{"id":72893,"date":"2025-07-18T14:46:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T14:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/72893\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T14:46:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T14:46:11","slug":"friday-poll-which-young-player-will-take-the-next-step","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/72893\/","title":{"rendered":"Friday Poll: Which young player will take the next step?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Harrison Brunicke got the nhl.com<\/a> treatment with a nice profile by Wes Crosby.<\/p>\n

Worth a read in full, here\u2019s a part:<\/p>\n

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Brunicke wants to be in that room by the time Pittsburgh opens its regular season at the New York Rangers on Oct. 7.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as my mindset and my play, my goal is to stay here this year,\u201d Brunicke told NHL.com on the first day of prospect development camp. \u201cSo, I\u2019m going to do whatever I can to make that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll have a shot. Brunicke made an impression at training camp last year, just after being selected in the second round (No. 44) of the 2024 NHL Draft.<\/p>\n

In his first camp, Brunicke did well enough to work alongside defenseman Marcus Pettersson<\/a> for a bit before being sent back to Kamloops of the Western Hockey League.<\/p>\n

To some, that would have been a surprise. Brunicke wasn\u2019t projected to be picked that high. He\u2019s now considered one of the Penguins\u2019 more promising young defensemen, alongside Owen Pickering<\/a> (selected No. 21 in the 2022 NHL Draft).<\/p>\n

Brunicke didn\u2019t care if he was considered a reach.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust kind of ignore it,\u201d Brunicke said. \u201cYou\u2019re going to get criticism for the rest of your career. It\u2019s all kind of outside noise. But like I said, wherever you get picked, no matter where it is, you just have to keep working hard and see how far it can take you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The momentum could have quickly stalled. Brunicke broke his wrist in a practice on Nov. 10, keeping him out until January. He finished last season with 30 points (five goals, 25 assists) in 41 games for Kamloops.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty exhausting mentally, just having to deal with that,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, just doing as much as you can away from that injury, whether it\u2019s my wrist, my foot, whatever. Just trying to get as much as you can throughout the course of your injury.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brunicke (6-foot-3, 195 pounds) earned a shot with Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton of the American Hockey League, having two assists in 10 regular-season games there and two points (one goal, one assist) in two games during the Calder Cup Playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you watch his games in Wilkes-Barre, there was growth,\u201d Penguins director of player development Tom Kostopoulos said. \u201cLike, it took off. It was impressive how he grew and the games in the playoffs, he looked very confident for a young kid. So, we\u2019re really excited about the potential he\u2019s got to be a really good two-way defender with some offensive upside.\u201d<\/p>\n

The AHL was immediately challenging.<\/p>\n

\u201cCredit to him, he figured it out quick,\u201d Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton coach Kirk MacDonald said. \u201cCame in initially and, you know, he had junior habits where you can just skate by people and hold on to the puck for a long time. I thought he did a really good job the last couple regular-season games. And in the playoff stint, he was moving pucks quick, jumping into the rush.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Brunicke\u2019s star continues to rise, he was clearly a lot more advanced<\/a> than the rest of the young prospects in town earlier this month at the development camp. Come September he will be right in the mix and push the conversation about whether his NHL debut should be happening in October.<\/p>\n

This won\u2019t be the only young player looking to make waves in training camp. Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen did so well at the end of the 2024-25 regular season that it would be a disappointment if both aren\u2019t regulars (and contributors) to the NHL club next season. Owen Pickering and Joel Blomqvist are looking to take the next steps in their respective career. It used to be rare that the Penguins had even one young player legitimately in the running to make their team on a yearly basis. Now there are several. The question is, who is the primary focus to keep an eye on?<\/p>\n

Poll
\n Which player do you expect makes the biggest training camp impression this fall?<\/p>\n