Youth Movement Shapes Penguins’ Roster Decisions

Kyle Dubas was crystal clear about his expectations for this year’s training camp. First and foremost, the Penguins wanted their younger players to push.

“If they continue to push all the way, and it's very clear that they should be on the team, then they'll make the team,” Pittsburgh’s President of Hockey Operations and GM said. “We'll deal with whatever the ripple effects of those are on some of the more veteran guys.”

It made for an interesting preseason as we saw how everyone responded.

“That gets the most out of everybody," Rickard Rakell said. "Because all the young guys who are coming in and fighting for a spot kind of reminds all of us what we were at that age. Like, you're fearless. What do you have to lose? That's the kind of mindset that you want. You don't think too much, you just go out there and try to play your game. I think if everybody has that mindset, you push each other to be better."

It resulted in some extremely difficult decisions for management and the coaching staff, and left the Penguins with 23 healthy players on the roster as of Saturday ahead of the first game of the season on Tuesday against the Rangers – including Ben Kindel (18) and Harrison Brunicke (19).

Penguins Head Coach Dan Muse confirmed on Monday that Kindel and Brunicke will make their NHL debuts on Tuesday. The last time Pittsburgh had two teenagers on their opening-night roster was back in the 2006-07 season, with Jordan Staal and Kris Letang.

“It’s fun to see those young guys earn a spot and have a chance to show what they can do at this level,” Letang said. “It’s exciting stuff. It’s always good to have new blood.”

YOUTH MOVEMENT

Muse said Kindel and Brunicke continued to take advantage of their opportunities and check boxes the staff was looking for.

“And they continued, based on their play and their actions in both practices and games to tell us, you're going to need to put us in another game, and you're going to need to see us again, and you're going to need to continue to consider us,” Muse said. “They've done that on a consistent basis. And so, we get to today, this is where we're at.”

Kindel appeared in all but one of the exhibition contests, picking up a goal and two assists, while displaying the parts of his game that got him drafted 11^th overall by Pittsburgh: hockey sense and intelligence. There were a couple of other assets that stood out to the Penguins captain.

“I think he's got a lot of poise with the puck, a lot of speed,” Sidney Crosby said. “Those two things probably stand out the most. I think he's using his speed well. He's finding guys, he distributes the puck really well, and he seems like he's confident. It doesn't seem like it's been too fast for him or anything like that. To this point, he's done a great job. So, sometimes it takes time to adjust all that. It seems like with every game, he's getting more and more comfortable.”

Kindel said he just tried to control what he could, and bring a certain level of consistency to the rink each day with his work ethic and compete level. That’s what has allowed him to thrive.

“Just kind of showed up every day, tried to get better each day, and just show what I can do each day,” Kindel said. “I'm really grateful to still be here, have this opportunity to continue and be in this environment. I’ve learned a lot, grown a lot. Just got to see what it kind of takes to live this life. Going through training camp and preseason, just how they have to take every day, work hard, preparation, all those things. You have to do it with a pro mindset.”

As for Brunicke, it feels particularly incredible to still be here at camp after coming so close last season, but he’s trying not to get ahead of himself.

“I'm still focused on a day-by-day basis, and just keep grinding away, just trying to get better every single day,” Brunicke said. “Playing with these guys, that's what it feels like, what's going on in practice or whatever it is, just earning and growing. It’s feeling good.”

After being drafted in the second round (45^th overall) of the 2024 NHL Draft, Brunicke played in four exhibition games before returning to his junior team, as the Penguins felt that would be best for his development. Brunicke ended up making his professional debut with WBS at the end of the year and overall, his game really came along.

Both Dubas and Penguins assistant GM Jason Spezza said they expected Brunicke to “make some noise” in training camp, and he did. Like Kindel, Brunicke has a healthy amount of confidence, which is what stands out to Letang.

“He's got tons of confidence with the puck,” Letang said. “He has a pretty good set of skills, whether it's skating, puck handling. Obviously, his confidence makes him really dangerous. He can hold onto pucks and use his patience. So, it’s going to be exciting to see what he can do at this level.”

ON THE HORIZON

The Penguins re-assigned goaltender Sergei Murashov (21), forwards Tristan Broz (22) and Avery Hayes (22), and defenseman Owen Pickering (21) to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.

It’s extremely likely we will see all of those players earn call-ups to Pittsburgh at some point this season. Pickering, Pittsburgh's 2022 first-round pick, made his NHL debut last year. The consensus was that Broz would have done the same if a case of mono hadn’t derailed him. Hayes wasn’t eligible last year, as he was on an AHL-only deal. But the organization signed him to an NHL contract in the spring, and the Penguins think very highly of the forward, as do all of his teammates.

There is a ton of excitement surrounding Murashov, who put together a tremendous first pro season in North America, and had a strong showing throughout the preseason. “He had a really good camp. Really good camp,” Muse said. “I think he has an extremely, extremely bright future.

“I think with somebody his age, you have to factor (his long-term development) in, especially when it comes to the goaltending position. You do. There's a history of that. The league as a whole, when you look at the guys that have risen to the highest level of goaltending in the NHL, you can look at the time that was spent there in the American League.”

Muse also made a great point: making the opening-night roster isn’t the only way to measure success.

“I think even for some of the players that we're not moving forward with currently, they did earn things, even though they might not be as apparent as the ones that are still here,” he said. “And so, I think right now, that's a decision that was made, and we think that it’s the best for right now.”

RIPPLE EFFECTS

Alexander Alexeyev, Ryan Graves, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Boko Imama and Sam Poulin were placed on waivers and will be assigned to WBS pending clearance, while Robby Fabbri was released from his PTO. Danton Heinen cleared waivers on Friday.

Grave’s contract status makes him the most eye-opening name of that group. The 30-year-old defenseman is entering the third season of a six-year contract with an average annual value of $4.5 million.

“Obviously, it was a very tough decision. It's not one that anybody takes lightly,” Muse said. “It's a lot of conversations, a lot of thought.”

That process was something Muse and his staff expected, considering all of the work management did over the summer to retool the blue line, an area of concern last season. Remaining in Pittsburgh at this point are Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang, Ryan Shea, Parker Wotherspoon, Caleb Jones, Connor Clifron, Matt Dumba, and Brunicke.

“It was competitive, and we just felt like the eight that are with us as of today, was the group that we felt best suited moving forward,” Muse said. “And part of it is also on those other guys too, and the work that they put in to make it a very, very difficult decision.”