Penguins’ Training Camp: 5 Standouts Through 3 Days

The battles have begun.

We are officially three days into 2026 NHL training camp for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and it has been quite the battle so far. Unlike in years past, these three camp days are the only full camp practices, making the three days – and the upcoming four pre-season games in five days – that much more meaningful.

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Before the Penguins kick off their pre-season schedule with a home tilt Monday against the Buffalo Sabres, however, there are likely to be a few areas of the roster trimmed. On day one of camp, assistant general manager Jason Spezza did say that not everyone would get a look in the games due to the condensed schedule.

“There’s only four pre-season games,” Spezza said. “There’s not going to be opportunity for everybody in the pre-season like we normally would have, so it’s a matter of rewarding the guys that have shown that they are getting closer by giving them games and seeing where they are.”

Yes, Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust and Egor Chinakhov, specifically, have looked the part in training camp, but we know they will make the team. Guys like Nick Robertson and Andrei Kuzmenko have showed well, too, but it’s highly unlikely they won’t be on the NHL roster.

So, which fringe players have stood out enough to earn an opportunity in pre-season games? Here are five of them, plus a few others to keep an eye on.

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Hallander, 26, is a name many folks had been omitting when talking about players who could break camp. After all, he did play in only 13 games last season before a blood clot kept him out for the rest of it and into the summer.

But, after a long and challenging return-to-play process, Hallander is healthy and ready to make a run at the roster again.

And, as one of the best players through three days of camp, no one is omitting him anymore.

He said that he had been skating throughout his recovery, and that is noticeable. He looks like he’s gained a step. And that’s not the only thing, either: He is performing like a player with a season-long lost opportunity due to circumstances entirely out of his control, and his drive to make this roster is tangible.

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Hallander is making the small plays. He’s showing 200-foot acumen. He’s showed off his playmaking ability. Basically, he’s picking up right where he left off last season, and then some.

At this point, it will be surprising if he’s not on this roster at the end of camp. Unless he tanks in the pre-season games, I think he’s earned a spot already.

Penguins’ Training Camp 2026: Observations From Day 3These are observations from Day 3 of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ training camp.

Okay, maybe I’m cheating a bit here. But hear me out.

Last training camp, the pairing of Pickering and Brunicke was tried in camp until Brunicke separated himself far enough away from Pickering that he was working with the NHL guys. They also got a brief NHL regular season sample that looked, well, pretty disastrous.

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Now? They both look NHL-ready, and they look ready as a tandem.

Through these three days of camp – and, particularly, on the third day – Pickering and Brunicke have been paired almost exclusively with the top line of Robertson, Crosby and Rickard Rakell in drills. On day three, they were the only pairing to get reps with that line in any of the line drills, and that was with Sam Girard and Kaedan Korczak in the same group.

They have a great feel for each other out there. Pickering looks poised, has vastly improved his gap control and defensive posture and makes the right decisions in relation to Brunicke. His partner is doing what he does best in joining the rush, creating offense and making better reads at NHL speed. He’s made some ridiculous passes, too, and they all look crisp.

At the very least, Pickering and Brunicke have earned a good look in the pre-season. Even if they are still likely to start the season as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s (WBS) top pairing because of the sheer numbers game, I think there’s a good chance they stick around until the very end of camp.

Kelsey Surmacz (@kelsey_surmacz4) on XPickering looks infinitely better in this camp than in previous camps. The growth is tangible. Better decision-making, better defensive posture, and great tandem chemistry with Brunicke.

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It’s not exactly a secret that Sergei Murashov probably has the inside track to the second NHL goaltending spot to tandem with Arturs Silovs.

But do not overlook Blomqvist, who has been the most consistent goaltender to open camp.

It has been a tumultuous couple of years for the 24-year-old Finnish netminder, who sustained an injury during a 2025 camp in which he did not look particularly confident. Now, however, it appears he has gotten that confidence back, and he came ready to earn that second NHL spot.

On day one, he outshone Murashov, making save after save and making it look relatively easy. Murashov did come around on day two, and, especially, on day three, making some ten-bell saves. But Blomqvist’s performance has not wavered at all during these three days.

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On the goaltending front, it’s best not to assume anything, even if the outcome seems like a foregone conclusion. Blomqvist is a very capable goaltender who knows his NHL chances with the Penguins are on the line, and he’s playing like it. The battle between the two of them will be, perhaps, the most interesting one to watch when games begin Monday.

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I can imagine there are few worse feelings in the world as a professional athlete than mixing up a schedule and being late for the first day of tryouts, especially when you know your job is on the line.

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And, make no mistake, Soderblom’s job is on the line. He is waivers-eligible, and there is so much competition on the forward front that it’s difficult to say with certainty that he’ll be on the final NHL roster. What makes matters worse for that first day – when he was supposed to report for Team 1 but mixed up the schedule, was late and skated with Team 3, the prospect group – is that camp is shorter, and every day is more impactful.

But, boy, has he showed out since. In addition to scoring a few nice goals in camp on day three, he looks comfortable. He’s been showing off his soft hands, his hockey sense, his ability down low and, of course, his advantageous 6-foot-8, 254-pound frame in one-on-one battles.

