Dubas Weighs In On Youth Movement

Photo credit: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

While the Pittsburgh Penguins’ season came to a close two weeks ago after being eliminated by the Philadelphia Flyers in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, both minor league affiliates - the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL) and Wheeling Nailers (ECHL) - have found themselves advancing into the postseason.

“Every round they win is an opportunity to continue to develop and make our decisions harder for next fall, where they’re going to have to earn it,” Pittsburgh's President of Hockey Operations and GM said. “But that will guide a lot of our decision-making here. So, we’ll watch that closely.”

On Tuesday, Dubas was asked about several of those young players and prospects – here's more on where they stand.

Goaltending

The Penguins have gotten strong performances between the pipes at the NHL, AHL and ECHL levels.

Acquired from Edmonton in December, Stuart Skinner played well in tandem with Arturs Silovs and ultimately started the first three games of the playoffs. Falling down 0-3 in the first round against Philadelphia, the Penguins were looking for ways to change their fortunes, and Silovs got the call. The rookie gave up just five goals while picking up two wins in elimination games, and was excellent in Game 6, with the Penguins falling 1-0 in overtime.

“I thought our goaltending was very, very good at some stretches and struggled at others, and it stabilized itself at the end with Arty having a great performance in the back half of the series against Philly,” Dubas said of the 25-year-old netminder, who was named MVP of last year's Calder Cup Playoffs after backstopping Abbotsford to the title.

“Obviously, he had an up and down year, but I think he continues to show when the lights are bright and the moments are big, that he’s able to step up and provide very strong goaltending. I thought that was a real positive for him.”

Dubas said that with both of those goalies set to be free agents – Skinner unrestricted, Silovs restricted – that they will continue to watch how Sergei Murashov does in the playoffs for WBS. That night, the 22-year-old recorded the first postseason shutout of his career to help WBS win Game 1 of the Atlantic Division Final against Springfield.

While Murashov has “run with the ball” in the playoffs, 24-year-old Joel Blomqvist has also put together a solid body of work in the AHL, with both players getting some NHL games.

“My full expectation is that two of them, Sergei and Joel, will be competing for a roster spot here this year,” Dubas said. “We’ll make the decision on the other one. But I think they both have earned, over the years now, the chance to compete for that.”

Going deeper in the depth chart is 25-year-old Taylor Gauthier. Breaking records and cementing a legacy with the Wheeling Nailers over the last handful of seasons, Gauthier has put up MVP numbers in the postseason.

“We have a lot of confidence in Taylor and think he’s earned that as well,” Dubas said. “It’s been some excellent progression there. I think the credit for that obviously goes to the players, but Kain Tisi in the American (Hockey) League as the goalie coach and Karel Popper in Wheeling as the goaltending coach, it’s an area of good strength and depth for us. But the guys have earned that.”

Bill Zonnon

One of Pittsburgh’s three first-round selections in the 2025 NHL Draft, Bill Zonnon is a player with a bright future.

He signed his entry-level contract with the Penguins on March 22, in the midst of his junior season with the QMJHL’s Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. After they lost Game 7 of their series with Moncton, he joined WBS for their Calder Cup playoff run.

That’s when the AHL staff told Director of Minor League Operations and WBS assistant GM Amanda Kessel “the best thing I’ve heard in the last couple of weeks,” Dubas said.

“They went to show him the systems on intake, when he got there last week after his team had lost in Game 7 to Moncton, and he had been watching every game and studying the systems and he knew them all himself. So, it's those types of small, little intangible things that fuel the size, the skating, the habits, the ability to carry the puck, create offense, get to the net. He's deeply committed to doing all the small things.”

That hard work paid off when Zonnon debuted last night. Halfway through a scoreless second period, Zonnon scored the game-winning goal with a slick power move.

"Honestly, I don't remember the last time I had this much fun playing," Zonnon told Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey following the game. "That was the biggest thing for me coming in: just having fun, believing in myself, and I knew good things were going to happen."

Rutger McGroarty

After appearing in eight games with the Penguins and scoring his first NHL goal last season, there was a lot to look forward to with McGroarty’s development heading into the 2025-26 season. However, an offseason injury caused the 21-year-old to miss all of training camp and the first two months of the regular season.

While McGroarty skated in 24 games with Pittsburgh this season, most of it was spent developing in the AHL. With 34 points (10G-24A) in 30 games this season with WBS, McGroarty took steps toward reaching his potential, as the 14^th overall pick in 2022 continues to improve his skating.

