Late Tuesday, there were other moves made effecting the roster here in Wilkes-Barre besides the blockbuster trade involving Michael Leighton covered here Tuesday afternoon.
Initially thinking that there was something up impacting Pittsburgh’s roster, it was revealed after practice on Coal Street the following.
Updates from Coach Donatelli…
– Leighton a possibility to start on the games this weekend. – Bengtsson is week-to-week with an upper body injury. – DiPauli back home tending to a family matter and will not be available this weekend. -MO'B
Later, Christian Thomas was named to the Team Canada roster for the Spengler Cup. The tournament runs from December 26 through the 31st. You couple this with DiPauli being absent through Christmas and there is the need for the Wydo and Tiffels recalls this morning. Take Bengtsson’s injury and the status of Ethan Prow (no outlet I follow mentioned anything about him today and I didn’t ask) and there is the need for Jeff Taylor’s recall from Monday.
Wilkes-Barre would have two extras at forward and defense if you consider that Bengtsson, Prow, , Thomas, DiPauli, Tom Kostopoulos and Tom Sestito are all unavailable.
There is a possibility that one or two get bounced back to Wheeling for the Nailers games at home this weekend against the Brampton Beast.
I will leave you with Michael Leighton’s media availability after practice. Santa should send Tux a boom mike for Christmas. Sound up for this one if you can.
If nothing happens Thursday, and I don’t expect it to, check back Friday at 3 for the Gameday setup against Lehigh Valley Binghamton. (thanks Kram for the heads up)
* – it’s what I do everyday at my big boy job of pushing paper. Or painting houses.
Michael Leighton is one of the greatest AHL goaltenders to put on a pair of pads.
Here is his resume, from the League release on the trade….
Leighton, a five-time AHL All-Star, had been acquired by the Coyotes on Nov. 14 in a trade from Tampa Bay. In 14 AHL games between Syracuse and Chicago this season, Leighton has a record of 4-4-4 with a 3.16 goals-against average, an .869 save percentage and one shutout.
The AHL’s career leader in shutouts (50), Leighton has appeared in 479 career AHL games with a record of 236-176-48, ranking fifth all-time in victories and eighth among goaltenders in games played. He was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team in 2001-02 and won the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding goaltender in 2007-08.
In postseason play, Leighton owns the AHL records for saves in a single game (98, in a five-overtime loss on Apr. 24, 2008) and for lowest GAA in a single playoff year (1.18, in 2008). He shows a 1.67 GAA, a .946 save percentage and five shutouts in 28 career Calder Cup Playoff contests (13-12).
He’s been around the AHL this season, initially starting with Syracuse, with a stop in AHL Chicago, he did not appear in a game with the Coyotes AHL affiliate, Tucson. He was loaned to Chicago from Arizona.
So the crease in Wilkes-Barre looks like Casey DeSmith and Michael Leighton. Unless there is another move coming down the pike which would see Tristan Jarry coming back down and Leighton going to to backup Matt Murray, which is entirely plausible.
Sean Maguire needed the change in scenery. He will a great asset for the Tucson Roadrunners. He was kind of lost in the shuffle here in Wilkes-Barre.
Josh Archibald wasn’t going to make it through waivers the thought process was by the brain trust up in Pittsburgh.
Jonathan had an interesting take…
Here's how I interpret the Leighton deal: Penguins weren't satisfied with DeSmith as the No. 3 on the depth chart and didn't think Archibald would crack their lineup in the near future.
I disagree with that thought process entirely. Casey DeSmith played his way up from ECHL obscurity a few seasons ago to an NHL contract this past summer. He is as about as solid a #1 AHL goaltender you can find, anywhere, just like Tristan Jarry and Matt Murray before him.
But like I tell people all the time, I don’t manage or coach the organization, I just blog about it.
Oh dear, as I was about to hit publish on this, a second trade was made with another implication affecting Wilkes-Barre.
Penguins acquire Jamie Oleksiak from the Dallas Stars in exchange for a 2019 conditional fourth round draft pick. As a part of the move, Kevin Czuczman was re-assigned to the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins.
The conditional end of it is explained here…
The condition on the fourth round pick is this: the Penguins have two fourth-rounders. The Stars will get which ever one is earlier in the draft.
Out the door, Wilkes-Barre recalled Jarrett Burton and Jeff Taylor from Wheeling Monday. With Ethan Prow’s status up in the air and Wilkes-Barre playing with just one extra forward last weekend, the need for those recalls were justified. Elsewhere, ex-Penguin Stuart Percy signed an AHL deal with the Rochester Americans.
Is there a third move up the sleeve of Penguins GM Jim Rutherford? We have to wait and see.
On Monday, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins released Colin Stevens from his professional tryout agreement. Sean Maguire was recalled from the Wheeling Nailers.
Monday night, in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers, goaltender Matt Murray was injured on this play:
Bob McKenzie had this to say on the status of Murray as of Tuesday afternoon. Read both tweets.
