Ladd-Cammalari-Tarasenko

Williams-MacKinnon-Reilly

Greening-Granlund-Donskoi

Carter-Hendricks-Everberg

Yakupov

Giordano-Markov

Ceci-Parayko

Trouba-Greene

Merrill

Varlamov

Budaj

It has been a very busy summer for the Pens and going into the waiver draft the team only had 1 forward with a DF rating over 75 and basically no 4^th line. That has been addressed with the first two waiver selection Ryan Carter (80CK, 77SK, 89DF) and Dennis Everberg (76SK, 84DF). With Hendricks (91CK, 78SK, 90DF) down the middle the Pens now have a very strong shut down line / penalty kill.

GM Kennedy had this to say about the selection, “ The PK was our biggest area of concern with the roster and now we are very confident that with these two additions up front we will be able to successfully win the special teams battle in games this season, both these guys were high on the target list not only for what they bring Defensively but they fit the mold of our team where they can both skate with 76 and 77 SK ratings, No dead weight.”

With their 3^rd selection the Pens picked up Backup tender Peter Budaj. Zatkoff showed flashes for the team in preseason but couldn’t keep any consistency from one game to another. Budaj brings more experience and is rated better almost across the board including a much better Durability rating.

We want to run 3 scoring lines this year and keep everyones ice times down to get us through the season. Granlund continued to shine with his playmaking abilities this preseason especially on the 2^nd PPunit. Yakupov actually had a descent preseason with the sim but the organization just feels once teams are rolling the full lineups his production will drop. So with a last minute deal the Pens went out and moved Philly 4^th round pick for Colin Greening. Greening (94 CK, 75 SK, 80 PH, 71 PA, 74 SC ) brings another dimension to that 3^rd line. He brings some true grit and more offense especially the 74 SC. Granlund proved in the World Cup for Finland and Pens Preseason if he is put on a line with any kind of SC that line will produce, the organization is hoping to capture this and carry it through to the season. So Yak will start a healthy scratch however Yakupov, Donskoi and Greening will be subject to how the sim treats them and will be rotating continually until the coaching staff finds what works. Rookie Mikko Rantanen doesn’t have sexy stats either but proved with even limited ice time he can contribute offensively. He will start the season in the minors but will be the first call up if needed with injuries (with the luxury to move up and down freely).

“We are really really excited to get the season started and see how the squad performs now that our roster is finally set, its going to be a lot of fun and the organization as a whole has a real buzz around it now that we are actually trying to be competitive and take the next step forward as a team.”