How a Wilkes-Barre playoff bye impacts the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Cup hopes

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is living that reality right now with a revolving roster that’s hit 47 players.

That chaos is not a bug for the Pittsburgh Penguins, it’s the whole point of an affiliate.

A good AHL season means you can lose bodies upstairs, plug the holes, and not light the development plan on fire.

Rorabaugh put it plainly on X, winning the division is “inconsequential,” but a first-round bye is the prize.

In the AHL’s current format, banking rest matters because the first round is a short best-of-three sprint.

If Wilkes gets that bye, the kids keep practicing, not grinding through coin-flip hockey.

Penguins fans are tired of “next man up” speeches, but this is the rare time it actually feels real.

Tristan Broz is 23, drafted in 2021, second round by the Pittsburgh Penguins, and he has already forced NHL conversations with his pace.

Broz had 8-5-13 in 18 AHL games earlier this season, and that kind of two-way punch travels.

Ville Koivunen is 22, drafted in 2021, second round by the Carolina Hurricanes, and he’s the kind of winger who can slide into a top-six in a pinch.

Koivunen even flashed seven assists in his first eight NHL games this year before roster math shoved him back down.

Sergei Murashov is 21, drafted in 2022, fourth round by the Pittsburgh Penguins, and his 2.10-ish goals-against form in the AHL keeps the “who’s next between the pipes” debate alive.

Rutger McGroarty is 21, drafted in 2022, first round by the Winnipeg Jets, and a strong spring in Wilkes is how you earn real minutes, not charity shifts.

If Wilkes-Barre locks in a bye, the NHL Penguins get something priceless, fresh call-ups who aren’t already running on fumes.

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