Penguins announce roster for first preseason game in Buffalo

The Penguins have announced who is going to Buffalo for tomorrow night’s preseason game.

GOALIES

1 Casey DeSmith

35 Tristan Jarry

DEFENSEMEN

2 Chad Ruhwedel

3 Olli Maatta

24 Stefan Elliott

50 Juuso Riikola

55 Chris Summers

67 Dane Birks

75 Will O’Neill

FORWARDS

10 Garrett Wilson

11 Jimmy Hayes

12 Dominik Simon

38 Derek Grant

39 Jean-Sebastien Dea

41 Daniel Sprong

46 Zach Aston-Reese

53 Teddy Blueger

54 Thomas Di Pauli

57 Anthony Angello

59 Jake Guentzel

64 Jordy Bellerive

82 Jan Drozg

Other than Jake Guentzel and Olli Maatta, not too many veteran core players, which is to be expected for the very first game of the year. Kind of a nice reward to be a tenured star to not have to take the very first road trip, even if it’s a short one.

So far in training camp, some of the names who have popped will be in the lineup. Read camp guru and friend of Pensburgh @LGP_netwolf or just about any beat writer and there has been a lot of praise for guys like Juuso Riikola, the Finnish free agent signing. Jimmy Hayes, Dominik Simon, Zach Aston-Reese and Daniel Sprong have received credit for “doing good things”, and those guys are all probably battling for a limited number of spots in the real opening night lineup. A preseason game isn’t going to make or break them, but it’s another piece of evidence and another opportunity to keep building towards an eventual job won.

Last year, Teddy Blueger and Jean-Sebastien Dea were among the leaders in total preseason games played for Pittsburgh, and they’re both in the lineup here for tomorrow. No one really expects them to make a serious push for an NHL lineup spot out of camp, but they’re key depth players who could see a cameo in the regular season.

Anthony Angello was one of the few bright spots in the prospect camp earlier, and he’ll be getting his first taste of NHL preseason action. Jordy Bellerive and Jan Drozg are the other junior-aged players listed, and since 13 are going up, one might be the planned scratch if/when no one wakes up sick tomorrow or gets injured in pregame warmups.

The goalie battle may be the most interesting, as most indications are it’s pretty much an open competition between Casey DeSmith and Tristan Jarry, with the team planning on keeping the stronger looking player in this month’s work around to start the season as Matt Murray’s backup.