Penguins Announce "Prospects Challenge" Roster

[Darren McCord]

Guys I’ll be watching include:

Addison
POJ
Marino
Legare
Poulin

Hoping Bellerive does something to get me excited about him as well. Last two years I’ve watched him in this tourney I haven’t been too impressed.

What about Miletic and Almari?

Miletic had a really strong rookie season as a 21 year old. I think he could be an early call up if he starts off strong.

And Almari has been talked up quite a bit by the org.

 

[Andy99]

I’m just praying one of our young LD, whoever it is, just shows enough this preseason to send JJ to the press box if he’s not traded...whether that’s POJ, Almari, Riikola etc, I don’t care, just get JJ outta here...

 

[Darren McCord]

I’m just praying one of our young LD, whoever it is, just shows enough this preseason to send JJ to the press box if he’s not traded...whether that’s POJ, Almari, Riikola etc, I don’t care, just get JJ outta here...

The issue is not will they. The issue is when they do, do the penguins actually put him in the press box. They did in the playoffs and now they have more younger players to push him out.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

What about Miletic and Almari?

Miletic had a really strong rookie season as a 21 year old. I think he could be an early call up if he starts off strong.

And Almari has been talked up quite a bit by the org.

I’ve seen Miletic play a bunch and pretty much know what he is. Ie same with Lafferty, Angello and Drozg.

I’ve also watched a lot of Addison but he’s fun to watch so that’s why he’s on my list.

Almari I may keep an eye on if he shows me a reason to.

 

[Rakell67]

I’ve seen Miletic play a bunch and pretty much know what he is. Ie same with Lafferty, Angello and Drozg.

I’ve also watched a lot of Addison but he’s fun to watch so that’s why he’s on my list.

Almari I may keep an eye on if he shows me a reason to.

Where do you see Miletic, Lafferty, Angello and Drozg topping out at?

 

[Andy99]

The issue is not will they. The issue is when they do, do the penguins actually put him in the press box. They did in the playoffs and now they have more younger players to push him out.

Sullivan would not play him and then JR would look for a trade, like they did with Sprong, but I don’t think they’ll be able to trade him this year without a huge sweetener attached with the term left on that contract ... hopefully with the cap being as tight as it is, they wise up and waive him and give us a little more cap space

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Where do you see Miletic, Lafferty, Angello and Drozg topping out at?

Miletic is an all around smooth player, but nothing stands out about his game. I like him, but I’d have to see him run with the big boys to figure out what he is. He could maybe top out as a vanilla third liner if things go his way.

Lafferty is all about speed and smarts. I think he could play as their fourth line pivot right now and handle it. Handling the third pivot role, the potential is there but I’m not all on his bus about it like I was/am with TB.

Angello I love... mean, can really skate and has some skills. He can top out as a physical fourth liner that makes life tough on the opposition and pots 15-20 points in a good year.

Drozg I can see floating in and out of various org and getting a taste here and there... bout it.

 

[Gurglesons]

I’m just praying one of our young LD, whoever it is, just shows enough this preseason to send JJ to the press box if he’s not traded...whether that’s POJ, Almari, Riikola etc, I don’t care, just get JJ outta here...

I’ve been listening to some other teams podcasts this year and heard some same POJ is NHL ready. I’ll take that with a grain of salt, but that would be huge.

 

[Gurglesons]

This is the best the pipeline has looked in years, so it’s a weird time to ***** about it.

Last year it was pretty bleak, but they have added a nice influx of talent in the last year.

If you want a stable of blue chippers, you 9/10 times have to float on a river of **** for several years.

When this team starts having a top ten prospect pool again, that more likely than not means Crosby and Malkin are retired so...

Yeah, honestly. Not a big Rutherford fan but he deserves a ton of credit for getting the prospect pool to where it is this year from last.

 

[SEALBound]

Nice to see Lauzon is still playing

Indeed. I'm really rooting for him to make a comeback. It would be absolutely massive for us if Lauzon turned it back around and became the prospect we drafted him to be. Having three young guys like POJ, Addison, and Lauzon to bring up would be solid.

That said, I also noticed that Palve wasn't on the list. Not sure where the org sees him at...or maybe he's too old for this? Just seems like a decent opportunity to get some input on him.

 

[Gurglesons]

Indeed. I'm really rooting for him to make a comeback. It would be absolutely massive for us if Lauzon turned it back around and became the prospect we drafted him to be. Having three young guys like POJ, Addison, and Lauzon to bring up would be solid.

