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New York Times
3 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Rangers schedule analysis: Biggest matchups, reunions, travel tips for the 2025-26 season
The summer doldrums have hit. The Stanley Cup Final and NHL Draft both ended more than a month ago. Most free agents have signed. Trade chatter has died down. At least there are future dates to plan around now. The league announced each team's 82-game schedule for the 2025-26 season earlier this month, giving us a chance to dive into the Rangers' slate, both from practical and fun standpoints. From the biggest matchups to offbeat road trip suggestions, we've got you covered. Advertisement Oct. 7, Penguins vs. Rangers: Opening night is always a big deal, even if the opponent is expected to finish toward the bottom of the Eastern Conference. Mike Sullivan's first game as Rangers head coach will come against his former team, which adds another fun wrinkle. Oct. 18, Rangers at Canadiens: Montreal snagged the second wild card spot in 2024-25 and is one of the teams the Rangers will likely have to hop to make the postseason. October is early on the NHL calendar, but the points from this game could loom large come April. Nov. 15, Rangers at Blue Jackets and Nov. 16, Red Wings vs. Rangers: The Rangers have 13 back-to-backs this season, right around league average. This one could have an early-season impact on the standings. The Rangers finished below both Columbus and Detroit this past season. Nov. 20, Rangers at Avalanche: Six consecutive matchups between New York and Colorado have been decided by one goal. Five of those games went to overtime. The two teams frequently find themselves in nail-biters, so that could continue here. The Rangers then host the Avalanche on Dec. 6. Dec. 23 and 31: Rangers at Capitals: New York could be in the mix with Washington for a playoff spot if the Capitals regress from their Eastern Conference-best 2024-25 season. Two road games in a condensed period of time could matter greatly for the Rangers' chances. Jan. 28, Rangers at Islanders and Jan. 29, Islanders vs. Rangers: One or both of these teams might be on the outside of the playoff picture by this point in the season, but rivalry games are always fun. If both are still in the mix, even better. March 7, Rangers at Devils; March 18 and March 31, Devils vs. Rangers: For whatever reason, the NHL does not have New York playing its Hudson River rivals until March. The teams meet three times that month, and zero times for the rest of the season. The condensed period here could lead to rising tensions and chippiness. Advertisement All of April: Is it cheating to list a full month? Probably, but if the upcoming Rangers season is anything like the last one, they could be fighting for a playoff spot all the way until the final game of the season. Six of New York's seven games in April are against Eastern Conference teams, some of which — April 2 vs. Montreal, April 4 vs. Detroit, April 5 vs. Washington — could come directly against clubs they're battling. It all matters. New York ends the year with road games against Florida and Tampa Bay on April 13 and 15, respectively. The Rangers could have an edge in those final two games if the Panthers and Lightning have already locked up playoff spots and rest some regulars. Oct. 11, Rangers at Penguins: Sullivan heads back to Pittsburgh for his first game there, four days after meeting the Penguins in the season opener. Dec. 15, Ducks vs. Rangers: It will be a fascinating and likely emotional night at the Garden, with Chris Kreider, Jacob Trouba and Anaheim in town. Trouba played 364 games with the Rangers, with whom he made two conference finals appearances. New York named him captain ahead of the 2022-23 season. The end of his Rangers' tenure was ugly, though. Team president and general manager Chris Drury tried to trade him after 2023-24, then eventually succeeded in making a move in December. Trouba said Drury threatened to put him on waivers if he did not accept the trade to Anaheim, which was on his no-trade list. Though never captain, Kreider had a hold over Rangers fans' hearts for more than a decade. The 34-year-old will presumably get a monster ovation when he returns in mid-December. Kreider played 883 games with the club before a trade this summer, finishing his time in New York third all-time in goals. Though his final season with the Rangers was rocky, he and Drury made sure to publicly compliment each other after Kreider's exit, likely a nod that neither wanted the goodbye to tarnish the long-term relationship between club and player. Advertisement Asked about the schedule release last week ahead of the Shoulder Check game, Kreider didn't bite and talk about the Rangers; instead, he noted that he was looking forward to different Ducks homestands over Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. Dec. 16, Canucks vs. Rangers: Filip Chytil was hurt