Penguins prospect Pierre-Olivier Joseph eager to gain experience as a reserve
Pittsburgh Penguins defensive prospect Pierre-Olivier Joseph might be faced with a unique scenario during the NHL’s upcoming tournament.
Assuming he’s selected for the Penguins’ traveling party that will trek to Toronto for the qualifying round and potentially beyond, he could be secluded in the same quarantined zone with his brother, reserve Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Mathieu Joseph.
The Lightning and Penguins are scheduled to stay at Hotel X in downtown Toronto beginning next week.
Pierre-Olivier, a first-year professional, typically seeks the counsel of Mathieu, himself a veteran of two professional seasons. But it doesn’t sound like the lines of communication will be quite as open in the coming weeks.
“We actually talk pretty much every day,” said Pierre-Olivier, who, at 21, is two years younger than his brother. “Just to keep an update on what’s going on with each other. I think we’re at the same hotel. So maybe we’ll be able to hang out.
“But I feel like anytime you get into playoff time, I don’t know if you’re really brothers or enemies. We’ll see about the future. But for now, we’re friendly until stuff gets a little bit more serious. Then I don’t think I will either text him or call him or anything like that. We’re going to be enemies. I’ll be cheering for Pittsburgh, of course. And he’ll be cheering for Tampa. If I have time to see him, that will be awesome for a little bit. But like I said, in playoff time, everybody is your enemy and nobody is your friend or brother.”
Part of the return on the Penguins’ trade of star forward Phil Kessel to the Arizona Coyotes in June of 2019, Joseph spent his season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League. Appearing in 52 games, he scored 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) before the season was halted in mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic.
His season was interrupted twice because of illnesses. He missed 11 games throughout October and November because of a bout of mononucleosis. Once he recovered, he wound up on the team’s top defensive pairing by the time the season ended.
“The little setback was a little painful, but once I got back into it, the guys were really supportive with me and really helped me to get back into shape,” said Joseph, the No. 23 overall selection in the 2017 draft. “Did a lot of workout sessions in the gym. When I came back, it was easy to just jump back into the group.”
One of the organizations’ top prospects, Joseph was one of eight players who were held out of the first week of training camp in Cranberry as a precaution for secondary exposure to coronavirus. Cleared to practice Monday, he’s hoping to take full advantage of being in the NHL, even on a reserve basis.
“It was great to receive the call (on being invited to camp),” Joseph said. “I was laying on my couch and watching movies and stuff the last couple of months. It was good to get the news that I was coming here. I came here, a little step back. But as long as you’re here, you want to gain some experience. You want to look at the older guys.
“You just look around, you gain as much as you can. You look to grow up yourself as a hockey player but as a person as well. You just learn every day to be a better pro with these guys. That’s pretty much what I’m trying to do here for as long as possible.”
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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