Whatever the precise timeline, sounds more like week to week than day to day. So, for now, Tristan Jarry is the man, backed up by Casey DeSmith. PIT is likely to be in market for (low cost, both in acquisition price and cap hit) experienced back-up/stop-gap guy.
Once you wash the sarcasm drippings off of your hands from my last paragraph and the tweet above, know that the Penguins placed Murray on injured reserve.
Other news surrounding the walking wounded in Wilkes-Barre from Tyler…
Tom Kostopoulos is still week-to-week, but it sounds like more of a long-term week-to-week if that makes sense. Prow is back and good to go. Josephs is still week-to-week.
Other tidbits include the return of Garrett Wilson from his personal matters and Tom Sestito appears good to go, returning to practice this week as well.
More as it comes, hopefully it quiets down. Pittsburgh next plays Friday in a home and home with Buffalo, and Wilkes-Barre plays three in three beginning this Friday against Milwaukee, who haven’t been seen around these parts since they took home the Calder Cup in the Finals in 2004.
Comments Off on So Long and Thanks For All of the Fish, Colin
Posted by nafsnep on November 27, 2017
With the Penguins upcoming three games in three days looming on the schedule for this weekend, a decision needed to be made as to what to do at the backup goaltending position. Casey DeSmith had started every game in the month of November (probably a Wilkes-Barre record of some sort) so the backup needed to see a game in one of the three games this upcoming weekend against either Milwaukee Friday at home, Rochester Saturday at home and Hershey on the road Sunday.
It’s a bit of a raw deal for Stevens, who never saw a minute of game action for the Penguins in the entire month, but such is the business.
Apparently the plan all along since Pittsburgh lost Antti Niemi to waivers in Wilkes-Barre and Wheeling was to keep having Maguire eat starts in the ECHL while DeSmith handled the workload here in Wilkes-Barre. The Nailers went out and got themselves a quality ECHL goaltender a few weeks ago in Adam Morrison in a deal with Rapid City, so they should be OK at the goaltending position. Wilkes-Barre plays fourteen games in the month of December which includes two Sunday and three Wednesday games. DeSmith would have simply gotten worn out had he continued to eat starts.
For Maguire, I don’t want to call it a fish or cut bait situation for him, he’s been sparingly used by Wilkes-Barre as he has continued his development in the ECHL. He’s 8-3 with a .910 and a 3.28 GAA with Wheeling this year. Nailers are second in the North Division, tied with the Manchester Monarchs with 24 points so far. I think it’s fair enough to say that the next step in his development is to backup at the AHL level. I’ll be interested to see when he gets a start this weekend, and how he does.
Comments Off on Colin Stevens Signed to PTO 10/25
Posted by nafsnep on October 25, 2017
Coal Street announced Wednesday morning that they have signed goaltender Colin Stevens to a professional tryout contract. Stevens, as you may recall, was in training camp with Wilkes-Barre.
His numbers with the Wheeling Nailers are a small sample size; 2-0-1 record, .907 save percentage and a 3.27 goals against average.
The reason the Penguins didn’t recall Sean Maguire is because he is injured right now. From what I have been able to gather he was wearing a splint on his arm the last time he was seen.
Stevens comes highly recommended from those who have seen him play and those who cover the Nailers…
I do not see Stevens getting a game this weekend unless Friday’s game against the Hershey Bears is a physical one. Pens are in Bridgeport Saturday then off until next Friday, November 3 in Allentown then off Saturday and home Sunday November 5 against Hershey. Conceivably, Tristan Jarry starts all four games. But then again, if the Penguins want to see what they want to do with Stevens from a perspective of signing him to an AHL contract for good, he’s probably going to need to see a game. Maybe that comes this weekend. Who knows.
One other bit of non-goaltender related news before I go…
Comments Off on Spinozzi Signed, Maguire to Wheeling 10/4
Posted by nafsnep on October 4, 2017
News dujour out of Coal Street Wednesday was news that the Penguins signed Kevin Spinozzi to a professional tryout agreement and then later in the day sent Sean Maguire to the Wheeling Nailers.
Spinozzi certainly earned the extended tryout agreement. While I don’t see him as a regular contributor to the Penguins defensive corps in the immediate future, he may play a factor when the injuries start piling up and bodies are pulled from all over the place. Obviously, Clark Donatelli and his staff saw enough of Spinozzi to offer him the tryout agreement.
Sean Maguire was sent to the Wheeling Nailers. It wasn’t a matter of if, it was a matter of when for Maguire with the tandem of Tristan Jarry / Casey DeSmith already set in goal for the Penguins. Maguire should see the majority of starts for the Nailers and be ready should his services be needed by the Penguins in the near future.
Pittsburgh finalized its roster. Here it is:
Here is PIT’s opening night roster. 22 + Hornqvist on IR. No Pedan. Assume he’s in Wilkes-Barre? pic.twitter.com/3HzkmP7X9F
Riley Bourbonnais: Penguins signed him to an AHL contract over the summer. RPI product. Had a cup of coffee with Wheeling last year.
