Day Two: Penguins Development Camp

The prospects were back on ice today at Consol Energy Center for the second day of development camp. Team B, who was in the second session yesterday, started things off this morning.

There were a lot more drills that allowed players to showcase their talents today. For defensemen, the biggest test came during a drill which saw a one-on-one become a two-on-one the second time around.

Reid McNeill had the highlight of that drill, punishing forwards with some nice body checks. Sure McNeill is one of the older, bigger guys at camp but that didn't stop him from punishing Dominik Uher with a big hit along the boards in the neutral zone.

The first session ended with a mini hockey game between the blue lines, a two-on-two drill with stationary passers on each side of the nets and all along the blue line. Blaine Byron, the Pens 6th round pick from the 2013 NHL Draft, stole a puck at center ice and managed a pretty impressive breakaway goal: the patented Pavel Datsyuk toe-drag goal. That was probably the highlight of the day.

If you missed my Day One Recap, check that out too.

After the jump a closer look at some of the guys you will likely see in Wilkes-Barre in the fall with thoughts from Bill Guerin, Eric Hartzell and Jayson Megna.


Adam Payerl again received rave reviews from the staff as Bill Guerin was asked about forwards that opened his eyes and are progressing well.

"Adam Payerl looks like he's in great shape," Guerin said. "He's 6-3, 225. I think he's got 8% body fat. He's moving really well."

Guerin also noted Jayson Megna and Tom Kuhnhackl as forwards to watch.

Today I wanted to get a closer look at goaltender Eric Hartzell - a guy that I think can come in and play at the AHL level as early as this fall.

Goalies got a lot more work in today than they did yesterday. Both sessions had the goaltenders out early to work on movement in the crease. It was pretty easy to tell the difference in progression between Hartzell (a 24-year-old) and 18-year-old Tristan Jarry. Hartzell moves incredibly well for a big goaltender. He's extremely athletic and I look forward to seeing more from him this week.

"I'm just trying to make my game a well-rounded one," Hartzell said. "Pretty much work on everything. There isn't a specific thing I really want to work on. I think there's certain things that you want to continue to work on to keep your game where it is."

I got a chance to catch up with Jayson Megna after the second session today and talked about the transition from ending his rookie season just a month ago to coming into camp as one of the older guys in the room.

"Zach Sill was here last year and he was a good leader," Megna said. "I kind of followed him. He knew what was going on and knew what to do. It took some of the nervousness and pressure off us first year guys and that's kind of what I want to do with these guys. Show them the ropes."

Megna comes off as a guy who is never satisfied and will work hard to continue to improve his game. That's an attribute that I'm sure the coaches don't mind having in the room.

Day Three of Development Camp is tomorrow from 10-12 p.m. and although there is no media availability afterwards for interviews, I'll still be there with all the latest on the practice from Consol Energy Center.