Expand<\/a><\/p>\nEntering his second season of professional hockey, Owen Pickering has a better understanding of what to expect at the pro level and what it will take to break through to the NHL andstay there full time.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I mean, I\u2019d say for sure, there\u2019s value to having a year under my belt,\u201d Pickering said after last weekend\u2019s season-opening win over Hartford. \u201cI think it\u2019s a big step to pro hockey from junior and something that an added year, and obviously knowing the staff and knowing everybody around here, that (all) helps for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
After all, Pickering appeared in 25 NHL games last season as a rookie with Pittsburgh, and was also Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton\u2019s lone representation at the 2025 AHL All-Star Classic last February.<\/p>\n
That taste of the NHL \u2014 and the life that comes with it \u2014 only further motivates young players to get back there and it\u2019s no different for Pickering, who won\u2019t turn 22 years old until the end of January.<\/p>\n
For Pickering, it\u2019s not necessarily a game predicated on offense from the blue line, but one that kills plays in the defensive zone and transitions the puck up ice in a hurry \u2014 also allowing the defenders to join the rush.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s continuing to defend really well, being a guy that we can put out in different situations \u2014 kill penalties, kill the rush, move pucks north quickly, making a really good first pass,\u201d Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton coach Kirk MacDonald quickly listed, referring to the finer points of Pickering\u2019s game. \u201cThe way we want to play, I think offense is going to come from our(defensemen) just because we want them active in everything that they do.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sentiment was evidenced on the Penguins\u2019 game-winning goal last Saturday, with Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton shutting things down defensively in the third period and a defenseman, Pickering, ending up the beneficiary of sustained offensive zone pressure and puck possession after forward Raivis Ansons won a puck battle and got the puck up to Pickeringat the blue line.<\/p>\n
Pickering\u2019s opening-night goal came after beginning last season without goals in his first 11 games.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I mean, it was nice. Obviously fun to score and to get a big one like that and have it hold up as a game-winner,\u201d Pickering said. \u201cIt\u2019s fun. I mean, Raivis (Ansons) makes an unbelievable play to win that battle, and then boys get to the net front and it was kind of a seeing-eye shot. So it wasn\u2019t just me, but it\u2019s nice to put one in.\u201d<\/p>\n
As MacDonald puts it, playing defense well allows for more opportunities in the offensive end of the rink.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the thing. People are like, well, it\u2019s a good defensive team. In my opinion, if you are good defensively, you end up with puck more,\u201d MacDonald said. \u201cSo, I think the better (Pickering) defends, the more offensive chances he\u2019s going to get.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, playing well in a shutdown role with Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton, beginning the season on the team\u2019s top pairing alongside another steady defender in Phil Kemp, will go a long way for preparing Pickering for the NHL.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s just keeping consistency in my game. That\u2019s probably the biggest thing,\u201d Pickering said. \u201cI want to, obviously, get to the NHL and stay there. So, I mean, it\u2019s just about understanding what I need to bring to the table and executing that every night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Originally Published: October 19, 2025 at 12:00 AM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton\u2019s Owen Pickering. Allie Debe \/ WBS Penguins Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton\u2019s Owen Pickering. Allie Debe \/ WBS Penguins Show Caption…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7799,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[1902,178,180,179,726],"class_list":{"0":"post-7798","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scranton","8":"tag-penguins","9":"tag-scranton","10":"tag-scranton-headlines","11":"tag-scranton-news","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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