SHORT CAMP CREATES INTENSE ROSTER COMPETITION

CRANBERRY, Pa. – As one grows older, a common refrain is that year over year, the summer feels shorter. For hockey fans, this is hardly the worst news in the world. The end of summer gives way to the start of a new season.

But for many of the young, talented prospects in the Pittsburgh Penguins system, they’re going to find that training camp will feel shorter, too.

Because it is.

As Pittsburgh opened its 2026 training camp at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry, Pennsylvania on Thursday, the first of only three practice days before a pair of home preseason contests. The short camp – collectively bargained by the NHL Players’ Association in the newest CBA – leaves significantly less runway for unproven players to make an impression on Penguins coaches and management. Of course, this coincides with a crowded training camp battle for roster spots.

There were 25 forwards on NHL contracts on the ice for day one of camp. Only 13 or 14 will make the opening-night roster. That makes these next few days paramount for the likes of Tristan Broz, Avery Hayes, Rutger McGroarty, and other key figures of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s deep playoff run last spring.

“I think the practice days probably carry more significance for guys. I think you see a little extra level of urgency,” said Pittsburgh assistant general manager Jason Spezza, who also serves as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s GM. “There’s only four preseason games. There’s not going to be opportunity for everybody in the preseason like we normally would have.”

All three of Broz, Hayes, and McGroarty suited up for Pittsburgh at various times last season, but Hayes arguably made the most lasting impression. His two-goal NHL debut was magic, and he tallied twice again in Pittsburgh’s regular-season finale. From there, he and his mates reached the Eastern Conference Final in the Calder Cup Playoffs, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s longest stay in the postseason since 2014.

Hayes believes the experience he gained in the AHL playoffs has them ready to thrive in the crucible of this training camp’s time crunch.

“Once you get to [the playoffs], every little play matters,” Hayes said. “So having that feeling where you’re truly doing whatever it takes on every single play to win that game, that’s where you’re at your best, where every player is at their best. I feel like it was good for me and good for the whole group and for us to be able to all do it together, that goes huge for all of our developments as players.”

“So you just got to go out there and attack every second, every play, and every drill matters. They’re always watching, and I’ve just got to be the best version of myself.”

Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust and company can rest easy knowing their spots in the Steel City are secure. However, Pittsburgh has made it clear that this short camp is a proving ground for many of those 25 contracted forwards.

“Nothing’s going to be set in stone in terms of the open competition,” declared Pittsburgh head coach Dan Muse. “That’s what you want to have in training camp. You want to have everybody battling for spots. You want to have everybody battling for impressions. There’s so much that is up for grabs. You know, obvious in terms of you know people you know battling for roster spots, then but even within that, it’s battling for different roles.”

Such a battle even extends to Ville Koivunen. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s leading assist-earner last season and top overall scorer in 2024-25 was given an eight-year, $32-million dollar contract extension from Pittsburgh this summer. Such a handsome payday would normally ensure a player a spot on the opening-night roster, but the Penguins have been ardent in insisting that nothing is guaranteed for the 23-year-old.

Koivunen seems to have gotten the message.

Koivunen visibly beefed up in the offseason. He guesstimates that he gained five kilograms during summer training (roughly 11 lbs.), heeding the instruction of Penguins management.

“You gotta always earn a spot, it doesn’t matter what kind of contract you have,” Koivunen said. “I think that’s always how you come to a camp. Trust yourself, and play your game.”

Koivunen and his fellow teammates who delivered such a dynamic season for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2025-26 are knocking on the door of the NHL. Pittsburgh is hungry for young players ready to step up and make an impact. However, the big club also isn’t going to rig their training camp evaluations in their favor, either.

“We want to inject youth into the lineup,” Spezza said. “We know we have to, but we have to make sure we do it when the guys are ready and when they’re going to help the team. We’re all interested, just as you are, to kind of watch and see where everybody’s at.”

With Thursday in the rearview mirror, that now leaves only two practices before the Penguins take on the Buffalo Sabres at PPG Paints Arena for exhibition game one. It isn’t much time, but it’s still time that can be used advantageously.

“It’s an opportunity for people to make an impression,” Muse said. “They have a shorter window to make it.”