'We Always Want Him To Know What The Plan Is': Dubas Provides Update On Brunicke Situation

If you've been following the THN - Pittsburgh Penguins site and team news cycles in general, there is a lot of chatter about what the immediate future holds for 19-year-old rookie defenseman Harrison Brunicke. 

The young, CHL-eligible blueliner has played in only nine of 19 games with the NHL club this season - one more game would trigger his entry-level contract - and he has been a healthy scratch for five consecutive games, which means he is now eligible for an AHL conditioning loan. 

With Brunicke not having seen NHL game action since Nov. 3 - and it becoming apparent that the team is a bit hesitant both to trigger his entry-level contract and to send him back to junior hockey - he has been caught a bit in the middle, which has not been an easy thing for the teenage defenseman, who has never sat this long consecutively while healthy at any level of hockey.

"I want to play. That's, kind of, the thing," Brunicke said. "Right now, it's obviously tough watching all the time, but like I said, it's my job just to show up and do the best I can, and my time will come. They have a plan for me."

And after this week's episode of The GM Show with Josh Getzoff, it seems Kyle Dubas and company are well-aware of the options available to Brunicke and are prepared to exercise whatever option is best for both him and the Penguins. 

"I think our view with Harrison - we've had continual direct conversation with him, his agent Darren Hermiston, they've been great - we always want him to know what the plan is and where we're going with it. I think this week here, we want to continue to have him work with the coaching staff, development staff, just with the lack of number of games."

Dubas did speak with Getzoff specifically on the possbility of exercising the AHL conditioning loan, which is five games or 14 days-maximum - whichever comes first - and must be approved by the league. It appears to be something they're weighing heavily - but they also want to time it right.

"If you get approved to do the conditioning stint, I don't think you want to burn through unnecessary days," Dubas said. "In his case as well, part of our thinking is we want to see if we go down that path and use the conditioning stint with Wilkes-Barre - we'll make that decision probably after this weekend - we also want to have it in a spot where, if we are going to potentially look at the World Juniors, if he's going to be someone that Team Canada would want on their team, we don't want him to go and then have another number of weeks off and not be in a good position for that."

Brunicke impressed Penguins' brass - as well as teammates and fans - with his training camp as an 18-year-old in 2024, which almost earned him an NHL roster spot right out of his draft year, similar to Ben Kindel's situation this season. He followed up last year's training camp with yet another impressive showing this time around, and he did earn himself a spot on the opening night roster. 

Penguins Notebook: Injured Players Skate, Vibes High To Close Out Practice After an optional practice Tuesday, the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins">Pittsburgh Penguins</a> took to the ice Wednesday for a longer session that included everyone.

Since then, the 44th overall pick in 2024 has displayed that he needs a bit more seasoning in his own zone and around the net-front, but he has also shown enough positive otherwise for the Penguins to keep him around and remain hesitant about sending him back to the WHL with the Kamloops Blazers for the rest of the season. 

While the conditioning stint - and, simply, more NHL experience - could certainly bode well for Brunicke, Dubas and the Penguins are also mindful of what the team needs at this juncture. With the Penguins in the playoff picture and playing pretty well in general, a balance needs to be struck between Brunicke's development and the necessity of winning hockey games.

Penguins' Rookie Defenseman Eligible For AHL Stint It has been exactly two weeks since <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins">Pittsburgh Penguins</a>' rookie defenseman Harrison Brunicke dressed for a game day.&nbsp;

And they're always going to keep both things in mind when trying to determine next steps for him.

"[We're] always doing what's best for the Penguins as our guide, but we also have to be mindful of what's best for Harrison and whatever he's going to embark upon," Dubas said. "And so, there's a number of different factors in play in the short run here this week and going through this weekend. He'll remain in Pittsburgh and continue to do very diligent work with our performance and development staff.

"And then - I would say after this weekend - we'll sit and see where we feel things are at relative to playing here, conditioning in Wilkes-Barre, and all of the other options that are available to him over the next month, month and a half."

Opinion: Despite Struggles, Brunicke Should Remain With Penguins The <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins">Pittsburgh Penguins</a> made a flurry of moves Tuesday, sending young blueliner Owen Pickering back to the AHL, placing three others on injured reserve, <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/latest-news/penguins-call-up-3-players-announce-several-roster-moves">and recalling two veterans and top goaltending prospect Sergei Murashov from the AHL</a>.

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