With two weeks of training camp practices in the books, it appears that the 2024-25 final NHL roster for the Pittsburgh Penguins is all but set.
For the past two days, the two remaining rostered teams have divided players into presumed NHL and AHL practices on separate rinks. The divide is pretty clear, and there has only been one discrepancy between the two days.
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The Penguins play back-to-back preseason games this weekend in Detroit and then against Ottawa in Sudbury. Head coach Mike Sullivan said that everyone will make the trip to Detroit, and then they will take some players to Sudbury on Sunday and send some home to Pittsburgh.
So what should everyone expect this weekend? Will there be more roster cuts? Is there still room for roster competition? Or is everything already set in stone?
The presumed NHL roster
© Timothy T. Ludwig – Imagn Images
If the NHL lineup is to be based off of what we’ve seen in practice within the past 48 hours, it would end up shaping up like this:
Forwards
Drew O’Connor-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Michael Bunting-Evgeni Malkin-Rickard Rakell
Anthony Beauvillier-Lars Eller-Jesse Puljujarvi/Cody Glass
Kevin Hayes-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari
Defensemen
Matt Grzelcyk-Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson-Erik Karlsson*
Ryan Graves-Jack St. Ivany
Two of: John Ludvig, Sebastian Aho, and Ryan Shea
Goaltenders
Tristan Jarry, Alex Nedeljkovic
*Karlsson is still listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury
Analysis: This version of the roster should not come as much of a surprise to anyone. From the get-go, it appeared likely that only one or two forward spots were up for grabs, as the vast majority of the guys on this roster have been paired and playing together since the beginning of training camp.
The top-six is almost a guaranteed lock and will likely remain unchanged from the end of last season. The bottom-six features four new faces, more speed, and more size, all of which can only be a good thing for an aging Penguins’ team that has missed the playoffs marginally for two consecutive seasons.
Related: Penguins Training Camp Day 6: A Tale of Two Teams, Roster Cut to 52
If this is the final roster, the one guy who really earned his spot here is Puljujarvi. He began camp in a green jersey – pretty much designated for AHL forwards – and he was playing on a line with Corey Andonovski and Boko Imama, both presumed to play in the AHL this season.
But as camp went on, Puljujarvi…