Inside Scoop: 2025 Prospects Challenge
By
Michelle Crechiolo
Penguins Team Reporter
INTRO
At the annual NHL Player Media Tour, which took place earlier this week, Sidney Crosby talked about the benefit of having youth and energy around. “We’ve got a lot of hungry guys, a lot of competition for spots,” the captain said. Many of those players will get a chance to leave an impression on the new coaching staff, led by Dan Muse, at the 2025 Prospects Challenge.
The roster is here (note: Rutger McGroarty, Bill Zonnon and Peyton Kettles will not participate due to injury – Kyle Dubas will provide status updates before training camp).
The schedule is as follows:
Pittsburgh vs. Boston - Friday, Sep. 12 at 3:30 PM
Pittsburgh vs. Columbus - Sunday, Sep. 14 at 3:30 PM
Pittsburgh vs. Buffalo - Monday, Sep. 15 at 12:00 PM
All three games will be streamed here on our website. We are planning to have a full broadcast for the opener, with me on color and Bruins radio play-by-play announcer Ryan Johnston on the call.
I always enjoy covering this tournament and getting a first look at the talent that will hopefully contribute to Pittsburgh at some point in the future. Take the 2014 roster, for example. It featured a lot of invitees who played a role in helping the team win, most notably Bryan Rust, Brian Dumoulin, Matt Murray, and Conor Sheary (on an AHL deal at the time). A couple of years later, Jake Guentzel took part to begin his rookie season - and ended it by lifting the Stanley Cup.
I will be adding content - mainly videos, social media posts and short writeups - from the tournament right here, so it’s all in one place. Stay tuned! For anyone looking for something more in-depth, here are some features I put together this summer featuring a few of this year’s invitees…
BIG YEAR FOR BROZER
During development camp in July, I was curious about Kirk MacDonald’s thoughts on the season Tristan Broz had. He turned professional after a fantastic finish to his college career at Denver, winning the NCAA national championship. Broz also got off to a strong start at last year’s Prospects Challenge, with two goals and an assist in the first game against Boston.
But Broz came down with mono when the calendar turned and missed over a month. As MacDonald put it, it wasn’t a typical injury. Broz wasn’t able to do any physical activity for about three weeks, and was basically starting from square one when he returned to the lineup.
“I thought he did a good job getting himself back and going by the end of the year. He actually did play really well in the playoffs. I thought he competed hard, scored a big goal for us,” said MacDonald, who said he expects Broz to have a “huge year” if he is with them in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
“But I think there's opportunity for him to have a big role this year and then knock on the door (with Pittsburgh),” MacDonald said. “Because I really thought before he got mono, he was going to play up this year. He was outstanding for us. So, little setback for him, but I know he's probably training his ass off right now to be ready to go for September.”
That has certainly been the case, as Broz is looking to put the start of the year behind him.
“Obviously, that’s not what you want have happen in January, on January 1, no less,” he said with a wry grin. “But think it’s a really cool opportunity for me to be an example that it’s not necessarily how you start. Like, it’s a long road. I think my whole career has been like that. So, it’d be really cool to say how I started 2025 versus hopefully how I can finish it. So, I think I can be a cool example like that.”
Broz speaks to the media
KOIVUNEN ‘HIGHLY MOTIVATED’
During his year-end media availability, Kyle Dubas said that the strong play of rookie forwards Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen had him feeling more optimistic going into this season.
While it’s disappointing that we won’t get to see McGroarty in action at this tournament, as he is dealing with an injury, Koivunen will be in the lineup for Pittsburgh. The 22-year-old forward is hoping to continue his momentum from the spring, where he appeared in eight games, picking up seven assists.
“Of course I will try to make the team right away out of camp. Just got to work hard,” Koivunen said. “Yeah, just highly motivated.”
He is so fun to watch with his stellar hockey IQ and underrated competitiveness. I asked him what he worked on this offseason back home in Finland after getting a taste of the NHL for the first time:
“Just try to get better at my skating. Faster, more explosive. It’s like, first couple steps, trying to get those more explosive. Get to full speed much faster, and, of course, get stronger, too. After the battles, you need muscles there [laughs]. Those are the two biggest things I worked on.”
