GDT: 2024-2025 Training Camp

[SEALBound]

Ville Koivunen - Evgeni Malkin - Rickard Rakell
Emil Bemstrom - Vasily Ponomarev - Valtteri Puustinen

Kris Letang - Matt Grzelcyk

Michael Bunting - Lars Eller - Cody Glass
Kevin Hayes - Noel Acciari - Blake Lizotte

Ryan Graves - Jack St. Ivany

Obviously not reading to much into camp but we may be seeing the makings of some NHL and AHL lines and pairings here.

McGroarty-Malkin-Rakell wouldn't shock me (Koivunen to AHL)

Emil Bemstrom - Vasily Ponomarev - Valtteri Puustinen as a top 6 AHL line wouldn't shock me.

Michael Bunting - Lars Eller - Cody Glass as a potential 3rd line wouldn't shock me.

Kevin Hayes - Noel Acciari - Blake Lizotte as a 4th line wouldn't shock me.

Kris Letang - Matt Grzelcyk as the 2nd pairing and Ryan Graves - Jack St. Ivany seems incredibly reasonable.

 

[Empoleon8771]

It’s going to be absolutely hilarious if Hayes somehow ends up useful for the Penguins. Not sure why they’re using him on LW, but I think those lines above are likely incorrect. I was pretty confident that Lizotte was going to be the 4th line center, not Acciari.

I’m not reading much into the lines, but I think it’s decently likely that Eller-Glass is the duo on the 3rd line, which I honestly like a good bit. Glass adds some much needed skill on that 3rd line IMO, I’d be really intrigued with O’Connor-Eller-Glass as the 3rd line.

 

[SEALBound]

Am I reading the vibes correctly that Blomqvist is not blowing everyone pants off at camp?

 

[Empoleon8771]

Obviously not reading to much into camp but we may be seeing the makings of some NHL and AHL lines and pairings here.

McGroarty-Malkin-Rakell wouldn't shock me (Koivunen to AHL)

Emil Bemstrom - Vasily Ponomarev - Valtteri Puustinen as a top 6 AHL line wouldn't shock me.

Michael Bunting - Lars Eller - Cody Glass as a potential 3rd line wouldn't shock me.

Kevin Hayes - Noel Acciari - Blake Lizotte as a 4th line wouldn't shock me.

Kris Letang - Matt Grzelcyk as the 2nd pairing and Ryan Graves - Jack St. Ivany seems incredibly reasonable.

I think they’re probably starting with:

Beauvillier-Crosby-Rust
Bunting-Malkin-Rakell
O’Connor-Eller-Glass
Hayes-Lizette-Acciari
Puustinen-Poulin/another depth guy

Pettersson-Karlsson
Grzelcyk-Letang
Graves-St. Ivany
Ludvig

Jarry-Nedjelkovic

If one of their young guys (namely McGroarty or Ponomarev) knocks their socks off, I think Beauvillier gets pushed to an extra and they get into the lineup. Something like O’Connor to L1 and either McGroarty or Ponomarev on L3.

 

[Andy99]

Am I reading the vibes correctly that Blomqvist is not blowing everyone pants off at camp?

Seems a little rough so far but that’s just on goals given up. I haven’t watched the scrimmages so who knows if those goals were great shots vs mistakes by him

I think they’re probably starting with:

Beauvillier-Crosby-Rust
Bunting-Malkin-Rakell
O’Connor-Eller-Glass
Hayes-Lizette-Acciari
Puustinen-Poulin/another depth guy

Pettersson-Karlsson
Grzelcyk-Letang
Graves-St. Ivany
Ludvig

Jarry-Nedjelkovic

If one of their young guys (namely McGroarty or Ponomarev) knocks their socks off, I think Beauvillier gets pushed to an extra and they get into the lineup. Something like O’Connor to L1 and either McGroarty or Ponomarev on L3.

Yep, think this is pretty spot on with maybe DOC and Beau switched…all waiver exempt players to the A and two depth forwards between Poulin, Puusty, PoolParty and Benstrom…the others waived

 

[SEALBound]

I think they’re probably starting with:

Beauvillier-Crosby-Rust
Bunting-Malkin-Rakell
O’Connor-Eller-Glass
Hayes-Lizette-Acciari
Puustinen-Poulin/another depth guy

Pettersson-Karlsson
Grzelcyk-Letang
Graves-St. Ivany
Ludvig

Jarry-Nedjelkovic

If one of their young guys (namely McGroarty or Ponomarev) knocks their socks off, I think Beauvillier gets pushed to an extra and they get into the lineup. Something like O’Connor to L1 and either McGroarty or Ponomarev on L3.

