said July 5<\/a>. \u201cSo, I already know what it is. Much stronger guys. Faster guys. It\u2019s (a) big step.\u201d<\/p>\nThe true ramifications of the suspension aren\u2019t yet known. Pieniniemi could sign with a club in Europe and the first year of his contract could be tolled in that fashion. But it doesn\u2019t appear the club and player are that far along in finding a resolution.<\/p>\n
Under Dubas, the Penguins have placed a greater emphasis on utilizing the Wheeling Nailers for developing players.<\/p>\n
Over the past two seasons, a handful of prospects who either had or eventually signed NHL contracts have suited up for Wheeling, including forwards Raivis Ansons and Avery Hayes, defensemen Finn Harding and Chase Pietila, plus goaltenders Taylor Gauthier and Sergei Murashov.<\/p>\n
This past offseason, after incumbent head coach Derek Army left to take an assistant role with the AHL\u2019s Colorado Eagles, Pittsburgh Penguins management engaged in a extensive search for a replacement before eventually hiring Ryan Papaioannou on Aug. 14.<\/p>\n
Playing in the ECHL can suggest negative connotations as to a player\u2019s hopes for reaching the NHL, but the Penguins have a lengthy history of players finding a road to Pittsburgh from Wheeling, including former forwards Josh Archibald, Tom Kuhnhackl, Mark Letestu and Carter Rowney.<\/p>\n
Current Penguins forward Justin Brazeau spent two seasons in the ECHL. Undrafted, he made his professional debut in 2019-20 with the Newfoundland Growlers, an affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy first year when I was there, we were an ECHL team but we weren\u2019t really an ECHL team,\u201d Brazeau said. \u201cWe were pretty good. They did a really good job making sure, one, we were treated amazingly. The skill development when we were there, the skill skates, we\u2019d always have guys flying in from (the Maple Leafs) to help us out. Obviously, it benefited a lot.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen, just the chance to be able to play. At the time, there was only 10 forwards allowed in the lineup and you\u2019re playing a lot more minutes than you would be. You\u2019re put in situations you might not get in your first couple of (professional seasons) in a crowded lineup.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brazeau eventually reached the NHL as a member of the Boston Bruins in 2023-24.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth there years I was in the ECHL, I was on (AHL) deals,\u201d Brazeau said. \u201cNo matter what, (the NHL) already felt kind of far away. My first year, I didn\u2019t really see it that way too, too much. I knew going in that when I signed the (AHL) deal, they had a pretty crowded depth chart.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt definitely feels far away but it\u2019s just one of those things that you\u2019ve got to work through.\u201d<\/p>\n
Notes:<\/p>\n
\u2022 The Penguins\u2019 lines and pairings during a practice session in Cranberry on Monday were:<\/p>\n
67 Rickard Rakell \u2013 87 Sidney Crosby \u2013 17 Bryan Rust<\/p>\n
39 Anthony Mantha \u2013 71 Evgeni Malkin \u2013 16 Justin Brazeau<\/p>\n
18 Tommy Novak \u2013 81 Ben Kindel \u2013 11 Filip Hallander<\/p>\n
19 Connor Dewar \u2013 46 Blake Lizotte \u2013 55 Noel Acciari\/53 Philip Tomasino<\/p>\n
28 Parker Wotherspoon \u2013 65 Erik Karlsson<\/p>\n
5 Ryan Shea \u2013 58 Kris Letang<\/p>\n
82 Caleb Jones \u2013 45 Harrison Brunicke<\/p>\n
75 Connor Clifton \u2013 24 Matt Dumba<\/p>\n
\u2022 The top power-play unit included Crosby, Karlsson, Malkin, Rakell and Rust. The second power-play unit involved Brazeau, Kindel, Letang, Mantha and Novak.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Injured forwards Kevin Hayes (suspected left shoulder), Rutger McGroarty (undisclosed) as well as goaltender Joel Blomqvist (undisclosed) and Jack St. Ivany (suspected right foot) all remain sidelined with ailments they started the regular season with. Coach Dan Muse indicated there was no change in their statuses.<\/p>\n
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Penguins have suspended defenseman Emil Pieniniemi indefinitely for failing to report to the Wheeling Nailers of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":239404,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-239403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}