Penguins preseason primer

Sep 22, 2022 - 10:00 AM

It may just be coincidence, but with the arrival of fall comes the beginning of the Penguins 2022-23 season with the team set to open training camp today at their practice facility in Cranberry.

A lot has happened since the Penguins convened for the final time after being eliminated from the playoffs last spring. Before jumping head first into the preseason, take some time to go over this preview from your friends here at Pensburgh and better acquaint yourself with the upcoming schedule and some of the new faces joining the team this season.

Training Camp Schedule

First up, the training camp schedule which begins later this morning at UPMC Lemieux in Cranberry. We had a full rundown of the schedule on the site yesterday and you can read it right here.

Thursday, September 22

9:00-9:45 AM - Team 1 Practice (FedEx Rink - Rink 1)

9:00-9:45 AM - Team 2 Practice (Covestro Rink - Rink 2)

10:00-10:45 AM - Team 1 vs. Team 2 Scrimmage (FedEx Rink - Rink 1)

10:45-11:05 AM - Team 1 and 2 Conditioning (FedEx Rink 1 & Covestro Rink 2)

11:30 AM - 12:15 PM - Team 3 Practice (FedEx Rink - Rink 1)

12:40-1:30 PM - Team 3 Practice and Conditioning (FedEx Rink - Rink 1)

Friday, September 23

9:00-9:45 AM - Team 2 Practice (FedEx Rink - Rink 1)

9:00-9:45 AM - Team 3 Practice (Covestro Rink - Rink 2)

10:00-11:00 AM - Team 2 vs. Team 3 Scrimmage (FedEx Rink - Rink 1)

11:30 AM - 12:15 PM - Team 1 Practice (FedEx Rink - Rink 1)

12:40-1:30 PM - Team 1 Practice (FedEx Rink - Rink 1)

Saturday, September 24

9:00-9:45 AM - Team 3 Practice (FedEx Rink - Rink 1)

9:00-9:45 AM - Team 1 Practice (Covestro Rink - Rink 2)

10:00-10:45 AM - Team 3 vs. Team 1 Scrimmage (FedEx Rink - Rink 1)

10:45-11:05 AM - Team 3 and 1 Conditioning (FedEx Rink 1 & Covestro Rink 2)

11:30 AM - 12:15 PM - Team 2 Practice (FedEx Rink - Rink 1)

12:40-1:30 PM - Team 2 Practice and Conditioning (FedEx Rink - Rink 1)

Sunday, September 25

1:00 PM - GAME VS. COLUMBUS (PPG Paints Arena)

10:30 AM - Morning Skate (FedEx Rink - Rink 1)

7:00 PM - GAME AT COLUMBUS (Nationwide Arena)

Monday, September 26

DAY OFF

Tuesday, September 27

10:30 AM - Morning Skate (PPG Paints Arena)

7:00 PM - GAME VS. DETROIT

Wednesday, September 28

10:10-11:30 AM - Team 1 Practice (FedEx Rink - Rink 1)

12:40-2:00 PM - Team 2 Practice (FedEx Rink - Rink 1)

Thursday, September 29

10:10-11:30 AM - Team 1 Practice (FedEx Rink - Rink 1)

12:40-2:00 PM - Team 2 Practice (FedEx Rink - Rink 1)

Friday, September 30

10:10-10:35 - Team 1 Practice (FedEx Rink - Rink 1)

10:10-10:35 - Team 2 Practice (Covestro Rink - Rink 2)

10:40-11:40 - Team 1 vs. Team 2 Scrimmage (FedEx Rink - Rink 1)

Saturday, October 1

1:00 PM - GAME AT BUFFALO (KeyBank Center)

Sunday, October 2

DAY OFF

Monday, October 3

10:30 AM - Morning Skate (FedEx Rink - Rink 1)

7:30 PM - GAME AT DETROIT (Little Caesars Arena)

Tuesday, October 4

12:00 PM - Practice (FedEx Rink - Rink 1)

Wednesday, October 5

11:00 AM - Practice (FedEx Rink - Rink 1)

Thursday, October 6

11:00 AM - Practice (FedEx Rink - Rink 1)

Friday, October 7

10:30 AM - Morning Skate (PPG Paints Arena)

7:00 PM - GAME VS. BUFFALO (PPG Paints Arena)

Saturday, October 8

DAY OFF

As you can see, training camp runs from today into early October, with the final training camp practice being held on October 7th.

