New approach to stocking farm team

General manager Jim Rutherford isn’t the only guy in the Penguins’ organization trying to put a roster together for the 2014-15 season.

He just faces a greater challenge doing it than associate GM Jason Botterill, who doubles as GM of the Penguins’ farm team in Wilkes-Barre, will.

In past years, Botterill has had to devote a lot of time and energy to recruiting and signing veteran forwards to flesh out the Baby Penguins’ lineup.

That’s not necessary this summer, he said, because Wilkes-Barre’s lineup will be well-stocked with homegrown centers and wingers who will be offered steady work in the American Hockey League.

“We could have five of six rookie forwards [from inside the organization] playing there, so there’s not a need to go out and get other free agents,” Botterill said.

He did not completely rule out signing “maybe one or two” more veteran forwards, but noted that Wilkes-Barre/Scranton already has Andrew Ebbett, who has one year remaining on his contract, and Tom Kostopoulos, Zach Sill and Nick Drazenovic, all of whom have been re-signed.

Young forwards who will be given a chance to fill significant roles in Wilkes-Barre next season include Anton Zlobin, Bryan Rust, Josh Archibald and Scott Wilson.

“We understand that we’re going to be a fairly young group of forwards to start the year off down there,” Botterill said. “But what gets us excited is where they can go in their growth, and where the team could be at the end of the year.”

The Penguins have had a bounty of quality defense prospects for several years, but several – Derrick Pouliot, Brian Dumoulin and Scott Harrington come immediately to mind – could compete for jobs in the NHL this fall.

If some stick with the parent club, there obviously will be holes opened on the Baby Penguins’ blue line. Nonetheless, Botterill believes prospects like Reid MacNeill, Harrison Ruopp and Nick D’Agostino can fill those voids.

“They’ll certainly get the opportunity,” he said.

Consequently, he doesn’t plan to add any veteran defensemen other than Taylor Chorney, signed as a free agent earlier this week.

“We won’t be bringing in any more after signing Taylor Chorney,” he said. “Things could always change if adjustments are made at the NHL level, trades and stuff, but we’re very comfortable with our group down there and think it’s a fairly strong group.”

Botterill, who will attend the annual AHL meetings in Hilton Head, S.C. this weekend, said it will “without a doubt” be a slower summer than most for him, at least where Wilkes-Barre is concerned, but stressed what a positive that is for the organization.

“We didn’t have to go out there and try to find a lot of these depth players,” he said. “The fact we have our own prospects down there, it’s a good feeling.”