The kids are alright, right? Penguins Perspectives
Welcome to Penguins Perspectives, a weekly column by KDKA-TV Digital Producer Patrick Damp. Each Friday, Patrick will talk about the week that was, the week to come, what to watch for, and more.
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - What an offseason it has been, huh?
Everything from surprising trades, re-signings, and even an annoying news cycle of whether or not Sidney Crosby would sign an extension with the Penguins, despite him explicitly saying he was going to.
Now, we've made it. Training camp is in full swing and in just over 24 hours, the first preseason game in Buffalo will take place.
With training camp here and a season when the Penguins are looking to return to the playoffs after two years away, there may be something on the horizon that could help them.
It's what President of Hockey Operations Kyle Dubas has been focusing on since about the midpoint of last season - youth.
The Penguins were shockingly able to acquire one of the most-coveted young prospects on the market this summer, Rutger McGroarty, after he requested a trade out of Winnipeg.
It was believed the Penguins would be interested but unable to pry him out of Winnipeg due to a lack of tradable assets. Sure, Dubas had spent his offseason and post-trade deadline on acquiring draft picks, and younger prospects, but a 20-year-old prospect who appears ready to enter the NHL would come at a hefty price.
All it took was 2023's 14th overall pick, Brayden Yager.
On the surface, it appears that's a hefty cost, and it is - Yager was easily the Penguins' best prospect and looks to have a bright future as an NHLer. That said, McGroarty is closer to being an NHL player than Yager and he fits exactly what Dubas is setting out to do: make the Penguins younger while still keeping them competitive in the twilight of Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang's careers.
The work is far from done for Dubas, though. It's also just getting started for head coach Mike Sullivan.
Going into this season, the Penguins still have the second-oldest roster in the NHL and their stars are all on the wrong side of 30.
However, for the first time in a long time, the Penguins have options that could bring an infusion of youth to the big league roster.
McGroarty is 20, Owen Pickering is 21, Ville Koivunen is 21, Vasily Ponmoarev is 22, Tristan Broz is 22, Valtteri Puustinen is 25, and Cody Glass is 25.
Sure, there's no guarantee some or any of these players will work out at the NHL level, but the potential is once again there.
Should they be gifted a spot on the roster simply because of their birth year? Absolutely not, they will have to earn it.
That's where Sullivan comes in.
We know from the past few years of work that he doesn't seem to much trust young players on his roster. Whether it's limited ice time or time spent in the press box, we've watched some of these players languish as the team faltered.
There's also the other side of the coin - a lot of the young players in the system were not all that good. We talked ourselves into them because of the underperformance of the veterans on the roster…couldn't have been much worse, right?
Now it's different.
There's actual talent and potential available. It may not show through right away, they may need a few weeks or a couple of months in the American Hockey League as well as an opening due to injury or underperformance on the NHL roster.
While Dubas's offseason may not have been flashy, it's been a tidy piece of work that has at least on the surface achieved something this organization has desperately needed. The cupboard may not be bursting with talent but once again, there's actual hope in there.
The kids, they're alright…right?
Only time will tell.