Penguins Looking For Competitive Spirit, Execution, Hockey IQ

Even after signing his contract extension earlier this week, Sidney Crosby said that getting camp started remained his biggest focus.

“No matter if it's your first camp, your 10th or your 20th, there's always kind of a certain level of anticipation and excitement that comes with that first day, and that hasn't changed,” the captain said. “I don't think that'll ever change. So, that's kind of where my mind's at.”

The captain headlined the group of players who reported to UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex on Wednesday to start skating, scrimmaging, and conditioning. His new deal was a big topic of conversation, as it added to the good feeling around the locker room.

“I mean obviously, when you can retain the most important player you have on your team, your captain, the face of the league – whatever you want to call him – it's always a good day for the Penguins,” Kris Letang said. “Whether it was going to be July 1 or October 13, I don't care, like… in my mind, he was going to wear those colors. He’s been a long-time friend of mine, so to have him back for a few more years is really exciting.”

“Obviously super exciting,” Bryan Rust agreed. “I think it was just a matter of time for things to get worked out… he’s a guy who means so much to this city, this team, this organization. He’s meant so much to my career, and I’m just super excited about it.”

As Pittsburgh’s President of Hockey Operations and GM Kyle Dubas recently said, Crosby’s commitment reiterates their urgency to build a team around him that can return the Penguins to contention. Over the summer, management worked to bring in both younger players and more established veterans on short-term deals, and Head Coach Mike Sullivan said they’re looking for guys to make an impact.

“I think it will be a competitive camp,” Sullivan said. “What we’re looking for is competitive spirit, execution, hockey IQ… those are the things that I think add up to make a positive impact. So, regardless of what the position is, guys are going to get an opportunity to show what they can do. If they can make an impact in a positive way with the group, then certainly they’ll be in the conversation to make the roster.”

With all these new faces in the mix trying to grab spots, along with players like Tristan Jarry, Rickard Rakell and Ryan Graves looking to have bounce-back seasons, Rust said it pushes everyone to go that much harder.

“I think when there’s that uncertainty, when there’s a whole lot of guys fighting for jobs and fighting for NHL spots, I think that just elevates everybody,” Rust said. “Even the guys like Sid, Geno, Tanger, and Karl, guys who have been in the league for a long time. It pushes everybody from the top down. I think we got a lot of guys in this room who are gonna work really hard to show that they’re really good players, and then we got a lot of really great leaders who have been to the top of the mountain. I think that that combination of those two types of players can make for a dangerous season.”

Sullivan tends to build forward lines around tandems, determining the trio's third member based on what the team or an individual(s) might need on any given night. He likes to say lines aren’t set in stone, and that’s never been truer than on Day 1 of training camp.

That being said, Anthony Beauvillier was excited for the opportunity to skate alongside Crosby and Bryan Rust. He’s the type of straight-line, speedy, and tenacious player who could do well in that sort of role.

“Honestly, it’s a blessing,” Beavillier said. “It’s a great, great opportunity for me. Obviously, just learning from these guys is always great too. They’ve done so much in the past, so much success, especially together. So, just trying to fit in between the two of them.”

Meanwhile, 21-year-old Ville Koivunen – who came to Pittsburgh from the Hurricanes organization in the Jake Guentzel trade – got to work with Evgeni Malkin and Rickard Rakell, as Sullivan also likes putting younger players with veterans early in camp as a learning experience.

Michael Bunting and Cody Glass flanked Lars Eller, and Rutger McGroarty joined Drew O’Connor and Sam Poulin. Sullivan said when it comes to McGroarty, an exciting young prospect acquired from Winnipeg in August, there’s no preconceived notions.

“I don’t think there’s any question in the short time that I’ve watched Rutger play, I think he’s got a very bright future,” Sullivan said. “As far as when that occurs, a lot of that time frame is going to be on him and his overall progress. I know we’d all like to sit here and say, ‘hey, he’s going to make the opening night roster.’ If he earns his way onto that roster, he will. But if he doesn’t, and the organization and Kyle and our hockey operations group feel that it’s best for him to continue to develop at the American League level, then those decisions will be made.”

When it comes to the core group of players who have been here for a long time, they know the power play must improve, along with their ability to hold leads. While Crosby knows that being close doesn’t get you anywhere after missing the playoffs by a point two years in a row, he feels their push at the end of last season could be something to build on.

“I thought we stuck together. I'm hoping that experience and going through that is something that we can build off of here starting the year,” he said/ “But I think regardless of where you're at in the standings, you got to prove it again the next year, and we'll have to do that in this case. But I think there's a little momentum to build off of there. I think if you look at the year before, our game was probably trending the other way. I thought last year it was going in the right direction, and we just ran out of time. Hopefully, we have that same urgency right from Game 1, and having that pressure in mind I think will hopefully help us.”

INJURY UPDATE: Erik Karlsson is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, and did not take the ice. While Sullivan had not yet spoken with the medical team when he provided an update, he did say, “I know some of this stuff is precautionary as early as it is in the year."