WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — It was fun. With the heat of summer finally brushing aside the dreariest spring in memory, the Pittsburgh Penguins prospects joined more than a few talented minor league players with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to provide this surviving coal town its best playoff run in more than a decade.
“I’m devastated. We obviously had championship aspirations,” coach Kirk MacDonald said.
With more than enough tickets available mid-day Sunday, the final crowd was a respectable crowd likely above 4000, but it ended in absolute heartbreak as Toronto Marlies forward, and former Penguins winger, Alex Nylander’s shot ripped past touted goalie prospect Sergei Murahsov in overtime.
Toronto won its second OT game of the series 2-1 at Mohegan Arena Sunday, thus winning the Eastern Conference Final and ending the Penguins’ season.
In the sullen moments immediately following the goal, defenseman prospect Harrison Brunicke joined Murahsov in just kneeling on the ice for what probably seemed like hours to them, watching the scoreboard for a replay or some help to change the outcome. Neither arrived, and the pair joined the team in the somber handshake line.
As Pittsburgh Penguins GM Kyle Dubas quietly slipped out the player’s exit doors following the game, other players commiserated amongst themselves, or with family. This was the final game for the Pittsburgh Penguins organization this season, as the Pittsburgh Penguins lasted just six games against the Philadelphia Flyers in Round One, and the Wheeling Nailers suffered a gentleman’s sweep in the ECHL’s Eastern Conference Final.
But Dubas got an eyeful on this playoff run.
In the end, Toronto’s 2023 first-round pick, Easton Cowan, was the best player on the ice, but it was a slog for all. The carved ice, unable to heal between periods, at times made the puck look less like a frozen piece of vulcanized rubber and more like a rubber ball from the quarter vending machines.
Such is hockey in June.
It has been a ride for the WBS Penguins. They, like us, learned a lot about themselves. In fact, Murashov alluded to the hard lessons with perhaps the most mature quote we will ever get from a 22-year-old.
“It’s not about losing the game, it’s about not being afraid to play the game. It’s not about dying in this life, it’s about not living fully in this life, and as I said, no regrets. And that’s probably the main thing: that we gave everything we could. We did everything for good, we were not afraid to step up for each other, and going through so many challenges together, and it’s precious.”
Make no mistake, this group is close. More so than any group of prospects or team that this aging writer has seen. They don’t just like each other, they care, and sometimes that means speaking up or pushing others for their best.
After Dubas cleared some older players from the roster, the current crop of Penguins prospects took over.
“(Danton Heinen) wasn’t here, Sam Poulin (was traded). That’s four veteran guys, and you could see the guys, like the younger guys, really just take ownership at that point,” said MacDonald. “And I thought–that’s where it was like, ‘okay, like this is our (team)’, because you knew at that point that was our group, and they just kind of kept rolling with it.”
Perhaps that comaraderie and fighting spirit will be the difference next fall. Most definitely, this team really has some fight in them.
Team Notes
This team, this group, will probably never be together in anything close to its form on Sunday again.
In addition to the usual minor league turnover, there are several players already scheduled to leave the team. Joona Koppanen will head to the Swedish High League. He and former Penguins winger Valtteri Puustinen are headed to the same team.
Alex Alexeyev is believed to be heading home to the KHL. Sebastian Aho is also headed back to Sweden.
What We Learned, Penguins +5s
A +5 in prospect or minor league language is a player five years from his draft day. Statistically, those players are reaching critical mass in their development, and if they don’t establish themselves in the NHL, there’s little hope for them becoming an impact player for their team.
There are exceptions, of course. It’s not written in stone and handed down from on high, but it’s a predictive guidepost, nonetheless. Next year, Rutger McGroarty and Owen Pickering will hit that mark. Essentially, so too will Tristan Broz, because he lost a season due to transferring to Denver and due to COVID.
Like Broz, Ville Koivunen was also drafted in 2021, so it’s go-time for him next season, too.
Koivunen: He was a maddening agitator who elicited seething hate from opponents, but his offensive contributions in the playoffs were muted deeper into the playoffs. He was not the brilliant playmaker from the end of the 2023-24 season, nor a sniping winger. Koivunen was quite notable in the final series, but more often for being in the middle of a scrum. Or on the bottom of it. If he adds more muscle in the offseason, he could wiggle his way into NHL work as a pot stir with some pop, but his play deeper in the postseason offers no guarantees. He was very quiet in the final few games.
