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Pittsburgh Penguins’ Future is Bright in Wilkes-Barre

By Kayleigh Jackson

Apr 3, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA;Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Matt Murray (30) and left wing Carl Hagelin (62) celebrate after defeating the Philadelphia Flyers at the CONSOL Energy Center. The Penguins won 6-2. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 3, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA;Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Matt Murray (30) and left wing Carl Hagelin (62) celebrate after defeating the Philadelphia Flyers at the CONSOL Energy Center. The Penguins won 6-2. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /
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The entire Penguins organization, from Pittsburgh to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to Wheeling, made the playoffs this year. As we’ve seen from all the WBS call-ups, the future looks bright.

With the NHL’s regular season in the books, it’s time to look forward to playoffs. Despite an abysmal start to their year, the Pittsburgh Penguins barreled into the playoffs for their tenth-straight year as the hottest team in the league.

Their AHL affiliates, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, post an equally impressive record. This is their fourteenth consecutive playoff berth, the longest active playoff streak in their league.

That’s pretty impressive, to say the least.

But this playoff record isn’t the only thing going in WBS’s favor recently. Matt Murray and Will O’Neill were both named to the AHL Second All-Star Team, based on their stats through April 6. Dustin Jeffrey, who was reacquired by the Penguins at the trade deadline, is also on the second team.

Murray, of course, has been up in Pittsburgh for some time now, defending the goal while Marc-Andre Fleury is out with a concussion. Now Murray has been sidelined with what may very well be a concussion of his own.

Tristan Jarry, who was holding down the fort in Wilkes-Barre in the meantime, was called up to Pittsburgh today. If Murray’s concussed (which the Penguins have not officially announced yet, though ESPN took it upon themselves to break that news this morning), then we’re going into the playoffs with a tandem of Jeff Zatkoff and Jarry.

Holy moly.

Jarry has put up a record of 17-13-3 this season and has not yet seen NHL action, other than in the preseason. That’s a little scary. However, rave reviews of his play have come out of Wilkes-Barre.

Look at all the WBS players who have stepped up this season, though. Many of us feared the worst early in the season when our bottom-six was made up of of a 39-year-old and a gaggle of rookies; yet, Matt Cullen and his little horde of Baby Pens have consistently impressed.

The Pens are resilient above all this year: hopefully that is something Mike Sullivan imparted to his players during his time in Wilkes-Barre as well. When the young players move up to Pittsburgh, it’s exciting to watch their confidence and skills grow.

Case in point: Oskar Sundqvist has been nothing but self-assured on the ice following his most recent recalls and goals. He even got into a little war of words with Philadelphia Flyers‘ tough guy Radko Gudas during their final meeting, despite the fact that Gudas could probably snap the skinny Swede in half. 

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Of course, there’s a difference between mental perseverance and actual talent. There’s always going to be a pretty big gap between the NHL and AHL and it will take most guys a bit of time to adapt. The playoffs aren’t necessarily when you want that time to be.

There’s certainly no shortage of talent throughout the Penguins organization, that much is for sure. Consistently having one of the hottest teams in the AHL builds a strong feeder system and the young guys – Murray, Conor Sheary, Bryan Rust, Tom Kuhnhackl, Sundqvist, Scott Wilson, etcetera etcetera – have been phenomenal.

Ten straight playoff berths and some of the greatest players in the world. Fourteen straight postseasons and three All-Stars. All things considered, I don’t think we have too much to worry about.

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