The Pittsburgh Penguins will enter the annual prospect challenge without a couple big names from their pipeline.

Youngsters within the Pittsburgh Penguins pipeline are just a few days away from dropping the puck on the annual Prospect Challenge in Buffalo.

Late last week, the Penguins announced which prospects would represent them at the tournament; names like Brayden Yager and Lukas Svejkovsky highlighted that group.

There was, however, a couple of notable names absent from the roster.

The first big name expected to miss the tournament is defenseman Owen Pickering; his name was listed on the lineup, but labeled as injured.

This seems to be a new injury as when the Penguins hosted prospect development camp earlier in the summer, he was right in the middle of everything.

Pickering was, however, also injured for last year’s tournament and Penguins training camp.

There have been no updates regarding what kind of injury this is or the severity.

Another notable name completely absent from the roster is Emil Pieniniemi, the Penguins third round pick from this past draft.

The holdup for Pieniniemi is likely just conflicts with getting him over the ocean from his native Finland, nothing major to worry about.

Pieniniemi is a sleeper choice as one of the organizations’ top prospects and was quickly signed to an entry-level contract following the draft.

At 6-foot-2, the Penguins are sure to see one of their top defensive prospects in the very near future.

A final name that will not participate at the prospect challenge is Tristan Broz who had himself a resurgence at the Penguins prospect camp.

Broz is among the top forward prospects in the organization but is missing out on the upcoming tournament likely due to his NCAA team.

Currently a member of the Denver University ice hockey team, Broz will focus on continuing to improve his status at the collegiate level before making the jump to professional hockey.

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