On the tourney, I don't think I have anything left to add that hasn't already been said. Ponomarev looks like a surefire bottom-6 player that can likely play now. I don't think he has anything more than "good 3rd liner" upside, but he's a really nice bottom-6 piece to have. This team absolutely needs more guys like him. I think I'd be starting with him in the bottom-6 over McGroarty, but that's not because I'm low on McGroarty's skill.
Speaking of McGroarty, he's definitely close if not entirely NHL ready. The only flaw I really notice with him is his awkward skating, but I don't even think it's necessarily "bad" skating. Like others have said, it's inefficient. He needs to spend a summer with a skating coach to just fix his technique, I think he'd be substantially more explosive with a better skating style. It's not a talent/ability issue with him. That being said, I do wonder if he's better off going the Guentzel route this year, in playing him in big minutes in the AHL and promoting him directly to the top-6 when he's ready. You're always worried about how mediocre skaters will fit with Crosby, but I think McGroarty and Crosby will be terrific together.
Broz is miles ahead of where I would have expected him to be right now, the fact that he just turned pro is extremely impressive. He looks like he can either be a good 2-way 3C or a good complementary middle-6 winger, depending on how you want to develop him. I would keep him at center because they don't really have much at center in their prospect pool, but his skillset is really intriguing as a winger as well. I think he gets in NHL games this year, although I'd guess against him being a full-time regular until next year or later.
Koivunen has all of the talents you want out of a middle-6 playmaking winger, he just has a bad first step. I think his top end speed is okay, but the acceleration is just really lacking with him. Like I just posted, he's Jussi Jokinen 2.0 if he can fix his skating. He's too smart of a player to not work in the NHL if he can fix his skating.
Pickering hasn't really impressed me a ton when I've seen him, but his size plus skating and puck moving makes me think he'll end up a solid NHLer. He's not flashy but I think he can be another Pettersson type of top-4 D as well, but with even more size. I don't think there is a huge upside there, but I think Pettersson also surpassed my expected upside as well. It wouldn't surprise me at all for Pickering to end up a solid #2/3 despite me thinking he's more like a #4 upside type of guy.
I think Brunicke is the highest upside defenseman they have, but he's also a super raw prospect at this point. I actually think there's a decent comparison to make of Brunicke in his draft year to Pickering in his draft year, although Pickering didn't quite take that big step forward that his upside suggested he could have done. Brunicke is a terrific athlete and it's really just a question of how he develops. He can be anything from a breakout top-50 prospect or a complete bust and it honestly wouldn't surprise me. Really intriguing guy to keep an eye on going forward.
All together, it's looking pretty good for their prospect pool. I think McGroarty is the only guy with like top line or legit top-6 upside, but I think all of Broz, Koivunen, Ponomarev and Pickering all reinforced that they all have good middle-6/2nd pair upside as well and Brunicke has big time boom potential. I wish we could have seen Howe as well but we'll have plenty of changes to see him in the next few years.
