(Photo by Alex Kiger/Fifth Avenue Sports)

On Monday, July 3, at the Penguins’ practice facility in Cranberry, the organization wrapped up their three-day prospect development camp with a tournament style competition.

A total of four games were played as prospects were divided into three teams wearing different colored practice jerseys: Black, Yellow, and White. 

Many members of the Penguins front office and coaching staff were present, sitting up at the observation desks opposite the spectator area. Head coach Mike Sullivan, as well as assistants Todd Reirden and Mike Vellucci. President of Hockey Operations and de facto GM Kyle Dubas was also there, stepping in and out during the games. 

Each game consisted of 3-on-3 play for two eight-minute periods with a (mostly) running clock. Multiple top prospects, including their three most recent first round picks, were all present, as well as several other draft picks of the team in recent years and a few free agent signings. 

Five of the Penguins’ six draft picks this year were present, with Mikhail Ilyin, who is currently in Russia, being the only one absent. 

It was quite the entertaining few hours, and gave a chance for some of the prospects to showcase just a sliver of what skill they can bring. The camp brought together a lot of different types of players from a lot of different backgrounds.

There were, of course, the players that you expect to see do well. 

Brayden Yager, the team’s first round pick this year, looked unstoppable most of his time on the ice in the tournament. Armed with a wicked shot and slick hands, Yager was a threat no matter where he was on the ice and routinely dominated the competition. If this camp was any indication of how good the 18 year old can be, the Penguins have a star on their hands. 

Owen Pickering, Pittsburgh’s first round selection in 2022, also looked solid. At his size, he stands out when he’s on the ice, but his 6ft 4in frame allows him to have a better reach than most other players on the ice, which is especially helpful for a defenseman. You can definitely tell he wants to play with the puck on his stick, evident by his confidence to barrel into the offensive zone with the puck on his stick several times. 

Sam Poulin, a first round pick back in 2019, got much better as the tournament went on. Besides a few quick flashes in his early action, Poulin wasn’t that noticeable. But he would remedy that as he got more time on the ice, including a hat trick in Game 3. It was very good to see Poulin performing as well as he did, given what he’s gone through in the last year. 

And then there were many other players, some of which fans may have never heard of, who also played well today. 

I was particularly impressed by the play of guys like Luke Devlin and Jeremy Wilmer, along with others. 

Devlin, a sixth round pick in 2022, is a tall center who imposes his will on the ice. He was the first player to solve goaltender Joel Blomqvist (more on him later) in Game 2 after Blomqvist had pitched a shutout in his first game. 

Wilmer was very impressive to me. Shorter than Devlin at 5ft 8in (which hey, is not that short!) he was very good at keeping play alive and controlling the puck on his stick. A strong skater, Wilmer was able to drive to the puck and net on several occasions. He played for Boston University last season. 

Another guy like Poulin who played better as the tournament went on was winger Brayden Schuurman. He had a very solid second game and chipped on offensively, much more noticeable than his early shifts. 

Jagger Joshua, who easily wins “best name of the tournament”, also looked good. The 24 year old winger was sound defensively, backchecking well to force his opponents to get creative. I never really saw Joshua out of position. 

On the goaltending front, Joel Blomqvist, a 2020 second round pick, looked like the early runaway favorite for best goalie on the day. He recorded an aforementioned shutout in his first game, and made several saves when needed to keep his team in it. 

But Owen Flores also looked very good. He made several impressive stops while splitting time in the net with Michael Simpson (fittingly wearing a yellow jersey). 

Taylor Gauthier had a rough day, being the goaltender on the wrong end of a 9-0 blowout that just kept getting from bad to worse. Sitting directly behind the net for this game, I could see in his eyes he was dejected by the outcome. Towards the end of the game, he was just waiting for it to mercifully be over. If it’s any consolation to Gauthier, his performance in that game was likely a one-off. His stats from the AHL for the WBS Pens last season say that he is a much better goaltender than he showed today. 

The final game of the tournament, between Black and Yellow, ended in an overtime thriller when Tristan Broz, a second round pick from 2021, scored the tournament-winning goal to win it for Black. He and his teammates all did a group row boat celebration after the goal, and shared a big group hug and subsequent picture when they were presented with the trophy. 

A full list of all the prospects invited to the development camp can be found here.