AHL: W-B/S Penguins Thread: Now featuring Emil Larmi, Kasper Bjorkqvist and many more!

New thread for a new season and a shoutout to @DegenX !



Full roster is at:

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at eliteprospects.com

Twitter follows:
WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) | Twitter
Jason Iacona (@nafsnep) | Twitter
Nick Hart (@_NickHart) | Twitter
Tyler Piccotti (@CVPiccotti) | Twitter
Taylor Haase (@TaylorHaasePGH) | Twitter

 

To bump the thread, i'll throw in some Oleksy(who is signed to a PTO) tilts:

 

Hope we don't sign Oleksy, we've already got 3 very capable vets no need for another one.

 

True. I assume they may play him til Trotman gets back from surgery...

 

How long is Trotman out for?

 

They love that extreme depth, but it seems like POJ, Warsofsky, Czuczman, Marino and one of Riikola or Ruhwedel is plenty of depth already... Plus there's still Almari, and Lizotte and Abt are legit AHL defenders too.

 

Love me some Larmi

 

Not entirely sure.
1 or 2 months?

 

Talent wise, for life.

 

Pens are keeping him in the AHL to keep the NHL safe from the beast.

 

2-1 Hershey final.

 

Not obvious that Marino belongs in the title of this thread.

 

I'd rather it was shorter like - Laces Out - Marino & The WBS Boys.

 

Just want to see Bellerive/Almeida/Bkorkvist all with more points than those who were also 20 in their first season(22 for Kasper). Lafferty led all forwards last year but 24 years old.

Simon put up good numbers for few seasons straight. Want to see better than that.

Sprong type totals will suffice. And if going by PPG...Guentzel as well. If Rust is out that is already one player down. ZAR/Simon in. 13th forward arent one of them.

Meaning it opens things up in case of another injury which will surely happen.

I dont mind guys like Angello, Lafferty, Miletic, etc getting first dibs but we are gonna need a Rust/Sheary(2016) and Guentzel(2017) type impact from the WBS guys....not what we got from ZAR/Simon(2018) and others last year besides Blueger who only dressed for 1 playoff game lol.

Would love to see Bellerive/Almeida get off to a hot start for example....25 games...10g+ 20a+ and earn a call up. Doesnt "have" to be Bjorkvist first since they play diff games. Hes the safer...higher floor type who will surely make the team eventually. But Bellerive/Almeida could have the Guentzel type impact if they reach their ceiling.

This year is the start of the Mutilple WBS prospects who could make impacts for a playoff run. Next year we will see Hallander added...as well as Legare...maybe Poulin..who knows. But you get the point.

Where injuries may benefit us finally...or at least not cripple us. Leaving the lineup filled with Garrett Wilson and Rowney types at the bottom. Injuries happen this year? Ok heres a 4th line of Bjorkvist - Blueger - Bellerive. Next year? Blueger with Hallander and Legare this time.

Bjorkvist moved to 3rd line with Bellerive as our 3C replacing Bjugstad and his cap. Having our Crosby lite as 3C...Horny lite as his winger. Almeida went to Crosbys line tho. Rust traded for more cap space. Tanev and Galchenyuk with Geno again.

2021

Guentzel - Crosby- Almeida
Galchenyuk - Malkin - Tanev
McCann- Bellerive - Bjorkvist
Hallander - Blueger - Legare

14 mil in cap space from Bjugstad/Rust/Horny to go to Schultz, Gal, Murray, McCann..etc. And with...

5 guys on ELCs....more money for adding a top dman on on a expiring contract that we got in trade for Horny/Rust/Bjugstad(maybe 2 of 3 combined...whatever) like a Roman Josi/ type who would put us over the top. Or lets go with Tyson Barrie since he will be a FA that offseason. Josi will be one coming up . But along the lines of those 2.

Dumo- Letang
Barrie - Schultz
Petts - Addison
Marino

3 50- 60+ point scorers on the D? With potential for more. We won cups with our 3 Center model. Won with Kessel being too much talent added with Crosby and Malkin and role players stepping up. Won with goaltending to go with solid offense and Guentzel emerging. But to win with a top offense AND defense? Teams have never had to go up against that. Never had to worry about multiple threats on our D. Letang yeah...but Schultz out. Letang out...Schultz made up for it 2017 cup win. But to have a Nashville type D? To go with our offense? Now that id love to see.

Ok getting too far ahead...but that's what having good prospects finally allows. The endless possibilities if things all go well

 

So you're not disappointed by any of these guys not living up to unrealistic expectations, let me just tell you now that this will not happen. Guentzel and Sprong had remarkable rookie AHL seasons and none of our current crop is going to be as productive as either there.

 

WBS is a deep team, going to be hard for any of the forward to just jump into top 6 roles when they'll need to beat out guys like Lafferty/Angello/Haggerty/Palve/Miletic/Agozzino/Blandisi

 

Tanev is 27yrs old and has scored 24 goals in the NHL. Kudos to the guy going from one of the worst NHLers in 2016 to a good 4th liner now. Can we get him out of the top 6? Thanks, I'll hang up and listen.

 

To piggyback -

Sam Steel was a half-step ahead of Almeida/Bellerive in terms of production in the Dub and just had a 0.5 ppg rate with Anaheim in his 22 game game sample in his first pro season - and he only got .77 ppg in the AHL.

I get wanting Bellerive and Almeida to explode in the AHL and make an instant impact and go right through, but it's really not very likely. Particularly when Almeida missed all of pre-season with an injury and Bellerive stalled in his development a little thanks to that injury. Them following Simon's path would be a win.

 

Only 12 rookies 21 or younger scored 40 + points in the 18-19 season. Only 1 was undrafted and 3 were 4th rounders but mostly it was guys picked in the 1st/2nd round. If Almeida/Bellerive hit 30 points then that would be a great rookie season IMO. Heck even an older guy like Bjorkqvist hitting 30 would be great.

 

Of course it will be changed if he makes the big boys club...
Still feel they'll keep a jobber in the #7 hole and let Marino play tons in Wilkes.
We'll see.

 

Pens have no need for anyone right now on the forward lines. But next year Pens have to either extend Kuhny, Galchenyuk, as top 6 forwards. My guess is two D men will be gone in JJ and possibly Schultz. Plus you have cap at say 84 million so the cap is just not a killer next year if the right moves are made.