when New York and Vancouver played last season after the J.T. Miller trade on Jan. 31. The center, part of the package sent to the Canucks in return, will make his Madison Square Garden return, a little less than a year later. Jan. 12, Kraken vs. Rangers: Kaapo Kakko and Ryan Lindgren, both traded in the middle of last season, will return with Seattle. Whether you're going to a full road trip or just to one game, you can find great food in every city. Here are some of my favorite spots on the road: Miku (Vancouver), Spice Room (Denver), Pappy's (St. Louis), Ted Drewes Frozen Custard (St. Louis), 529 Wellington Steakhouse (Winnipeg), Mandrake (Columbus), Lou Mitchell's (Chicago), Pancake Pantry (Nashville), Drogheria Fine (Montreal). Perhaps you are looking to get some friends together for a hockey road trip. The Rangers have a few appealing swings, especially in a travel-heavy first half of the season. Oct. 16 at Toronto, Oct. 18 at Montreal: Perhaps it's the romantic in me, but I get chills during introductions every time I'm at the Bell Centre in Montreal. It's the best atmosphere in hockey; every big fan should get there at least once. If you go to the Toronto leg of the trip, you can check out the Hockey Hall of Fame on your way to the game. This two-game set is perfect if you're a hockey lover. Oct. 26 at Calgary, Oct. 28 at Vancouver, Oct. 30 at Edmonton, Nov. 1 at Seattle: This trip might be a bit scarring to a die-hard fan — it's the same road trip (albeit with the cities in a different order) that sparked the team's downfall in 2024-25. The Rangers were badly outplayed in a loss to the Flames and then trounced by the Oilers, prompting Chris Drury to send out his now-infamous memo saying he was open to trading roster players. Perhaps Western Canada will be friendlier to New York this season. Advertisement Calgary is fun. If you get there a day or two early, you can rent a car and go to Banff National Park. Then, if you arrive early to the game and get seats toward the middle of the ice, you can look up and see freaked-out reporters (me, for example) willing themselves to trek across the catwalk. The Saddledome is one of the stranger rinks in the league, but it has a lot of charm, especially if you're going to one game there a season, not 41. Vancouver and Seattle are both beautiful Pacific Northwest cities, and in Edmonton, you get to watch Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl play, though if you're a fan of the visiting team, that's probably more terrifying than exciting. Nov. 18 at Vegas, Nov. 20 at Colorado, Nov. 22 at Utah: Vegas doesn't need an introduction from me. If it's your thing, it's your thing. If it's not, maybe skip that leg. Denver and Salt Lake City both have calmer vibes and good mountain scenery. Also, if the public address announcer's voice in Denver sounds familiar, it's because he's been on the mic for countless major sporting events, including Super Bowls, Olympics and a FIFA World Cup. Dec. 29 at Carolina, Dec. 31 at Washington, Jan. 2 at Florida (in Miami): These are the final three games of a six-game swing that's interrupted by the NHL's holiday break. If you want to see tailgating in December, go to a Hurricanes game. With the possible exception of Washington, D.C., these cities should also offer a respite from some of the cold in the northeast. To cap off the trip, New York meets the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions in the Winter Classic. The game will take place in loanDepot Park in Miami, where the Marlins play. TNT will air it. Plenty of Rangers fans spend winters in Florida, so there are often big crowds at games in Sunrise or Tampa. The Winter Classic should be no different, especially if their faithful make the trip down from New York. The Rangers have to hope the Winter Classic goes differently from their last marquee game in South Florida. New York's magical 2023-24 season ended in Sunrise, about an hour north of Miami, with a Game 6 loss in the 2024 conference final. The Panthers went on to win the Stanley Cup that season — and again in 2024-25. (Photo of Chris Kreider against Anaheim last season: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
Forbes
3 days ago
- Sport
- Forbes
Joel Quenneville, Mike Sullivan Headline 9 Off-Season NHL Coach Changes
