The Penguins and other NHL teams in general like to jumble lines and player pairings in training camp every year right before the preseason gets underway. But this year with the Penguins, under new head coach Dan Muse, something about the lines and player pairings seem different.
There is something with Harrison Brunicke and Owen Pickering being paired together on the top pairing of team one in training camp, that really jumps out to the casual fan. They are two of the young kids on the Penguins defensive core and are big parts of the future for when the Penguins are in contention again.
With Brunicke barely missing out on making the team out of training camp last year and Pickering getting a small sample size of NHL games last season, pairing them together early is quite the sight. This pairing can definitely be lethal from now and into the future.
They are the two that should really help the Penguins get through the tough stretch of the next few years. But also keep in mind that guys like Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson were on other teams in camp so it could also mean nothing.
But if the Penguins and Dan Muse were to put the two together on a defensive pairing in a preseason game this year, then that would really speak volumes. It does already that each day the Penguins have hosted camp, they have kept the two together.
As mentioned, Brunicke nearly made the team out of camp last year and Pickering started the year in Wilkes-Barre Scranton with the AHL squad, got a mid-season callup and scored a goal, and then was sent back not long after that. But that seemed to be a good move as Pickering did need extra time in the AHL to help better his game and see if he can make the team this year.
If you ask the casual Penguins fan, both of these guys should make the team. Pickering is definitely ready for full-time NHL action and Brunicke only has the option to go back to juniors or make the Penguins roster. Brunicke is way too good to be back in juniors so hopefully him and Pickering make the team and can be paired together from now and years later in the future.