NHL
NHL Preseason
There once was a time when I never wrote Pittsburgh Penguins roster projections because we all knew what the roster was going to look like under former coach Mike Sullivan.
Those Penguins teams were either contenders or fancied themselves as contenders for a decade.
Things are a little different these days, which makes projecting the Penguins roster extremely difficult.
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Will they go young? Will they go old? A hybrid of the two?
Is Dan Muse going to name his roster? Or will Kyle Dubas have significant say?
Will veterans under contract receive some preferential treatment? Or will the best players in the camp be rewarded with a spot in the lineup when the Penguins open the season on national TV at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 7?
These are all perfectly fair questions, and not many answers are set in stone simply because everything is new. The coaching staff is new. The rebuild is somewhat new.
So, let’s take a guess. These aren’t necessarily the names I’d choose, but they are the names I’m projecting the Penguins will go with.
Some of the names on this list are obvious.
Some, not so much.
Avery Hayes could be one of the Penguins’ 12 best forwards, and there’s no question he’s on the rise. He very well could make the team. I’ll guess that he doesn’t make the roster out of camp, but he’ll be in the NHL at some point this season regardless.
I believe Broz has earned a job. He’s a good, well-rounded player. Some young players aren’t capable of receiving limited minutes on the fourth line and thriving anyway, but Broz would be unaffected by such a role. He plays hard and smart, and the Penguins need more players like him if he works his way up the lineup, even better.
No one talks about Dewar, but if you were paying attention late last season, you saw someone who understands how to handle a bottom-six role. I liked his game quite a bit, and Dubas did, too.
A constant theme I’ve heard in recent weeks is that the Penguins want to go younger at the NHL level this season. If this is the case, having Broz around makes sense. Same with Hållander. It’s time to let the young guys play and take their lumps.
Projecting this blue line is tough. There’s at least a reasonable chance that Karlsson will be traded at some point in the next few months, if not sooner. That, of course, would change everything.
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I’m guessing Brunicke will at least get a nine-game trial run. He’s one of the six best defensemen in the organization already, and I’d rank him a good bit higher than that. He’s an impressive prospect who is going to make a considerable impact in the NHL. He’s only 19, but he’s very possibly ready to play in the league now. There is something different about him mentally and physically.
The left side is something of a mess. I imagine Pickering will make the team by the end of camp. Shea is fine. Wotherspoon is fine, too. Ryan Graves may see playing time this season, though I don’t see the point.
I do wonder if we will see Letang play on the left side at points this season. He’s done it before and he’s done it pretty well. Given the logjam on the right side — and the possibility that playing out of position might force Letang to play a more prudent game — I think it needs to be considered.
I think these two dressing in New York is a relatively safe bet, but we have to ask the question: What’s the goal here?
If the goal is to field your best players, then there should be no question about Sergei Murashov being on this roster. He’s been their best goaltender in training camp. He has more talent than any goaltender in the system. I’m not sure he’s ready to play regularly in the NHL, but I’m also not sure he isn’t.
Still, as best I can tell, the plan is for Murashov to hold down the fort in the AHL this season. This does a few things: It makes the Penguins worse, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing; it gives Murashov time to work on his craft; and it keeps him away from what could be a terrible defensive team. Being in that environment could weigh heavily on a 21-year-old goalie’s psyche.
Šilovs has been perfectly fine in camp. Jarry hasn’t looked great, but as we know by now, you never know what you’re going to get from him, which has always been his issue. Still, this is probably the goalie duo to start the season. I’m not so sure that it will be the duo to conclude the season, but we’ll worry about that in April.
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McGroarty is a big part of the Penguins’ future. I can’t say the same for the other two.
We could see Hayes and Acciari play a role for the Penguins this season, but frankly, there is absolutely no point in that. They are both veterans at the tail end of their respective careers, and nothing they did last season suggests they will be part of the franchise’s future. Either of them hogging ice time from younger players would be criminal. And pointless.
McGroarty didn’t look ready at the beginning of last season. However, when he made his return to the NHL in the final couple of weeks of the regular season, he very much belonged. Now, he needs to get healthy.
(Photo of Dan Muse: Justin Berl / Getty Images)
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Josh Yohe is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. Josh joined The Athletic in 2017 after covering the Penguins for a decade, first for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and then for DKPittsburghSports.com. Follow Josh on Twitter @JoshYohe_PGH
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