A three-time Stanley Cup winner with the Chicago Blackhawks, Joel Quenneville is now tasked with ... More getting the Anaheim Ducks back into the playoffs. (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) The rising salary cap may be ushering in a new era of roster stability among players but so far, NHL coach changes are happening even more quickly than ever. Since the 2024-25 regular season wrapped on Apr. 17, nine of the NHL's 32 franchises have installed new head coaches — more than a quarter of the teams in the league. That's the most since 10 new coaches were hired during the summer of 2022. Out of that group, only two are still in their positions, and they're the winners of the last three Stanley Cups: Bruce Cassidy with the Vegas Golden Knights and Paul Maurice with the Florida Panthers. This year's crop of new bench bosses ranges from seasoned winners to first-timers, along with everything in between. Here's the breakdown: Proven Winners: Mike Sullivan and Joel Quenneville After winning two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins and being handed the reins of Team USA for the 4 Nations Face-Off and the upcoming Winter Olympics, Mike Sullivan is at the top of his coaching game. His new challenge of returning the New York Rangers to respectability was built off the foundation of a longstanding relationship with GM Chris Drury. Sullivan is nine years older, but the two are both alumni of Boston University and played together for Team USA at the 1997 world championship, which Drury was still in school. A Stanley Cup winner with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Mike Sullivan is the new coach of the New York ... More Rangers. (Photo by) Later, Sullivan would serve as an assistant coach of the Rangers under John Tortorella for four seasons. That overlapped with the last two years of Drury's playing career, when he served as Rangers captain. New York will be Sulllivan's third NHL head job. He also coached the Boston Bruins for two seasons from 2003-06 and worked as an assistant with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Vancouver Canucks. Down in Southern California, Joel Quenneville takes over as the team's fourth new coach since their last playoff appearance in 2018, under Randy Carlyle. It's a return to the league for the 66-year-old, who starts his new job as the league's oldest active head coach. As coach of the Chicago Blackhawks, Quenneville won three Stanley Cups in 2010, 2013 and 2015. He also won as an assistant to Marc Crawford with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996. But Quenneville has been away from the NHL since resigning as head coach of the Florida Panthers in October of 2021, in the wake of the revelations surrounding the mishandling of sexual assault allegations within the Blackhawks organization while he was coach. He became eligible to coach again in the NHL on July 1, 2024. In Anaheim, Quenneville is inheriting a team on the rise, rich with young talent including newly re-signed goaltender Lukas Dostal. In 2024-25, the Ducks improved by 21 points, but still finished 16 points out of a playoff spot. The Returnees: Glen Gulutzan, Rick Tocchet, Jeff Blashill, Lane Lambert This group of four will be bringing past NHL head-coaching experience to new clubs — or, in the case of Glen Gulutzan, back to where it began for him. Glen Gulutzan returns to where his NHL coaching career began this fall as head coach of the Dallas ... More Stars. (Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) Gulutzan has spent the last seven seasons as an assistant coach for the Edmonton Oilers. But before that, he had two years as the head man for the Calgary Flames and even earlier, he spent two years as head coach of the Dallas Stars. That's where he'll be back at work this fall, trying to push the perenially contenting Stars even closer to their second Stanley Cup in franchise history. His return came after Peter DeBoer's surprise ouster following the Stars' loss to the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Final for the second-straight year. Rick Tocchet's hiring in Philadelphia is also a homecoming. As a rugged power forward, Tocchet started and ended his playing career in the City of Brotherly Love and was inducted into the Flyers Hall of Fame in 2021. The Flyers have now gone five seasons without a playoff appearance and took a step back last year, falling by nine points in the standings. Tocchet won the Jack Adams award as coach of the year with the Vancouver Canucks in 2023-24, and also previously coached the Arizona Coyotes and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tocchet won the Stanley Cup as a player with the Penguins in 1992, then as an assistant to Sullivan in 2016 and 2017. In Chicago, Jeff Blashill returns to a head-coaching role after serving as an assistant to Jon Cooper in Tampa for the last three seasons. Prior to that, the 51-year-old spent seven seasons as head coach of the Detroit Red Wings. He also served as head coach of Team USA three times at the world championship, winning bronze in 2018. The Blackhawks have missed the playoffs for the last five seasons. And in Seattle, Lane Lambert is back for his second stint as an NHL head man. The longtime assistant of Barry Trotz won the Stanley Cup as part of the Washington Capitals' staff in 2018, then earned his first head job with the New York Islanders in 2022. He was replaced by Patrick Roy after two-and-a-half seasons, then spent 2024-25 as an associate coach under Craig Berube with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Kraken have made the playoffs