The Pittsburgh Penguins have added a ton of depth not only to their NHL squad, but the AHL affiliate, as well.
When Kyle Dubas arrived at president of hockey operations for the Pittsburgh Penguins, one of his many goals was to provide the team with loads of depth options.
Over the course of the offseason, the Penguins restructured their depth in just about every position and added a few extra faces to supplement their AHL affiliate.
Thanks to Dubas’ building of the NHL squad, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins benefitted by nabbing multiple high-level talents.
Throughout training camp, names like Radim Zohorna, Alex Nylander, and Sam Poulin all impressed, but the NHL squad was too full to fit them in.
Zohorna and Nylander made it through waivers were sent to the AHL along with Poulin, but that isn’t the end of the road for them.
Before the start of the season, Dubas stated that he expects Nylander to be a regular in the NHL by the end of the season and wouldn’t be shocked in Poulin fought for a spot in the very near future.
Dubas utilized the waiver wire a fair bit before submitting an official roster and that opened up a fait bit of flexibility.
Zohorna and Nylander cleared waviers, but so too did guys like Ty Smith, Vinnie Hinostroza, and Andreas Johnsson.
Colin White was signed to a professional tryout offer heading into camp and earned a full contract thanks to his impressive work.
Those are all names that have played extended time in the NHL before and could easily find their way back with the Penguins.
Training camp was just the first round of fighting for spots on the Penguins roster; sure, it’s a lot harder to make it in now, but Dubas isn’t afraid to correct mistakes is already not afraid to make tough decisions.
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