Koivunen spent the summer training alongside fellow Penguins prospect Emil Pieniniemi, a 2023 third-round pick who is also coming off of an excellent first pro season in North America. The two have known each other for years, even playing together in Liiga, Finland’s top pro league. They work out and go for lunch together, stopping for Chinese or chicken and rice. I loved what they had to say about each other:
Ville: “He’s a funny guy. Sometimes talks before he thinks. It was all pretty fun with him.”
Emil: “He’s smart. Smarter than the normal guy.” Which tracks, as Ville’s parents are both doctors.
Koivunen speaks to the media
PROSPECTS CHALLENGE OPENER: PITTSBURGH 2, BOSTON 1
Well, that was quite a start to the weekend. Ville Koivunen opened the scoring for Pittsburgh before Boston battled back and tied it in the third period.
Then, with 26.4 seconds left, Avery Hayes converted a breakaway to finish off a beautiful play and give the Penguins a win. It started with Owen Pickering lobbing the puck high across the neutral zone to Hayes at the opposing blue line. He went in on a breakaway and capitalized.
“It was like a quarterback,” Hayes said with a grin. “It was sweet. I was yelling for it. I don’t know if he saw me, at first, but he made a great pass over everyone… then (their goalie) was kind of far out, so I thought if I could fake right away, I could get his glove to drop a bit. I think it did. I was going kind of fast, it’s tough to see. But just trying to get it over his glove and it happened to go in, which was nice.”
Hayes on the stretch pass from Pickering: “It was like a quarterback. It was sweet. I was yelling for it.”
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 12, 2025
A look at the game-winner ⬇️ 🏈 pic.twitter.com/ejprPG93L3
Around this time last year, Avery was on an AHL-only contract. But the Penguins had told their prospects that everyone would be on the same playing field regardless of their contract situation, and “honestly, that was perfect for me coming in as an undrafted player signed to an AHL deal,” he said. “They truly gave everyone the same opportunity, and I’m super thankful and grateful for it.”
He had a strong outing here, and in March, the Penguins gave Avery an NHL deal. And while the show of confidence is nice, it hasn’t affected Avery’s mindset.
“I always believed in myself. I always had kind of that confidence about myself. But it’s just nice knowing I'm going to be here for a couple more years, hopefully longer,” Hayes said. “Being with all these guys for a couple more years too, I feel like it's going to be nice, and hopefully we can all come up together.”
Hayes speaks with the media
Avery played on a line with Ben Kindel, the 11th overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, and Kale Dach, taken in the 7th round. Kindel and Dach are actually set to play together with the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League this season, so they had some chemistry.
As for Kindel in particular, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coach Kirk MacDonald said, “I thought he was great. Made a lot of subtle plays. Smart. Thought he played really well without the puck, which sometimes, for younger guys at the junior level, is hard to do. I thought his reads without the puck were outstanding.”
We just posted a profile on Kindel – read it here: Soccer Legacy, Hockey Future: Ben Kindel’s Journey
Ben Kindel speaks to the media
PICKERING 'OUTSTANDING' SO FAR
At the 2024 Prospects Challenge, Owen Pickering dealt with some struggles, which happens to pretty much all young players. But as Kyle Dubas said, "I just think you learn so much more about the people that you have when things are difficult and they're hard, when the noise is starting to pick up on the outside.
An event like that, it's the first event of the year, so different prospect writers and different scouts are seeing him, and he's starting to struggle, and people are starting to note it. I thought we learned a lot about him in that stretch, because he stabilized himself for the third and final game of the tournament."
Pickering ended up getting called up to Pittsburgh and making his debut, partly because of the way he responded to how this event went. Now, Pickering is here with 25 total games of NHL experience to his name, and it showed in his performance today.
