Players To Watch at Pittsburgh Penguins Development Camp

The Pittsburgh Penguins prospect development camp will kick off this coming Monday, July 12th, and run until July 17th.

The development camp is a chance for the Penguins coaching staff and management to get a good look at the prospects who they just drafted and those currently in the minor league system. Players’ performances could determine how they will rank in the prospect depth system, or, if they’re far enough along, roster spots on the minor league teams or the NHL.

Here are some of the players that will be worth keeping an eye on at the upcoming development camp.

*Please note this is not an exhaustive list of everyone that will be attending.

Forwards

Eric Tangradi —Left Wing

Tangradi is one of the strongest prospects in the Penguins system. He completed his first professional season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) of the American Hockey League, where he had 39 points in 65 games.

Many have Tangradi pegged to play on the first line in Pittsburgh in 2010-2011. However, his rookie year was shortened by two separate injuries, and he sustained an injury when still playing in the OHL. It will be interesting to see what he can do when he is healthy, and he will need to play even stronger when he is not battling injuries.

Beau Bennett —Right Wing

Bennett was drafted in the first round in this year’s NHL Draft. He recently had a record-setting season with the Penticon Vees of the British Columbia Hockey League, where he had 120 points in 56 games.

Bennett will not be joining the Penguins for at least four more years, as he will be starting at the University of Denver in the fall. This development camp will mark the start of his progress for his college career and become a benchmark for what he needs to improve in NCAA hockey.

Dustin Jeffrey—Center

For Jeffrey, this development camp could be his last chance to impress the Pittsburgh brass for a spot on the NHL roster.

Solid statistics have nothing to do with whether or not he will stick, though. Since coming to WBS, he has put up 108 points in 140 regular season games and 14 points in 31 playoff games. He has also played 15 games with Pittsburgh where he had three points.

Considering some of the prospects have done better on call-ups, Jeffrey has hopefully been working hard and will be able to show he can perform at an NHL level.

Defensemen

Simon Despres

Despres was selected in the first round of the 2009 NHL Draft. This season, he played with the Saint John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL where he put up the best totals of his QMJHL career. He registered 47 points and a plus-26 rating. His hot streak continued in the playoffs, where he had 19 points and a plus-14 rating.

Despres is one of the most talked about defensive prospects in the system. Aside from his offensive abilities, he is also a good physical player, coming in at 6’4” and 215 pounds.

Robert Bortuzzo

Although Bortuzzo put up just 12 points in 75 games with WBS, he still has a lot of potential to play a physical game. He is not afraid to drop the gloves, as he put up 109 penalty minutes. He checks in with a nice size at 6’4” and 207.

Bortuzzo’s junior career, combined with his AHL statistics, indicates that he was never an offensive defenseman. He is strong around the boards and does not hesitate to throw checks. He could be a possible enforcer for Pittsburgh in the future, but it looks like he will need another AHL season with a possible call up in the works.

Brian Strait

Strait had a good rookie season with the Penguins after joining the AHL from Boston University. He had 14 points in 78 games. However, what was more impressive was his plus-22 rating in that time.

He is not very physical and does not put up a lot of points, but he does keep his game simple and is responsible in his own end of the ice. He also has good positioning on the ice and should shape up to be one of WBS’ steadiest defensemen this year.

Goalies

Brad Thiessen

After struggling in his first few starts in WBS, Thiessen finished his rookie campaign with a record of 14-14-1 with a 2.45 GAA and .914 save percentage. He also had four shutouts and earned the AHL Player of the Week honor for the week of March 22-March 28.

The big question is: Is Thiessen really going to shape up to be a solid goaltender that can back up Marc Andre Fleury in the future? Or was his strong finish to the 2009-2010 season just a flash in the pan?

The answer will start to be figured out in this year's development camp.

Patrick Killeen

The Penguins drafted Killeen in the sixth round of the 2008 NHL Draft.

He has spent the last four seasons with the Brampton Battalion of the OHL. In 2009-2010, he had his best season yet. Although his record wasn’t impressive (23-25-13), he still put up a 2.42 GAA and .913 save percentage.

There are some areas of his game that need work, particularly his rebound control and his pad saves, so he may end up playing for Wheeling of the ECHL before making the jump to the AHL.