just once in their four-year history, reaching Round 2 in 2022-23. The New Faces: Adam Foote, Marco Sturm, Dan Muse The NHL has a reputation for recycling its coaches, and the six names above do fit that mold. But after first-timer Ryan Warsofsky delivered a strong rookie campaign with the San Jose Sharks last season, three more new faces will get to try their hand in 2025-26. That being said, two of those names are very familiar to hockey fans. Adam Foote was a hard-nosed blueliner who won two Stanley Cups with the Colorado Avalanche during his 19-year NHL career, and was a mainstay with Team Canada. After spending the last two-and-a-half seasons as Tocchet's assistant with the Canucks, he takes over the head job this fall. Marco Sturm's new job in Boston is also a homecoming. A reliable center who played 938 NHL games over 14 seasons for six teams, that included 302 games with the Bruins, where he was a key part of the return in the notorious 2005 trade that sent Joe Thornton to the San Jose Sharks. After retiring in 2012, Sturm got into the coaching game back in his native Germany, and was behind the bench for the Germans' silver-medal win at the 2018 Winter Olympics. That fall, he joined the Los Angeles Kings organization, first as an NHL assistant for four seasons, then as head coach of the AHL Ontario Reign for three years. Dan Muse didn't play in the NHL, but brings five years of experience as an NHL assistant to his new ... More job as head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. (Photo by) Not as well known: new Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Muse. At 43, he'll be second-youngest in the league this fall, behind only 37-year-old Warsofsky. His career path also mirrors Warsofsky's to some degree: after playing at Stonehill College, Muse started his coaching career in the NCAA ranks before moving to the USHL, where he won a Clark Cup with the Chicago Steel in 2017. That opened the door to the NHL, where he spent three years as an assistant coach with the Nashville Predators and two years with the New York Rangers before being tapped to succeed Sullivan in Pittsburgh. While the coaching carousel has stopped spinning for now, be on the lookout for more NHL coach changes in 2025-26. Last year, five teams changed coaches in-season. Jim Montgomery (St. Louis) and Todd McLellan (Detroit) both signed multi-year deals and will be back this fall while the three interim bosses were all replaced.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Top 25 Penguins Prospects, #5 to #1; Surprises and Who is Ready to Roll
The once beleaguered Pittsburgh Penguins prospect pool now has depth. It has talent. And most importantly, it has a few players ready to claim their spot under the bright lights of NHL arenas. The first wave is ready to invade the Penguins' lineup, and the coaching change from Mike Sullivan to Dan Muse, with a bevy of assistants specifically hired for their support of players so young they were born in this century, can only accelerate the franchise's rebirth. For the first time, it was not easy setting the list, which is technically a top 26 list because we added goalie Arturs Silovs based on expectations that he will claim an NHL roster spot this season. However, this year we dropped prospects Sam Poulin, Zam Plante, and Mac Swanson, from the list. We listed the latter as an honorable mention, but we sadly no longer view Poulin as an NHL prospect (though we would be quite happy to be proven wrong) Per annual custom, we will move the prospects list behind the paywall on Thursday and email subscribers the full PDF. You can subscribe here. Reminder, the rankings are a subjective combination of readiness and potential, and all prospects had to be under 25. Top 5 Penguins Prospects A few weeks ago, Horcoff would have ranked outside the top 10, or at the back of the 10, after being selected 24th overall in the 2025 NHL Draft. However, his Development Camp performance was eye-opening. The amateur scouting services put a second-round grade on Horcoff and projected teams to select him in the 40s or 50s. And then he hit the ice in Cranberry. He's not yet a great skater, but his wheels are better than advertised. He was able to find space and work over professional-level defensemen in the intrasquad scrimmage. He was unmovable in the short ice battle drills. And as some icing on the prospect cake, he showed a nose for the net, as he barged through a defenseman on the left wall, and sliced toward the net, stuffing the puck behind the goalie. He used the move a couple of times, both successfully. Horcoff, 18, is listed at 6-foot-4, 181 pounds, but based on his physical appearance, we suspect he's already added 10 pounds since the listed book measurements. He was a mid-season addition to the University of Michigan roster from the US Development Team program in the USHL and was one of the younger players in the draft. He's still raw, but for those at Camp in