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Dubas Highlights Roster Battles as Several Young Players Eye Penguins Spots
Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas revealed that there will be battles for open roster spots on the team's blueline going into next season.
The Penguins were one of the oldest teams in the league this year and it showed.
While Sidney Crosby is still putting up points as if he were in his 20s, the rest of the core has started to fall off.
Players like Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin, and Erik Karlsson are still productive in their own right, but it is certainly time for the team to add a little more youth to the lineup.
It seems like the perfect place in the lineup for this could be on the blueline as the Penguins have just three regular NHL defenders signed for next season in Kris Letang, Erik Karlsson, and Ryan Graves.
Even then, Graves could be on his way out, which would leave the team with just two regular blueliners.
Some of those vacancies will almost certainly be filled in free agency, but there will also be opportunities for some of the team's prospects to step into a full-time role.
Kyle Dubas told reporters today that he expects Jack St. Ivany, Owen Pickering, Harrison Brunicke, and Tristan Broz to compete for spots in camp next year.
"The guys we expect to make a push are Jack St. Ivany, we expect him to push for sure. Owen Pickering, he's going to have a good playoffs for Wilkes-Barre, we can't have him settle in to a 12-13 minute a night role. We need him to push for 17, 18, 19, 20 minutes and earn that. Harrison Brunicke is playing very well right now on the back end. It will be wide open for the guys."
Owen Pickering is arguably the favorite among the players mentioned to become a full-time NHLer next season.
The 21-year-old was a 1st round pick of the Penguins, drafted 21st overall in the 2022 draft.
He got into 25 games with the team this season putting up a goal and three points alongside a -5 rating and 6 penalty minutes.
He had 2 goals and 13 points in 47 games at the AHL level this season.
Regardless of what happens, it certainly seems as though there will be a lot of healthy competition in camp for the Penguins next season.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 21 | 136 ANSWERS Dubas Highlights Roster Battles as Several Young Players Eye Penguins Spots Do you think Owen Pickering will be a regular on the Penguins blueline next season? | ||
| Yes | 91 | 66.9 % |
| No | 21 | 15.4 % |
| Unsure | 24 | 17.6 % |
| List of polls | ||