Pittsburgh Hockey Insider has no direct affiliation to the Pittsburgh Penguins, NHL or NHLPA
Jason Spezza Shares His Thoughts on Penguins Development Camp
Pittsburgh Penguins assistant general manager Jason Spezza has shared this thoughts on the club's Development Camp, which wrapped up this week.
The Pittsburgh Penguins, who have already undergone several notable changes in their organization after the removal of head coach Mike Sullivan and replacing him with Dan Muse, recently had their Development Camp in Pittsburgh.
Several of Pittsburgh's young prospects, who they one day envision playing a role in their future successes, hit the ice for their first tastes of what professional hockey could be like.
Penguins assistant GM Jason Spezza, who works closely with GM Kyle Dubas, talked about a handful of top prospects, including Will Horcoff (the son of former NHL forward Shawn Horcoff), taken this year with the 24th overall pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft.
Will has always been a rink rat, and that's a benefit of being the son of an NHL player is that you always get to be around. Will is very comfortable around the arena, and something that stands out is his love on the game. I still keep in touch with Shawn so I know quite a bit about Will's path and how things have gone.
Prospect Mikhail Ilyin, who the Penguins took with the 142nd pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, will be playing this year in the KHL for Severstal Cherepovets. But he did make an appearance at Development Camp, though he needed the use of an interpreter as he does not yet speak English.
Spezza clarified that while he'll stay in the KHL this year, they expect him to make the jump to the organization by 2026-27.
He's gonna go back to the KHL again next year but we have him under contract now, so we anticipate the year following, he'll come. Just to get him here and for him to feel the environment, it's important. It's great he's been able to make it and he's playing pro over there.
As far as prospect Tanner Howe is concerned, he continues his recovery from ACL surgery, and Spezza indicated that the team won't be rushing him back to action.
He'll miss a good chunk of the season to start. We'll take things slow with him, the injury that he had, it's important that he's 100% healthy. When he'll be back is a little up in the air based on how he's feeling, we won't rush him either. A young kid, you want to make sure the rehab goes smooth and put it behind him.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 5 | 99 ANSWERS Jason Spezza Shares His Thoughts on Penguins Development Camp Which Penguins prospect will have the best future impact on the club? | ||
| Will Horcoff | 32 | 32.3 % |
| Tanner Howe | 11 | 11.1 % |
| Mikhail Ilyin | 4 | 4 % |
| Sergei Murashov | 52 | 52.5 % |
| List of polls | ||