early July, it was easy to see the qualities that attracted the Penguins scouts. He will return to Michigan in the fall, and his skating improvement will determine if he's ready for 2026-27 or 2027-28. Based on the influx of hockey talent to the Big 10 schools this summer, he will get a good challenge. Sergei Murashov, 21, has the potential to be a legitimate starting NHL goalie. All he does is win games. He set the Wheeling Nailers' consecutive wins streak. He set the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins' consecutive wins streak. And, he stops pucks when it matters. Penguins assistant GM Jason Spezza admitted late in the season that Murashov still had some rough edges to smooth before he would be ready for the big league, but the 6-foot-2, 172-pound goalie has proven to be a quick study. Even at 6-foot-2, he plays a smaller, more athletic game. As he learns to get bigger in the net, he will only get better … and better. In 16 AHL appearances, he posted a .913 save percentage with a 12-3-0 record. The Penguins merely burned a 2022 fourth-rounder to select the Russian prospect, and he thus far appears to be on a Matt Murray-esque meteoric rise through the rankings. The South African-born defenseman was the Penguins' 2024 second-round pick (44th overall). He nearly kicked open the door to his NHL career last fall. He was one of the final cuts, and if not for a soft performance in his final preseason appearance, he may have made it. Brunicke, 19, is a decently sized right-handed defenseman who sports a smooth, all-around game. He seemingly glides around the ice effortlessly, quietly moves the puck to the right spot, and has the size to defend the net-front (6-foot-3, 202 pounds). Until Penguins GM Kyle Dubas stocked up on righty D-men this summer, there was a very good chance that Brunicke was going to make the roster. However, because of the still-in-place CHL transfer rules, it is NHL or WHL for Brunicke. Even Penguins director of player development Tom Kostopoulus admitted Brunicke has done all he can do at the junior level. He's easily a reliable second-pair defenseman in waiting, somewhat similar to Alex Pietrangelo, but whether it's this year or next is to be determined in October. We resisted the temptation to skip No. 2, replacing it with a 1 and 1A. McGroarty, 21, is ready to begin his NHL career in earnest after a solid showing toward the end of last season. Unfortunately, an injury ended his NHL run after a handful of games, but he registered three points (1-2-3) in eight NHL games last season, including a few at the beginning of the year. The important thing to know about the 6-foot-1, 203-pound winger from the University of Michigan is that he is not what you think. The perception of McGroarty was that he's a scoring winger with a lack of foot speed, much like Jake Guentzel. However, his skating has markedly improved, and he has a complete game. McGroarty was a primary penalty killer with WBS last season, and he has no problem playing physical in the defensive zone. He's probably not a 30-goal scorer, but he's a 20-goal player with very good defensive chops, which can be even better. He can play both wings, and even under heavy cross-examination by PHN (OK, not really), he didn't have a preference for the right or left wing, but the versatility only adds to his value. It's a safe bet to start buying No. 2 jerseys now. Scouts and those close to the WBS Penguins told us to watch him last season, that his hockey smarts and skills were elite. Those attributes were tough to see in the first half of the season, which was also his first season in North America after a few seasons with Karpat in the Finnish Elite League. We wondered what we were missing. However, the former Carolina Hurricanes second-round pick (2021, 51st overall) continued progressing, and by later in the season, it was time for a trip to Pittsburgh. Koivunen, 22, excelled. The more structured and predictable NHL game unleashed Koivunen, who had seven assists in eight games, though he is still waiting to score his first NHL goal. One teammate described him thusly to PHN in an off-the-record chat, 'Oh, he's sick.' That's the good kind of hockey sick, not the illness kind. Koivunen is the heir apparent to Guentzel, both in game and size (5-foot-11, 161 pounds). He also looked very good playing beside both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. He may have passed up a few shots, instead choosing to make plays, but the future is bright. It's entirely possible to see both him and McGroarty getting Calder Trophy votes this season. The post Top 25 Penguins Prospects, #5 to #1; Surprises and Who is Ready to Roll appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Is The Rangers' Potential First Line Good Enough?
If the National Hockey League season was to start tomorrow, coach Mike Sullivan would open with a Number One Line of J.T. Miller centering Breadman Panarin and Alexis Lafrenière.
