LAS VEGAS -- Kyle Dubas has been clear about the Penguins needing to get younger. He's mentioned it almost every time he's spoken publicly since he's been hired.
"One of the issues we have is that we need to get younger," Dubas said in February. "We have a lot of guys in their 30s signed, some of them are some of the best players in the history of the franchise. But we have to find a way to continue to have those solid veteran guys but also continue to get younger at the same time."
The Penguins have a number of young players capable of pushing for regular NHL roles, and players who had NHL roles last season ready to elevate their games.
Mike Sullivan is excited about it. I asked him before Day 1 of the draft here in Las Vegas about young players ready to take a next step, and he rattled off several.
"I think we're excited about the opportunity with (Valtteri Puustinen)," Sullivan said. "Our expectation is that he takes another step. This offseason for him is real important. Jack St. Ivany is a guy we're real excited about with what we saw and how he performed. He's got a great opportunity to make an impact and make our opening-night roster. We're excited about his game. He's another guy who could potentially take that step."
Puustinen, who just turned 25 years old this month, broke into the NHL as a regular for the first time in his three seasons in North America. He skated in 52 games, scoring five goals and 15 assists, primarily in a bottom-six capacity. But he had stints in the top six, too. St. Ivany, who turns 25 next month, made his NHL debut late in the season when injury and illness on the Penguins' blue line created opportunity. He never went back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, other than to play out the AHL playoffs after Pittsburgh's season ended. He had one assist in 14 NHL games on the Penguins' third pairing. It was the best the Penguins' third pairing looked all season.
Sullivan is also expecting to see more of Sam Poulin and Jonathan Gruden, who saw more limited NHL action last season. Poulin, who is still just 23, was hampered by injury last season on a number of occasions when the Penguins really needed a forward for the bottom six due to injury or illness. He played three NHL games at the end of the season before his own illness took him out of the lineup, and cap issues prevented him from getting back in. Gruden 24, scored a goal in 13 NHL games before cap issues also forced him back out of the lineup as well.
"Sam Poulin is a guy we thought made good strides this past year. He's another one," Sullivan said. "Jonathan Gruden's a guy who played solid games for us."
Sullivan's looking forward to having Vasily Ponomarev, one of the forward prospects acquired in the Jake Guentzel deal. Ponomarev, who played two NHL games with Carolina this season prior to the trade, was expected to see NHL time down the stretch of the season but suffered a season-ending severe high-ankle sprain after only four games in Wilkes-Barre. Ponomarev started skating toward the end of the year and has been training back home in Russia this summer, and is expected to be healthy once training camp starts.
"Ponomarev is a guy I'm excited about watching and getting to know his game a little bit more," Sullivan said. "But I know our hockey operations staff was really excited about acquiring him. And so, he's another young player who could potentially challenge for a roster spot coming out of training camp."
The Penguins' prospect pool has been among the worst in the league for a number of seasons, a result of years and years of trading away picks and prospects in an effort to win now and sustain the championship window. The pool has slowly been replenished, and there are more young prospects ready push for NHL time than they've had in quite a long time. It's what the Penguins desperately need at this period in time.
"We feel like we've got a stable of young players who are starting to put themselves in the conversation of being young NHL players," Sullivan said.