Offensively, it was a bit of a disappointing ECF series for Koivunen, and the high-scoring winger finished with only nine points (4-5-9) in 15 games in the AHL playoffs. Also, he had 27 shots in the playoff run, a total that should be higher.
Broz: He ranked among the leading AHL playoff scorers in the first 12 games, before the team went cold in the last two. He had 11 points (3-8-11) in 15 games.
The good news is that Broz pushed the play and his game seemed to advance under the rigors of playoff hockey. His hard charging zone entries and puck distribution were the primary engine of the WBS attack. He plays very well in small area situations. It’s still hard to decipher where he fits into the Penguins organization, but he’s a scrapper. A survivor with talent and big game instincts.
Third line center in the NHL is calling … if he can get there.
McGroarty: His game is polished. He is hard to play against and has good offensive instincts paired with a stout defensive game. It’s easy to see why Winnipeg made him the 14th overall pick in 2022. In the playoffs, his game rose to the challenge, and he reeled off a six-game scoring streak from Round Two into the Conference Final. Very noticeably, McGroarty asserted himself.
McGroarty, 22, will never be a zippy or speedy winger, but his skating is certainly adequate. He has everything to be a productive NHL player, except … surprisingly, his hands are lagging behind the rest of his game. In many respects, his play at the AHL level mirrors his time in the NHL; so many chances but so many saves against.
Pickering: He was impressive, but not in the way you might expect. The Penguins’ big defenseman did not play in Game 6 despite taking the warmup. He’s been banged up for weeks, hobbling around in a walking boot before playing in Games 4 and 5. He was clearly limited, but sometimes a prospect doesn’t impress with stellar play but with pure guts. Pickering showed a warrior streak, which should help his case next fall.
Numerous people around the WBS Penguins spoke glowingly of Pickering’s play down the stretch, and we saw it firsthand in the early part of the playoffs. He nullified a lot of puck possession. Pickering won’t be a top of the lineup defenseman, but he showed he can be a minutes eater and solid defenseman. Whether he’s better than others in camp next fall will be something to watch.
Avery Hayes: He was a bit disappointing in the playoffs with only six points (3-3-6) in 15 games. He’s always scrappy, usually around the puck, and forever around the scrum, but the Penguins needed a few goals in the ECF, and Hayes wasn’t enough of a factor in that regard.
Top Prospects
Defenseman Harrison Brunicke is the most exciting defenseman prospect in the Penguins system in years. Murashov is the top goalie prospect.
Unfortunately for Murashov, his Toronto counterpart was just as unbeatable. Toronto’s Artur Akhtyamov made a few more saves than did Murashov, who had a .931 save percentage in the playoffs.
Murashov made some brilliant saves Sunday. He saved the game a few times with some jaw-droppers, including robbing Nylander on a two-on-one in the third period with a good lateral push and doing the spits to make a toe save. He stopped 37 of 38 before Nylander–one of the best players in the AHL–ended it.
However, Murashov also made a few gaffes in the series. His jump ball miss against Marc Johnstone in Game 2 was the overtime winner. There were a few softies, too. But most importantly, as the playoffs wore on, his rebound control improved, which was the big thing he needed to show.
Dubas likely left the barn confident he’ll have Murashov in the show next fall.
Brunicke: His growth this season cannot be measured in small metrics, nor usual leaps. He had an exciting preseason in which he earned an NHL spot before quickly faltering. The player who excelled through three playoff rounds bore absolutely no resemblance to the shaky kid from the fall.
He didn’t have a great Game 6, but his struggles followed a hard hit into the boards that seemed to discombobulate the D-man. Until then, he was dominant throughout the run. He played hard defense, led the rush, and pushed the puck forward.
Brunicke sometimes takes too much on himself, but that should quickly fade away with the chance to feed Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin. Perhaps the biggest winner in the WBS Penguins playoff series was Brunicke. After watching him over the last month, it would seem he’s played his last game in Wilkes-Barre.
Categorized:Penguins Prospects
