Pittsburgh Penguins: Three To Watch When Training Camp Opens

The time has come to unload the hockey bags, sharpen the skates and tape up the sticks. Soon the Pittsburgh Penguins will take to the ice with the start of training camp on Friday, Sept. 19.

But, before the Black and Gold gather under new head coach Mike Johnston, the team will send 22 of their prospects to participate against players from the Ottawa Senators, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Chicago Blackhawks in a three-game rookie tournament that will be held at Budweiser Gardens in London, Ontario.

The event begins play on Saturday, Sept. 13 and the Pens will be headed up by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coach John Hynes and assistant coach Alain Nasreddine. They have led the WBS Penguins to back-to-back American Hockey League Eastern Conference Finals appearances.

The team was supposed to be 24 strong, but Kasperi Kapanen, Pittsburgh’s first-round selection in the June NHL Entry Draft, will not participate due to a finger injury, sustained when he went hard into the boards while playing for Finland against Sweden. That game was on Aug. 8 during a junior evaluation camp in Lake Placid, N.Y., and it has been reported that the 18-year-old right wing will be at training camp.

The other member of the walking wounded is Jaden Lindo, taken by the Pens’ in the sixth round of the June draft. The 18-year-old forward will be unable to participate because of a knee injury suffered back in February.

Among the age 23 and younger players that are participating this weekend include forwards Josh Archibald, Jean-Sebastien Dea, Oskar Sundqvist, Scott Wilson, and Anton Zlobin; defensemen Brian Dumoulin and Scott Harrington; and goaltenders Tristan Jarry and Matt Murray.

Last season, Olli Maatta, who just turned 20 in August, caught the attention of the fans and the media around the Steel City by making the jump to the National Hockey League and contributing to the Penguins efforts.

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The question that remains for many of us is this, is there someone this season who will make the transition and join the roster? In the last month, these are the players the experts say to keep an eye on this fall.

Corey Pronman of ESPN.com rates three Penguins among his Top 100 Prospects. They are right wing Kasperi Kapanen at 15th overall; Derrick Pouliot is ranked 29th overall and eighth among defensemen while Scott Harrington was rated 54th overall and the 11th best defenseman on the list.

Ian Altenbaugh of HockeyFutures.com sees the Pens Top Five Prospects as follows: 1) Derrick Pouliot; 2) Kasperi Kapanen; 3) Beau Bennett, RW/LW; 4) Scott Harrington; 5) Brian Dumoulin.

The folks at NHL.com have the Black and Gold’s Top Five Prospects in this order: 1) Derrick Pouliot; 2) Kasperi Kapanen; 3) Philip Samuelsson, D; 4) Tristan Jarry; 5) Brian Dumoulin. They have Harrington rated as seventh overall.

Meanwhile, The Hockey News likes as their Top 5 Pittsburgh Prospects: 1) Derrick Pouliot; 2) Kasperi Kapanen; 3) Brian Dumoulin; 4) Tristan Jarry; and 5) Scott Harrington.

My prediction? I am going to go with the three young defensemen – Derrick Pouliot, Brian Dumoulin and Scott Harrington – as being the best candidates to make the Black and Gold for this season.

Harrington is a two-way defenseman who skates well and by the end of his rookie campaign in the AHL was contributing on both the penalty kill and the powerplay. He had five goals and 19 assists for 24 points in 76-games played last season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Hooks Orpik of Pensburgh on SBNation.com compares Harrington’s game to that of Paul Martin.

The 6-foot-4, 207-pound Dumoulin had five goals and 16 assists for 21 points in 53-games played with WBS last season. The Boston College Eagles product also had one assist in six games last season with Pittsburgh.

According Shelly Anderson of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, during the club’s annual development camp in July – it was Dumoulin who made the stronger impression of what coach Johnston wants from his defensemen in his system.

While Pouliot underwent shoulder surgery in May, the 6-foot, 208-pound defenseman from Saskatchewan is projected to be ready for training camp. He quarterbacks the powerplay with great confidence and put up 17 goals, 53 assists for 70 points in 58-games played with the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League last season.

He has the most familiarity with the new scheme as Johnston was his junior coach in Portland the past four-plus seasons.

I think that Kapanen will need to have an outstanding camp over everyone else to make the grade this season. I see him needing another year of play in Finland or perhaps with the Baby Pens before being ready to join the squad.

The puck will drop on preseason action starting on Monday, Sept. 22 at Consol Energy Center when the Pens host the Detroit Red Wings at 7 p.m. It will be followed up the next night with a trip to Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets, also at 7 p.m.