Nikita Pavlychev stood head and shoulders above the rest of his fellow prospects at Penguins development camp last week.

Standing at 6-foot-7, the towering center is often the tallest player on any team or camp. But what's most impressive about Pavlychev's frame this summer isn't the height. It's the weight.

During his freshman campaign with Penn State in 2016-17 the Yaroslavl, Russian native spent a lot of time in the gym trying to build his musculature.

"At Penn State I've been working a lot on my strength and putting some weight on," he said. "I think I did a pretty good job so far. I've put on almost 20 pounds since last summer."

Pavlychev was already a hulking 200 pounds when the Pens drafted him with the 197th overall pick in the seventh round of the 2015 NHL Draft. Penn State currently lists him at 212 pounds, but Pavlychev believes he is around 218.

"I've been improving a lot," he said. "My strength and conditioning coach has been helping a lot. I'm just getting stronger now."

What's most important isn't that Pavlychev is gaining weight, but he's gaining the right kind of weight, muscle. After all, with such a tall stature, Pavlychev already lacks a little bit of foot speed. Adding muscle, particularly in his legs, will only improve his explosiveness.

"You don't want to have any extra weight that is going to slow you down because you're a big guy and already pretty slow," he laughed. "It's about gaining the healthy weight, watching the diet and not eating a lot of junk, trying to keep the weight as muscle and not fat. That's the key."

Pavlychev, 20, posted 13 points (6G-7A) in 36 games during his freshman season while helping PSU earn a spot in the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history.

"There were some ups and downs. I had a pretty good year," he said. "It was nice to get a taste of college hockey. Our team had a good season. We made our first NCAA experience. We fell a little short. Hopefully, next year we can take it all the way."

Perhaps Pavlychev's biggest on-ice adjustment came in not relying on his reach. With his incredible size it was easy for Pavlychev to use his long reach to take away space from opponents, but it also led to him being flatfooted much of the time and taking penalties.

Once Pavlychev learned to keep his feet moving he was rewarded by head coach Guy Gadowsky.

"I was reaching a lot and not moving my feet, which is unacceptable, especially in the offensive zone," Pavlychev said. "Coach Gadowsky had a word with me. I believe that I proved to myself and everyone else that I can do just as well without reaching, just moving my feet and getting pucks back. As soon as that started happening, coach gave me a lot more ice time."

Pavlychev's career has been linked to the state of Pennsylvania. He began his bantam career with the Wilkes-Barre Knights in 2011. He is currently attending Penn State. After his college career Pavlychev will likely come full circle by joining the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

And, he hopes, it will all someday end up in Pittsburgh.

"Pennsylvania is one of my favorite states," he said. "I don't know what it is. I just love everything about it. It's really awesome to be here and in the Penguins organization."