The Pittsburgh Penguins trimmed their training camp roster by 18 this morning, following a 2-0 loss at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets last night. The team is 0-2 after two preseason games and has yet to see participation from many of its star players, including Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
Forwards Scott Wilson, Anton Zlobin, Josh Archibald, Jean-Sebastien Dea, Matia Marcantuoni, Tom Kuhnhackl, Adam Payerl, Bryan Rust, Nick Drazenovic, Conor Sheary, and Tom Kostopoulous, goaltenders Matt Murray and Eric Hartzell, defensemen Nick D’Agostino, Harrison Ruopp, Clark Seymour, and Alex Boak were all either released from their tryouts or reassigned.
Goaltender Tristan Jarry will be returned to the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League, where he will finish his final season of junior hockey.
The most surprising name on the list is Payerl, who played two games at the end of last season in Pittsburgh and was auditioning for a fourth-line role with the team. Daniel Carcillo, Bobby Farnham, Pierre-Luc Leblond, Jayson Megna, Dominic Uher, Oskar Sundqvist, and Zach Sill remain in camp to compete for that spot.
Drazenovic, who has yet to practice fully while recovering from a hip injury that prematurely ended his season last year, will be exposed to waivers.
Those released and reassigned will report to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League. The WBS Pens have been the Penguins’ top farm club since their inception in 1999. AHL training camp will open with meetings on Friday and practice on Saturday in Wilkes-Barre under the tutelage of fifth-year head coach John Hynes.
For the players that remain in Pittsburgh, today was the first off day of camp for the team. The preseason will continue tomorrow when they host the Minnesota Wild at 7:00 p.m. The team’s roster now stands at 37. It must be further reduced to 23 before the season opens on Thursday, October 9.
Photo Credit: Pittsburgh Penguins
