It is just about the end of summer, and it is almost time for everyone's favorite sport season to come back on the television and be back in arenas. With this comes training camp and preseason games as these are the highlights of September.
When it comes to training camp, the most important part is roster battles or fringe roster battles or figuring out which prospects go back to juniors or the ECHL or the AHL as well. And with training camp coming up, calls time for those who have the most to gain and those who have the most to lose.
For the Penguins, they have a few guys that have been up-and-down in the last few seasons with the big club and the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins that have a lot to lose in training camp if they do not perform. Those players could be forwards, defensemen, or goalies.
Defenseman Jack St. Ivany
Over the past few seasons, St. Ivany has been up-and-down between the big club and the AHL's Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. This should be one of his final opportunities to try to make the Penguins and make an impression.
Each time that he has gotten called up, he has not done much of anything and that has to change here at camp soon if he wants a chance to make the roster. He is one of those that does decent at the AHL level and then at the NHL level, he does not do much at all.
He played 19 games for the Penguins in 2024 and tallied 1 assist. He played 37 games for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins and tallied 1 goal and 15 assists.
This is St. Ivany's final chance and needs to make it count.
Forward Sam Poulin
Ever since Poulin was a first-round draft pick of the Penguins in 2019, he has not done much to show the team why he was selected in the first-round. Like St. Ivany, he has been up-and-down with Wilkes-Barre and Pittsburgh.
Poulin has gotten plenty of chances over the years to prove himself. He has been anywhere from the fourth line to the third line to the second line. No matter where you put the kid, he has not done much of anything.
Poulin is one of those that is too good for the AHL, but not good enough for the NHL. He is one of the ones that has the absolute most to lose especially under new head coach Dan Muse, at training camp this year.
Forward Tristan Broz
Broz was a second-round pick in 2021 for the Penguins, and has had to develop a bit and has not yet had a shot on the NHL roster. He has been working his butt off year-after-year trying and trying to do everything that he can to get that callup.
For him, this is a tricky one. He is still 22 years old, but he still has to prove to the Penguins that he belongs on the roster and that even if he does not make the roster outright, that he deserves a callup mid season. There is a forward log jam on the Penguins roster at the moment, but Broz could get a callup if any trades were to happen.
He is in the middle of the most to gain and most to lose list, but if he does not make any kind of impression at camp, good luck to him to getting that first NHL callup at some point this season.
Forward Valtteri Pusstinen
For Puustinen, this is also a tough one. Like Poulin, he has been up-and-down with Wilkes-Barre and Pittsburgh and has had all the opportunities in the world. For him as well, it also matters that he has played at the bottom and at the top of the Penguins lineup.
Every time that he gets a callup, it seems like he either does cardio or scores a big goal and there is no in between. You never know what you are going to get when he steps on to the ice for a shift.'
Especially under a new regime, Puustinen is definitely up there with a lot to lose come this year's training camp.
Goalie Joel Blomqvist
For Blomqvist, he is on the way younger side. The Penguins not long ago traded backup goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic to the San Jose Sharks and acquired goalie Arturs Silovs from the Vancouver Canucks.
But the Penguins also have future superstar Sergei Murashov waiting for his shot. But the Penguins also still have Tristan Jarry and his albatross contract on the roster. So at the current moment, it is hard to see Blomqvist on the NHL roster.
He has been up-and-down getting some opportunities and then being sent right back down. Last year was rough for him with the NHL club as it seemed he could not stop a beach ball. So he is at the very top of the list of those that have a ton to lose at training camp.