Young Talent, High Hopes: WBS Begins Playoffs

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League begins the 2024-25 postseason with a best-of-three opening-round series against Lehigh Valley for the second straight year. The schedule is as follows:

Game 1: Wednesday, Apr. 23 – Lehigh Valley @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 7:05 p.m. Mohegan Arena
Game 2: Friday, Apr. 25 – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton @ Lehigh Valley, 7:05 p.m. PPL Center
Game 3 (if necessary): Sunday, Apr. 27 – Lehigh Valley @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 6:05 p.m. Mohegan Arena

When WBS practiced at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex earlier this month, Ville Koivunen was on his first road trip with Pittsburgh after getting called up and making his NHL debut on March 30 vs. Ottawa. It was the start of an impressive run for the 21-year-old, acquired from Carolina at last year’s deadline in the Jake Guentzel trade.

READ – Hard Work and High Spirits: WBS Prepping for Playoffs

Koivunen picked up seven points through his first eight games, the most points by a Penguin in his first eight games since Guentzel also had seven in the 2016-17 campaign. That included a five-game point streak, the longest by a Pittsburgh rookie since John Marino had a six-game point streak in November 2019. His performance gave the organization optimism and provided Koivunen with confidence returning to WBS for their run.

The Finnish forward finished the AHL regular season with 21 goals, 35 assists, and 56 points in 63 games, and was named to the league’s All-Rookie Team. He’s hoping to keep that momentum going in his first professional postseason in North America.

“We have a very good team there,” Koivunen said. “We have a great group, always have a lot of fun together. We’ve played pretty good the whole season, so, I'm pretty happy and excited about what's going to happen.”

Rutger McGroarty is another rookie who inspired a lot of hope with his play. While he’s currently recovering from a lower-body injury sustained on April 8 against Chicago, there is a chance he could join WBS at some point during their run.

During Kyle Dubas’ season-ending media availability, he mentioned a few other names to keep on the radar both now and come training camp.

In goal, Joel Blomqvist will start between the pipes for WBS. After putting together an AHL All-Star and All-Rookie season in 2023-24, his first in North America, the Finnish netminder got a big opportunity at the start of this year with an injury to Alex Nedeljkovic. Blomqvist starred in his NHL debut and went on to start 12 games for Pittsburgh, appearing in 15 total.

There’s a lot to like about the 23-year-old. Dubas has mentioned his athleticism – especially laterally – and speed, along with Blomqvist’s ability to rebound from bad games or stretches. But he’s still a young goalie with a lot of growth and development ahead of him, and this is a massive opportunity.

On defense, Dubas said that 2024 second-round pick Harrison Brunicke has been playing “very well” in his first stint with WBS. He was a fantastic surprise at last year’s training camp, and seems poised to make even more noise at this year’s training camp. Meanwhile, 2022 first-round pick Owen Pickering struggled out of the gate a bit, but managed to get himself on track and took advantage of his opportunity when called up to Pittsburgh.

“I feel like I proved to myself that I can play in the NHL,” Pickering said. “But, I mean, the coaching staff is great. It’s all areas of my game that you’re trying to get better at, it’s not one specific thing. I want to be full-time next year, I want to be [in Pittsburgh] the whole year, and that’s the goal. So, they’re committed to helping me do that, and they care. So, it’s good to have a coaching staff that cares that much.”

Dubas said he wants Pickering to have a strong postseason and then push for 17-20 minutes a night, earning the right to have that much ice time instead of settling into a role where he plays 12-13 minutes.

The last younger defenseman Dubas brought up was Jack St. Ivany, who earned a three-year deal after a strong finish to the 2023-24 season, but dealt with some injuries this year that weren’t ideal from a timing standpoint.

Up top, Dubas said they probably could have recalled Tristan Broz at the end of the year, but ultimately decided against it. “We just didn't think that those types of games should be his first recalls into the NHL, notably the game (against Washington), playing a team that's dressing 14 forwards and four (defensemen) — best to have him stay down in Wilkes and come up next year where we can guarantee him a legitimate opportunity,” Dubas said.

After helping Denver win the NCAA championship last season, Pittsburgh’s 2021 second-round pick had a hot start to this season. Broz scored seven goals in his first 13 games. Unfortunately, his season got derailed by a case of mono in January. Broz missed about a month and wasn’t quite at 100% when he returned, so it took him a while to recover his form.

But he finished the regular season with 19 goals in 59 games, and Broz said he learned a lot about playing center at the pro level. “And there's been some learning moments, like one time where I tried to box out a guy too early and he jumped around me for a goal,” Broz said. “It's just learning some of those nuances of timing, especially defensively. So, I think that's probably where I've grown the most.”