Prospect Camp - 7/14-7/18... final practice open to public.

Post by **Avyran** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 1:10 pm

This year’s roster has 37 players (23 forwards; 10 defensemen; and 4 goaltenders) and includes all four 2015 draft picks. In addition to four days of on-ice sessions, the players will also partake in off-ice workouts, team building exercises and participate in seminars designed to help them better assimilate to being a professional hockey player.

The final practice on Saturday, July 18, which will include controlled scrimmage situations, will be free and open to the public. The practice begins at 3 p.m. and includes free parking in all CONSOL Energy Center surface lots. More information on the open practice will be released next week.

This year’s camp will be directed by first-year Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coach Mike Sullivan, who joined the Pittsburgh organization in June. Sullivan will be assisted by Wheeling Nailers head coach Clark Donatelli and Penguins goaltender development coach Mike Buckley. Penguins assistant general managers Tom Fitzgerald and Bill Guerin and player development coach Mark Recchi will coordinate the off-ice portion of camp.

Post by **Jim** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 1:20 pm

Isn't the goalie coach Mile Bales?

Post by **mikey** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 1:33 pm

Many teams employ a goalie coach (Bales), a guy who is usually more on the ice at the NHL level. And then a goaltender development coach (Buckley) who will evaluate and work with players in the system. Meow can correct me if this is incorrect, certainly.

Post by **Kicksave** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 1:40 pm

Mike Bales was the previous "goal-tending development coach" prior to being the Goalie Coach at the NHL level.

http://penguins.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=73351

Post by **Dickie Dunn** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 1:44 pm

I laughed when I saw Pouliot on the roster. Was he their only way to get to an even number of defensemen?

Post by **MR25** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 1:49 pm

Maybe he's there for a "lead by example" sort of deal.

Post by **meow** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 2:00 pm

He is still only 21 and very much learning how to play defense in the best league in the world. The more coaching he gets, the better.

Post by **DigitalGypsy66** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 2:06 pm

I know I am getting cynical in my middle age, but is there a legitimate value to these prospect camps? Or are they just marketing opportunities for the parent teams in the offseason? You know, I love my twitter feed filling up with play by play of prospect scrimmages (yes, I will be muting quite a few people lol).

Post by **MR25** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 2:09 pm

It teaches the prospects how to be an NHLer and how to play in the Pens' system, so yes, there is value.

Post by **mikey** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 2:17 pm

It's also a chance to evaluate these players against their peers first, before seeing them against NHL caliber players. Just a little more hands-on treatment, you get to see them first-hand, you get to tell them what to work on when they go back to their respective development clubs, you get to talk with them, see what makes them tick, how coach-able are they, how their conditioning is, etc., etc.

For some of these guys, its their first time really dealing with people that work in the organization.

Post by **skullman80** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 2:51 pm

I always enjoy going to these things just because it's the first taste of hockey for the upcoming season.

Post by **Avyran** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 9:31 pm

Jonathan Bombulie posted a brief scouting report for every player in the camp. An example of what you'll find...

DANE BIRKS = 6-2, 183, 19

A sixth-round pick in 2013, Birks is a long-term project. He’s expected to be a freshman at Michigan Tech in the fall. He’s a tall, mobile, right-handed shot with offensive upside.

TEDDY BLUEGER = 6-0, 185, 20

Seems to be developing nicely in three seasons as Minnesota State-Mankato. The Penguins don’t have much in the way of center prospects who have already turned pro, so seeing what they have in Blueger and Jake Guentzel is important.

Post by **skullman80** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 9:53 pm

Link to the full JB write up in case anyone wants to read it all...

http://blog.triblive.com/chipped-ice/20 ... z3fDwLUeTA

Post by **Avyran** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 9:58 pm

DK posted a prospect camp article. Some highlights... There's more about Pouliot in the full article.

