Wilkes Weekly: AHL Penguins off to good start

Checking in on the Penguins’ AHL affiliate

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have kicked off their 26th season of AHL action. The AHL Pens lost a 7-6 barn-burner on opening night (October 12th) to Charlotte and then bounced back by winning their next three games.

Nick Hart from WBSPenguins is back with some great concise recaps and summaries of the contests:

Saturday, Oct. 12 – PENGUINS 6 vs. Charlotte 7

The Penguins were outdueled in a gunslinging season opener after surrendering two shorthanded tallies as well as four-straight goals during the third period. After allowing an early goal against, newcomers Jimmy Huntington and Emil Bemström scored to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead after one. The teams traded goals back and forth in the second, with Tristan Broz’s first pro goal putting the Penguins ahead, 4-3. A power-play strike by Filip Král granted a two-goal lead, but the Checkers’ four-goal run turned the tables and won them the game.

Sunday, Oct. 13 – PENGUINS 4 at Springfield 1

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton bounced back with a stiffer defensive effort without sacrificing offense. Sergei Murashov posted 27 saves in his AHL debut to help new head coach Kirk MacDonald secure his first AHL win. Nate Clurman, Sam Poulin and Avery Hayes scored at even strength, and Boris Katchouk tallied a power-play goal while skating in his first game as a Penguin.

Friday, Oct. 18 – PENGUINS 4 vs. Lehigh Valley 3

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton erupted for four goals in the first period, which proved to be enough offense to stave off a second-half rally by Lehigh Valley. First, Boris Katchouk tallied twice in his home debut, followed by a power-play goal by Tristan Broz and an insurance marker from Boko Imama. Down on a conditioning loan from Pittsburgh, Alex Nedeljkovic made 33 saves, including several starry stops to keep the Penguins ahead.

Saturday, Oct. 19 – PENGUINS 3 at Lehigh Valley 0

Filip Larsson stole the show with a 41-save shutout, his first clean sheet in the AHL. The Penguins jumped off to a hot start again, with Emil Bemström scoring three minutes into the night. Offense cooled in the second period, but another early period strike in the third by Joona Koppanen extended Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s lead to 2-0. Larsson continued to fend off the Phantoms’ barrage until Katchouk wrapped things up with an empty netter.

The fast start puts WB/S among the leaders of their division to start the season. Back-to-back champs Hershey are always formidable and after opening night it looks like Charlotte will have a good team as well. The top six in the Atlantic make the playoffs so that should be an easy and bare minimum goal for the Pens in this forma

Beyond the team success, let’s take an early peak into the individual stats so far:

So far the more experienced players are shining. The knock on Sam Poulin has been his inability to remain in the lineup in recent years, it’s wonderful to see him start very hot but keeping it up for 20-25-30+ games in a row would be a nice step in his progression as a player.

Emil Bemstrom has long been a beast at the AHL level and has picked up where he left off as a super-productive player. Boris Katchouk was a late signing to an AHL deal and has spent the majority of the last three seasons in the NHL (with Tampa, Chicago and Ottawa). That’s been a savvy add for a big time AHL caliber scorer.

Ville Koivunen showed some nice hands in NHL camp and he’s started his first full AHL season with four assists in four games. Questions remain about his pace and skating but he’s continued to be productive at every level he’s been at so far.

Boko Imama knows his role and plays it well. He got in fights with former Penguin Garrett Wilson in both WBS/Lehigh games, ending the second one with a clean victory for Imama.

Imama has appeared in a handful of NHL games in each of the last three regular seasons (four GP with Arizona in 2021-22, five with Arizona in 2022-23, six with Ottawa in 2023-24). The Pens have just the guy ready if they get involved with some rough stuff or need a tough customer to join the lineup for a few games this season, which you may want to file away in the back of your mind.

Towards the lower end of the depth chart, some younger prospects are having modest starts to their season. Owen Pickering has played mostly third pair minutes and has no points. Rutger McGroarty has been playing on the third line as he gets a quick introduction to his new team and league, and hasn’t recorded a point in two games. Not much input to over-react on there just quite yet.

Pittsburgh GM Kyle Dubas talked a little about McGroarty and his assignment to the AHL.

The last note is a pertinent one to remember. Up until August 22nd, McGroarty was training in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan for his junior season of college. Then somewhat out of no where when most NHL business had died down, he found himself traded to Pittsburgh and changing his plans to quickly turn pro. That’s a lot to catch up with now, and for his long-term development it sounds wise to give him a chance to grow.

As far as other prospects go, rookie Sergei Murashov played well in his lone AHL appearance so far. For months in the off-season it looked like there might be a goalie log jam within the organization, but that has been (at least temporarily) solved by Joel Blomqvist sticking in the NHL after Alex Nedeljkovic got hurt in preseason and Tristan Jarry faceplanted during it.

Similar to the left side defense that looked like a block until it wasn’t (Ryan Shea staying in the NHL, John Ludvig getting claimed to waivers), it’s a reminder that plans and outlooks can and will change on a dime in the AHL. What seems like a position of strength or over-abundance one day isn’t guaranteed to remain that way for the next.

At this point at the dawn of a long season, the Wilkes team is stocked with plenty of quality young players worth keeping an eye on, and this feature looks forward to tracking their progress on Wednesdays throughout the year.