PENGUINS WEEKLY – 10/8/25

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton opens 2025-26 season on Saturday

Penguins host Wolf Pack at home Saturday, seek revenge on Phantoms on Sunday

Preseason Rewind

Oct. 3, Oct. 4  (2-0-0-0)
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins opened their preseason in front of 3,200 students with their annual ‘Learn With Hockey’ STEM & School Day game. That energetic crowd helped spur the Penguins to a 2-1 shootout victory over the Hershey Bears. Rookie goalie from Kazakhstan Maxim Pavlenko made 17 saves in regulation and OT before denying all three Bears shootout attempts to improve the Pens to 4-0-0-0 all-time in their STEM day game. The next night, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton racked up a 5-1 victory against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Rookie defenseman Chase Pietila scored in both games and led the team in its preseason with three points.

The Week Ahead

Saturday, Oct. 11 – PENGUINS vs. Hartford
The Penguins open their 2025-26 campaign on home ice, hosting the Hartford Wolf Pack. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton dominated its season series with Hartford last year, winning all six matchups. In those six contests, the Penguins out-scored the Wolf Pack 28-8 and held the Hartford power play to 2-for-24. Furthermore, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is on a six-game home winning streak against Hartford dating back to Oct. 23, 2023. The Penguins are 13-10-3-0 (.558) all-time in home openers. Saturday will also feature a pregame block party outside of Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza. Starting at 3:00 p.m., there will be DJs, concessions, street hockey and other family activities.

Sunday, Oct. 12 – PENGUINS at Lehigh Valley
It’s a quick turnaround from the opener to the Penguins’ first road game, as they take on the Phantoms at 3:05 p.m. It’s also a quick opportunity at vengeance for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, as Lehigh Valley was the team that bounced the Penguins from last year’s Calder Cup Playoffs. This will be John Snowden’s first taste of the Pens/Phantoms rivalry as head coach. Snowden took over Lehigh Valley’s HC position on July 14, 2025.

Ice Chips

– In Kirk MacDonald’s first season as head coach last year, he led the Penguins to their first 40-win season since 2017-18.

– Last season, the Penguins set their franchise record for best power play at 21.3%.

– Wilkes-Barre/Scranton scored six goals in their first season-opener under MacDonald last season. The Penguins finished the 2024-25 season with 3.39 goals per game, second in the league and first in the Eastern Conference.

– Chase Pietila was the only defenseman to score twice during the AHL preseason.

2024-25 DIVISION STANDINGS

TEAM                       W        L       OTL     SOL     PTS     Pts%

1. Hershey              44       20        7          1         96      .667

2. Charlotte            39       22        3          0         85      .653

3. Providence        42       23        5          3         93      .625

4. PENGUINS         40       24        7          1         87      .611

5. Lehigh Valley   36       28        6          3         73      .556

6. Springfield        34       32        2          2         65      .514

7. Hartford             30       33        7          3         78      .479

8. Bridgeport         15       50        4          3         37      .257

2025-26 NEW PENGUINS

NAME                              Pos.      Ht      Wt      Age     AHL Season

Alex Alexeyev                 D         6’4”      229         25                 6th

David Breazeale             D         6’3”      215         25                  1st

Ryan Graves                    D         6’5”      222         30                 5th

Finn Harding                   D         6’1”      206         20                  1st

Rafaël Harvey-Pinard  LW        5’9”      181         26                 5th

Danton Heinen             LW        6’2”      187         30                 3rd

Aaron Huglen               RW       6’0”      180         24                  1st

Phil Kemp                         D         6’3”      202         26                 5th

Aidan McDonough     LW        6’2”      200         25                 3rd

Maxim Pavlenko           G         6’4”      176         23                  1st

Chase Pietila                   D         6’2”      190         21                  1st

Nolan Renwick             RW       6’3”      215         24                  1st