Penguins notebook: Development camp concludes with increased numbers of prospects
The Pittsburgh Penguins finished their five-day development camp for prospects Monday in Cranberry. A four-on-four tournament between three teams concluded the event.
The number of teams was a necessity based on the number of prospects participating. Including injured players, this camp had 52 invitees.
Not too long ago, the Penguins held such camps with only 30-plus players.
With the Penguins in the midst of an undeclared rebuild, the inflated numbers in the development cap reflect that larger pursuit.
“The more players, it’s just the way the organization is trying to grow,” said director of player development Tom Kostopoulos. “Bringing in more prospects, it’s more opportunity. And the more (developmental) staff also, the more resources we have available to those players to be able to accommodate them has grown. So, it’s fun getting to see players that our scouts are recommending and bringing them to camp here and getting to know them. Showing them what we can offer as an organization and as a development group.”
In addition to having more prospects, the Penguins have more people aiding those prospects.
“My development staff is fantastic,” said Kostopoulos, who joined the front office in 2018 as a development coach. “I feel like the (Los Angeles) Dodgers. I’ve got a lineup of overly qualified people that I can use to send out to visit our prospects in Wheeling, (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) and Pittsburgh.
“The ownership and management has built out a ton of resources available to players that can only help them. If the players are willing to use that and to help them develop, that’s where we’re seeing growth in some of the players.”
Howe to join Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
Forward prospect Tanner Howe, who will turn 20 on Nov. 28, is eligible to report to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League next season. But he won’t be able to physically join the lineup for a few months into the 2025-26 campaign.
A second-round pick (No. 46 overall) in 2024, Howe saw his 2024-25 season with Western Hockey League’s Calgary Hitmen come to a premature ending in April after he suffered a right knee injury that required surgery to reconstruct an ACL.
Howe attended the Penguins’ camp but did not participate on-ice.
Assistant general manager Jason Spezza, who oversees Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, indicated there was no need to accelerate his recovery given Howe’s importance to the Penguins’ future as one of the organization’s leading prospects.
“He’s coming back from injury,” Spezza said Saturday. “He’ll miss a good chunk of the season to start. We’ll take things slow with him. With the injury that he had, it’s important that he’s 100% healthy. He’ll be (with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) next year. When he’ll be back from the injury is a little more up in the air based on how he’s feeling. We won’t rush him, either. He’s a young kid. You want to make sure the rehab goes smooth.”
Other injuries
Forward prospects Luke Devlin, Max Graham and Zam Plante participated in camp in a very limited basis, largely restricted to skating before the rest of the camp attendees practiced.
Spezza indicated Devlin and Graham are expected to be ready to start their respective seasons, but Plante’s recovery may require a bit more time.
Devlin, a sixth-round draft pick (No. 182 overall) in 2022, missed the entire 2024-25 season — his sophomore year — with Cornell at the NCAA level because of a suspected ankle injury.
“He had a really rough year last year injury-wise,” Spezza said. “So, it’s just more out of an abundance of caution.”
The Penguins acquired Graham in a multi-player trade from the New Jersey Devils on March 7. A fifth-round draft pick (No. 139 overall) of the Devils in 2024, the 21-year-old Graham saw his 2024-25 with the Western Hockey League’s Kelowna Rockets come to an end in January after an unspecified knee injury.
Graham is expected to report to either Wilkes-Barre/Scranton or Wheeling of the ECHL next season.
The Penguins selected Plante in the fifth round (No. 150 overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft. He just completed his freshman season at Minnesota-Duluth.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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