Penguins Training Camp: Day 3 Observations

Boots on the ground at UPMC Lemieux today

The Penguins got in a full day at the rink on Friday, their third day of training camp. All three of the split squad teams put in a full practice, two of them scrimmaged against each other. A fourth group of young players preceded it all early in the morning.

Head coach Mike Sullivan stays on the main rink with Team 3 for the 9:00am session. That leaves Sidney Crosby and the rest of Team 1 with Mike Velucci on the adjacent rink.

The team spends 45 minutes executing the drills Sullivan booms out for them to run. Lots of skating, but some interesting small space passing drills, and defensmen challenged to break the puck out clean to the strong side with possession after a three-forward forecheck bears down on them. This seems to be the favorite of Sullvan and the assistant coach, who hoot with loud positive feedback every time they successfully complete it.

The zambonis clear the ice and the players change into matching sets of practice jerseys for the scrimmage. Crosby and his team are back on the main ice and they rudely take it to Team 3. The Team 3 defense (all likely minor leaguers, plus the projected NHL third pair) struggle to get their footing, and not just against Crosby and Bryan Rust.

Tristan Jarry performs OK for Team 3, only giving up two goals in the first 20:00 minutes of what would be a two period scrimmage. Youngster Sergei Murashov doesn’t have as much luck, he gives up double that amount of goals as pucks pour in on him. Team 1 skates to what ends up being an easy 6-1 win.

Other stray thoughts and observations, as always for one day of practice it’s best to not read too much into any point in too positive or negative a way.

• Kevin Hayes brought the defense to him and laid a perfect pass over for Owen Pickering. Almost everyone in the stands could see the angle Pickering had with an almost completely wide open net in front of him. He chunked the shot.
• Drew O’Connor and Rutger McGroarty looked like naturals together. They showed nice chemistry to break-up an attempted break out against them and jump on 2 on 0. Which again, it’s September hockey, you don’t see many 2v0’s from the blueline in once the ice is filled with all NHL competition. Jarry did well to stop O’Connor’s shot but had to leave a rebound that McGroarty was able to follow up on and slam home.
• The odds and numbers are way against Jonathan Gruden, but he looked good. Nice skater and good hustle levels for him. Almost a minor version calling back “Sam Lafferty looking good in camp ‘cuz he always goes 100% in every drill and not everyone else does” type of memories in hand. Wouldn’t be surprised if Gruden plays his 10-20 NHL games as a call up again this season.
• Speaking of numbers and odds stacked against him, Jesse Puljujarvi remains on a very AHL line with Joona Kopanen and Bokondji Imama. But to Puljujarvi’s credit, he wouldn’t have given any more effort today if he was with Crosby and Rust. He showed off his ice wheels and anticipation. Made a note that his follow up once he gets it still wasn’t much. Then he ended up scoring two goals in the scrimmage, so hey, good for him. Not sure what the plan is for Puljujarvi, but if he gets cut it wont be for dogging it.
• Love McGroarty as the F3 hanging back and picking off passes. Noticed that in Buffalo at the Prospect Challenge too. We’ll see what happens as camp progresses and competition increases but his smarts and instinct for where the play is going is fun to see on display.
• Made a note very similar to other twitter observations but its worth repeating: Rust and Crosby are unfair against this level, doubly so when put together.
• To that, at one point Imama got trapped on the ice for a very long shift. Crosby got the puck and while simultaneously leading a rush he helpfully yelled “go change” to Imama, when it looked like Imama was starting to think he should stay on and chug up the ice in support of Crosby. Just a little moment but showed how Crosby was in total control of the situation.
• Poulin looked over eager at times, skating into plays instead of hanging back and letting a teammate find him. Poulin also probably led the scrimmage in times going off his skates, including some fearlessness going to the front. Nothing to necessarily read into by that, just a point.
• St. Ivany dropped shoulder and stepped into Howe in open ice late in the scrimmage. Was a nice little play and possibly an older guy putting the young player in his spot. Howe, still wearing a full shield from his puck to the face last week, was one of the few going into corners hard and playing tough on the wall. Howe will be a favorite for his style in the long run, but not in a camp environment.
• At the risk of tempering thoughts to avoid being too bold, it was a nice day for Graves. We all know he had his struggles last season but it’s a new start for him this year. Hopefully Graves can make the most of it. His comfort level was good out there, which is a start. Graves and St. Ivany together have the makings of a nice little third pair.
• Speaking of fresh starts, Anthony Beauvillier wasn’t out of place with Crosby-Rust. The team has yet to make any of the inevitable line switches early in camp but Beauvillier moves at a pace that can hold up to that level.
• There was an Erik Karlsson sighting near the end of the scrimmage, chopping it up and exchanging some laughs with Alex Nedeljkovic on the bench. Karlsson hasn’t been on the ice in camp yet while dealing with a minor upper body injury. He looked in good spirits in a team-issued athletic shirt.