All non-gameday practices are free an open to the public so you can catch an early glimpse of the 2022-23 Pittsburgh Penguins.

Preseason Schedule

Fans won’t have to wait long to see the Penguins in game action once training begins. Preseason actions begins this Sunday, October 25th with a pair of games against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Similar to what Major League Baseball does during its preseason, the Penguins and Blue Jackets will have a split squad pair of games on Sunday, one at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh (1:00 PM) with the other taking place at Nationwide Arena in Columbus (7:00 PM) that evening.

The Penguins will then continue the preseason slate over the course of the next two weeks with a pair of games against both the Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres.

For those who cannot attend the games in person, five of the six games will be broadcast live with the two games against the Sabres both being available on AT&T Sports network.

Training Camp Roster

Earlier this month, the Penguins announced the 58-man roster of players that will be attending training camp in Cranberry, at least at the start. The roster was littered with many of the names you expect, along with a few new faces that will be lacing them up for the Penguins this season. More on those guys later.

Also invited to training camp was 2022 first round pick Owen Pickering who will get his feet wet against the likes of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin before returning to his junior team for the upcoming season.

There are only a maximum of 25 slots available for the opening night roster so most of these guys will either be headed to the junior level or down to the minors before the season starts. This will more or less be a nice learning experience for some of these guys with such limited space.

Just glancing over the roster it’s easy to pick out the players who will certainly be making the 25-man roster when the Penguins open the season, but there cold be a few interesting position battles to keep an eye on as training camp rolls along in the coming weeks.

Regular Season Schedule

Once the Penguins wrap up training camp and their preseason slate, focus will then shift to the regular season where the games really count. In the gap between preseason and regular season, practices will focus more on game preparation and any final roster adjustments will be made.

By this point, both players are fans will have an irresistible urge that can only be scratched by real hockey.

Some key dates to circle:

—October 13th: Season/home opener vs. Arizona Coyotes.
—October 24th: Annual Western Canada swing begins in Edmonton.
—November 23rd: Seemingly annual Thanksgiving Eve game (Calgary).
—November 25th: Thanksgiving NHL Showdown against the Philadelphia Flyers.
—January 2nd: NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park against the Boston Bruins.
—January 29th-February 6th: CBA mandated bye week + NHL All-Star break.
—February 10th: California road trip begins.
—April 13th: End of regular season.

New Faces

It was a hectic offseason for the Penguins, with a lot on their plate he moment they were eliminated by the New York Rangers back in May. Luckily, general manager Ron Hextall was up to the task, signing pending free agents Bryan Rust, Kris Letang, Rickard Rakell, and Evgeni Malkin to new deals that will keep them in Pittsburgh long term.

While there are plenty of familiar faces returning to the Penguins this season, there are also a few new ones as Hextall was aggressive in his roster tinkering.

On the blue line, Jeff Petry and Ty Smith both came via trades in July and veteran defenseman Jan Ruuta joined via free agency. Both Petry and Ruuta should make an instant impact for the Penguins while Smith is likely to be in a position battle with others to make the opening night roster.

At forward, it was more about filling in the gaps than making any splashy moves to drastically change the makeup. Ryan Poehling came over from Montreal with Petry and will be in a roster spot battle. Drake Caggiula was a free agent pick up on a two-way deal and Josh Archibald begins his second stint with the Penguins after signing as a free agent as well.

In goal, the tandem of Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith remains in tact with the latter signing a new deal. Dustin Tokarski signed a two-way deal in the offseason and will take over the No. 3 role previously held by Louis Domingue.