The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins put together a season to be proud of.
The youngest team in the entire AHL, with an average age of 22.97, finished the regular season with the league's third-best record. In the postseason, the Penguins advanced to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 2013-14. They were eliminated by the Toronto Marlies in six games, with two losses coming in overtime.
While the loss hurts, every player took steps in their personal development while gaining valuable playoff experience. Some of them, like WBS leading playoff scorer Tristan Broz and forward Rutger McGroarty, went through a best-of-seven series for the first time in their hockey careers against Toronto, as the previous two series (following a first-round bye) were best-of-fives.
“We learned a lot. We learned how hard it is to win, how every detail matters,” McGroarty said. “And obviously, we didn't win, but we were talking about it, and we built a winning culture. Just a bunch of good guys, good dudes in that locker room. It was some of the most fun I've ever had playing hockey. ... Just growing together every day and battling with each other in practice, and then going to war with other teams in games, was super fun and huge.”
WBS Head Coach Kirk MacDonald saying that Penguins management deserves a lot of credit for finding good people, not just good hockey players, as part of the plan to return to legitimate Stanley Cup contention.
“They’re a really easy group to work with, and it makes coming to the rink and working with them and teaching and all that stuff really enjoyable,” MacDonald said. "From an organizational standpoint, this was great for our young guys - this experience, and the pressure, and all this stuff - to continue to get better."
It helped that the guys became incredibly close. They would hang out off the ice before showing up to practice in the morning ready to start with some intense 3-on-3 action. Defenseman Owen Pickering said those competitions are what he’s going to miss most now that the season has ended.
“We're all different, but we all get along really well,” Broz said. “We like each other, and we enjoy each other's company.”
“It's just a bunch of best friends, honestly,” McGroarty said. “I think everybody's got each other's back. We're always doing stuff together. We're always laughing. We're always having fun.”
And the group as a whole always had the right attitude. There was never a ‘woe is me’ feeling, even if they were missing players due to NHL call-ups or injuries, or had lost some tough games in a row.
“Everybody was happy for the other guy when something good happened to him,” MacDonald said. “It wasn't like, how come I didn't get my cookie tonight? It was just like, that guy did well, I'm happy for him. Next day, we know somebody else is going to go be the hero.”
The example MacDonald used was pretty eye-opening. WBS’ top scorer in the regular season, Aidan McDonough, finished ranked 90th in the entire AHL with 44 points in 65 games. But as a team, the Penguins had the third-ranked offense in the league, because every night, different players found different ways to contribute.
“I could literally go through every guy that was on our team, basically on this playoff roster, and be like, at some point that guy helped us win a game,” MacDonald said. “Whether they played a game in the playoffs or not, every guy scored a goal or did something at a certain point in the year that got us a point in the standings, got us to 98 points. I think it speaks a lot to the group.”
Obviously, there are several individuals within that group that Penguins fans are excited about.
The future is blindingly bright for goaltender Sergei Murashov, who turned 22 in April. As WBS play-by-play broadcaster Nick Hart posted, Murashov recorded 182 saves across the six games of the Eastern Conference Final, the second-most saves in a playoff series in WBS history. He was just named to the 2025-26 AHL Top Prospects Team.
Murashov played a handful of NHL games with Pittsburgh this season, while other young players like McGroarty, Broz, Pickering, Harrison Brunicke, Avery Hayes, Ville Koivunen and Joel Blomqvist have seen time there as well. Tanner Howe will be knocking on the door. Recent draft picks Bill Zonnon and Mikhail Ilyin joined WBS for the playoffs and made noticeable impacts.
Wherever these guys end up next year, MacDonald hopes they take all of the lessons learned this spring and use them to push forward, with the ultimate goal of getting to the show.
“At the end of the day, that's what (the American Hockey League) is about,” MacDonald said. “It's why we have a young team here, because we want them to get that experience. We're not just putting a bunch of old guys here where, yeah, it looks great, but they're not going to help Pittsburgh someday.
“Hopefully, there's a large share of those guys that are helping the big club do the same thing, and going on a long playoff run in Pittsburgh down the road. That's the ultimate goal. You'll win the Stanley Cup again eventually, and hopefully, they can help do that.”
