Notes from Day One of the Pittsburgh Penguins 2009 Prospect Camp

In the first day of the Pittsburgh Penguins prospect conditioning camp, held at the Southpointe Iceoplex in Canonsburg, one thing can be certain, this group of prospects is considerably better than last year’s crop.

The most exciting prospect of last year’s camp, Luca Caputi, looked like just another face amongst the numerous new prospects such as Philadelphia native Eric Tangradi, and 2009 third-round pick, Ben Hanowski. That not is to suggest there has been any decline in Caputi’s play, quite the contrary in fact, it just means that what was once considered an organization weakness, depth on the wing, looks to be a team strength.

With Casey Pierro-Zabotel inked to a three-year deal about a month ago, the Penguins have three strong prospects at wing that will be able to contend for a spot in the next two seasons in Tangradi, Caputi, and Pierro-Zabotel.

In day one, it was Tangradi who stood out the most. Reported to get surgery in about a week to clear up some scar tissue in his hand, the 20-year-old power forward did not engage in as much physical play as many of his other peers, but his play with and without the puck stood out amongst the Penguins prospect. Tangradi appears to be the most physically mature of the Penguins prospects. He is not built like any other player in any level of the system. I am reminded more of hulking forwards like Todd Bertuzzi, Milan Lucic, and Bobby Ryan than former Penguin Kevin Stevens. Still, his blend of size, skill, and power will invoke memories to those of us old enough to remember number 25 crashing the net while flanking Mario’s left side.

Speaking of former Penguins, Andy Bathgate, he of the twelve-year-old face, is a swift, powerful skater. Really, all of the Penguins 2009 draft picks showed impressive skating at different points in the afternoon. He has a solid, hard shot and handles the puck in a manner that is somewhat old school, invoking visions of the elder Bathgate’s play forty years ago. Seriously though, he takes shots from one foot at times, something that I do not see as much as in the past. Shows good or very good qualities in all of his skating attributes – would look good as a winger.

Velischek, son of former Devil Randy, is an impressive skating, offensively minded prospect in the mold of Alex Goligoski, Kris Letang, and Alex Grant. He showed, at least early on, adeptness at handling the puck in stride, taking passes in stride, and a decent stick in one-on-ones. Speaking of which, Grant looks to have added some muscle and strength since last off-season. He also skated with a greater poise. Not the strongest at accelerating, he is however fluid and takes powerful strides, allowing him to cover large spans of ice.

Simon Despres, the first overall pick of 2009 is a fluid skater but his defensive weaknesses were exposed in one-on-one.

Patrick Killeen desperately needs to work on his glove side. In the various offensive drills, particularly the shootout and breakaway drills, players aimed for his glove side time and time again.

Veilleux as always looks big…just immense. He is a stand-up type of skater which makes him look even bigger. His skating is not bad but his accelerating needs work. Mobility, speed, and balance all look good. Needs to play more aggressive though, his competitiveness, that is his forechecking, scoring drive, attitude, work ethic, and consistency were all questions going in and he did nothing on day one to dismiss those concerns. Still, showed his elite-level puck-distribution abilities on numerous occasions. With the proper coaching he could make a fantastic playmaking winger for Evgeni Malkin or Sidney Crosby. His size and wingspan allow him to create space on the ice, something that is very difficult to teach.

Among the other prospects who distinguished themselves Tuesday afternoon were Dustin Jeffrey, Nick Johnson, Brian Strait, and Robert Bortuzzo.

Photos can be found here:
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