The Pittsburgh Penguins concluded development camp with their annual tournament on Friday. 

It was a three-team round-robin tournament before the top two teams squared off in the final. Thousands of fans packed the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry to see some of the Penguins' top prospects face one another. 

In the end, Team Barrasso won the Michel Briere Cup over Team Rutherford 4-3, after the latter had won the round-robin matchup 5-1. 

 I know you can only take so much from a small tournament like this, but here's a look at a few players who stood out to me. 

- Zam Plante was on Team Rutherford for this tournament and was the best player on the ice. He was knifing through players left and right, and was everywhere in the offensive zone. He scored some nice goals and had some sweet assists for his team. 

I wasn't too surprised that he really stood out since he's coming off a great 2025-26 season with the University of Minnesota Duluth. He finished with 20 goals and 50 points in 40 games. 

He's still unsigned by the Penguins, despite being picked in the fifth round of the 2022 NHL Draft. We'll see if that changes anytime soon. 

- In my feature piece about Pierce Mbuyi earlier this week, I touched on how filthy his release is, especially his one-timer. Well, fans got to see it up close and personal on Friday, and he used it beautifully.

His one-timer in the championship game for Team Rutherford was a rocket of a shot, and he scored another goal earlier in that scrimmage. Heck, he almost notched a hat trick, which would've tied the game as time expired, but was robbed by the Team Barrasso goaltender. 

Mbuyi is set to go back to the OHL's Owen Sound Attack for the 2026-27 season before heading to Penn State for the 2027-28 season. He's a prospect that fans should be keeping a very close eye on.

- Carter Sanderson was rocking a full face shield during these scrimmages and was a big part of the reason why Team Barrasso emerged victorious. He scored two goals in the first game against Team Murphy and also scored one in the championship game. 

He's coming off a solid season in the USHL, finishing with 17 goals and 34 points in 54 games with the Muskegon Lumberjacks. He'll try to carry this momentum into the 2026-27 season, which he'll spend with the WHL's Calgary Hitmen before heading to the University of North Dakota for the 2027-28 season. 

- The Ruck twins had some pretty cool moments during the tournament, even though they weren't on the same team. Liam was on Team Murphy and had a nice goal against Team Rutherford in the second scrimmage when he started the rush into the offensive zone before finishing the play at the side of the net. 

Markus gave Team Barrasso the lead in the championship game with a laser of a shot near the left circle. The playmaking is his bread and butter, but he has an underrated release and needs to use it more. 

Overall, it was nice to get some summer hockey during a big heatwave, even if it was just a few small three-on-three games. 

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