Chase Pietila

And I'm being brutally honest, and I'm just using Pickering as an example here.

You could throw in, I think Chase Pietila is a left shot defenseman.

Thomas Galvas is a loft, left shot defenseman.

You can throw all these guys in there.

And you mentioned it in your press conference earlier, too, that maybe they were a bit, you know, lack of a better word, shafted by the length of the preseason.

But when you talk about guys like Owen Pickering, Harrison Brunick, even Chase Pietila, who really came on last year for Wilks, what do you make of just your youth and your depth on the blue line? Because those guys, you know, will be in Wilks, but at the same time, there's opportunity.

Yeah.

I think it's two things.

Um, Finn Harding is a guy that I, I really like and I think is coming along nicely.

Um, I think a lot of people figured out who Chase Pietila was this preseason, which was nice to see.

Anybody who didn't watch him perform last year in Wilkes-Barre got a taste of it in this camp.

But you look at two young guys that coming into this camp, one has been a training camp MVP pretty much ever since he was drafted, and the other was entering camp on kind of a do-or-die basis with this organization specifically.

It might just come down to, you know, one of the others.

You know, is it gonna be Ryan Graves that gets scratched? Chase Pietila.

Sorry, Chase, I mispronounced your name the other day.

Pat just did here as well.

We apologize.

Chase Pietila, someone who has also had his m- last name mis- mispronounced.

I get it, so I apologize on that.

And then Caleb Jones.

That has also been a pair that's been a constant throughout training camp.

Ryan Graves with Chase Pietila is also on the second pair, and then Owen Pickering with Harrison Bruynick to close things out defensively.

And then finally, Sergei Moroshov will get the first half of the game, followed by Joel Blomqvist for the second half of the game.

Pat, what are you most looking forward to for this game?

So at the very least, can he be usable?

I'll believe it when I see it.

I still see him starting the season in Wilkes-Barre, and you kinda get that vibe when you just look at his pair with Chase Pietila, who is also gonna be someone that starts the season in Wilkes-Barre.

I just think when you look at the three main defensive pairs that they have shown during training camp, even the extra pair they've had with Jake Levinage and Ilya Solovyov, just don't see a world where Ryan Graves comes close to making the opening night roster.

Now, what do all three of these players, Hayes, Pickering, Koivunen, what do they have in common? They all played substantial time for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins last season.

And the only, in fact, players that were on that Calderon that are on the The prospect challenge roster are Finn Harding, who finished the year injured and was a rookie professional, Atlee Calvert, who just freshly signed an NHL deal, and Chase Pietila.

So most of the players that had significant roles, I believe Pietila was injured as well, during that postseason run i mean everybody on the defense except for harrison brunick was injured at some point for wolk's first grand so i think pieta missed some time due to an injury but you know i would imagine you look at guys like pickering coivinen hayes you can toss in tristan bros who isn't going this weekend you can toss in rutger mcgrorty who isn't going this weekend if you remember kyle dubas's end of season press conference He mentioned on a couple of occasions that they are going to take a lot of stock in whatever happens in the American Hockey League playoffs.

And maybe those players who played significant time both at the AHL level in the regular season and significant time at the AHL level in the postseason there say, hey, that's all we needed to see.

Two of them played substantial time in Wilkes-Barre last year, and one of them went to the Frozen Four and then made his NHL debut in the last game of the season.

Finn Harding, Chase Pietila, and Jake Livinovich.

So the Penguins should be really good defensively.

So Nikonovich should step in or whoever, there's two other goaltenders on the roster, but whoever's playing goal should step in and feel pretty confident at the guys in front of him when it comes to the Penguins defense.

Now, the next thing to look at with him is when training camp opens in a week, who's he playing with? What groups he in? How many opportunities does he get to play with guys that you know are going to be on the NHL roster, right? Does he play with Ben Kindle or does he play with Tristan Brose? That's going to be the next domino to fall when it comes to the Penguins revealing their plans for Vili Koivunen.

Now, what do all three of these players, Hayes, Pickering, Koivunen, what do they have in common? They all played substantial time for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins last season.

And the only, in fact, players that were on that Calderon that are on the The prospect challenge roster are Finn Harding, who finished the year injured and was a rookie professional, Atlee Calvert, who just freshly signed an NHL deal, and Chase Pietila.

So most of the players that had significant roles, I believe Pietila was injured as well, during that postseason run i mean everybody on the defense except for harrison brunick was injured at some point for wolk's first grand so i think piedla missed some time due to an injury but you know i would imagine you look at guys like pickering coivinen hayes you can toss in tristan bros who isn't going this weekend you can toss in rutger mcgrorty who isn't going this weekend if you remember kyle dubas's end of season press conference He mentioned on a couple of occasions that they are going to take a lot of stock in whatever happens in the American Hockey League playoffs.