Jarrett Burton: Re-signed by the Penguins this summer. Was a depth guy last year, expect a big camp from him should he hope to stick around full time in 2017-18.
Cam Brown: Natick, Mass native who played 9 games and scored 3-4-7 after 34 games with the Maine Black Bears in the NCAA. Looks like a setup guy, he had 35 assists for Maine last year.
Hunter Fejes: Signed to an ECHL contract with Wheeling this past summer. had 18-20-38 with the Rapid City Rush last year.
Reid Gardiner: Penguins fans remember him as the guy that they signed last season who was released back to Kelowna of the WHL. Wilkes-Barre re-signed him again this summer and there is no going back to juniors for Gardiner, who had gaudy numbers (18-19-37) with Kelowna in 28 gamess.
Ryan Haggerty: Doesn’t need much of an introduction. Played a third / fourth line role with the Penguins last year. Has a big shot which he didn’t really use much last year.
Troy Josephs: Entering his first year pro and is looking to live up to the 20-13-33 he put up at Clarkson University last season. I don’t feel like he will be in competition for a spot, but if you sit and think about it for a while he may be.
Tom Kostopoulos: Only question is whether or not this is his final year.
Daniel Leavens: Robert Morris product signed with Wheeling late last year and then re-signed with the Nailers over the summer. 8 points in 7 games for the Nailers last year.
Pat McGrath: Doesn’t need an introduction. My big interest in him is whether he puts up more points since hockey is killing fighting.
Tom Mele: Second oldest player in camp. Mele is 31 and played 40 games with the Cincinnati Cyclones last year. He’s won a Central League championship with Fort Wayne when the Komets were in the CHL and an Kelly Cup Championship with Alaska.
Shawn O’Donnell: Mele plays LW and they have O’Donnell listed as a RW. He played 47 games with Cincinnati last year also, I wonder if they were linemates?
Justin Parizek: He attended a development camp with the Vancouver Canucks. He served as captain of the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks last year. Researching him finds he is a two-way winger. He’s smart too, had a 3.79 GPA in college.
Gage Quinney: Wilkes-Barre signed him in August. 44 points in 45 games for Wheeling last year. Does he stick or go down to Wheeling?
Kenny Ryan: Went from San Diego in the AHL, to Cincinnati to Indy in the ECHL. I don’t think he is signed anywhere, so it may be a tryout of sorts for him for the Nailers or someone else.Shawn Rine corrected me on this to inform that Ryan is actually signed by the Nailers.
Nick Sorkin: Sorkin played three games with Wilkes-Barre last season. He captained the Nailers last year, where he played 57 games.
Cody Wydo: Another Wheeling reinforcement that the Penguins called on last season. He, like Sorkin, appeared in three games for Wilkes-Barre.
Defensemen
Danny Fick: Nailers re-signed Fick over the summer where he played 69 games for them. He also appeared in two games for the San Antonio Rampage.
Dan Milan: He was in camp last year. Nailers signed him for 2017-18. 73 PIMs for ECHL Fort Wayne last year.
Matt Petgrave: Played college in New Brunswick last year and then five games with Brampton.
Kevin Schulze: Another Wheeling signee in camp with Wilkes-Barre. 68 games last year for the Nailers, 60 points. Had one game with teh Penguins.
Craig Skudalski: Here is your local connection besides Pat McGrath. Skudalski is a Wyoming, PA native. He bounced around in the lower levels of the minor leagues with Roanoke of the Southern League and Danbury of the Federal League.
Kevin Spinozzi: Captained the Sarnia Sting of the OHL last year. 41 points in 58 games. Not signed anywhere, so he’s looking for a good first impression.
Jeff Taylor: Up to this point, every defenseman I listed feels like a warm body until the regulars filter down from Pittsburgh. Taylor isn’t one of them. He had 6 games with Wilkes-Barre last year and is heading into his first pro season. Those reinforcements will get here soon enough, Taylor wants to make a case that he belongs in that top six defensive pairing among them.
Dylan Zink: Same as Taylor. Will be interesting to watch the competition between the two at camp and in exhibition games.
Goaltenders
Sean Maguire: Most likely Wheeling’s number one goalie again this season with DeSmith – Jarry pegged as the opening night duo. Still though, he wants to make it a tougher decision than that.
Will King: Valencia, PA native played in Sweden’s third tier hockey league last year with OK numbers in 11 games (2.57 GAA, .915 SV%)
Colin Stevens: Wheeling’s other goalie, signed by the Nailers over the summer. 33 games split with Tulsa (24) and Manchester (9) of the ECHL last season.
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Nick and Obie held a two man advantage discussing some of the players invited to camp.
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So there you go. If you have something you’d like to add on any of these guys, please feel free in the comments below.
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