Penguins Maximizing the Opportunity to Get the Semblance of Their Roster

The Penguins won't open the 2021-22 season until Oct. 12 at Tampa Bay, which seems like a considerable amount of time from now. But with only six full practices between now - Sep. 29 - and then to get the team ready for the start of the year, head coach Mike Sullivan said it's really not that much.

"So we're trying to maximize the opportunity, even though we're in the middle of training camp, to get the semblance of what we would consider our roster - understanding that there's going to be some movement within that," Sullivan said.
That was evident in how the remaining personnel, following the roster cuts on Sep. 26 and 28, was disseminated between the two groups. Team 1 consisted of players who have all spent time in the NHL, while Team 2 was made up of mostly prospects and players on two-way contracts or AHL-only deals.

Team 2 did not skate in set line combinations, while Team 1 used the following workflow:
Jake Guentzel-Jeff Carter-Bryan Rust
Brock McGinn-Teddy Blueger-Danton Heinen
Jason Zucker-Evan Rodrigues-Kasperi Kapanen
Anthony Angello, Drew O'Connor and Brian Boyle rotated with Dominik Simon, who stayed on right wing.
Brian Dumoulin-Kris Letang
Mike Matheson-John Marino
Marcus Pettersson-Chad Ruhwedel
Juuso Riikola-Mark Friedman
(Note: Sullivan said they received confirmation on Sep. 27 that forward Zach Aston-Reese had tested positive for COVID-19, so he is sidelined as the team doctors and medical staff follow the NHL protocols. Forward Radim Zohorna missed practice today with a non-COVID related illness).
While Rust said it was definitely nice to start getting in a rhythm with some guys, he acknowledged that there would likely be tweaks here and there - a message that Sullivan has been hammering home to the players.
"Just because the groups are the way they are today, does not mean that that's how the groups are going to be moving forward," Sullivan said. "So everybody understands that, I think. And that's a conversation that we've had with the group, quite honestly, since Day 1. I don't think there'll be drastic movement, but there could potentially be a handful of guys that get moved into that first group."
And Sullivan said the coaching staff spoke openly and honestly with each one of those players today.
"I'm a big believer in communication with the players," Sullivan said. "I don't want the players guessing. We try to be pretty candid with our guys in our assessments and what the expectations are, and we have those conversations consistently with our players."

While the Penguins may only have five additional practices after today, they still have five preseason games on the schedule. So Sullivan said it's about finding a balance between getting substantive practices where they can continue to implement their team concepts, and using the games as an opportunity to see if guys have the ability to both grasp those concepts while also showing what they can do.
"We want to see how they can potentially help this team win games and make our lives difficult from a roster standpoint," Sullivan said.
Sullivan said that for role players like Angello and Sam Lafferty - who skated with Team 2 - adding a penalty kill element to their overall game will help separate them from others and give them a better chance of making the roster. So that's something the Penguins focused on as a team in practice today.
"You also saw guys like Kris Letang and Jake Guentzel and guys that we don't normally use as much on the penalty kill in those situations, because we're trying to get guys reps in that area of the game," Sullivan said. "We tend to focus a fair amount on the power play. That's going to come in due time. But today, for example, the focal point was the penalty kill."
The Penguins' practices are theme-based around the video they watch that morning, and while it may differ each day, the main goal remains the same.
"We're trying to get better every day," Sullivan said.