The Time For The Penguins Youth Movement Is Now

On Wednesday, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) Penguins – AHL affiliate of their NHL parent club, the Pittsburgh Penguins – made some history when they routed the Hershey Bears, 9-0.

Yes, this is the same Hershey Bears team that sits atop the Atlantic Division at 26-12-5 and is second only to the Calgary Wranglers in the entire league. The margin of victory was the largest ever for WBS, and it was made possible by two top prospects acquired by Penguins GM Kyle Dubas in the Jake Guentzel trade last season.

Forward prospect Ville Koivunen scored four goals and was the second player to do so this season, as veteran forward Boris Katchouk also did it in in a Dec. 11 game against Charlotte. It was Koivunen’s second hat trick of the season, and the same was the case for forward Vasily Ponomarev, who netted a hat trick against Hershey.

Between those two players, seven goals were scored on Wednesday. Koivunen, 21, now has 14 goals and 35 points in 37 games this season – leading all AHL rookies in points and assists and sitting second in goals – and Ponomarev, 22, has 10 goals and 24 points in 28 games.

Of course, they haven’t been the only two names contributing to wins down on the Penguins’ farm. Emil Bemstrom – the 25-year-old Swedish forward re-signed this summer by Dubas – is ranked second in the AHL in scoring with 19 goals and 41 points in 35 games and is an AHL All-Star. Katchouk has 14 goals and 31 points in 35 games.

Rutger McGroarty is chipping in. So is Tristan Broz, despite missing the last month and counting with mono. Avery Hayes – a relative unknown until this season – has 10 goals and 19 points in 26 games. Even their pair of 25-year-old ex-Leaf blueliners, Mac Hollowell and Filip Kral, have combined for 43 points in 61 total games.

They’ve also been getting solid goaltending all season long from Joel Blomqvist (now with Pittsburgh), Filip Larsson, and Sergei Murashov – who earned his first AHL shutout against Hershey.

The point is this: WBS’s .676 win percentage – they’ve played far fewer games than most due to a facilities issue that shut them down for over a week in January – is second in the AHL only to the Laval Rocket at .688, who they’ve split their season series with up to this point at 1-1.

This is a good hockey team, and that’s because these are some of the best players that have suited up for WBS in a long, long time.

And while it’s great that they are tearing up the AHL, it’s time for them – at least, some of them – to show what they can do for the NHL team.

Sure, the Pittsburgh Penguins could continue to roll with their current roster – complete with some older veterans who aren’t providing very much – and try to make a stretch run. Or, they could ride it out with those guys and try to tank.

But the fact of the matter is that the NHL club is stale. It’s starting to rot. It’s practically begging for a change at this point, whether that comes via a high selection in this year’s draft or by trying to inject some youth and energy into a tired roster to give this team a chance in the final months.

Whatever the case may be, some of these youthful prospects – and some added by Dubas himself within the short time he’s been in Pittsburgh – are very clearly ready for the jump. Hurting player development is always a concern, yes – and it is worth considering that these players are working together at the AHL level right now for a common goal.

But at the end of the day, the big club needs these guys. It needs a Koivunen for his creativity, playmaking ability, wicked shot, and top-six upside. It needs a Ponomarev for his versatility, motor, defensive prowess, and reliability in all three zones. It needs a McGroarty for his hockey IQ, vision, play-driving, and physicality. And it needs back its Owen Pickering for blue line stability, size, aptitude, and personality.

Maybe this season isn’t salvageable at this point, maybe it is. The NHL trade deadline is just around the corner on Mar. 7, so there figures to be some major changes to the roster either way – hopefully paving the way for some youth.

But, regardless, it does the Penguins no benefit to hold some of these guys back when they could be bringing these same things to an NHL organization in need of a youth revival. And, if things don’t go as planned on the first try, players can always be sent back for further development.

Pittsburgh needs to see what it has in the first wave of the next generation of Penguins. And with their season hanging in the balance – and an uncertain road ahead – there’s no better time than the present.