It’s always interesting to take a look at what’s going on in the other side of the state over in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Pittsburgh’s American Hockey League affiliate, the WBS Pens, is now 11 games into their season. They’re coming off a 4-0 shutout win against the Syracuse Crunch to improve to 6-4-1-0.

The team is looking to forget a horrid 2022-23 season, and with a full shakeup organizational depth under Kyle Dubas has given the WBS Pens a new and improved roster.

Eight players on the AHL roster (excluding Vinnie Hinostroza, who was recently sent down but should be back up soon) played NHL minutes last season, and many are vying for an opportunity to get back to the big leagues.

Leading the way in the goal scoring department is Alex Nylander, who is solely in first place with 4. Nylander played 9 NHL games last year, and provided a breath of fresh air to the team’s bottom six after his call up. Unfortunately, he did not put together all that strong of a showing in training camp this year, thus he found himself assigned back to the AHL.

Claiming the lead in points (and assists) is 23 year old Sam Houde. A former fifth round pick by the Montreal Canadiens back in 2018, Houde is off to an impressive start with 2 goals and 6 assists.

At 8 points, Houde is already almost half his point totals for all of last season (20 in 65 games).

Among some other names that Penguins fans will recognize, Ty Smith leads all WBS defensemen in points, with 7. The former New Jersey Devil and primary return for John Marino was a bit of a shock when he was placed on waivers before the season started. Even more surprisingly, he went unclaimed, and has since played in all 11 of the team’s games.

Rem Pitlick, acquired as part of the three team Erik Karlsson trade, also has 7 points in 11 games for the WBS Pens. Pitlick is the highest paid player currently in the AHL, counting for $1.1 million against the cap on a one-way deal.

The 26 year old spent last season split between the NHL and AHL. He struggled to produce at the same level that he did the season prior for the Montreal Canadiens (11 less points in the same amount of games), and found himself on waivers and reassigned to the Laval Rocket, where he tallied 22 points in 18 games to close out the year.

Jansen Harkins, a waiver claim from the Winnipeg Jets, has 6 points in 8 games with the WBS Pens. Harkins started the season in the NHL with Pittsburgh, but he was the one to go when the Penguins wanted to shake up their bottom six. The team waived Harkins in favor of Radim Zohorna.

Harkins lit up the AHL last year for the Manitoba Moose, Winnipeg’s affiliate. He had 50 points in 44 games and played a key role in their playoff appearance.

Colin White, who came to the organization on a professional try out, is off to a slower start. He spent last year with the Florida Panthers, and was with them all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, but did not put up the best of offensive numbers.

He earned himself a two-way contract with the team after camp, one of three players who came to Pittsburgh on PTOs to earn some sort of contract with the Penguins organization. He has 2 goals in 7 AHL games this year.