The preseason slate of games is now in the rear-view mirror with the season opener a mere two days away. It was one of the more competitive training camps in recent memory with plenty of competition for depth roles. It is going to be a situation that changes throughout the year due to performance and injuries.

HCMS on the opening night roster next Wednesday

"It’s going to make for some difficult decisions from our standpoint and that’s credit to the players, but the fact that we have some of the depth we have just from a sheer number standpoint I think is a great sign for us."

— Hailey Hunter (@TheHaileyHunter) October 5, 2024

There is growing clarity on who we are going to see on the big roster to start the season. Some of the roster moves have already taken place, none are of the surprising variety.

The Penguins have assigned the following players to the @WBSPenguins (AHL):

Emil Bemstrom
Nate Clurman
Taylor Gauthier
Jonathan Gruden
Joona Koppanen
Filip Kral
Filip Larsson
Sam Poulin pic.twitter.com/vl7UqMe1dP

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 5, 2024

In addition to those players being sent to WB/S Boko Imama and Sebastian Aho were placed on waivers.

Here are the remaining players in Pittsburgh for the time being:

Forwards
Noel Acciari, Anthony Beauviller, Michael Bunting, Sidney Crosby, Lars Eller, Cody Glass, Kevin Hayes, Evgeni Malkin, Rutger McGroarty, Drew O’Connor, Jesse Puljujarvi, Valtteri Puustinen, Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust

Defense
Harrison Brunicke, Ryan Graves, Matt Grzelcyk, Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang, Marcus Pettersson, Ryan Shea, Jack St. Ivany

Goalies
Joel Blomqvist, Tristan Jarry

Blake Lizotte, Matt Nieto, Vasily Ponomarev, and Alex Nedeljkovic are all eligible for IR and won’t count against the 23 man roster. This still leaves the Penguins one player above the 23 player limit.

Good morning from #LetsGoPens practice, folks!

Rutger McGroarty and Harrison Brunicke are still here.

Bryan Rust, Blake Lizotte, and Vasily Ponomarev are still not skating.

Erik Karlsson is full-contact.@TheHockeyNews pic.twitter.com/cvpBYXSClG

— Kelsey Surmacz (@kelsey_surmacz4) October 7, 2024

Forward lines this morning appear to be:

O'Connor-Crosby-Beauvillier
Bunting-Malkin-Rakell
McGroarty-Eller-Puljujarvi
Glass-Hayes-Acciari

Puustinen rotating in.#LetsGoPens

— Kelsey Surmacz (@kelsey_surmacz4) October 7, 2024

So with Bryan Rust still not skating it opens up the very real possibility he won’t be ready to go for opening night. It doesn’t seem like it will be an injured reserve kind of issue so the team will have to figure out what to do to get down to 23 roster members. Rutger McGroarty and Jack St. Ivany can be sent down to WB/S without being subjected to waivers to allow this to happen. Sending Harrison Brunicke to juniors can also accomplish this, although once that decision has been made it cannot be undone. As someone who wants Brunicke to get a nine-game tryout I would consider sending St. Ivany down even if I believe him to be the everyday bottom pairing defenseman for the lion’s share of the season.

EDIT: As I hit post the following news was released, Harrison Brunicke is indeed being sent down to juniors

The Penguins have assigned defenseman Harrison Brunicke to the Kamloops Blazers (WHL). pic.twitter.com/ZZjZfhKtbn

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 7, 2024

I would have liked to have seen some real NHL action from him this year, but I also wasn't interested in going past the nine-game tryout in what is a retooling year for the team. I think it is the right move to not start burning his ELC contract. The big takeaeway is that the Penguins hit on one of their second round picks and look to have a legit NHL player in Brunicke which is a great thing.

The early part of this season has a lot of moving parts with the players on IR, the players eligible for waivers or not, and the salary cap. It can lead to some unorthodox choices that remedy themselves. We will find out shortly what route the Penguins want to take here. Today’s moves before the 5PM deadline will likely be more geared towards maxing out LTIR relief than opening night roster choices.

Thanks for reading!

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