2013 Pittsburgh Penguins' prospect camp

[JustAsking]

Tom Fitzgerald acknowledged “it will be a tough decision” whether Maatta returns to London or cracks the Penguins lineup in September

If the Penguins get through training camp injury free... Maatta will be returned to London (jrs). Pouliot I'm thinking will get returned to Portland (jrs), and Harrington, Dumoulin, Samuelsson are locks to start the year in WBS. Other defenseman for WBS will probably be: Ruopp, D'Agostino, ,McNeill, Mikkelson to round out the 7.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

I heard the Trib beat writer Josh Yohe on radio yesterday saying he came away most impressed with Olli Maatta. Said he was very impressed with how the young Fin has been trying to add bulk to an already pretty tall frame at 6'4". His positioning and understanding of the game as a young defenseman seems to be very advanced. Called Maatta the complete package and that he could force Pens management to make a difficult choice when September rolls around and training camps gets going.

Would love to see Maatta (or any of our top prospective dmen) crack the lineup, but don't forget a couple years ago Joe Morrow was the stud of prospect camp. I hope Yohe is right, but this organization doesn't have a good track record when it comes to giving prospects a chance.

 

[mtm166]

Would love to see Maatta (or any of our top prospective dmen) crack the lineup, but don't forget a couple years ago Joe Morrow was the stud of prospect camp. I hope Yohe is right, but this organization doesn't have a good track record when it comes to giving prospects a chance.

Exactly right. And it better change in a hurry if the Pens want to really win the pay your superstars model and fill out the rest of the roster with cheaper talent approach. Not saying I don't like the model, but for it to work development from within is vital. Part of that process is to give your prospects a legit shot at the NHL level. Look at what Saad did this year. He payed off bigtime in the playoffs for CHI b/c he played consistently all season. Anyone here think he would've been given the same opportunity here? I don't.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

Exactly right. And it better change in a hurry if the Pens want to really win the pay your superstars model and fill out the rest of the roster with cheaper talent approach. Not saying I don't like the model, but for it to work development from within is vital. Part of that process is to give your prospects a legit shot at the NHL level. Look at what Saad did this year. He payed off bigtime in the playoffs for CHI b/c he played consistently all season. Anyone here think he would've been given the same opportunity here? I don't.

Yup, and the Bruins with Krug & Bartkowski. Even the Flyers take chances on their defensive prospects while we just play with our thumbs & talk about how great our defensive pipeline is.