Another day in the books for the Pittsburgh Penguins 2014 Prospect Development Camp. As mentioned yesterday, we've got some talented guys who have been covering and reporting on Camps for years. Make sure to check out Eric Majeski (@LGP_netwolf) who always provides us with excellent Camp reports. Also, former Pensburgh contributor and WBS Baby Pens expert Tony Androckitis (@H_P_Hockey) will be there starting tomorrow and will have updates for us at his website Highland Park Hockey. And Ian Altenbaugh (@IanAltenbaugh) who covers the Penguins for Hockey's Future is another great follow. I'm not sure who else is attending, but be sure to give them a shout out as well.

Team Roster

Today they split the groups, separating Forwards into the first group and D into the second group, and worked with them separately today. The goalies got the biggest workout, as they did some work with Mike Bales and Mike Buckley before the rest of the players hit the ice and then stuck around for both the forward session and the D session. WBS Head Coach John Hynes led the forward session while WBS Assistant Coach Alain Nasreddine led the D session.



Forwards



The first drill was a puck possession clinic, using uneven match ups as the 5/6 attacking players remaining in the perimeter while the 3/4 defenders clogged up the slot, 2/3 played zone remaining in the slot, while the other played man to man attacking the puck carrier. Conveniently enough that is fairly similar to the PK strategy Mike Johnston applied with the Portland Winterhawks, which utilizes 3 men playing zone defense, collapsing on the net in a triangle, while the 4th roams freely and plays man to man. The point of the drill was passing, maintaining possession and threading direct passes through the slot, while the defenders were attempting to break up the pass.



The guy that caught most people's attention in the first drill was Kasperi Kapanen, he showed excellent vision, having a knack for threading passes and finding the open man, and was fairly effective when it came to protecting the puck. Another standout was Jean-Sebastien Dea, who got to show off his puckhandling skills, using his speed and his hands to make room and find the open man. Tom Kuhnhackl also had his first opportunity to shine during those drills as well, showing that the untapped potential is still there. To a lesser extent Conor Sheary and Anton Zlobin also stood out, they have the speed and the skill to make space. And on the defensive end it was Oskar Sundqvist and Dominik Uher who were making trouble for the opposing forwards.



The second drill was a neutral zone breakout, players had to deke around obstacles and successfully enter the zone to get a shot off on the waiting goaltender. A lot of players struggled in that regard, getting tangled up in the neutral zone, but Jean-Sebastien Dea was on fire, using his speed and skating to dangle past the obstacles and picking corners to beat the goalie at the other end.



The third drill was the old fan favorite where they break out the football blocker and players have to battle for pucks in the corner. In the past we would see Bill Guerin working on overpowering the players, but this year they gave Rick Tocchet the honour. This was the time for Adam Payerl to shine, as he used his size and physicality to dominate the puck battles, showing his knack for getting to the dirty areas and coming away the victor. Oddly enough Tom Kuhnhackl also fared rather well in this drill, and to a slightly lesser extent Dominik Uher and Oskar Sundqvist were able to make their presence known.



The forwards finished off their session with a couple of short head to head scrimmages. Once again we got to see Oskar Sundqvist and Dominik Uher standing out as they were able to use a combination of size and skill to dominate the small scrimmage area. It is starting to look like those are the guys to watch: Dominik Uher, Oskar Sundqvist, and Adam Payerl could be battling for a final spot in the NHL lineup this fall.





Defense



The first drill was about skating and maintaining puck possession, and Brian Dumoulin once more stood out as the ideal that everybody else strives to achieve. He showed off his smooth skating and effortless transitions. Scott Harrington also stood out, those two are clearly the cream of the crop, not to mention having more experience than most of the the prospects. While not quite as good, Nick D`Agostino and Jeff Taylor also showed that they possess some decent mobility as well.



The second drill was about puck retrieval and breakouts. As one would expect, Brian Dumoulin and Scott Harrington once again put on a clinic showing the others how it is meant to be done. The final drill was taking point shots, and we had two players that stood out there as well. Brian Dumoulin was the best, he has a solid shot and its no surprise that he often sees time running the PP, manning the point with his solid shot. The other standout was Nick D`Agostino, which is nice to see him putting it all together after being less that impressive last season. He reminds me a lot of Ben Lovejoy, a primarily offensive D, solid skater, good shot, and if given the opportunity can be an asset on the PP, but on the flip side his ceiling is low enough that he isn't likely to make much of an impact, on this team at least, at the NHL level.

Nobody is going to win a roster spot at Prospect Development Camp, but as Scott Harrington pointed out it is nice to be able to make a first impression on the new coaching staff. So keep an eye out for him and Brian Dumoulin to be making a push for a spot in the NHL lineup at Training Camp.