Updates on Dupuis, Collins & Black Aces

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

The Penguins cancelled practice today after a long travel day back from Newfoundland yesterday, but a few guys skated this morning at Coal Street including injured forward Phil Dupuis.

Dupuis skated in a red, no-contact jersey for about an hour before leaving the ice. I spoke with Penguins head coach John Hynes about a possible timetable on Dupuis' return to the lineup.

"He's done for the year," Hynes said on Dupuis' status for this season. "He's doing some rehab type stuff."

Also skating today was goaltender Scott Darling, forward Chris Barton and newly acquired forward Derek Nesbitt. Players weren't made available for comment today, so look for some thoughts from Nesbitt after tomorrow's practice.

The status of Chris Collins, whose PTO is about to run out, was also brought up. Hynes was quick to say that Collins will be staying with the team this season.

The Penguins also signed defenseman Peter Merth to a PTO contract, just days after he was released from one with Hamilton (AHL). Merth was on the WBS roster last season and with the Wheeling Nailers the past three seasons. Merth also skated with the four other guys mentioned above for about an hour this morning.

Another 2012 Penguins draft pick appears to be headed to Wilkes-Barre as 4th round selection Matia Marcantuoni tweeted this morning that he's excited to be heading to Wilkes-Barre today.

For those who missed it, the Penguins signed goaltender Eric Hartzell to a one-year entry-level contract that runs through the rest of the 2012-13 season. Hartzell will become a restricted free agent this summer. Hartzell is expected to join the AHL Penguins.

So taking a look at the roster, this is what your Black Aces squad looks like right now:

Goaltenders: Scott Darling and Eric Hartzell
Defenseman: Peter Merth, Reid McNeill and Harrison Ruopp
Forwards: Chris Barton, Christian Minella and Matia Marcantuoni

Add that to the current roster and you have a total of four goaltenders, nine defensemen and 17 healthy forwards. I'll have a better idea of the line combinations tomorrow but here's what they look like currently:

Kolarik - Smith - Holzapfel
Nesbitt - Gibbons - Thompson
Collins - Peters - Payerl
Farnham - Sill - Megna
MacIntyre/Minella - Barton - Uher/Marcantuoni

Reese - Dumoulin
Mormina - Samuelsson
Grant - Wild
McNeill - Ruopp/Merth

Zatkoff - Thiessen - Hartzell - Darling

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