The Pittsburgh Penguins are only in the opening stretch of training camp, but a few players are already making the roster picture harder to sort out.
That matters in a camp like this one. The group is crowded, the competition is real, and there are only so many openings to go around. Pittsburgh is going to have to make some uncomfortable cuts when the time comes, and a few skaters who entered camp on the outside are giving themselves a legitimate chance to change that.
Filip Hallander is one of the names turning heads early. He came into camp with the sense that he was well down the bubble, but that thinking has started to shift after the first couple of practices. Hallander has a shot at not only making the team, but the opening night lineup.
Elmer Soderblom has also put himself into the mix. He got off to a bad start by showing up late, but since then he has continued to show why the Penguins traded for him last year.
At his size, he brings a different look, and he has shown he might have a new lease on his NHL life in Pittsburgh. He has a chance to make the roster and keep building on what he did last year.
Owen Pickering is another player who has made an early impression. Many people may not view him as a serious roster candidate, but he should be.
Pittsburgh could use another dependable left-handed defenseman, and Pickering appears to be the only real option right now to push for a spot over Ryan Graves. The Penguins’ current management group has never seemed especially sold on Pickering, but his camp has been promising so far.
Harrison Brunicke has also been strong in the early going. Even so, the road ahead is steep.
The Penguins added so many right-handed players this offseason that there may simply not be room for Brunicke to claim a spot on the right side of a pairing. He continues to impress, but the numbers may work against him in the end.
Brunicke and Soderblom are among the players who were expected to look good early and have done exactly that. Hallander and Pickering, though, are the ones forcing their way into a conversation that looked more settled before camp began.
And that is what makes this roster battle so tricky. Early standouts do not always stay early standouts, but with so few jobs available in Pittsburgh, every strong practice matters. The Penguins are carrying one of the more quantitative training camp rosters this organization has had in years, and that means a long list of skaters will eventually be shown the door.
In Other News...
Penguins Camp Cuts Put Real Pressure On The Opening Night Battle
The first training camp cuts have already sharpened the picture in Pittsburgh, where the early roster move sends a clear signal that the Penguins are sorting through more than just bodies on the ice. Pittsburgh Hockey Now also projected the opening lineup and flagged that there could still be changes during the season, which is exactly the kind of uncertainty that hangs over a camp when the margin for error is thin.
For the players still in the mix, the next few days matter more now because the opening night battle is no longer a broad competition, it is becoming a test of who can hold a spot when the roster starts to settle. Around the league, there are other developments adding to the backdrop, from Columbus talking contract with Adam Fantilli to a few notable names surfacing on waivers, but in Pittsburgh the focus is much more immediate: who stays in the frame, and who gets pushed further down the depth chart. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Prospect Ben Kindel Faces A Bigger Setback Than Expected
Ben Kindels early push toward the season hit an unexpected roadblock almost immediately, as the Penguins center is now facing a more serious injury than the team first believed. The setback came in the first period of Pittsburghs opening preseason game, and what initially looked manageable has turned into a week-to-week recovery, a frustrating development for a prospect trying to make his mark in camp.
For an organization that has been trying to sharpen the path for its young players, the timing is less than ideal. Pittsburgh has spent plenty of time working through the logistics and growing pains in its minor league pipeline, including travel complications after its ECHL affiliate relocated, while also trying to build a more competitive development system. Kindels absence adds another variable to that process, and it leaves the Penguins waiting to see how long one of their prospects will be sidelined. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Opening Night Plans Already Face Another Lineup Problem
The Penguins are already having to juggle their opening-night picture after Ben Kindels status changed from day-to-day to week-to-week following an injury in the first period of a preseason game. Even before the regular season gets going, Pittsburgh is trying to sort through a lineup that has been nudged into motion by absences, with Filip Hallander, Connor Dewar and Elmer Soderblom skating together as a possible fourth line.
Blake Lizotte is also listed as week-to-week, which only adds to the uncertainty in the middle of the roster. Andrei Kuzmenko is away from the club for a family matter, leaving the Penguins with one more variable to manage as they continue shaping the early-season group and trying to hold the bottom of the lineup together. [Read more 🡒]