Pittsburgh gears up for its first preseason matchup against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday evening
At the morning skate on Saturday, the Pittsburgh Penguins previewed the lineups they plan to deploy in their preseason opener against the Buffao Sabres later tonight and also made some cuts to the roster.
Top prospect Rutger McGroarty will make his preseason debut skating on the left wing alongside center Drew O'Connor and right winger Cody Glass, and he will also feature on the top power play unit.
The full lineup is as follows:
Forwards:
McGroarty-O'Connor-Glass
Jesse Puljujarvi-Tristan Broz-Valtteri Puustinen
Ville Koivunen-Vasily Ponomarev-Emil Bemstrom
Tanner Howe-Jimmy Huntington-Avery Hayes
Defense
Ryan Graves-Mac Hollowell
Harrison Brunicke-John Ludvig
Ryan Shea-Nathan Clurman
Goaltenders
Joel Blomqvist (starter)
Filip Larsson
In addition, the first power play unit will consist of O'Connor, McGroarty, Glass, Puustinen, and Hollowell. The primary penalty killing unit is Ponomarev, Hayes, Ludvig, and Lee.
Although it's early in the preseason, head coach Mike Sullivan said there are a number of things they look for all of their players to display in these games, and in particular, the "foundational habit" of competitive spirit.
"The expectation is if you become a Pittsburgh Penguin, that you're gonna be a fierce competitor," he said. "That manifests itself in a number of different ways on the ice. It's in one-on-one battles, puck battles along the wall, wall play, net-front play. Can you play when you're tired, or do you just give in?"
He continued. "There's lots of ways that you can show or display how competitive you are on the ice, and those are the things we're gonna look for in all of our players, regardless of what their 'game' is."
In speaking with Puustinen this morning, he indicated that everyone is eager to get back on the ice for some live game action.
"I am really, really excited. Sometimes, first games, maybe too excited," he said with a grin. "I keep the focus to the game and doing what guys want to see."
In addition to tonight's lineups, the Penguins also announced that they trimmed their roster from 69 to 64, sending some younger players and prospects back to the their junior teams. Those players include:
- Forward Justin Cloutier
- Forward Cooper Foster
- Defenseman Caeden Carlisle
- Defenseman Donovan McCoy
- Defenseman Emil Pieniniemi
- Goaltender Charlie Schenkel
Fans should expect to see the team's next round of cuts sometime next week.