Not saying you're wrong but god I hate that lineup. That said, I do think Beauvillier is a guy that is primed for a bounce-back season. He didn't get worse because he was injured or anything. He was bounced around a bit. If you give him a chance to resettle and give him the time and linemates, we could see a legit return to the 20-20-40pt level player. It will be interesting to see what kind of chemistry they develop in camp, assuming Beau is with Sid and Rust.
One nice thing about this camp/roster/prospect pool is that I highly doubt there is any motivation to look at the waiver wire for pickups like Dubas did last year with Phillips and Harkins. If someone gets injured, we have a decent crop of guys to fill in or get called up. Also still hoping that someone is dealt early after a team figures out they are short a decent bottom 6 guys - hopefully one of Eller or Acciari (Acciari preferably due to contract).

 

[Anya6687]

It's only day 2 of training camp for blomqvist ..but atm he's not helping "let's trade Jarry" narrative

 

[Empoleon8771]

Not saying you're wrong but god I hate that lineup. That said, I do think Beauvillier is a guy that is primed for a bounce-back season. He didn't get worse because he was injured or anything. He was bounced around a bit. If you give him a chance to resettle and give him the time and linemates, we could see a legit return to the 20-20-40pt level player. It will be interesting to see what kind of chemistry they develop in camp, assuming Beau is with Sid and Rust.
One nice thing about this camp/roster/prospect pool is that I highly doubt there is any motivation to look at the waiver wire for pickups like Dubas did last year with Phillips and Harkins. If someone gets injured, we have a decent crop of guys to fill in or get called up. Also still hoping that someone is dealt early after a team figures out they are short a decent bottom 6 guys - hopefully one of Eller or Acciari (Acciari preferably due to contract).

I honestly do not care what they start the year with, because there is no such thing as too much development time for prospects. McGroarty won't be hurt by spending half a year dominating the AHL before coming up to play on Crosby's wing. I fully believe Beauvillier is just a placeholder there for McGroarty.

The only guy from that lineup that I really wish they could sub out for a young guy is Acciari, I'd much rather see Ponomarev-Lizotte-Hayes as the 4th line with Acciari healthy scratched. That being said, the same thing applies to Ponomarev that applies to McGroarty, getting big time minutes in WBS won't hurt him.

I'm also intrigued with the bounce back potential for both Beauvillier and Glass, but I think Glass is substantially more intriguing from that aspect. That top-9 with Beauvillier subbed out for McGroarty is what I'm hoping they have by January.

 

[SEALBound]

I honestly do not care what they start the year with, because there is no such thing as too much development time for prospects. McGroarty won't be hurt by spending half a year dominating the AHL before coming up to play on Crosby's wing. I fully believe Beauvillier is just a placeholder there for McGroarty.

The only guy from that lineup that I really wish they could sub out for a young guy is Acciari, I'd much rather see Ponomarev-Lizotte-Hayes as the 4th line with Acciari healthy scratched. That being said, the same thing applies to Ponomarev that applies to McGroarty, getting big time minutes in WBS won't hurt him.

I'm also intrigued with the bounce back potential for both Beauvillier and Glass, but I think Glass is substantially more intriguing from that aspect. That top-9 with Beauvillier subbed out for McGroarty is what I'm hoping they have by January.

Yeah, I can buy that.

Beauvillier vs. Glass: I think Beauvillier has more potential to rebound to a higher level. Their career highs are close, but I see a larger aspect of consistency with Beauvillier that makes me think he could potentially rebound back to a top-six-level wing (like a #4). I think a rebound for Glass would be providing solid play consistently throughout the year and potting 15g on the third line.

This goes back to my "I think Beauvillier had a sucky 2 years but can rebound" vs "I think Glass's level of play may be more related to who he is".

 

[Goodleaf]

The Penguins have apparently invited goaltender Luke Richardson to camp on a PTO.

I'm so old I thought they invited the former defenseman to camp, but no, it is a goaltender.

That would be absolute must see cinema...the head coach of the Blackhawks battling for a spot on the Pens D-corps.

 

[eXile3]

Acciari is not even an NHL player at this point but he’ll still make the team.

 

[Zirakzigil]

All I want to see is some of the kids rock the preseason and force the teams had. Dubas wont be afraid to waive some vets and see who gets claimed. Let some of the kids play and bring some energy to the team.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Acciari is not even an NHL player at this point but he’ll still make the team.

I want to see how he looks on the wing this year, I think he's horribly miscast as a center in this system. That being said, I'm also not begging for that to happen.

I think Ponomarev-Lizotte-Hayes is the 4th line I want to see to start. Feel free to flip around that line as you see fit, since I believe all 3 play all 3 forward positions. I think the perfect forward lineup for what they have right now in my eyes is:

McGroarty-Crosby-Rakell
Bunting-Malkin-Rust
O'Connor-Eller-Glass
Ponomarev-Lizotte-Hayes or Lizotte-Ponomarev-Hayes

 

[Darren McCord]

I want to see how he looks on the wing this year, I think he's horribly miscast as a center in this system. That being said, I'm also not begging for that to happen.

