Pens Development Camp July 16-20 (Day 5 Scrimmage recap up)

[Gaucho]

So why did this guy drop to the 6th round?

[Penspal]

A lot of good info for a crazy quick format. Glad to hear Adam P is looking good, but if he is giving harrington trouble then Harrington is not close to ready. (Or is it because there is no hitting?)

[meecrofilm]

Payerl is large. He already has NHL-size, even if he's not in the NHL yet.... i.e. he's the same size that many other 4th line bangers around the league are that give many NHL-defenseman physical trouble, so I don't think that's as big of an indictment against Harrington as some are making it seem.

That said, I think Harrington will still probably need a year max to adjust to the strength of the pro-level.

[Steve Dave]

So why did this guy drop to the 6th round?

Because Tyler Wright was once compared to Doug Gilmour.

[netwolf]

Sundqvist plays a very North American game in my opinion. If you watched from afar and knew nothing about him, I doubt you'd guess he was a Swede.

I wouldn't read too much into Harrington having trouble with Payerl. Payerl is 2 years older and has almost 15lbs on him, likely all muscle. He's also very good at using his size to his advantage. Harrington just needs to fill out some more and he should be fine.

Don't know why Byron dropped to the 6th round. Maybe playing in the CCHL is part of it? That league doesn't get the same level of attention as other junior leagues as it's Tier II. The information packet the team provided says Red Line Report had him ranked 84th overall. I saw another quote from Kyle Woodlief at RLR staing "He's a skinny Tier II player, but we keep coming back to the fact that we haven't seen many with a higher skill level." Central Scouting put him at 122 among North American skaters, and McKeen's had him at 119 overall. Pens got him at 179. It's just a few days in an informal camp setting, but he does appear to be a lot more skilled than his draft position would indicate. He's headed to the University of Maine in the fall. Time will tell if he pans out, but for now, I'm just happy to have a forward with some skill in the prospect pool.

Another Byron profile from http://hockeyjournal.com/blog/kirks/Hidden_gems:

Byron is an outstanding skater with quick jump, top gear and an even quicker stick. Backs defenders up with his slick inside and outside moves, but because of physical limitations, can float out on the perimeter and not go into heavy traffic at times. Having played at a lower level than in the OHL, he wasn’t as challenged as he’ll be when he moves on to the NCAA and goes up against older, bigger, stronger players.

For what it's worth, he hasn't seemed to be avoiding contact/traffic this week, though in these short rink scrimmages they've done, that would be pretty hard to do.

[The Snapshot]

Sundqvist plays a very North American game in my opinion. If you watched from afar and knew nothing about him, I doubt you'd guess he was a Swede.

I wouldn't read too much into Harrington having trouble with Payerl. Payerl is 2 years older and has almost 15lbs on him, likely all muscle. He's also very good at using his size to his advantage. Harrington just needs to fill out some more and he should be fine.

Don't know why Byron dropped to the 6th round. Maybe playing in the CCHL is part of it? That league doesn't get the same level of attention as other junior leagues as it's Tier II. The information packet the team provided says Red Line Report had him ranked 84th overall. I saw another quote from Kyle Woodlief at RLR staing "He's a skinny Tier II player, but we keep coming back to the fact that we haven't seen many with a higher skill level." Central Scouting put him at 122 among North American skaters, and McKeen's had him at 119 overall. Pens got him at 179. It's just a few days in an informal camp setting, but he does appear to be a lot more skilled than his draft position would indicate. He's headed to the University of Maine in the fall. Time will tell if he pans out, but for now, I'm just happy to have a forward with some skill in the prospect pool.

Another Byron profile from http://hockeyjournal.com/blog/kirks/Hidden_gems:

Byron is an outstanding skater with quick jump, top gear and an even quicker stick. Backs defenders up with his slick inside and outside moves, but because of physical limitations, can float out on the perimeter and not go into heavy traffic at times. Having played at a lower level than in the OHL, he wasn’t as challenged as he’ll be when he moves on to the NCAA and goes up against older, bigger, stronger players.

For what it's worth, he hasn't seemed to be avoiding contact/traffic this week, though in these short rink scrimmages they've done, that would be pretty hard to do.

Byron at Maine should be fun to watch this year. He'll definitely take away that "low-level competition" knock if he performs well.

[The Snapshot]

Payerl is large.

I stopped reading here. Hope he can stick around the big camp to the end.

[netwolf]

He and Megna could be among the last cuts at forward, but barring trades (which have to be coming as they're ~500K over the cap with Bortuzzo to go), there aren't any spots open on the NHL club.

[tfrizz]

Byron at Maine should be fun to watch this year. He'll definitely take away that "low-level competition" knock if he performs well.

From what I'm hearing of him... I may have to make the trip across the border to catch a few games this year.

