Another training camp preview
Every autumn is important to each player in an NHL training camp, but for some the days, weeks and months in the immediate future are career-defining ones. Today we check into such cases with the Penguins.
Matt Grzelcyk
This is a lot more about the season ahead than needing a tremendous training camp, but what kind of start happens in a new place can also be telling. Grzlecyk, 30, is at the stage of his career where the end could be right around the corner at this rate. He was a healthy scratch in 11 of the last 12 playoff games in Boston.
But Pittsburgh should be the ideal place for Grzlecyk to turn things around, if such an outcome is possible. His old head coach as Boston University, David Quinn, is in charge of Pittsburgh’s defense. And the Pens’ left side defense is in disarray and going to be desperate for Grzlecyk or Ryan Graves to step up and play a fairly big role.
Grzlecyk could either be a redemption candidate six months from now that could re-establish his spot in an NHL lineup, or he could be chartering a path out of the NHL completely. Very big swing of possibilities here, it’ll be interesting to see how thing go for him.
Cody Glass
Last summer the Penguins picked up a young-ish forward with some NHL success but no niche in Rem Pitlick. He was mostly an afterthought and traded during the season to Chicago. In some ways, Glass could be the next Pitlick.
If Pittsburgh only (or mostly) made the trade with Nashville to acquire more draft capital, whatever happens with Glass is on the ice becomes a secondary outcome. The team has an abundance of lower line options as it is, and certainly doesn’t need him in the lineup. Given his $2.5 million cap hit, they can feel fairly comfortable that he would pass through waivers, if need be.
Then again, 25-year old 6’3”, 200+ pound forwards with some scoring touch don’t exactly grow on trees. If Glass comes in and impresses, he might be able to find that niche in Pittsburgh. The very first lines and practice assignments might tell us a lot about what kind of opportunity Glass is getting. If he’s playing with the likes of Lars Eller, Kevin Hayes and Blake Lizotte regularly in the first few days of camp, that would mean something positive about what Glass’s future could hold. If Glass is skating with a mostly AHL crew and stays there for a while, well, that says something else that he might be more of mid-season call-up and organizational depth than anything.
Anthony Beauvillier
Beauvillier has shades of Grzlecyk (mid-age in his career, on a recent downturn in play) and Glass (among a crowd of potential NHL forward options). When Beauvillier signed on July 1, it was very easy to pencil him into the top-12 as a regular forward for the Penguins. The team has acquired Glass and Rutger McGroarty since then. Now going into September, Beauvillier is going to have to show even more that he belongs and to win a spot somewhere in the lineup.
Jesse Puljujarvi
2023-24 was a tough season for a player coming back from double hip surgery, but he barely showed signs of life by putting up only four points (three goals, one assist) in 22 NHL games. As mentioned, Pittsburgh is loaded up front with options that have seemingly gone over Puljujarvi at this pint. Puljujarvi can be the sort of Zach Aston-Reese grinding fourth liner that limits a lot of activity while on the ice, but the upside is limited. Puljujarvi is likely looking at needing things outside of his control (injuries to others) just to stick on the NHL roster out of camp.
This could be a situation for Puljujarvi where he is added to the lineup as a mid-season call-up and then playing 6-8 minutes per game as a fourth liner and boxed out from much of an impact as a transitory type of NHL option that moonlights back in the lineup from time to time. That’s a difficult road to travel for him at this point. A great camp may not totally reverse that or put him on the map, but it sure would be good for his individual future prospects if he stands out in September to set the stage for whatever might be next.