"I think he’s way more assertive," WBS head coach Kirk MacDonald said. "I thought he was outstanding today. Did a great job with his gaps, played on his toes, moved pucks north quick. It was good. It’s game one, there's going to be stuff that you can tidy up. But I thought, considering it was the first game of the year, the details of his game were much better than this exact same time last year. He's put the work in. Another guy who’s feeling more confident in himself. He's been around. He's played in the NHL, you know? In this environment, he's taken the onus on him to provide leadership."
Hear from Owen himself below...
Pickering speaks with the media
PROSPECTS CHALLENGE GAME 2: COLUMBUS 5, PITTSBURGH 4 (OT)
The Penguins battled back from a 2-0 deficit after 20 minutes to take a 4-3 lead late in the game, before the Blue Jackets won in overtime, 5-4. It was a chippy game, with three fights and a bunch of other penalties.
“The toughest part is just trying to get everybody in the game. … It is what it is, they made the calls and we played the game as it is, and try and get everybody in the rhythm as much as we can,” WBS head coach Kirk MacDonald said.
“I thought it was too bad, because when we played that span in the third where it was 5-on-5, we completely controlled every aspect of the game. Everybody was into it and contributing and feeling good about themselves. And then there's a couple more penalties, and get back to losing that rhythm. Try to manage as best as you can, and games like this happen sometimes. Nothing you can do.”
Avery Hayes scored twice more to give him three goals in the first two games of the tournament. His high confidence level is what stands out to MacDonald.
“He's assertive, he's moving his feet,” MacDonald said. “He's a guy who's done a really good job just continuing to get better at every aspect of his game. He's not satisfied. He's relentless in how he works, in his craft. He wants to get better every day, and as you can see, he's done that. I think he's come in here this week with a purpose, with a mindset that he's going to carry this into training camp next week and try and fight for a job on the big club.”
We posted another feature about Hayes yesterday that talks about his background and interests. It begins with a fun anecdote about him and Rutger McGroaty: Avery Hayes' Path Shaped by Michigan Ties
Tristan Broz and Atley Calvert also scored for Pittsburgh, while 2025 third-round pick Gabriel D’Aigle played the entire game in goal. He stopped 25 of 30 shots, while the Penguins finished with 44. Next up is the Buffalo Sabres at 12 PM on Monday to close out the tournament.
Today, Penguins 2025 third-round pick Brady Peddle is playing against his brother Tyler, a 2023 seventh-round pick of the Blue Jackets.
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) September 14, 2025
They have family here from Nova Scotia, and their aunt has her nails painted in half CBJ colors, half PIT colors 🟨⬛️🟦🟥
LOOKING TO BUILD
Harrison Brunicke was a breakout star around this time last year. The 2024 second-round pick ended up having a terrific camp, earning a long look with four preseason games.
Penguins assistant GM Jason Spezza has said that the 19-year-old defenseman “is a guy that I think is really looking to push and take a step and make some noise in camp. But he'll be the one that dictates how ready he is."
Brunicke knows that the Prospects Challenge is an excellent chance to start off strong. He has looked good through the first couple of games, with his skating ability and decision-making standing out. Brunicke has been active where he can, saying something he has been working on is jumping up in the rush.
“I mean, I'm here to make the team. I'm going to do whatever I can to make that happen,” he said. “So, yeah, I think it starts with these games, getting these games in, getting under my feet, getting back to playing actual hockey. So, it's fun so far. And I'm looking to just keep going and keep developing.”
Brunicke speaks to the media
PROSPECTS CHALLENGE GAME 3: PITTSBURGH 6, SABRES 3
I didn't cover this game in person, as our content crew left Sunday night to be back for season ticket delivery on Monday. I spent the afternoon accompanying Evgeni Malkin on his visits to season ticket holders, and I can't wait to share more about that.
But as Rutger McGroarty informed me when I got back to Cranberry, Avery Hayes finished the Prospects Challenge with four goals in three games to help the Penguins go 2-0-1 and win the tournament. Ben Kindel, the 11th overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, scored twice against Buffalo - as did Tristan Broz and Quinn Beauchesne. Sergei Murashov stopped 34 shots.
Looking forward to seeing these kids at training camp later this week! Details are here.
