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Penguins Make First 12 Roster Cuts

The Pittsburgh Penguins made their first training camp cuts today, re-assigning 12 players and whittling their camp roster down to 43.  Over the next 2 weeks, the Penguins will need to skinny the roster down by another 20 players to arrive at the 23 players required by September 30th for the start of the regular season.  General Manager Ray Shero announced that 10 players would be heading to the AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.  This includes forwards Aaron Boogaard, Zack Sill, Joey Haddad, Casey Pierro-Zabotel, Nick Petersen and Keven Veilleux.  Also heading to the AHL are defensemen Lane Caffaro, Brian Strait and Alex Grant and goaltender Jordan Parise.  The Penguins also re-assigned Nathan Moon to the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey league and released defenseman Jamie Hunt.  The roster moves leave the Penguins with 26 forwards, 13 defensemen and four goaltenders.

The entire Penguins team will head to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Thursday night to participate in a Black and Gold intra-squad game at Wachovia Arena.  The Stanley Cup will be in attendance as a team of Penguins headed up by Sidney Crosby will take on another team of Penguins headed up by Evgeni Malkin.  The game is sold out and proceeds will be donated to charity.  The Penguins will then return home to face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday evening at Mellon Arena, before taking their pre-season on the road.

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TK on Malkin’s Wing for Day 1 of Practice

On-ice practice began this morning at Mellon Arena for the Pittsburgh Penguins 2009/10 Training Camp.  The most notable news from today is that Tyler Kennedy was the first player to be paired up with Evgeni Malkin and Ruslan Fedotenko.  I am sure that this is just one of many pairings that will be evaluated on that line over the next few weeks after the departure of Petr Sykora/Miroslav Satan and the absence of Max Talbot while he is recovering from off-season surgery.  Coach Dan Bylsma noted that he is looking for a tenacious player that can add a “forechecking and puck-pursuit presence” to the Malkin line.  Based on what we saw from Tyler Kennedy last season, he would seem to be a natural fit.  He certainly brought those skills to the Staal line last season, where his development was quite noteworthy.  Pascal Dupuis back-filled Kennedy’s normal spot on the Staal line.

New acquisition Mike Rupp played on a potential fourth line with Craig Adams and Eric Godard.  Eric Tangradi played on a line with Wyatt Smith and Chris Connor, while Luca Caputi was on a line with Mark Letestu and Nick Johnson.  Free Agent Left Wing Ryan Bayda (formerly of the Carolina Hurricanes) was invited to camp/practice as a tryout.  Also at camp on a tryout is former UND goaltender Jordan Parise, Zach Parise’s older brother.   

As far as top defensive pairings, it was Mark Eaton – Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik – Sergei Gonchar, and Jay McKee – Alex Goligoski.  Ben Lovejoy was paired with Brian Strait.

Here are the full training camp team lineups as reported by Sam Kasan on the 2009 Training Camp Blog (click name for player profile):

TEAM A
Forwards:
Ruslan Fedotenko – Evgeni Malkin – Tyler Kennedy
Mike Rupp – Craig Adams – Eric Godard
Joey Haddad – Casey Pierro-Zabotel – Nick Petersen
Ryan Bayda – Zach Sill

Defensemen:
Mark Eaton – Kris Letang
Chris Lee - Deryk Engelland
Jonathan D’Aversa

Goaltenders:
Brent Johnson
Jordan Parise

TEAM B
Forwards:
Matt Cooke – Jordan Staal – Pascal Dupuis
Eric Tangradi – Wyatt Smith – Chris Connor
Wade Brookbank – Joe Vitale – Keven Veilleux
Nathan Moon

Defensemen:
Brooks Orpik – Sergei Gonchar
Brian Strait – Ben Lovejoy
Simon Despres – Robert Bortuzzo

Goaltenders:
Marc-Andre Fleury
Brad Thiessen

TEAM C
Forwards:
Chris Kunitz – Sidney Crosby – Bill Guerin
Luca Caputi – Mark Letestu – Nick Johnson
Paul Bissonnette – Dustin Jeffrey – Tim Wallace
Aaron Boogard

