Penguins Have Youth Movement Next Year
The Pittsburgh Penguins are expecting multiple prospects and young stars to fight for NHL roles next season.
PITTSBURGH – Upon arrival to the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, president and general manager Kyle Dubas made it clear one of his goals was to make the team younger. Dubas’ focus would mainly be through the draft and trading for prospects, but that goal couldn’t be clearer as the 2023-24 season nears its end.
The Penguins likely won’t play in the 2024 NHL Playoffs, meaning everyone has started to look ahead to the 2024-25 season. Dubas believes multiple young players will fight for NHL roster spots at the upcoming training camp.
In a radio interview with 105.9 the X's Mark Madden, Dubas named seven players who could be fighting for NHL roles. He broke them down into categories, starting with recent recalls currently playing on the NHL roster. Those names are Sam Poulin and Jack St. Ivany.
“We’re very proud of the way Sam has come through this year,” Dubas said. “He’s battled injury this year, he’s very open about the mental health matters he dealt with last season.”
Poulin recently joined the Penguins' lineup for the first time in 16 months and shouldn’t be heading back too soon. The same goes for St. Ivany, who now has four NHL games under his belt.
Dubas praised St. Ivany's progression from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ first defensive pairing to the NHL.
Keeping in tune with the improvements from key AHL players, Dubas noted that Joel Blomqvist may be fighting for an NHL role next year. The top goalie prospect has taken over as the WBS starter and is closing in on the 40-game mark.
“He’s been outstanding,” Dubas said. “He’s nearing the 40-game threshold as a first-year goaltender in North American pro hockey and is near the top of the league in every statistical category.”
In 39 games, Blomqvist has a 21-10-6 record, a .920 save percentage, and a 2.13 goals-against average.
Dubas went on to talk about a few key faces that are still with their respective junior teams, but may be considered for the NHL lineup sooner rather than later.
“Guys that aren’t quite yet in the system,” Dubas said. “Ville Koivunen… he’s had a great start to the playoffs in Finnish Liiga.”
In the opening four postseason games with Karpat, Koivunen has scored four goals and three assists for seven total points. Dubas said everyone expects him to make the jump to North America and push for a role in the organization.
“Our expectation is that Brayden Yager and Owen Pickering will push, as well,” Dubas said. “Give themselves a shot. That’s what we’re looking forward to.”
Yager and Pickering are arguably the top two prospects in the Penguins’ pipeline. Both were just named the WHL end-of-year All-Star teams for their respective divisions and could be progressing ahead of schedule if Dubas believes they can fight for NHL roles.
Dubas also mentioned that Vasily Ponomarev likely would have been given a shot at the NHL this season, but his unfortunate injury has likely put him on the shelf for the remainder of the year. Ponomarev is another guy who will likely be in the fight for the NHL at the next training camp.
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