New York Times
22-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
What I'm hearing about Penguins prospects, expected NHL arrivals
PITTSBURGH — For the first time in a generation, the Pittsburgh Penguins' prospect pool isn't an organizational afterthought. Real players with real talent are on their way to Pittsburgh as the team's rebuild is fully underway. The organization is excited about its direction for the first time in several years and about individual prospects who could someday make a profound impact in the NHL. Advertisement I've had the opportunity to speak with many people within the organization since the NHL Draft and the team's recently completed rookie camp. Here's what I've learned about a handful of players. While the Penguins now have a boatload of first-round picks in their prospect pool, I'm not sure a player has elevated his profile more than Harrison Brunicke. Expecting the 19-year-old to make the team out of training camp seems unreasonable because the Penguins also employ Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang, Matt Dumba and Connor Clifton. Those four right-handed defensemen, despite their limitations, figure to make it very difficult for Brunicke to make the team. Of course, the roster can change. More to the point: The Penguins are in love with Brunicke, and it's easy to see why. Brunicke — at 18 — was probably their best defenseman in training camp last season. A couple of days before the season, former Penguins coach Mike Sullivan's eyes grew huge at the mere mention of Brunicke's name. Sullivan didn't say a word, but his facial expression illustrated his opinion that Brunicke will become a big-time NHL player. Sullivan isn't alone on that. The Penguins front office is unified in that belief, and not just because of his significant physical ability. Brunicke might have the personality to wear a letter on his chest someday. 'His greatest strength might be his competitiveness. He wants to make the team out of camp,' said a high-ranking member of the organization who was granted anonymity so they could speak freely about personnel matters. Brunicke played only 12 games for AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season, but people in the organization say he was the best player on the ice in many of them. He'll likely land in Pittsburgh at the start of the 2026-27 season. It's typically unwise to rush defensemen to the NHL, and the Penguins know they're likely to lose a lot next season anyway. But make no mistake, the Penguins are exceptionally enthusiastic about Brunicke. They believe they got a steal in the second round. Advertisement There's a sentiment around the NHL that the Penguins reached for Benjamin Kindel with the draft's 11th pick. Kindel is undersized, yes, but the Penguins — notably vice president of player personnel Wes Clark, whose power during the draft is unmatched in the organization — believe they made the right choice. Kindel didn't blow anyone away with his performance at rookie camp, but the Penguins aren't the least bit concerned. They believe Kindel will become an NHL standout. Why? More than anything, his hockey mind. His brain is his greatest strength, and that's not always going to be on display in something like a rookie camp. A team source recently compared him to a younger version of Jake Guentzel. He's not the biggest, or the fastest, and probably won't be ready for the NHL for two or three years. But … his hockey IQ is so exceptionally high that the Penguins believe he will prove their selection to be correct. Don't be shocked if Bill Zonnon, the 22nd pick in the draft, makes it to the NHL before Kindel. The Penguins think they landed a steal. Zonnon did nothing to disappoint them in rookie camp. Quite the opposite. Scouts have said that his floor is very high, and everyone I've spoken with in the NHL agrees. He's big, he's physically mature, and he plays a very simple game that NHL coaches love. There's not much East-West in his game, and there aren't many bad habits, either. The Penguins love him. Speaking of players the Penguins are pleased with, Will Horcoff, the third of the first-round picks last month, also impressed at rookie camp. While his skill doesn't blow anyone away, his size and hockey IQ do. The Penguins love him. One longtime member of the organization said Horcoff reminds him, in some ways, of Jordan Staal. Advertisement Horcoff won't make the team at 18 like Staal did, but there are indeed similarities in size, puck handling and clogging up passing lanes with their long reach. One player to watch when training camp arrives is defenseman Emil Pieniniemi, the Penguins' third-round selection in the 2023 NHL Draft. His stock rose as he produced 60 points in 60 games with the Kingston Frontenacs (OHL) last season. The Penguins think his skating and overall defensive work must improve before he is NHL-ready. However, they love his decisions with the puck and believe he will mature into a good, puck-moving NHL defenseman. Just because the Penguins acquired goaltender Artūrs Šilovs doesn't mean they are down on the other young goaltenders in their system. Far from it. Šilovs is young and talented, and, given his talent and small acquisition cost, the trade was a no-brainer for the Penguins. Still, they remain very high on prospects Sergei Murashov and Joel Blomqvist. In particular, Murashov's ceiling is especially high, and the Penguins are eager to gauge his progress in training camp. It would be something of a surprise if Murashov makes the NHL roster out of training camp, but his trajectory is impressive. Many people across the organization expect him to make his NHL debut by the 2026-27 season at the latest. The Penguins are not outwardly 'tanking' for Gavin McKenna, the surefire first pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. But the organization is delighted that he'll play at Penn State next season. Expect Penguins boss Kyle Dubas and many other team officials to spend plenty of time in Happy Valley this season … just in case. (Photo of Harrison Brunicke: Jeanine Leech / Getty Images)
