The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins had a light practice this morning at the newly re-named Toyota Sportsplex (formerly The Ice Rink at Coal Street), and while there were no new faces on the ice, a recall from Wheeling looks closer to becoming a reality.
Forwards Nick Drazenovic and Pierre-Luc Leblond did not skate today, leaving the AHL Penguins with only 12 healthy forwards on the ice this morning after Andrew Ebbett and Zach Sill were called up to Pittsburgh yesterday.
The Pens have already tapped into Wheeling's forward depth by adding Denver Manderson and Cody Sylvester last week, but Carter Rowney seems to be the consensus pick from those in Wheeling as the best call-up option.
The other concern is lack of depth at the center position. All four centers from the opening night roster (Drazenovic, Ebbett, Sill and Brian Gibbons) are not active with the AHL Penguins. The AHL Pens have moved Jayson Megna to center the top line, and Mike Carman has played center lately, but from there its a mystery as to who will fill the other two center positions. Manderson and Sylvester can both play center and have in Wheeling. Adam Payerl and Dominik Uher are two other guys that have experience playing in the middle.
Oddly enough, there were no formal line rushes at practice today. There was an emphasis on four-on-four play working on both offense and defense. If both Drazenovic and Leblond aren't ready for Wednesday's game, you would have to assume the Pens will call up a 13th forward to take on the road with them for insurance purposes.
It will be interesting to see at tomorrow's practice what the new line combinations will be and to see who the four centers are heading into Wednesday night's contest with the Adirondack Phantoms. I'll be live from the Toyota Sportsplex with all the latest from tomorrow's AHL Penguins practice.
0 comments:
Post a Comment