Here are some impressions from the first game of the rookie tournaments
It isn’t the easiest to evaluate players when they are playing against other team’s players who also have very limited to no NHL experience. Most players are people you have never heard of and outside of this weekend will never hear of again. With that said here are my impressions.
Oskar Sundqvist looks healthy and he had a very nice game. He was physical and was able to make plays with the puck. He looked like a player tracking towards an NHL career. That probably won’t happen in 2015-16 due to the surplus of NHL caliber veteran centers (Crosby, Malkin, Bonino, Fehr, Cullen) already on the roster. But with Cullen only signed for one year and Bonino for two years it is good to have a guy who can slide into the lineup at some point at a low cost.
Here is the goal the Sundqvist scored near the end of the second period. It came on a nice setup from Dominik Simon
Scott Wilson is going to be hard pressed to be a regular on the NHL roster with the current depth chart but he continues to look like a player that can be called up from the AHL if the Penguins are in another familiar injury pinch. He scored the first goal.
Dea to Wilson, Penguins lead 1-0 pic.twitter.com/xOFpfNm5Ll
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) September 11, 2015
Jean-Sebastian Dea should entertain the fans in WBS with his offensive skill set. I like the way he plays even if he is probably a tweener.
I also like how Conor Sheary plays. He attempts to make controlled plays all over the ice. His first instinct isn't to just slap the puck away when there is pressure. He is able to think the game at an appropriate level. His puck skills are plenty good enough to make plays. Can he create time and space at the NHL level with players who are just as quick but also bigger? It is certainly worth finding out rather resorting to the Craig Adams types Pittsburgh has been accustomed to over the years.
Why is there fighting in this tournament? It is beyond stupid. They are always the staged pointless type of fight that nobody cares about. After watching this tournament the past few years I would wager a bet that it is close to 100% that players who take part in these bouts are never heard of again which is fine by me because none of them can play a lick.
Pittsburgh’s best forward prospect Daniel Sprong was able to flash some of his offensive ability as the game went on. First half of the game he wasn’t all that noticeable good or bad but later in the game he started to make his mark more often.
This included the game winning goal in three on three overtime.
Sprong scores on a breakaway to give the Penguins the win. pic.twitter.com/7Y1J8S9HA3
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) September 11, 2015
The three on three overtime was amazing. The pace was frantic and the players’ skill was on display. It was very fun to watch. Anybody who is against this format or thinks it is a gimmick is on glue or hates fun things.
Truth be told Daniel Sprong could have been the goat in the OT session as he was guilty of a careless blue line turnover that saw the Canadiens come back the other way on a 2 on 1 which ended in a hit post. Right away the puck was head manned to Sprong and the game was over.
Sprong is a top 15 talent that slipped to the 2nd round because of preconceived notions about his attitude. Good for the Penguins.
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) September 11, 2015
This is the first I have heard of attitude issues with Sprong but there is no doubt he has great skill and it is exactly what the Penguins needed with their second round pick.
Last but not least we have Derrick Pouliot. I said yesterday in my writeup about the tournament that Pouliot had to completely dominate this tournament considering his projected status with the NHL club. While I do believe he should find success fairly easily (he did) I also share an opinion that Josh Yhoe has. Pouliot is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t playing in this event. It was clear that Pouliot can make all the plays with ease, but at the same time it did lead to a couple defensive zone turnovers. He was trying to do too much and that is what players do when they don’t respect the competition and are on a much higher level. You try to do things you normally wouldn’t to see if you can get away with it. Testing the boundaries is exactly what a player should do when the stakes are incredibly low.
At the end of the day I don’t really know why Pittsburgh sent him to this event because there isn’t anything he can get out of it. Other than scares like this
#Penguins Derrick Pouliot left for the dressing room.
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) September 11, 2015
It turned out to be an equipment issue but we all know the “luck… Pittsburgh has on the injury front.
Pittsburgh will take on Ottawa today at 4PM.
Thanks for reading!