Pens Announce 55 Man Roster to open Training Camp
by Hooks Orpik on Sep 14, 2011 5:25 PM EDT
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PrintThe Pittsburgh Penguins open on-ice training camp on the ice Saturday, with players reporting on Friday.
The team announced this morning that they sent five players (all rookie free agents) back to their respective junior teams. The first cuts were Jessey Astles, Stefan Fournier, Daniil Tarasov, Ian Watters and Maxime Lagace. This could be the end of the road for some, but they could still be in the mix in the future depending on how their seasons and development go.
Players that will be around are as follows:
Forwards (32)
1 Sidney Crosby: Sidney Crosby
11 NHL locks: Evgeni Malkin, Chris Kunitz, James Neal, Jordan Staal, Tyler Kennedy, Matt Cooke, Craig Adams, Arron Asham, Mark Letestu, Pascal Dupuis, Steve Sullivan
1 enforcer: Steve MacIntyre
7 NHL/AHL bubble players: Eric Tangradi, Dustin Jeffrey, Nick Johnson, Joe Vitale, Richard Park, Jason Williams, Ryan Craig
10 Likely minor league players: Keven Veilleux, Paul Thompson, Brian Gibbons, Brian Lerg, Ben Street, NIck Petersen, Colin MacDonald, Brandon DeFazio, Zach Sill, Geoff Walker
2 non-professional prospects happy to be there: Tom Kuhnhackl, Dominik Uher
Defensemen (18)
4 NHL locks: Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik, Zbynek Michalek, Paul Martin
3 likely NHL'ers: Matt Niskanen, Ben Lovejoy, Deryk Engelland
4 vets knocking on the door: Boris Valbik, Alex Picard, Brian Strait, Robert Bortuzzo
5 likely minor league starters: Simon Despres, Alex Grant, Philip Samuelsson, Joey Mormina, Carl Sneep
2 prospects happy to be there: Joe Morrow, Scott Harrington
Goalies (5):
2 NHL locks: Marc-Andre Fleury, Brent Johnson
3 minor leaguers: Brad Thiessen, Patrick Killeen, Scott Munroe
Soon, the puck drops and the battles to win those precious few spots will be won. There's many great storylines, namely:
- What, if anything, will be Crosby's participation level
- How can Malkin come back from a major injury and potentially have to shoulder a lot of the burden
- There will likely be 3 new top-six wingers (Neal, Sullivan, Kennedy). How will they do playing with the top two centers
- The roster battle for the last two forward slots, will wily vets carry the day (Park, Craig, Williams) or will any youngsters stick (Tangradi, Johnson, Vitale, Jeffrey)
- The defensive depth- a bunch of players won't make the team out of camp, but likely will wear an NHL jersey at some point this season
- Continued development and early looks at prospects like Despres, Thompson and Morrow
And that's just the headlines. All 55 players have a story, even if it's Carl Sneep, Dom Uher or Matt Cooke. It's sure to be a busy and entertaining camp before the Pens travel to Vancouver to riot break in a brand new NHL season on October 6th.
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So which defensemen get pumped to the ECHL?
Strait-Bortuzzo
Despres-Sneep
Picard-Valabik
Samuelsson/Grant/Mormina
If Valabik is in the WBS lineup Mormina isn’t much use. WBS could use Grant since he’s basically the only true OFD on that squad.
Mormina seems to be pretty well liked and respected, I have a feeling he’ll stick in the AHL.
Grant may be the odd man out for Wheeling again. I could see Samuelsson starting there too.
Unfortunately sooner or later Pittsburgh or WIlkes-Barre will have injuries and need call-ups, so I’m sure that Grant and/or Samuelsson will probably get to play in the AHL sooner or later this season.
But yeah, I’d agree with your overall point, there is a ton of defensive depth…Just the way Shero likes it.
"You come at the King, you best not miss."
Yea that’s very true. I doubt Mormina would have resigned with WBS if he knew he wasn’t going to be there especially since I read an article where he wanted to come back to WBS because his family is settled in and they like the community.
You basically said what I originally thought but I was pushing Grant in there because of his offensive potential/ability, but I’ll probably back step and stand where you are. Either way that’s a pretty scary AHL defensive squad IMO. You’re looking at 3 NHL caliber defensemen and maybe even 4 with Despres.
by Geno McFleury on Sep 14, 2011 7:23 PM EDT up reply actions
Agree with you … from what I’ve managed to see/listen from the rookie tournament Samuelsson could use some time in the ECHL. Grant should be the second Dman to start the season there.
Anyway I think this season the defense is deeper than ever – as far as capable NHL/AHL defensemen goes.
You have to see it for yourself...
Is it October yet?
by Lindas1st on Sep 14, 2011 6:56 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
I haven’t gotten to watch much of Despres in action, but I’ve been hearing more and more about his lack of defensive ability. Are we concerned at all or is he pretty similar to how we found Kris Letang? I remember a lot of the same talk surrounding him as he came into the league.
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I wouldn’t be concerned given that it is a huge jump from juniors to the NHL level is so drastic.
From what I’ve heard it sounds like most of Despres’ issues have been of the decision making variety. And the game moves a lot faster, so he needs to adapt and make quicker, better decisions when the puck is on his stick and where to go positionally. It’s easier to get away with mistakes when you’re literally a man amongst boys in junior, but the pros are a lot more unforgiving.
All that said, AHL experience ought to break him in just fine. I personally haven’t thought lately Despres would be much of a NHL contributor this season, I would think Bortuzzo and Strait are well in front of him in terms of readiness. (Let alone guys like Valabik and Picard).
"You come at the King, you best not miss."
by Hooks Orpik on Sep 15, 2011 10:22 AM EDT up reply actions
Based on Bylsma’s comments about Jeffrey being ready to start the season, there’s no way he’s a bubble player.
Comments are one thing, seeing him on the ice is another. You’re right he’ll bump up a notch if he’s healthy and 100%, but we haven’t seen that yet.
"You come at the King, you best not miss."
by Hooks Orpik on Sep 15, 2011 11:14 AM EDT up reply actions
You pretty much said it in the invite list. If this team is healthy, they have a full roster of one-way guys. The younger guys are really just battling for depth and an outside shot of making the roster. The injury concerns of Crosby, Malkin and Jeffrey will make, what would otherwise be a rather uneventful, camp interesting.
Bottomline, I don’t expect much from this camp. As always though more injuries, trades or someone really surprising could happen.
"It's a great day for hockey" - Badger Bob
by StripesForLife on Sep 15, 2011 12:40 PM EDT reply actions
55 in Camp
The best chance for the final 2 spots on forwards will be held by Jeffrey, Tangradi and Park, simply because the Pens need a stable scorer(Jeffrey), a net presence(Tangradi), and a quality defensive and penalty killing centre(Park).
Park should be the player, for the fourth line. Good penalty killer, and good face-off skills.
The Hockey Dr.
by Outcast on Sep 17, 2011 7:02 PM EDT via iPhone app reply actions
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