I think Ponomarev-Lizotte-Hayes is the 4th line I want to see to start. Feel free to flip around that line as you see fit, since I believe all 3 play all 3 forward positions. I think the perfect forward lineup for what they have right now in my eyes is:

McGroarty-Crosby-Rakell
Bunting-Malkin-Rust
O'Connor-Eller-Glass
Ponomarev-Lizotte-Hayes or Lizotte-Ponomarev-Hayes

There is no reason to have pono in over poulin or puustinen to start. He is waiver eligible and was bad for webs last year. Let him start in the a

 

[Empoleon8771]

There is no reason to have pono in over poulin or puustinen to start. He is waiver eligible and was bad for webs last year. Let him start in the a

Except for the fact that he's a better player.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Except for the fact that he's a better player.

dawg come on. You can’t be this confident about speaking objectively on things that are simply not objective.

Let things play out.

 

[Darren McCord]

Except for the fact that he's a better player.

Based on?

dawg come on. You can’t be this confident about speaking objectively on things that are simply not objective.

Let things play out.

Ya let it play out but right now he shouldn’t be penciled in

 

[Ugene Magic]

I think there's more issue having Hayes on the 4th RW over Pono possibly earning a 4th line spot.

I'd see Hayes sporting a 2nd/3rd line spot before ever being demoted to the 4th. Again, bad allocation of cap dollars putting him on the 4th.

 

[MrBurghundy]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1836808734992941440

I don't know why, but I didn't realize Geno was the oldest guy on the team now... That makes me feel old too man.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I love that whoever that media dunce was that observed that Malkin still seemed enthusiastic about hockey and wanted to be a competitive player almost sounded surprised by that or something. Stop getting high on your own supply, bud.

 

[Empoleon8771]

dawg come on. You can’t be this confident about speaking objectively on things that are simply not objective.

Let things play out.

I mean, I'm allowed to have opinions on who I think is the better player based on what I've seen.

The level of competition was significantly different, so it remains to be seen if Ponomarev can maintain it against tougher competition, but I've seen nothing from Poulin that makes me think he's a NHLer while Ponomarev was dominant in the last viewing I saw.

Ponomarev has both better NHL numbers (in an absurdly small sample size) and AHL numbers (in a decently sized sample size) than Poulin and is younger than Poulin:

Ponomarev: 86 points in 120 AHL games
Poulin: 72 points in 128 AHL games

I think there's more issue having Hayes on the 4th RW over Pono possibly earning a 4th line spot.

I'd see Hayes sporting a 2nd/3rd line spot before ever being demoted to the 4th. Again, bad allocation of cap dollars putting him on the 4th.

Why would you care about "bad allocation of cap" by playing a player in an appropriate role? Hayes shouldn't be in their top-9 because he's probably not one of their 9 best forwards.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

I mean, I'm allowed to have opinions on who I think is the better player based on what I've seen.

The level of competition was significantly different, so it remains to be seen if Ponomarev can maintain it against tougher competition, but I've seen nothing from Poulin that makes me think he's a NHLer while Ponomarev was dominant in the last viewing I saw.

Ponomarev has both better NHL numbers (in an absurdly small sample size) and AHL numbers (in a decently sized sample size) than Poulin and is younger than Poulin.



Why would you care about "bad allocation of cap" by playing a player in an appropriate role? Hayes shouldn't be in their top-9 because he's probably not one of their 9 best forwards.

Sure but you didn’t say, I think or in my opinion so I can’t know the difference. Also the post you replied to also references Puustinen. Really hard to say Pono is better than him right now.

 

[SEALBound]

The last thing this team should be worried about is the cap hit of each line. At this point with this roster, I cannot think of a worse metric to use to justify line combinations.

If Sullivan had a crystal ball and saw that making Crosby 4C and Malkin 2RD with Zam Plante 1G would win us a Stanley Cup, would ANYONE argue with that? Imagine coming out against that saying "Sid makes too much to be 4C, therefore I'd rather lose". JFC.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Sure but you didn’t say, I think or in my opinion. Also the post you replied to also references Puustinen. Really hard to say Pono is better than him right now.

I think Puustinen's issue is that he just wouldn't be a fit on L4, but yeah I wouldn't argue that Ponomarev is better than Puustinen yet. I think Puustinen is battling Glass for the 3rd line RW spot personally.

I just have seen absolutely nothing from Poulin, whether it be based on the eye test in a small sample size or stats in both the NHL and AHL, that makes me think Poulin should be above Ponomarev. And including comments from Canes fans about Ponomarev, who were extremely complementary of his pre-season performance in 2023 (which I have not seen from Poulin), and it's even more clear to me.

Now the actual pre-season games matter and will determine a lot, I just don't see any basis right now to put Poulin over Ponomarev on the depth chart.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

Now the actual pre-season games matter

Not really