The Pittsburgh Penguins’ roster for the 2023 Prospects Challenge held in Buffalo, NY from September 15-18 will consist of 27 players, it was announced today.
Pittsburgh’s 27-man roster is made up of 16 forwards, eight defensemen and three goaltenders. The full roster can be viewed here.
Headlining the Penguins’ roster is this year’s first-round draft pick Brayden Yager (14th overall), who will be joined by fellow 2023 draft pick forward Cooper Foster (174th overall). Other notable prospects playing in the tournament are 2019 first-round draft pick Sam Poulin (21st overall), as well as defenseman Isaac Belliveau (154thoverall, 2021) and goaltender Joel Blomqvist (52nd overall, 2020), who both recently signed three-year, entry-level contracts on March 1 and April 5, respectively.
Recently acquired forward Dillon Hamaliuk will also be attending the Prospects Challenge. Hamaliuk, who was acquired from San Jose in a three-team trade on August 6, spent the 2022-23 season with the Wichita Thunder of the ECHL, recording seven points (4G-3A).
Several players who played for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League last season are also on Pittsburgh’s Prospects Challenge roster, including forwards Corey Andonovski, Jordan Frasca, Ty Glover, Sam Houde, Jagger Joshua and Lukas Svejkovsky, defensemen Justin Lee and Jack St. Ivany, and goaltender Taylor Gauthier.
The Penguins are one of six participating teams along with the Buffalo Sabres, Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils and Ottawa Senators and will play three games total. Pittsburgh will open its play against the Bruins on Friday, September 15 at 3:30 PM. Following that, the Penguins will take on the Senators on Saturday, September 16 at 12:00 PM, and then conclude the tournament with a tilt against the host Sabres on Monday, September 18 at 5:00 PM.
The Penguins' three Prospects Challenge games will be streamed on penguins.nhl.com and the Penguins app.
Following the Prospects Challenge, training camp will open with the first day of on-ice practice scheduled for Thursday, September 21. A full schedule and roster for training camp will be announced at a later date.
