\n\u201cWhen (Novak) was a fourth-line, league-minimum guy and scoring while getting some sheltered minutes, that fit him just fine. When you move up the lineup, it\u2019s harder to find your space and be productive. If you want to move up the lineup, and get paid more, there\u2019s more responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a reason that guys get the higher salaries, because most nights, they\u2019re getting the harder matchups and they\u2019re expected to produce,\u201d Trotz explained.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Trotz, of course, hasn\u2019t been the most savvy manager but his words can\u2019t be totally dismissed. Novak still has to prove himself and bring an added level of consistency. It\u2019ll be interesting to see how that goes in Pittsburgh, is he playing on the second line with Evgeni Malkin? Centering a third line of his own, perhaps with good friend and longtime teammate Phil Tomasino?<\/p>\n
Koivunen was great in Finland in 2023-24, scoring 56 points in 59 games. He followed that up with his first full season in North America by putting up 56 points in 63 games in the AHL and then getting a little taste of the NHL at the end of the season, which also went well with seven points in eight games.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s one thing to play out the string at the end of a season, it\u2019s another thing to go through the full grind. By this time about six months from now, we\u2019ll know a lot more about Koivunen and how big a piece of the puzzle he could be moving forward. His vision and passing ability are legit, it\u2019s already apparent this is a special player in terms of how he sees the game and thinks the game. The curiosity will come in how he handles long stretches of play, can he get to the net? Can he keep up with his feet? Will he be effective and fit in longterm? So far there\u2019s a lot to feel confident about and be impressed with, but Koivunen might not be a top-6 player for the next 5-10 years for the Penguins, there\u2019s still a lot to prove and see out of him.<\/p>\n
Avery Hayes \/ Tristan Broz<\/strong><\/p>\nI\u2019m going to stick these two together, because very strangely enough both of these players were born on the exact same day \u2014 October 10, 2002. What are the odds of that? (Also in states that border each other, though their listed hometowns of Westland, MI [Hayes] and River Falls, WI [Broz]) are about 650 miles away via automobile). Despite that common bday, they\u2019ve taken very different paths to get here: Broz was heralded as a top player in his age range and made a second round pick in 2021, Hayes went undrafted and had to earn an NHL contract the hard way. They have some similarities too, Hayes won two OHL championships (in 2022 with Hamilton, in 2023 with Peterborough), Broz was a national champion at the University of Denver. Both are on the upswing and have a sort of knack for coming through and winning observers over.<\/p>\n
So it\u2019s only fitting to combine them as they look to make their NHL debuts in the same season. This might be better subtitled \u201cplayers I\u2019m curious to see in training camp\u201d because that is more applicable or accurate for the time being. Still, it will be interesting to see what kind of opportunities players like Broz and Hayes get this season. Do the Pens continue to call-up players from Wilkes that are only warm body space fillers (Boko Imama, Joona Koppanen, Valtteri Puustinen, Emil Bemstrom, etc). Bemstrom is out of the organization now, but it would be nice to see players in the Broz\/Hayes mold push up the organizational rankings beyond the type of vanilla and exceedingly limited type of forwards that tend to get recalled that aren\u2019t going to provide a lot of contribution to the NHL on their best day. Of course, the Broz\/Hayes level guys have to hold up their end of the bargain by impressing and performing well themselves, which will be another area to watch.<\/p>\n
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