CRANBERRY TWP, TWP (93.7 The Fan) – It’s a prospect camp in July where the front office even sayid they aren’t evaluating players, but when the final day tournament games began, the heat was turned up.
With seconds to play in the championship game of the tournament made up of three teams of Penguins prospects in Cranberry, there was the 2022 number one pick Owen Pickering diving to the ice to stop a shot from 2023 first-round pick Brayden Yager.
“We want to win really bad,” Pickering said. “Even on the bench, you are all over it. There is a lot of chatter, guys going at it competing. That was the goal to win. As much as it’s kind of July and the middle of summertime, the guy is in the slot with 10 seconds left. I’m going to block the shot.”
“We won, so it’s worth it.”
Asked if it hurt, Pickering joked that since it was a shot from Yager it didn’t hurt as he looked over at his future teammate. Then admitted it hurt a lot, but he would be ok.
“Everybody wants to make a good impression,” Yager said. “I think it was a competitive game out there.”
21-year-old forward Tristan Broz, who scored several huge goals at the University of Denver, said after his team was the first eliminated in prospect tourney.
"Even when it is July, I'm pissed off we lost right now,” Broz said. “Every day I come in, I'm here to win."
“It’s cool, the kids come in here and it’s all about development this week, but they make it amongst themselves a bit of a competition and they want to win it,” said Pens Director of Player Development Tom Kostopoulos. “You could see a few were upset they didn’t win. We like that competitive spirit.”
Yager bomb
While thought is forward Braden Yager would play another year in the minors, he said they were told by GM Kyle Dubas that they are looking for young players to come in and make a difference.
“I think if I can train as hard as I can in the offseason with the mentality to make the team, I can give myself a chance,” Yager said.
Yager said the next few weeks are huge in how he recovers and trains in preparing for camp in two months. In his first pro season last year, the 19-year-old had 35 goals and 60 assists in 57 games in the Western Hockey League.
“He’s a fantastic player and a fantastic kid, the biggest thing for him is getting a little stronger,” Koustopolas said. “He has the mindset for it. We’ll see what happens in the Fall, I would expect him to be pushing for Pittsburgh. I think he can bring certain elements to the game. He can skate at the NHL level right now. He keeps building certain aspects of his game, he should be in the mix, in my opinion.”
Invitee fighting
Scoring the first two goals of the prospect tournament and a catalyst for the winning team, camp invitee Will Gerrier really showed up on Wednesday. He credits his mentality to one of the Pens players biggest nemesis.
“I see myself as a guy that likes to get to the dirty areas, score dirty goals,” the 20-year-old Gerrier said. “I do have skill in my game, but I like to play the physical, hard game as well. I love to watch guys like Brad Marchand and see them play the game. I’ve always heard, when you go to the net, good things happen.”
He’s only 5’10”, 168 pounds, but scored 26 goals in 67 games in the Ontario Hockey League last year. He said he will have an exit meeting with the staff and then hopefully get an invitation to rookie camp. He said he wants to prove he can play that game he showed on Wednesday consistently.
There always seems to be an opening in the Pens system for a player who loves dirty goals and wants to play like Marchand, at least the clean stuff.
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