On Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Penguins held their final regular practice day of training camp in preparation for the 2024-25 season.
And there were still some young guys hanging around.
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Forwards Valtteri Puustinen and Rutger McGroarty, as well as defenseman Harrison Brunicke, remained with the NHL group for practice today. Some other guys – most notably Sam Poulin, Owen Pickering, John Ludvig, and Emil Bemstrom – practiced with a separate group prior to the regularly scheduled NHL skate.
In addition, defenseman Erik Karlsson, who has missed all of training camp with an upper-body injury, skated on his own before practice. Forward Bryan Rust had a maintenance day.
Forward Avery Hayes and defenseman Dan Renouf were also assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s training camp.
The line combinations and defensive pairings were as follows:
Forwards
Drew O’Connor-Sidney Crosby-Anthony Beauvillier
Michael Bunting-Evgeni Malkin-Rickard Rakell
Valtteri Puustinen-Lars Eller-Jesse Puljujarvi
Cody Glass-Kevin Hayes-Noel Acciari
Rutger McGroarty (rotating in)
Defensemen
Matt Grzelcyk-Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson-Jack St. Ivany
Ryan Graves-Harrison Brunicke
Ryan Shea-Sebastian Aho
Goaltenders
Tristan Jarry, Joel Blomqvist
Here are some injury updates and notes from Wednesday’s practice:
– On the injury front, the Penguins announced that goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic is out week-to-week with a lower body injury.
In addition, forward Blake Lizotte is out indefinitely with a concussion, and forward Vasiliy Ponomarev is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
These injuries open the door for a few guys who are on the fringe to make the roster. Blomqvist will likely back up Jarry to start the season. And there are a few forward spots for the taking as well, which I’ll get to shortly.
– Blomqvist was definitely the big talking point at practice today, given the Nedeljkovic injury news.
The start to training camp was a bit rocky for him, but he seemed to get better as camp went along. And he was outstanding on Sunday against Detroit.
Head coach Mike Sullivan had great things to say about Blomqvist’s camp and his response to a rough start against the Buffalo Sabres in the first preseason game.
“I think how he reacted to his first game has been impressive,” Sullivan said. “As a young player, when it doesn’t go the way you want, sometimes that can affect your overall confidence and in turn affect your future performance. That hasn’t been the case. He put it behind him, went back to work and he controls that which he can control. When he went back in the net, he did a terrific job. I think that says a lot about his maturity, I think it says a lot about his resilience.”
He continued: “Sports are tough. It’s going to challenge you all the time. Your ability to be able to shrug some of the disappointments off is essential to your ability to have success as a player. He certainly has reacted to it the right way to what could have been a tough situation for him. We give him high marks for that. I think it says a lot about his maturity as a player.”
Related: Brunicke Shines, Penguins Fall to Detroit in Preseason Rematch
The dynamic between Jarry and Blomqvist will be one to watch. While Jarry figures to be in the starting role, as well as in a leadership role, Blomqvist will see some NHL starts.
I’m looking forward to seeing how this situation shakes out. If Blomqvist performs well, the Penguins will have one too many goaltenders on their NHL roster once Nedeljkovic returns.
– Puustinen, McGroarty, and Brunicke are all still here.
Head coach Mike Sullivan is confident that Karlsson is tracking toward readiness on opening night, which makes it less likely that Brunicke cracks the roster. But it is interesting that St. Ivany, who has been paired with Graves for most of camp, bumped up with Pettersson again, seemingly signaling that they’re preparing for the scenario that Karlsson isn’t ready to go. And this may give Brunicke a shot.
When asked if Brunicke had a shot at a nine-game trial, Sullivan said, “Yes, of course he does.” So, this next week may very well determine Brunicke’s fate ahead of Oct. 9.
As for the forward spots? It seems Puljujarvi is a lock to make the roster – and to start – at this point. He was deployed on the second power play unit in practice today, and he did not rotate out of his spot on the third line alongside Eller.
With Lizotte and Ponomarev out – two guys who appeared to be ahead on the depth chart – Puustinen skated on the third line left wing, and McGroarty rotated in on the third and fourth lines.
It is worth noting that Rust didn’t practice, and the Penguins had 13 forwards on the ice today. While it seems like McGroarty is probably the odd man out here, it remains to be seen whether the Penguins roll with 13 or 14 forwards.
Related: Tough Roster Decisions Loom as Penguins Defeat Red Wings in Preseason Matchup
– On that note, McGroarty has seen some time on the penalty kill, both in yesterday’s game and during practice today. He was paired on a unit with Anthony Beauvillier.
I asked Sullivan about whether or not injuries to penalty killing and defensive forwards like Lizotte and Ponomarev change anything about the evaluation process for filling those roster spots. While he said that it didn’t change the evaluation process, he did say it throws more guys into the mix.
So getting some work on special teams should only help McGroarty’s chances of making this roster. Players who have an element of versatility to their game tend to be in more favorable positioning on depth charts, especially if they show they’re capable.
I spoke with McGroarty today about the penalty kill – and I’ll have another piece on this later today – but the more situational hockey he finds himself playing in, the better off he should be in terms of a chance at the roster.
If both Lizotte and Ponomarev are out to start the regular season, I do think McGroarty has a good shot to make it. Or, at least, things are looking up for him. I still think Ponomarev is likely ahead of him on the depth chart at this point.
– All credit to Valtteri Puustinen for his strong showing on Sunday against Detroit.
To be honest, it really looked like he was on the outside looking in. Injuries are playing a factor here, obviously, and while Lizotte’s situation is likely to extend into the season, it’s possible that Ponomarev is still ready to go before Oct. 9. And I do think Ponomarev was likely the top “fringe guy” on the depth chart in training camp ahead of Puustinen, McGroarty, and Sam Poulin.
But he earned his way back into the conversation in a big way. With the injuries, these next two games against Columbus will be critical for him. I would expect him to start both games.
All in all, the situation is looking much better for him than it did just a week ago.
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