[Take the Body Shoot the Puck]

From reading the last few pages, what is it that is keeping Payerl from getting a shot on our 4th line? If he's big, strong, fast, and hits...isn't that what we want?

[Idoit40fans]

How many NHL games has he played? 0? Ok he's out.

[meecrofilm]

^^ This. We have to wait 'til he gets experience first. But we can't give him any.... until he has some...... my head hurts....

[GSdrums87]

^^ This. We have to wait 'til he gets experience first. But we can't give him any.... until he has some...... my head hurts....

"Entry level position open! Requires 3 years of experience and references."

[JoseCuervo]

From reading the last few pages, what is it that is keeping Payerl from getting a shot on our 4th line? If he's big, strong, fast, and hits...isn't that what we want?

He's big, strong, and fast compared to 18-20 year olds. Wait until training camp. Not prospect development camp.

[netwolf]

Day 4 report is up. http://letsgopens.com/camp_reports.php?id=85

And if you haven't listened to audio from Tom Fitzgerald today, head over to the PensNation and check it out. Among other things, he'll set you straight on the purpose of this week's activities. http://thepensnation.com/tpn/pittsburgh ... our-recap/

[netwolf]

From reading the last few pages, what is it that is keeping Payerl from getting a shot on our 4th line? If he's big, strong, fast, and hits...isn't that what we want?

He's big, strong, and fast compared to 18-20 year olds. Wait until training camp. Not prospect development camp.

Plus there's this: http://www.capgeek.com/penguins/

Pens have 13 forwards signed already. Bennett's the only one on that isn't waiver-eligible. Unless someone's moved, Payerl would have to beat out 2 guys to get into the top 12, and he'd have to do so by a wide enough margin to warrant pushing someone else off the roster.

Defense is in the same boat. Eight guys once Bortuzzo is wrapped up. Only Despres isn't waiver-eligible.

That said, at least one move is coming. They're roughly $500K over plus whatever Bortuzzo signs for.

[penny lane]

~ from article in PG regarding Adam Payerl. Note to self, T Fitzgerald is an expert and I will need hold back from expecting Payerl to show up in the line up as new power forward. Wish him success in WBS & maybe the pens soon.

Fitzgerald, attempting to inject a little reality into Payerl's rising star, employed a similar message in offering a reminder that while the winger has shown a great deal of progress, he's not necessarily ready to skip ahead too far too quickly.

"I think first and foremost, his goal is to be an everyday top-three-line player in the American Hockey League, with the potential of playing NHL games with his game being consistent," Fitzgerald said.

"We all dream, but just worry about the now, because the now will take care of tomorrow."

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/spo ... z2Zb5Do2ga

[netwolf]

Who knows the NHL/CHL transfer rules really well? From what I read, an NHL drafted player has to be 20 by the end of the calendar year, or have played 4 seasons in juniors to be AHL-eligible. Derrick Pouliot will only be 19 on 12/31, but he has played for Portland for 4 seasons, though his first year (09-10) he only played 7 games. Is there a minimum games required for a year of junior service? I'm not having much luck finding the specific rules anywhere. I suck at google apparently...

[mikey287]

Who knows the NHL/CHL transfer rules really well? From what I read, an NHL drafted player has to be 20 by the end of the calendar year, or have played 4 seasons in juniors to be AHL-eligible. Derrick Pouliot will only be 19 on 12/31, but he has played for Portland for 4 seasons, though his first year (09-10) he only played 7 games. Is there a minimum games required for a year of junior service? I'm not having much luck finding the specific rules anywhere. I suck at google apparently...

I believe it's 25 junior games to qualify as an accrued season. Don't have a solid source on it that I can link, but just from inferences of conversations I've had with people in hockey.

[nocera]

Anyone going to the scrimmage today?

[netwolf]

That's what I thought mikey, thanks.

[penny lane]

Anyone going to the scrimmage today?

sure. need to get that last time at the consol out of my system.
Plus, I'm sure it will be a great cooling center.

[nocera]

Surprisingly large crowd for a developmental scrimmage.

[lifetimefan]

At the scrimmage today and its 1-1 end of one. Who looks good do far? IMHO defense is Dumuolin. Good positioning and smart with the puck. He actually turned towards the boards twice in his own end with the puck. Offense I go with Guentzel. Small guy but showed speed and better puck skills. He also showed a willingness to drive the net. We will see what period two shows. Love hockey in July!

[lifetimefan]

Good second period of play. Standouts as follows. Sundqvist was solid. Big frame moving to the net. He seemed more aggressive than I expected. Megna looked strong going to the net. I have to bring up Dumoilin again. He will push for a roster spot strong on the puck and hockey smart. He got the puck in the D-zone under a minute in a one goal game and thought. He evaluated the ice and rather than dump due to pressure lifted a puck across ice to the far blue line to set up an empty netter rather than icing it. May be the jewel of the Staal trade.