That said, I also noticed that Palve wasn't on the list. Not sure where the org sees him at...or maybe he's too old for this? Just seems like a decent opportunity to get some input on him.

Lauzon will be lucky to be an AHLer given his injuries.

 

[SEALBound]

Lauzon will be lucky to be an AHLer given his injuries.

Jeez, if only we had a case study of a decent player who got derailed a bit by a concussion who was able to make a comeback and be an impact player...

 

[Gurglesons]

Jeez, if only we had a case study of a decent player who got derailed a bit by a concussion who was able to make a comeback and be an impact player...

Name me said player that had a concussion that took nearly two years to recover from. Dude has played less than 30 games since we drafted him. He should retire.

 

[wej20]

Name me said player that had a concussion that took nearly two years to recover from. Dude has played less than 30 games since we drafted him. He should retire.

He's playing for University of New Brunswick next year, best route for him both in hockey terms and personally IMO. Two good and healthy seasons there and then he can look at his pro options. He'd still only be 22 after two season there.

 

[Gurglesons]

He's playing for University of New Brunswick next year, best route for him both in hockey terms and personally IMO. Two good and healthy seasons there and then he can look at his pro options. He'd still only be 22 after two season there.

I mean is there a chance he plays for the Pens at some point, sure?

Is he going to be viewed in the same breath as Addison and POJ in terms of our prospect pool at any point over the next two years? Severely doubt it.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Name me said player that had a concussion that took nearly two years to recover from. Dude has played less than 30 games since we drafted him. He should retire.

It didn't take Lauzon two years to recover from a concussion, he missed time in 2017-2018 due to a concussion and then missed all of 2018-2019 due to a foot injury.

'No regrets' for Penguins prospect Zachary Lauzon, who's just happy to be back on the ice

 

[SEALBound]

Name me said player that had a concussion that took nearly two years to recover from. Dude has played less than 30 games since we drafted him. He should retire.

I'll take "I became a Penguins fan in 2013 for $100 Alex".

 

[Peat]

The actual important part about Lauzon and his injuries is he missed a huge amount of development time at a point where he needed to catch up in elements of his game, and will now be trying to catch up to his peers by playing for UNB while they're playing AHL. That's a steep slope to climb. Even if he does make it and starts looking like he could hit his ceiling as an NHL player, he still shouldn't be in the same breath as POJ and Addison, both of whom are projected to make far bigger dents in the NHL.

 

[Gurglesons]

I'll take "I became a Penguins fan in 2013 for $100 Alex".

Double post

 

[Gurglesons]

I'll take "I became a Penguins fan in 2013 for $100 Alex".

Are you referring to Crosby? Because the concussion was misdiagnosed and it was a neck injury remember?

Also are you really comparing the impact a concussion had on Crosby to a prospect that was already somewhat of a question mark?

Furthermore, I've been a member here longer than you..?

 

[Gurglesons]

It didn't take Lauzon two years to recover from a concussion, he missed time in 2017-2018 due to a concussion and then missed all of 2018-2019 due to a foot injury.

'No regrets' for Penguins prospect Zachary Lauzon, who's just happy to be back on the ice

I would think it is weird the Pens didn’t offer him a contract if there were only concerns about a foot.

He had concussion issues until at least December of 2018 btw.

 

[Peat]

I would think it is weird the Pens didn’t offer him a contract if there were only concerns about a foot.

He had concussion issues until at least December of 2018 btw.

He's not played competitively for a season. They have no real notion of how he's tracking as a pro. Holding back on offering him anything seems pretty sensible to me.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I would think it is weird the Pens didn’t offer him a contract if there were only concerns about a foot.

He had concussion issues until at least December of 2018 btw.

No, that's just when Lauzon was fully ready to commit back to playing again. That doesn't necessarily mean that it took that long for the concussion symptoms to go away.

 

[Gurglesons]

No, that's just when Lauzon was fully ready to commit back to playing again. That doesn't necessarily mean that it took that long for the concussion symptoms to go away.

There is an Athletic article from July by Gentile that sums up that he was having concussion symptoms that could be related to a neck injury similar to Crosby’s until November of 2018.

 

[Gurglesons]

He's not played competitively for a season. They have no real notion of how he's tracking as a pro. Holding back on offering him anything seems pretty sensible to me.

Do you think if Lauzon missed a full year due to an ACL year or knee injury the Penguins would not have signed him?