On Friday, Penguins‘ prospects took part in Game 1 of the annual NHL Prospects Showdown in Buffalo, New York. They defeated the prospects of the Boston Bruins by a score of 6-3.
Rutger McGroarty, Avery Hayes, Mathieu De St. Phalle, Gabe Klassen, and Tristan Broz – twice – were the goal scorers for the Penguins, and Taylor Gauthier and Sergei Murashov split the goaltending duties.
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Keeping in mind that this was merely a competition between two teams’ best prospects – and not a NHL game – there was a lot to like from several Penguins’ prospects in the first game.
And three prospects – McGroarty, Broz, and Vasily Ponomarev – really stood out among the rest.
Rutger McGroarty
McGroarty was locked in all night and was, arguably, the best player on the ice for both sides. He was very noticeable on the forecheck, he registered a goal and an assist, and he clanged an “almost goal” off of the crossbar behind Boston goaltender Ryan Bischell (well, apparently – as it appeared to go in the net but wasn’t called back).
Simply put: He just looked three steps ahead of pretty much everyone else on the ice, minus maybe one of his linemates. His hockey IQ and offensive zone awareness were noticeably advanced in comparison to his peers, and he consistently put himself in position to make plays and create chances.
It will be interesting to see how the rest of his weekend – and training camp – plays out. But McGroarty didn’t look like he belonged on the ice today. He looked like he belonged in a higher level of hockey.
Related: Three Prospects Who Could Make the Penguins’ Roster in 2024-25
Vasily Ponomarev
By observation, Ponomarev was almost every bit as good as McGroarty was, even though he failed to register a point on the night. They played most of the night together on the team’s first line, with Ponomarev centering McGroarty on his left and Hayes on his right.
The line was clicking on all cylinders, and a lot of that was because of the relentless, tenacious work of Ponomarev up the middle. He was the best forechecker on either team by a mile, he was winning nearly every puck battle, and he was feeding his teammates all night long.
He also showed a keen sense of awareness in the defensive zone and had some great reads to go along with it.
Again, not to overreact, but if Ponomarev continues this level of play through training camp, it’s going to be hard for the Penguins to justify starting him in the AHL. Given what he showed tonight,…