There is no one else quite like Soderblom on the Penguins’ roster, and honestly, he’s kind of a bigger, more rounded-out version of Justin Brazeau, who is one of the players in the same positional battle.

He will get a good look in pre-season games, but despite his day one mishap, he looks better than most vying for the precious few NHL roster spots up to this point.

Kelsey Surmacz (@kelsey_surmacz4) on XWatch until the end to see a nasty Elmer Soderblom goal #LetsGoPens

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Jake Livanavage

I’m going to put out a name that I feel hasn’t been talked about a whole lot in Livanavage.

The Penguins signed him to a two-year, entry-level contract out of the University of North Dakota at the end of the 2025-26 regular season, and he played in one game, activating his ELC. He didn’t really have a real opportunity to show much in that one game, but he is really showing out so far in camp.

He’s largely been paired with Ilya Solovyov, which is a good indicator of who the Penguins feel is close to NHL action, as Spezza suggested. Solovyov was the seventh/eighth defenseman for the stretch run of the season last year, so it’s not a nothing burger that these two are paired together.

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And Livanavage, who added 15 pounds to his 6-foot frame this offseason, has looked entirely comfortable in all the drills. He hasn’t missed a beat when jumping into plays or helping drive offense from the blue line, but he has been calculated in his defensive efforts, too. He’s even sniped a few pucks with authority past Murashov and Blomqvist.

His tandem with the bigger, more stay-at-home Solovyov has been seamless. I expect that pairing to stick in pre-season games, but to me, this almost reads like a legitimate one-v.-one battle for what is likely the seventh and final defensive spot on Pittsburgh’s roster.

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Some other notes:

– I didn’t name him in this piece, but Rutger McGroarty is putting together a nice camp, too.

Perhaps, other than Hallander, there is not a soul at camp who wants this more than McGroarty. His effort and drive is tangible, as are some of his improvements in skating and other aspects of the game.

It’s an uphill climb for him to make this roster, but I do think he’s right in the mix as far as the battle for the final spots. This is a guy who wants to be an NHLer, and he wants to be an NHLer right now. That is very evident through three days of camp.

– Ville Koivunen has put together a solid camp, too, although I liked his first two days better than his last. He’s one of the guys who needs to be seen in game action before any further determination can be made on his readiness.

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Just through the drills, it looks like his decision-making and processing is happening a bit quicker, which is the main hurdle that has prevented him from securing a full-time spot. He’s also, noticeably, a whole lot bigger than he was last year, and he is noticeably harder to knock off the puck.

He needs to stand out just a bit more to have a legitimate shot over some others like Hallander and Soderblom, though.

– Robertson is worth mentioning again because, man, has he looked good.

The speed is noticeable. The shot is popping. He already looks to be developing some chemistry with Crosby, and he looks like a natural fit on that line along with Rakell.

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I think this line will stick. It’s hard to tell with the different groupings, obviously, and Rust has been Crosby’s longtime winger. But Spezza said groupings and lines are a bit more intentional this time around, and I don’t think Robertson and Rakell being glued to Crosby for three straight camp days – and the only camp days – is a coincidence.

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– Piggybacking off of that, the idea of a Kuzmenko-Ben Kindel-Rust third line is certainly an intriguing prospect.

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Rust’s five-on-five defense has sharply declined, and Kuzmenko has never been particularly apt defensively. But, in a third-line role, Rust may not feel as much pressure to sacrifice defense for offense, so that could be mitigated a bit.

At the end of the day, though, if this is a line that sticks, it’s a line that can score. Rust is good for 25-30 goals in a full, healthy season. Kuzmenko has 30-goal upside and scored 39 during his rookie season. Guess who benefits greatly from that?

The 19-year-old Kindel, who still has a ton of untapped offensive potential. If this is the third line to start the year, I’d expect Kindel’s production to spike quite a bit.

– Dan Muse was voiceless after days two and three, to no one’s surprise. He is a high-energy coach who operates a high-energy camp and expects maximum effort from every single player there. He demands a lot.

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But, off the ice, he is as mild-mannered as they come. When Team 3 was transitioning rinks Saturday, Muse took the time to chat with some young fans and sign a few jerseys. This is the kind of human he is. Very genuine, very conversational.

This is only year two for Muse, but I expect big things from him. The Penguins have a good coach on their hands.

– Don’t be surprised to see Liam Ruck get one pre-season game. He was moved to Crosby’s group on day three, and that’s because he earned it.

I don’t expect him to make the roster for a number of reasons, including his lack of an ELC. But he looked pretty natural in the NHL group, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get a look in game action so the Penguins can see what they have and where he is.

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– Pre-season rosters for Monday’s tilt will be an interesting thing to look out for. Given the shortened camp – and the two-game maximum for NHL players with 100 or more games – it stands to reason that the first two will be prospect-heavy, especially with a day off Wednesday and roster cuts likely.

However, the first two games are also the home games. Traditionally speaking, veterans aren’t typically asked to travel for pre-season action. So, we may see some veterans sprinkled into the home lineups.

But because the final two games are road games in Columbus and Buffalo and the roster will be smaller for those games, they might be travelling this year.

In other words, I actually have no idea what to expect as far as how rosters for four games in five days will be handled with all of the new circumstances. It will certainly be interesting to see who gets paired with who, nonetheless.

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