Penguins 2022 Training Camp Now Open

PITTSBURGH - Training camp for the 2022-2023 Pittsburgh Penguins has officially opened, and unlike in previous years, team staff has opted to have a smaller group for this year. Historically, everyone under contract in the organization has gotten at least a game during the preseason, however since the NHL roster is all but locked in, the staff has opted to only carry players who are eligible for regular season games, according to the EHE Collective Bargaining Agreement.

"Our goal in having a smaller group is to identify and give more time to those players who will start with the Baby Pens, but are most likely to be called up to the big club should an injury happen." GM Gurtowski said Friday morning.

The opening of training camp also allows the assembled media to ask the questions that have been percolating since the offseason began for the Penguins last June.

Is there any truth to the rumor that former Baby Pens captain Chris Mueller will be on Marco Sturm's bench as an assistant this year?
"As you all know, the EHE currently only officially allows head coaches, but we've had a dialogue with the league and would like Chris to have a place in our organization in some capacity. He was the captain of our AHL team for two Calder Cup Final runs, and can be important to our organization"

After the Penguins were eliminated in Round 1 of the playoffs last year, many felt that wholesale changes were going to be made, especially on the blue line. However the group is exactly the same as last year, except for Cam Fowler, who was on the Penguins before. How do you justify rolling out the same group once again?
"Well if you look at our team compared to last year, while it is virtually the same, as a whole it's gotten better. We've had guys like O'Connor who've broken through to the next level, and also seen improvements from guys like Kempe and Norris. We also added a new goalie in Semyon who will challenge Swayman and hopefully give us more consistency. You all also forget that Dougie Hamilton was our best defenseman after the trade deadline. It was a no brainer to send him a Day 0 offer, which he happily accepted"

There was a lot of what some would call drama over the summer for your team, namely the last minute decision to bring back Alexander Edler after declaring that he wouldn't be back, and the near trade for Brandon Saad. Can you comment on either of those?
"I can't get into those details, but both players are here and very happy to be part of the team, and we are happy to have them."

The Penguins preseason schedule begins right away, with a game against the New York Islanders. The Penguins appear to be going with a more veteran lineup. Here's what we can expect, per coach Julien.

Moore-Norris-Wheeler
Saad-Horvat-Barabanov
Kempe-Suter-Toffoli
Rau-Peterson-Shaw

Edler-Hamilton
Vlasic-Poolman
Blankenburg-Mitchell

Varlamov
Schneider

The Penguins training camp roster currently stands at 19 forwards, 14 defensemen, and 3 goaltenders.

Forward: Kempe, Moore, Petersom, Malone, Lafferty, Saad, Stepan, Luff, Suter, O'Connor, Wheeler, Sikura, Norris, Shaw, Robinson, Horvat, Toffoli, Rau, Barabanov

Defense: Zub, Fowler, Poolman, Hamilton, Edler, Martinez, Reinke, Miromanov, Vlasic, Leskinen, Mitchell, Knyzhov (LTIR), DeMelo, Blankenburg

Goaltender: Swayman, Schneider, Varlamov