1. Roster moves
The Pens made 2 roster moves on Monday, assigning forward Zach Aston-Reese and defenseman Zach Trotman to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.
The moves bring the club's roster total to 24 with 13 forwards, eight defensemen and three goaltenders. Currently three players are injured (Brian Dumoulin, Tristan Jarry and Daniel Sprong). The team will likely assign at least one of the players to IR, which would bring them into the NHL-mandated 23-man roster for opening night of the season.
"That gets us to the roster," head coach Mike Sullivan said.
Despite the re-assignment, the coaching staff still feels very strongly about the development of Aston-Reese.
"I thought (Aston-Reese) got better as the camp went on," Sullivan said. "We know there is another level to this game. Part of this decision with Zach Aston-Reese is what's best for him in the big picture. We don't think it hurts for a guy like him to get a handful of games, playing a lot of minutes in critical siutations to get his confidence back, to get his swagger to his game back. We don't see any downside to that process.
"As I said to Zach, by no means does this diminish what we think of him as a player. We know he's an NHL player. We know he's a guy that's going to help this Pittsburgh Penguins team win."
2. Injury updates
Winger Daniel Sprong (lower-body) was back on the ice with his teammates on Monday, participating in practice while wearing a grey "no contact" sweater.
"The last two days and this morning I skated on my own and felt really good," Sprong said. "I got cleared to skate with the team today with no contact.
"After the injury the goal in my head was to be ready for Thursday's (season opener). Right now every step I've taken there have been no setbacks. The knee feels really good. I'm happy with the process."
Sprong did engage in contact following practice with assistant coach Mark Recchi.
"Injuries are always going to happen, but I'm lucky it wasn't a big one," Sprong said. "I feel really good. Today was a good step. I'm trying to show that I'm ready to get a normal jersey and be full contact. Hopefully that happens on Wednesday."
Defenseman Brian Dumoulin (upper-body) and goaltender Tristan Jarry (lower-body) did not participate in the skate, though Dumoulin did skate on his own in the morning. Both players are listed as day-to-day.
3. Workflow
The Pens used the following workflow…
Guentzel-Crosby-Hornqvist
Hagelin-Malkin-Kessel
Simon-Brassard-Rust
Cullen-Sheahan-Aston-Reese
Sprong-Grant-(Hornqvist)
Riikola-Letang
Maatta-Johnson
Oleksiak-Schultz
Trotman-Ruhwedel
