Penguins release roster for preseason opener against Detroit
Penguins' Derrick Pouliot and Ethan Prow go through drills during training camp Friday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry. (Matt Freed/Post-Gazette)
The Penguins released their roster for the preseason opener against Detroit Monday. Here’s the full list, with a few thoughts:
GOALTENDERS:
1 Casey DeSmith
29 Marc-Andre Fleury
- Fleury said earlier this week that he wanted to get at least a few preseason games under his belt, and the Penguins aren’t wasting any time getting him in net.
DEFENSEMEN:
4 Justin Schultz
10 Stuart Percy
28 Ian Cole
33 Reid McNeill
51 Derrick Pouliot
61 Steve Oleksy
63 Ryan Segalla
- The three names to watch here are Schultz, Cole and Pouliot. Odds are that two of those guys are going to make up the third pairing when the Penguins open the season next month. The left-for-left swap would pair up Pouliot and Schultz, with Cole as the odd man out. But Pouliot has also said that he could play off-hand on the right side, so it’ll be interesting to see if we get any of Cole and Pouliot. Steve Oleksy could also be worth keeping an eye on. He’s a guy that fills a unique niche for the Penguins as a physical defenseman. It’s not exactly the prototype for the Penguins’ system, but if a guy like Cole goes down during the season and the Penguins want to maintain that sort of presence in the lineup, Oleksy could be the guy to come up and fill the void.
FORWARDS:
11 Kevin Porter
19 Garrett Wilson
23 Scott Wilson
25 Tom Sestito
34 Tom Kuhnhackl
37 Carter Rowney
39 Jean-Sebastien Dea
43 Conor Sheary
45 Josh Archibald
48 Tom Kostopoulos
49 Dominik Simon
59 Jake Guentzel
- Not exactly a ton of NHL star power in this group, but enough young talent to keep it interesting. Penguins fans are certainly well-acquainted with Conor Sheary and Tom Kuhnhackl at this point, but keep an eye on what Scott Wilson can bring. He was right in that group of young Wilkes-Barre wingers that came up in the middle of last year (and may have been the most promising of the bunch) but saw his season come to an end early due to injury. He’s a safe bet to be the 13th forward when the Penguins open the season, and could be more than that depending on what he shows over the next few weeks (and as Bryan Rust continues to miss time).
Dipping down a rung, it’d be interesting to see if a guy like Jake Guentzel gets a chance at centering the top line. He scored the winning goal in the Penguins’ intrasquad championship this morning, and could be among the next wave of AHL guys pushing for spots as the season goes along.