COMPETITIVE FIRE SHARED AMONG INCOMING, FIRST-YEAR PROS

CRANBERRY, Pa. – “Relentless.” “Passionate.” “Do anything to win.”

These are the three phrases Jack Horbach chose to use to describe his style of play earlier this week at Pittsburgh Penguins Development Camp. At the conclusion of his collegiate career this past spring, Horbach signed an AHL pact with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Is that self-described relentlessness why Wilkes-Barre/Scranton elected to bring him into the fold?

“I would hope so,” Horbach said. “I take a lot of pride in it. So I hope that’s what they’re taking me for. And I would like to prove it.”

Horbach will get his chance to prove just how fierce he is when he attends his first pro training camp in the fall. But he won’t be alone.

Fellow forward Tiernan Shoudy as well as defensemen Maleek McGowan and Tyler Duke all share a similar scouting report as vicious competitors. All four players signed with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton late last season, and they will be using their competitiveness to try and put their best foot forward at the onset of the 2026-27 campaign.

This upcoming season marks the first season of pro hockey for all four skaters, as well. However, Shoudy got a taste of the pros by skating with the Wheeling Nailers after inking his AHL deal. Shoudy appeared in six regular-season contests and then skated in 15 of the Nailers’ games in the Kelly Cup Playoffs. Amanda Kessel, Pittsburgh’s Manager of Minor League Operations and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Assistant General Manager, coveted Shoudy’s motor coming out of Michigan State University, and she saw his profile translate in the postseason.

“He’s a dog on the puck,” Kessel said. “He gets pucks back on the forecheck, and that’s what we really liked about him. He’s a high-character kid who comes with praise.”

Shoudy is dogged in his pursuit, but McGowan is bruising in his attempts to protect the puck. McGowan was a fan favorite blueliner in junior hockey with the Kingston Frontenacs, and according to Kessel, the Penguins had been monitoring him for a while.

“[McGowan] is somebody that has all the physical tools,” Kessel said before continuing, “He’s somebody that’s mean. He likes to hurt guys, and we like that about him.”

Penguins fans have yet to witness the fiery play of McGowan, Shoudy and Horbach in person, but they should have a gist of Duke’s demeanor. That is, that’s if those fans had been keenly watching the opposition when the Black and Gold took on the Syracuse Crunch.

Duke’s older brother, Dylan Duke, was a fourth-round draft pick by the Tampa Bay Lightning and played the last two seasons in Syracuse. Dylan led the Crunch with 32 goals this year and was a pain against the Penguins with five points (2G-3A) in four games. Much of Dylan’s production comes through dogged determination and out-willing larger opponents at the net-front. While Tyler plays a different position as a left-handed defenseman, he embodies that same persistence.

“We get it from growing up with each other,” Tyler said at Development Camp. “Everything we did in the backyard rink when we were kids and going one-on-one against each other, that’s where we get it from.”

Both Duke brothers are listed as under six-feet tall, but Tyler is used to using his gutty play to take it to bigger foes.

“Especially for me, smaller guys, that competitiveness is the number one thing you got to have to be able to compete with bigger guys,” he said. “I’ve been able to do that my whole life.”

Targeting overlooked players with hyper-competitive tendencies on AHL deals is nothing new for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Avery Hayes and Atley Calvert fit that bill, and both are also the two most-recent examples of players parlaying that AHL contract into an NHL contract with Pittsburgh. The incoming class of AHL-contracted skaters are well-aware of the Penguins’ history of developing players who climb the organizational ladder in such a fashion, and they can look to Hayes and Calvert as inspiration.

“No matter where you go, you’ve got to earn your stripes,” McGowan said. “That’s essentially what I feel like I’ve got to do here. I just want to go and prove myself, and then if another contract presents itself, then that’d be nice.”

All four first-year pros will put their competitiveness on display in the scrimmage tournament that concludes Development Camp on Friday before separating for more offseason training. It’s far too soon to peg any of Horbach, Shoudy, Duke or McGowan as the next Hayes or Calvert, but the best parts of their respective games make them all interesting players to monitor this year.