“I think, with Rutger, he's proven to be an excellent penalty killer, an excellent netfront power-play guy with Wilkes-Barre,” Dubas said. “The skating has always been the thing with him, and he's put in the work and improved on it, so we expect next year that he'll have every opportunity to earn a spot here. How high in the lineup that is will be up to him, and earning a spot, largely, will be up to him.

“He's made a great impact down there. I know it hasn't resulted in as much on the scoresheet through the first round as some of the others. But I thought that he played very well, and we'll just have to continue to push him and develop him. Obviously, [he's] a guy that cares deeply about it, wants to be a player who has great pedigree, and we're excited to see him, especially as the playoffs go on here."

Ville Koivunen

Similar to McGroarty, Koivunen was called up late in the 2024-25 season and notched seven assists in eight games with Pittsburgh, while being named to the AHL’s All-Rookie team with 56 points in 63 games.

With bigger expectations heading into this season, Koivunen made the team out of camp, but wasn’t able to sustain the requisite level of play.

“I think Ville, to me, had a great opportunity at the beginning of the year and I think he would be the first to say he didn’t make the most of it,” Dubas said. “He went down to the minors, found himself, came back up, and we felt objectively his speed improved, his power improved, his strength improved – he had improved and was creating more.”

At the time of his recall back to the big club, Koivunen ranked second in the entire American Hockey League with 11 points (4G-7A) in six games. On Dec. 4 against Tampa Bay, in his 24^th career game, Koivunen scored his first NHL goal.

He did find another goal on Jan. 4 in Columbus, but overall, the puck luck just wasn’t there for the forward. He spent the next couple of months in WBS, finishing second on the team in scoring with 41 points (13G-28A) in 34 games, before seeing more time at the NHL level to finish the year.

“At the end of the season, he was up, and he’s now one of the few guys – Sid is Sid, but (Koivunen), without being pushed, he’s in here on off-days. He’s finding himself,” Dubas said. “You always wish these things were linear. A year ago, he had the great finish and he found it, but they’re all different.”

What Dubas, Assistant GM Jason Spezza, and the rest of the organization have liked from Koivunen during the AHL playoffs is how he handled more physical opponents like the Hershey Bears.

“He’s a player who we think has a very bright future and for us, behind the scenes, really responded well during the year to being challenged to push and become more at his best,” Dubas said. “He is a deeply competitive player on the ice.”

Harrison Brunicke

Making the opening night roster at Madison Square Garden as a 19-year-old defenseman was an extremely proud moment for Harrison Brunicke, who scored his first NHL goal just two days later against the New York Islanders. But, as is the case with many young blueliners making the jump to the NHL, there was still much to learn at the professional level.

“It's hard,” Dubas said on the start of Brunicke’s season. “You can't hide them as much as you can a forward. So, in Harrison's case, I think, as a 19-year-old, it started to get wobbly for him at the NHL level, and then we tried to utilize all the levers we could on the development side.”

Being limited to nine NHL games in the regular season so as not to use up a year of his contract, the coaching staff worked closely with Brunicke as management sought the best path for the 2024 second-round pick. At the end of November, he had a conditioning stint with WBS and then represented Team Canada at the World Junior Championship before being reassigned back to the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL.

After Brunicke’s season with Kamloops ended, he rejoined WBS for the playoffs and has been extremely impactful.

“For us, it's the long run with Harrison, and I think the way the beginning of the year went allowed him to do great work, and it's manifested itself now,” Dubas said. “As a 19-year-old, playing the first pair of an American League team that's had good results, and he's having a strong impact on it. I mean, he's an active player. When you watch the game, you know it's him, So, he's been very good, and it's a great opportunity down there for him now.”

Owen Pickering

Defenseman Owen Pickering only appeared in four games with the Penguins this season after a year in which he played in 25 games during his rookie season as a 21-year-old. As is the case with Brunicke, Dubas knows that a young defenseman’s development sometimes may not always be linear.

Playing in 68 games with Wilkes-Barre this season, Pickering has taken on a larger responsibility with logging heavier minutes and playing on both special teams.

“We’ve been very happy with the way Owen has come on here in the second half of the year,” Dubas said. “I don't think you could look at it and say there’s anything truly dynamic, but it was just steady, solid, reliable hockey and that’s what we’re looking for him to develop into.”

Working closely with Head Coach Kirk McDonald and Assistant Coach Nick Luuko, Pickering is learning how to play with his ever-growing size since he was drafted in the first round (21-overall) in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.

“He’s a very tall, gangly, you might say going back to his time with Swift Current, coordination, balance – all those things that are common when you have a 6-foot-5, then-180-190-200-pound guy – it takes some time to come together,” Dubas said.