Pittsburgh Penguins Harrison Brunicke. All Rights Reserved
After a pair of away games in which the Pittsburgh Penguins sent their junior varsity roster to face an NHL lineup, Friday was the Penguins’ final preseason game was a home tuneup for the regular season that begins on Oct. 7 against the New York Rangers.
But the organization and coach Dan Muse also opened the door to a trio of prospects to earn roster spots, dressing potential rookies Harrison Brunicke, Ben Kindel, and goalie Sergei Murashov, shuffling them amongst the established NHL roster as if they, too, were regulars.
The Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-4 in overtime at PPG Paints Arena. Still, the prevailing storyline was the potential emergence of the Penguins’ future in the form of the Penguins’ prospects.
It was the final audition and chance for Kindel and Brunicke to show the organization they are ready for the NHL, as both must return to junior hockey (the WHL) if they do not make the Pittsburgh Penguins roster.
Murashov, 21, will be assigned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins if the team deems him not ready.
As noted in Pittsburgh Hockey Now’s postgame grades, the players faced adversity within the game, showing both their best but also the difficulties of being a rookie.
Ben Kindel
PHN joked with Kindel Friday that the site’s YouTube page was becoming the Kindel channel. The first of three Penguins’ 2025 first-round picks (11th overall), Kindel was thought to be a project; his skating needed to improve, and he needed to mature physically.
Kindel, 18, had a rough go at the Penguins’ rookie camp in July and got off to a slow start in Penguins training camp. However, the heady prospect quickly put the pieces of the puzzle together and began to show his very best against top-flight NHL competition.
Kindel surged past other prospects to reach the precipice of very unexpectedly claiming a roster spot.
Friday, Kindel’s grade would have been his worst of the preseason, but Muse also loved that Kindel faced the struggle head-on. Kindel’s turnover at center ice led directly to the Buffalo Sabres’ second goal, and the coach gave him some bench time to think about it.
Kindel also had high points, such as sharp defensive plays in which he anticipated the puck movement in order to intercept and counterattack.
The potential Penguins rookie center knew what to say regarding his big mistake.
“Plays like that are going to happen. You’ve kind of got to wash it off and just come with a fresh mind the next shift,” Kindel said. “I mean, every shift is a new shift. You can’t control what happened before, and obviously, you don’t want to be making those plays too often, but when they do happen, you just have to have a fresh mindset.”
Harrison Brunicke
The teenager with the best chance to claim a Penguins roster spot did not disappoint. Brunicke was all over the ice Friday. He scored a beauty when he raced past a pair of Buffalo defenders to the net and sniped a top-shelf goal glove-side past Alex Lyon.
Brunicke, 19, also made a couple of mistakes in which he tried to do too much–held onto the puck, assuming he could indeed skate past more defenders, when he should have made a simple play.
It was a perfect encapsulation of where the 2024 second-round pick stands in his development. He could help the Penguins immediately, but there will be some growing pains.
“I thought (my game) was pretty good. Definitely some areas defensively, a couple of breakdowns that I want back,” Brunicke said. “But like I’ve said, it’s all learning and growing, just taking steps each day, and I think I’m doing a good job of that.”
Sergei Murashov
The Penguins’ goalie of the future earned a chance to stake a claim to the present. After posting a .941 save percentage over two previous appearances in the preseason, Muse split the game between presumptive starting goalie Tristan Jarry and Murashov, bypassing Arturs Silovs, the presumptive 1A or backup goalie.
Murashov, 21, showed why it’s difficult for young goalies to leap the NHL, but he, too, also gave a glimpse into a very bright future.
Murashov allowed one goal in his nearly 30 minutes of ice time, but it was a leaky goal as he misplayed a shot (so, too, did Jarry).
When asked about the pending decision and if he felt like he earned an NHL spot, Murashov had a short and sweet answer.
“I just stop pucks,” he quipped.
Dan Muse
The Penguins coach had praise for all three of his rookies, but spent particular time discussing Kindel’s turnover and the importance of his response.
Muse referred to the mistake as “a good thing” and explained in-depth why young players need to go through that and the benefit of doing it in preseason.
Muse also spent time discussing Kindel’s game and its maturity.
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