Do the Wilkes-Barre Pens offer any hope to the Penguins miserable start?

The Pittsburgh Penguins are off to one of their worst starts in the last 20 years. They missed the playoffs the previous two seasons, ending a streak of 16 straight years in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Fans are restless and clamoring for change. The usual suspects are frequent targets for fan’s ire. Head Coach Mike Sullivan is perceived as having outlasted his former brilliance. Big contract veterans should be moved for picks and prospects (good luck with that). The goaltending is atrocious and the defense only marginally better. Anybody not named Sidney Crosby is a bum and should be dropped off at the bus station and given a one-way ticket to Palookaville. Things are surly these days at PPG Paints Arena.

As the Pens slide toward the bottom of the NHL standings continue, there is a growing undercurrent from the fanbase that sounds similar to what can be heard during a mid-summer baseball game at PNC Park, “bring up the kids.” General Manager Kyle Dubas and his two predecessors were given an annual charge to construct a roster that could compete for a Stanley Cup. The easiest way to do that was to discount the future for today. Draft picks and prospects were the preferred currency for these transactions. During his tenure, Jim Rutherford treated future assets like they were Monopoly money or Canadian currency, whichever was less. The few draft picks at his disposal he frequently sent wide of the net like a Dave Roche wrist shot. Ron Hextall’s attempt at building a winner or securing prospects was an abject failure on both counts. Kyle Dubas has accepted the reality of the Penguins long-term situation and has started to pour concrete into the foundation.

His first notable move was to trade fan and Crosby favorite Jake Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes. He received veteran Michael Bunting, a draft pick and four intriguing prospects. He followed those moves with seemingly minor moves like sending depth defenseman Chad Ruhwedel to the New York Rangers for future picks. Dubas got creative in taking on toxic contracts from actual contenders, allowing them to create cap space to improve their rosters. Those players and their bad deals were accompanied by additional picks. The moves were unpopular at the start, but fans are starting to see the bigger picture come into focus. Dubas moving around the chess board has done little to alleviate fans’ current pain but has achieved interest in the minor league system for the first time in years.

Those looking for longer looks at the “kids” have their options realistically limited to members of the Pens AHL affiliate located in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton region. The outdated transfer agreement between the NHL and the CHL prohibits prospects with junior eligibility from joining the NHL team once the season starts, except in case of emergency. Any hopes, no matter how unrealistic, of seeing 2024 top choice defenseman Harrison Brunicke this season will be dashed. At best the native of South Africa will join the Baby Pens when his WHL season ends next spring and even then, only on a temporary basis. The question remains, do the Baby Pens have much to offer in terms of youth and energy?

The short answer is kind of. The WBS roster is still primarily comprised of AHL veterans and NHL journeyman looking to play their way back to the bright lights. After seven games, the Baby Pens are performing much better than the parent club. They have ten points after four wins, two regulation losses, and an overtime win. That is good for third in the Atlantic Division, three points behind the two-time Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears. Former and current prospects sit atop the team’s scoring statistics.

Emil Benstrom and former first round pick Sam Poulin are tied for the team lead with seven points. Each has two goals and five assists. Both players cleared waivers at the end of training camp and were assigned to the AHL. They have lost much of their once promising luster. Neither can be expected to do more than they already have at the NHL level, which is to be fringe bottom six players. The next two leading scorers have the potential to inject excitement into the fanbase. Forwards Ville Koivunen, acquired in the Guentzel trade, and former second round pick Tristan Broz, have scored six points (1 G, 5 A) and five points (3 G, 2 A), respectively. Broz’s three goals are tied for second on the team. If the two can put the finishing touches on their game, they could be in line for full time duty with the Penguins around the trade deadline when roster spots are expected to open up. Of course, an injury to a player in Pittsburgh could hasten that timeline.

The Baby Pens’ two best AHL prospects have had differing levels of success. Forward Rutger McGroarty, who was acquired from the Winnipeg Jets in the offseason, has continue to struggle with his transition to the pro game. The 20-year-old from Lincoln, NE broke camp with the big club but management quickly determined it was too much of a leap from college hockey. He has only posted one assist in five games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and is a -5. Despite his early season struggles, McGroarty has the look of a top six forward.

Defenseman Owen Pickering was the Penguins 2022 first round selection and the first in the first round since Poulin in 2019. The 6’5”, 200 pound, 20 year old native of St. Adolphe, Manitoba, is in his first full season of professional hockey after four seasons with the Swift Current Broncos of the WHL. His offensive game is secondary to his shutdown defensive style. Fittingly, Pickering is scoreless in seven AHL contests but is a +2. Like McGroarty, 2024 is expected to be a time of seasoning and polish. He has the tools to be a top four defender in the NHL. Just not this season.

Goaltending is a position where the organization is flushed with talent. The Baby Pens have two goalies with definite NHL potential. The primary goalie is Filip Larsson who has started three games and has a 1-2 record. The won-loss record belies his 2.74 GAA and .918 save percentage. He has one shutout to his credit. If there was one prospect that stood out at this year’s training camp, it was Russian goaltender Sergei Murashov. He was the talk of fans and media alike. He performed so well that the Penguins convinced him to move full time to North America and join the Baby Pens’ roster. His lone AHL start did nothing to cause Dubas and his team to doubt their decision. Murashov stopped 27 of 28 shots in his debut. The development of the two netminders has been slowed by the rehab assignment of Tristan Jarry. The move forced the demotion of Murashov to the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers and the relegation of Larsson to a backup role. The two should receive more starts after Jarry’s two-week stint is completed.

The AHL affiliate is a far cry from the days of Jimmy Hamilton and a bunch of insurance salesmen. The Wilkes-Barre roster is still primarily made up of the likes of Jonathan Gruden, Corey Andonovski, and Sebastian Aho (the other one). Players that can help patch an NHL lineup hole for a game or two, but they are not trajectory changers. Slowly CHL prospects like Brunicke and his fellow 2024 second round pick Tanner Howe, and college prospect like Cruz Lucious, will start to fill out the roster and become the building blocks fans of future Penguin teams will await anxiously their arrival in Pittsburgh.