the roster but also promised they would get priority if they earned a spot, a couple of the under-25s elevated their game in Day 2 of coach Dan Muse’s physical and intense training camp.
Read More: Kyle Dubas Gets Candid, Puts Vets on Notice
However, a couple of other established NHL players didn’t have their best days, which could set up even more interesting discussions as the roster gets pared down to 23 players by opening night.
Penguins fans hoping for an underdog to rise from the crowded group if 37 forwards will have a couple of candidates to gravitate toward.
Friday, Avery Hayes had a day in drills, both the two-on-two and three-on-three drills. He swooped under defensemen to steal pucks and extend plays, stickhandled away from pressure, and set up a few goals.
“I think you saw it in the rookie tournament with Hayes, from start to finish. It was every game. If we needed a momentum swing–bam, there it is,” coach Dan Muse praised. “He found a way to do it, whether it was a big goal or a big play.
“And I think (he and fellow prospect Tristan Broz) have carried it forward.”
Hayes looked like he belonged. In most training camps, that’s a disposable observation, but in this hyper-competitive camp in which even the veterans are on their toes, that holds much more weight.
Hayes’s partners in the three-on-three drills were Penguins 2019 first-round pick Sam Poulin, whose prospect star has faded, but his chances have not, and recently acquired defenseman Matt Dumba, who showcased his agile skating in the tight area drills.
Unlike past years when training camps were small drills and some scrimmages, Muse’s camp can be summed up in two words: physicality and competition.
The drills creating direct competition also allow us to assess a player’s physical skills more definitely.
We can tell you that younger defenseman Alex Alexeyev is a half step slow, as Valtteri Puustinen whizzed by at the start of a drill. Speed isn’t Alexeyev’s primary weapon, anyway, but being a hulking, angry rearguard is.
So, too, is Anthony Mantha a good bit slow, but skill has always been his calling card.
In addition to Hayes showcasing his scrappy game, Poulin also had an extra jump Friday. The former first-rounder showed more hop than he previously has, at least in front of PHN.
He looked like a player with a good amount of desperation but also skill as he worked with Hayes to get open and rip a shot past goalie Sergie Murashov.
On the next chance at the drill, Hayes stole a puck off the wall, stickhandled around one defender’s outstretched stick, and delivered a smooth pass to Poulin, who snapped a pass to Dumba near the net for a goal that drew “Ooohhhs” and sticktaps from teammates.
Hayes and Poulin were in Group 2, which was the second of three practice groups on Friday.
Penguins Group 3
Group 3 went first, and it offered the performances that, should they continue, would be concerning. The group also had a few surprising bright spots.
The good: Evgeni Malkin. The 39-year-old center worked hard to defend. Yes, on Day 2 of training camp, Evgeni Malkin skated hard to defend. He also delivered a few stick whacks for fun to defenseman Sebastian Aho, whom he chased down.
Depth defenseman Caleb Jones, a 28-year-old who played most of last season in the LA Kings organization, and just six NHL games with LA, showed his quickness in the small drills.
Jones leaped forward multiple times to disrupt crossing passes. His skating is clearly not the reason he was banished to the AHL last season.
The bad? Oh boy.
Tommy Novak, who was acquired from the Nashville Predators in the Michael Bunting trade before the NHL trade deadline last season, had a rough one.
Novak, 28, isn’t a physical player, but his passes were off the mark, turning into grenades in teammates’ skates. He was caught and nullified by defensemen in the small drills and didn’t have any moments to offset the bad.
Novak would seem to be all but a lock for the team, but in the high-tempo drills, he did not shine. And for insult to injury, he also negated his last drill by being offside.
Penguins Group 1
After going first on Thursday, the first became the last. Group 1 is the group with an interesting mix of prospects (Broz, Ville Koivunen, Owen Pickering, and Harisson Brunicke), but also Sidney Crosby and Erik Karlsson.
If you’d like to get a singular moment to encapsulate the early attitude in camp, it was Broz trying a spin-o-rama on Karlsson during the 2v2 drills.
Easy, kid.
But it was great to see his confidence. We’ll have a lot more on Broz this weekend.
Broz’s skates were cutting the ice with determination as the 2021 second-round pick put forth a max effort in each drill. He looks quicker than last spring, and more assertive, too. Broz’s compadres had a goal or two in the small drills, and it was a good showing for him.
It was a rough day for Emil Pieniniemi, who was turned inside out by Crosby and Koivunen. In 3v3 drills, Crosby cut toward Pieniniemi while carrying the puck. Pieniniemi froze, and neither covered Crosby cutting to the net, nor Koivunen, who trailed the play. Koivunen slipped an easy pass to Crosby near the net for an uncontested tap-in.
Pieniniemi is 20, so no cause for alarm, but following what we gauged as a mediocre Prospects Challenge, he certainly needs a good year of professional seasoning.
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