{"id":831255,"date":"2026-05-30T01:09:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T01:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/831255\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T01:09:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T01:09:09","slug":"insights-from-the-inside-on-penguins-prospects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/831255\/","title":{"rendered":"Insights From the Inside on Penguins Prospects"},"content":{"rendered":"

WILKES BARRE, Pa. \u2014<\/strong> From an outsider\u2019s perspective, the Pittsburgh Penguins prospects<\/a> wearing those Baby Pens jersey of the Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton Penguins have developed well this season, and in some cases exponentially so. <\/p>\n

After a few trips to Wilkes-Barre and Hershey on this WBS Penguins<\/a> playoff run, I\u2019m fairly confident that I\u2019ve been able to build a nice book on the prospects\u2019 progression and the current state of their games. For a couple of players, the progression has been every bit as significant as the organization could hope, in other cases, it is real but perhaps more nuanced. <\/p>\n

Now, our third trip to the economically humbled but picturesque Pocono Mountains town is about something different. This trip is about inside insights; the things we don\u2019t get to see or hear enough as pens fill notebooks in the press box or while watching the whirring colors as online games blend into laptop screens.<\/p>\n

How do teammates and coaches view some of the prospects?<\/p>\n

For the first time since the late Ray Shero was the Penguins\u2019 GM (2013-14), WBS is in the AHL\u2019s Eastern Conference Final. The extended run has provided plenty of affirmation and insights, and there\u2019s not a lot new we can learn. For example, Tristan Broz affirmed he is at his very best in big games, and his dominating two-goal, two-apple performance to finish Springfield in the deciding Game 5 of the last round was merely confirmation.<\/p>\n

No, at this point of the season, there\u2019s really only two players who can prove anything more than we\u2019ve seen. The playoff run is giving 2025 first-round pick Bill Zonnon a longer runway in pro hockey, and goalie Sergei Murashov can show he\u2019s a big-money goalie by stealing a game or two as the pressure intensifies. As well as Murahsov has played at every level from his very first pucks in the MHL, this is only his second lengthy playoff run and first in North America.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for the Frozen-loving future NHL goalie, his 2023-24 Yaroslavl Loko Jr.<\/a> squad lost in the championship round as Murashov posted a very healthy .926 save percentage in the postseason after a .930 rate in the regular season. <\/p>\n

Now, it\u2019s about getting perspectives from the inside. <\/p>\n

Harrison Brunicke<\/p>\n

One of the prospects we\u2019ve graded quite highly since he concluded his wild ride through the NHL, an AHL conditioning assignment, Team Canada\u2019s World Junior team, the WHL, and finally back to Wilkes-Barre is Harrison Brunicke. The Kennywood Thunderbolt has fewer ups, downs, and hard right turns than Brunicke\u2019s 2025-26 season. But make no mistake, he\u2019s had some spectacular moments in the playoff run, and coch Kirk MacDonald took to double shifting him in the third period of the Penguins\u2019 3-2 Game 1 loss to the Toronto Marlies.<\/p>\n

When the Penguins returned Brunicke to his Kamloops Blazers junior team in the WHL, it capped hectic few months in which the right-handed defenseman spent more time in an NHL press box than on the ice. He played only nine games, never playing the pivotal 10th, which means the start of his entry-level contract slides to next season. <\/p>\n

After Kamloops\u2019 season, Brunicke could finally be assigned to the AHL, and he has flexed superior development. He was outstanding against Hershey in the last round, controlling the play and pushing offensive. However, MacDonald gave a more detailed assessment of his growth, that should bode well for the Penguins.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I think he\u2019s realizing he doesn\u2019t have to do it all himself, and that\u2019s not because he\u2019s selfish or anything like that\u2013It\u2019s just like, you come from junior, where you\u2019re relied upon, and they play the kids all game, and they expect him to do everything, (because) he\u2019s so much better than everybody else,\u201d MacDonald explained Friday morning. \u201cWhereas here, he can kind of let the puck do the work, and then his skating is really so good that he can jump and join the rush. <\/p>\n

\u201cI know we\u2019ve talked about it a lot, but he defends really well. He\u2019s hard to play against, like, he\u2019s just continuing to get better every day, every game. So, you know, it\u2019s great for us, it\u2019s great for him. I mean, the more we get him out there, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The note that MacDonald was keen to reference is Brunicke\u2019s hard nosed defending. It was something not always present at the NHL level this season, for several reasons. After all, it\u2019s much harder for a lighter defenseman who is trying to find his game and adjust to the NHL to have the anticipation and positioning necessary to deliver a good shoulder check along the wall, or to know when to deliver physicality around the net or behind it. <\/p>\n

Indeed, Brunicke looks a little bigger than he did back in November when his suitcase journey began. <\/p>\n

Tristan Broz<\/p>\n

There\u2019s little question that Broz has earned his NHL chance, but horrendous timing and bad luck have prevented him from his first run. In each of the last two seasons, injuries at the wrong time denied him a call-up, including the bout of Mono two years ago that derailed his season. <\/p>\n

Mononucleosis?! If it wasn\u2019t for bad luck, the kid would have no luck. <\/p>\n

The Penguins organization has a perilously thin center depth, but rookie Ben Kindel shoved past Broz in training camp. Of course, part of that decision was the Penguins\u2019 inability to send Kindel to the AHL, and they certainly didn\u2019t want to return him to the WHL, at least not until getting a full nine-game look. <\/p>\n

Then, Kindel played so well in his regular season \u201ctryout\u201d that there was no other choice but to turn him loose in the NHL, but that was only the latest setback for Broz, who is wrapping his second professional season after a career and national championship at the University of Denver. <\/p>\n

Broz, 23, is not a prototypical center, and wasn\u2019t a pivot until the last few months of his collegiate career when injuries forced coach David Carle to shift him to the middle. The move proved to be the hot spark for his career, but while he acquitted himself very well in camp and preseason last fall, and the Penguins are indeed short of centers in the organization, the NHL team has all four spots locked up. <\/p>\n

Broz is not a tall center who orchestrates the play, but a stocky, good skater, has good vision, pinpoint passing, and finishing ability. <\/p>\n

Still, Broz will have to muscle his way onto the roster. In the meantime, what better person to ask than his friend and linemate, Rutger McGroarty, more about the nuances of Broz\u2019s game that has him at a point-per-game (3-7-10) in 10 playoff games. <\/p>\n

McGroarty gave us a detailed answer. If you\u2019re into the details of the game, the winger delivered an assessment better than any scout. One line that should stand out is\u2013attacking the inside.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think overall he\u2019s always moving in, and in the right spots. I think that his close support is\u2013as a winger\u2013it\u2019s really nice because he\u2019s always in the right spots. (The movement) makes it easy to hit him with speed, and once he has speed and the puck, then he\u2019s a very scary player.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s done really, really well with that. Then, overall, he\u2019s just a super smart guy. His plays with the puck and attacking the inside makes him really dangerous, and his skills with the puck\u2013being able to execute when he has it, and make those small little slip plays. Like on the (goal) in the last game, I mean, just forcing a turnover, and then makes a slip play through two guys. That\u2019s a pretty, pretty dynamic play. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo I think just him doing that over and over is really what makes him a great team member.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll have more from Wilkes-Barre tonight and tomorrow, including some video. The WBS Penguins host the Toronto Marlies in Game 2 of the ECF Friday at Mohegan Arena. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTags: harrison brunicke<\/a> Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> rutger mcgroarty<\/a> Tristan broz<\/a> <\/p>\n

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