The Penguins wrapped up the annual Prospects Challenge in Buffalo N.Y. with against Buffalo's prospects with a 6-3 win in commanding fashion. They finish the tournament as champions for the third straight year with a 2-1 record with wins against Boston and Buffalo and a loss to Columbus.
The winning pedigree is very strong with these Penguins prospects as they pick up a third straight year of bragging rights and have Penguins fans happy and hopeful for development of these young prospects in the future of Pittsburgh Penguins Hockey.
Something very noticeable over these games was the system these players were under with Kirk McDonald behind the bench and maybe some of the Dan Muse hockey system being showcased. There was a lot more of:
- heavy pressuring forecheck with good puck side support
- quick efficent passing on breakouts
- puck support, puck support, puck support
- players were noticeably more physical (prime example was Quinn Beauchesne) - Entries were more controlling and a lot less dump and chases like in the Mike Sullivan regime
This all is a welcoming change which has not been seen since Mike Sullivan began coaching the Penguins back in 2016 which led them to back to back Stanley Cups. With McDonald on the bench, obviously his coaching philosophy was the main mindset but you gotta wonder how much of the system was Dan Muse's and is that something that we will see come game one against the Rangers.
The Penguins were able to put six goals by Buffalo today which is on par for how much scoring the Penguins Prospects have been doing over these last two games leading up to today. Goals today were scored by Tristan Broz (2), Avery Hayes (again), Benjamin Kindel, Beauchesne and a bank goal that was fired by Koivunen but might have banked off Kindel.
The Penguins prospects wrap up the tournament with a 6-3 win 💪 https://t.co/kuYHlL351J pic.twitter.com/Olm6QBpWnP
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 15, 2025
Final Statistics for Prospects Challenge:
Avery Hayes - 4G, 3A
Benjamin Kindel - 2G, 5A
Tristan Broz - 3G, 1A
Ville Koivunen - 1G, 3A
Atley Calvert - 1G, 1A
Emil Pieniniemi - 2A
Quinn Beauchesne - 1G
Owen Pickering - 1A
Daniel Laatsch - 1A
Chase Pietila - 1A
Brayden Edwards - 1A
Jordan Charron - 1A
Quick Excerpts from today's game:
Quinn Beauchesne played his first full game today of the Prospects Challenge and actually was able to find the back of the net in his lone full game played.
Avery Hayes once again look stellar as he scored in today's game let alone every single game this Prospects Challenge at least once or more. He had to have impressed Dan Muse, Kyle Dubas and Kirk McDonald, you will be seeing more of Avery Hayes as Preseason and the Regular Season roll around.
Benjamin Kindel had yet another impressive showing, after a very nervous showing in game one, he looked like himself in games two and three. Kindel's skating is not as bad as draft "experts," were saying was holding his game down. He had more good defensive plays and showed his shot is one of his strong sets in his game.
Tristan Broz had a wonderful game today was not far behind Avery Hayes and Harrison Brunicke for MVP of the Penguins Prospects, he found the back of the net twice today and was a key factor over the three games.
The Penguins prospects of the future who did not feature Rutger McGroarty (Injury) Bill Zonnon (With Junior Team) and Will Horcoff (Injury) overall looked fantastic and there will be some roster battles at training camp which begins on Thursday.