“I’ve lost 8 pounds, added a lot of muscle,” [Derrick Pouliot] continued. “I’ve been working out with Gary Roberts. There’s no messing around with that guy. It’s all business.” Funny, but I’d just begun to ask Pouliot what looked different about him, and the sentence wasn’t punctuated before he was illustrating body-fat ratio with his thumb and forefinger.

Funnier still, that’s not what I thought looked different. He seemed more serious. Barely smiling. None of the usual surfer-dude persona. He was even sporting a new, more humble number on his sweater: 5 rather than 51.

“Well, this is a big year for me, for our whole team, so things just aren’t the same anymore,” Pouliot continued once I finally broached that topic. “When we get to training camp, this isn’t just about me coming in and fighting for a job like last season. It’s about me coming in and having this team know they can count on me.”

...

Oskar Sundqvist, a candidate for fourth-line forward duty this fall, was held out of this session and will stay out all week because of what the team called a lower-body injury but the athlete himself called “some trouble with my hamstring.” (He’ll learn.) Sundqvist and two other injured forwards, Tyler Biggs and Scott Wilson, are expected to be fine by camp.

...

People always want to know from events like this which players stand out. Well, in this camp, that’s easy: Nikita Pavlychev, the 6-foot-7 forward just drafted in the seventh round, not only was gargantuan next to his peers — his thigh looked taller than 5-8 sniper Conor Sheary — but also plenty limber and effective with the puck, belying his size. Definitely worth watching.

Post by **Avyran** » Sat Jul 18, 2015 11:42 pm

Netwolf (Eric Majeski) provided the notes for today's scrimmage on DK's site. Kudos to Net!

It's a good write-up, too. Notes on every player. Some highlights...

Fifth-rounder Dominik Simon had the best showing of the 2015 draft class. He seemed to have pretty good chemistry with Sheary. That pair combined for quite a few chances. Simon’s first goal came about from good work on the wall, then getting the puck to Jeff Taylor on the point. Taylor skated the puck to the middle, then went back to Sam Lafferty in the right circle as Simon went to the net. Lafferty shot the puck and Simon tipped it. He got a second after being stopped on a partial breakaway, collecting the rebound and throwing it back to the net from below the goal line.

Jean-Sebastien Dea came into this camp two years ago as an undrafted free agent and used it as a stepping stone toward an NHL contract. He’s now listed at 175, which is up 20 pounds from when he first got here, and it doesn’t look like it’s affected his speed at all.He was a lot more active on the wall today than I remember, but couldn’t quite find much open ice to take advantage of his skill. He did have a nice cycle play off the wall where he found Taylor at the point, who immediately whipped it to Zlobin cutting to the net. He just missed the net with a backhand redirect. On another shift, he poked a puck off of a defenseman while on the forecheck and it almost found a way into the net.

Jeff Taylor was a kid that stuck out to me last summer, and did so again today. The 2014 seventh-rounder is a very slick skater and, like Pouliot, looked very comfortable with the puck today.

Post by **skullman80** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 12:35 pm

I went down with my brother. Hard to take away much from a setup like they had but....

Agree with net on Simon.. looked good. Though as a bit of an older player you expect that I guess? Will be interesting to see how he does in the AHL this year.

Ty Loney also looked very good, but again you expect that from someone who is 23 and played in the AHL last year. Maybe he can put it all together and get an NHL shot, but he looked a cut above all the younger guys yesterday with a HT and a slick shootout goal.

I was looking for more from Sprong, but again it's just a camp and these guys haven't really played with each other. He did show his nice shot a few times, but you can def see he leans heavy towards the O-zone most of the time. Hopefully the defensive stuff will come with coaching a bit.

Jarry got lit up a bit. The other 3 goalies including the PSU invite looked fine.

The 6'7 Russian kid we took this year ... you can tell he has something, but his skating is pretty bad, he just doesn't know how to put that big body in motion yet, maybe that will come in time? He's a long term project, but should be interesting to see how he turns out.

Others I'm sure can give more info... I don't write down notes as I'm watching or anything.