PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – You probably won’t hear players, especially veterans, complain about a shorter training camp. But if you are a younger or new player, it’s not much time to impress, get to know your teammates, earn a roster spot.
“You got to get to your game, it’s a quick camp,” said Pens assistant general manager Jason Spezza.
It was apparent during the first practice, there was a tempo and intensity with only three practices before the first preseason game and 13 days before the season opens.
“Every rep, you don’t want to waste a day,” said new Pens forward Nick Robertson. “You got to get used to everybody out there. You have to take advantage of these days.”
“I think it's the practice days probably carry more significance for guys,” Spezza said. “I think we see a little extra level of urgency. I think we saw it with just guys reporting you know to Pittsburgh earlier. They're used to having a longer camp. They want shorter camp and then they you know they want to make sure they're up and running as well.”
There is competition, but not many opportunities. The competition is more between where players will land on different lines. Let’s project the top four lines
- Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
- Egor Chinakhov-Tommy Novak-Evgeni Malkin
- Andrei Kuzmenko-Ben Kindel Nic Robertson
- Connor Dewar-Blake Lizotte-Elmer Soderblom
Let’s start with the fourth line, Soderblom was in the final of three groups on the first practice day. His spot is vulnerable, but barring injury that’s one spot with veterans Justin Brazeau, Hendriz Lapierre with Ville Koivunen, Filip Hallander, Rutger McGroarty and Avery Hayes. Brazeau had 17 goals with the Pens last year. GM Kyle Dubas traded a third and fifth-round pick for the 24-year-old Lapierre. Koivunen signed an 8-year deal with the Pens this offseason. Hallander is returning from injury and Hayes and McGroarty got tastes with the Pens last year.
Defensive Pairings
- Trevor van Riemsdyk-Erik Karlsson
- Sam Girard-Kaedan Korczak
- Declan Carlisle-Kris Letang
Last year in the AHL playoffs, during the prospect tournament, even in the first practice defenseman Harrison Brunicke was noticeable. Owen Pickering is a first-round pick, Ilya Solovyov played 14 games with the Pens last year. Caleb Jones has 255 games of NHL experience. Ryan Graves is making a lot of money.
Also, Pitt is an older team in desperate need of a young core to build around. Spezza acknowledges they want the young guys to push but says being sent down after training camp doesn’t mean they won’t get --------------- in season.
“I think there's going be plenty of opportunity for young guys to establish themselves as NHL players as the year goes on,” Spezza said. “Whether that's on opening day or not, that will kind of sort itself out here over the next 12 days, 13 days.”
“We know we want to inject youth into the lineup. We know we have to. We have to make sure we do it when the guys are ready and when they're going to help the team. So I think it'll be we're all interested just as you are to kind of watch and see where everybody's at. With young players, they can take big steps throughout the summer, and we'll kind of monitor that and see what goes.”
Reaction to how you evaluate in such a short time
Reaction to how you evaluate in such a short time