Defensemen:
Jay McKee – Alex Goligoski
Lane Caffaro – Nathan Guenin
Jamie Hunt – Alex Grant

Goaltenders:
John Curry

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Draft Pick Spotlight – Patrick Killeen & Nathan Moon

Now that the 2008 NHL Entry Draft is behind us and the initial Free Agency activity has occurred, it is time to step back and take a closer look at the Pittsburgh Penguins 2008 draft picks.  While much of the reporting focused in on Patrick Killeen and Nathan Moon, the Penguins actually acquired a total of four players through the late June draft.  This included two goaltenders, a defenseman and a center, all of whom the Penguins will likely allow to develop over the next two seasons in Juniors/College.  As a result of previous trades involving Marian Hossa, Hal Gil and Georges Laraque, the Penguins didn’t have a first, second, or third round pick to exercise.  Despite an attempt to get an earlier draft pick through a pre-draft trade of Ryan Malone, the Penguins came up empty. 

The first pick-up came in the 4th round of the draft, as the Penguins announced the selection of Nathan Moon.  The 5-foot-11, 179-pound, right-handed center from Belleville, Ontario, had 35 goals and 77 points in 68 games with the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs last season.  He posted those impressive numbers while playing on a team that only won 25-games.  The 120th pick overall, he was rated the 134th best prospect available by International Scouting Services.  Moon, who was born 1 April 1990, is a talented puck-handler and is great in the face-off circle.  He also has good vision for a young hockey player and takes advantage of that vision by being able to find lanes and connect on good passes to his teammates.  In an interview with Penguins’ Joe Sager, Moon expressed his excitement at being selected and his desire to improve his performance as he heads into Juniors.  It is expected that Moon will play 1-2 more seasons in the OHL before moving up into ther NHL.  

Image details: 2008 NHL Entry Draft Portraits served by picapp.com

In the 5th round, the Penguins picked up goaltender Alexander Pechurski as the 150th overall pick.  The 6-foot, 187-pounder is a native of Magnitogorsk, Russia.  Ranked 10th among international goaltenders by the NHL’s Central Scouting, he posted a 2.07 GAA in 26 games in 2007-08 for Magnitogorsk.  He went on to help team Russia to a silver medal in the U-18 tournament by going 4-1 and posting a 3.06 GAA and 0.885 save percentage.  Born 4 June 1990, Pechurski catches left.  While his future in North America remains uncertain due to the lack of a transfer agreement, the Penguins hope Pechurski will help them regain some organizational depth in goal within their system. 

On to the 6th round, where the Penguins took goalie Patrick Killeen from Brampton (OHL), the 180th overall pick.  A native of Almonte, Ontario, the 6-foot-4, 194-pound goaltender catches left.  Killeen went 20-9-2 with a 2.76 GAA in 34 games with Brampton last season.  Born 15 April 1990, Killeen is large goaltender that covers the bottom half of the net very well.  Like Pechurski, Killeen was brought into the organization to add depth in net.  Key to his development over the next couple of years in the OHL will be improvements in shot recovery, rebound control, and glove control. 

Image details: 2008 NHL Entry Draft Portraits served by picapp.com
Finally, in the 7th round, the Penguins added defenseman Nicholas D’Agostino from St. Michael’s Buzzers (OPJHL), selected 210th overall.  The 6-foot-1, 177-pound defenseman is a native of Bolton, Ontario, was born on 24 June 1990 and shoots left.  D’Agostino is slated to play for Cornell beginning in 2009.  Playing for St. Michaels, he scored 5-goals and 18-points in 46 games.  Unranked by most scouting services, D’Agostino has been effective in man-up, man-down and even strength play.  He has a hard slap shot and is defensively effective by keeping his feet and stick active at all times.  In an interview with Penguins’ Joe Sager at the Penguins Rookie Conditioning Camp, D’Agostino described himself as a two-way player who likes to jump into the play, albeit not a big offensive scorer.  He will continue to develop physically and as a player as he heads off to Cornell in the fall.

It is good to see that the Penguins made the best of their later round draft picks and picked up some good prospects for the future of the club.  Be sure to check back soon as I will be posting more in-depth player spotlights on each of the Penguins’ pick-ups in free agency. 

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