SB Nation - Wyatt Smith

BREAKING: Pens make 13 cuts, Eric Tangradi, Luca Caputi to Wilkes-Barre

Hooks Orpik — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:26:53 -0000

Eric Tangradi, who posted on twitter last night that he was jokingly embarassed about Pensburgh ribbing him about his interview skills, has just written on Twitter that he is "off to Wilkes-Barre".

The Penguins were expected to make cuts today, a day after back-to-back games in the past two nights gave them a chance to see nearly everyone still left in camp.

And from penguins.com:

Thirteen players have been assigned to the club’s top minor-league affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL). They are forwards Wade Brookbank, Luca Caputi, Dustin Jeffrey, Nick Johnson, Konstantin Pushkarev, Wyatt Smith, Eric Tangradi, Joe Vitale and Tim Wallace, defensemen Robert Bortuzzo, Jonathan D’Aversa and Chris Lee and goaltender Brad Thiessen.

The Penguins have re-assigned 2009 first-round pick Simon Despres to Saint John of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).

After the jump we take a look at who's left....

The moves leave the Penguins with 16 forwards, nine defensemen and three goaltenders remaining in training camp. The updated roster is attached.

FORWARDS

Locks:

Chris Kunitz-Sidney Crosby-Bill Guerin
Ruslan Fedotenko-Evgeni Malkin-Tyler Kennedy
Matt Cooke-Jordan Staal-Pascal Dupuis
Mike Rupp, Eric Godard, Craig Adams

Forwards on the bubble (fighting for 1 or 2 spots): Ryan Bayda, Paul Bissonnette, Chris Conner

DEFENSE

Locks:

Brooks Orpik/Segei Gonchar
Mark Eaton/Kris Letang
Jay McKee/Alex Goligoski

Defensemen on the bubble (fighting for 1 or 2 spots): Nate Guenin, Ben Lovejoy, Deryk Engalland

Thoughts:

--Konsantin Pushkarev came to Pens camp on a tryout, will/has he agreed to go to Wilkes-Barre? Pushkarev could add some skill at some point, and given the lack of purely skilled wingers it'd be great for the organization if he doesn't bolt to Europe.
--The forwards still in the hunt (Bayda, Conner and Smith) all have a lot more NHL experience than the youngsters sent packing today (Caputi, Jeffrey, Johnson, Tangradi). It's clear the Pens want a vet for NHL depth and give the young guys a chance to develop by playing every night in the A rather than sitting in the press box in the NHL.
--Bissonnette was an unlikely player to make the NHL roster out of camp this year, and with Eric Godard AND Mike Rupp locked up he's even more unlikely to stick this season....But Biz Nasty's staying and a lot of his peers are again heading to the eastern part of the Commonwealth, he's surviving yet again.
--The Penguins don't list Deryk Engalland on their team page, but they didn't mention him getting cut and say there are 9 defensemen left, so I'm assuming he's still in play for an NHL job.

Fight Night? Pens announce lineup for tonight's game v. Toronto

Hooks Orpik — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:50:44 -0000

Kudos again to Seth for the lineup the Pens will use tonight in Toronto. Last night in Montreal we saw some examples of the Pens skill, with players like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar in the lineup. Tonight we will see a decidely different Pittsburgh lineup.

Take the jump to see the lines or you might get beaten up...

FORWARDS

Matt Cooke-Jordan Staal-Tyler Kennedy
Chris Conner-Dustin Jeffrey-Ruslan Fedotenko
Nick Johnson-Mike Rupp-Konstantin Pushkarev/Ryan Bayda
Paul Bissonnette-Wyatt Smith-Wade Brookbank

It's no secret that since Brian Burke has taken over the Maple Leafs, they've become more "truculent", I believe is the prefered word. To counter that the Pens are dressing Mike Rupp, Paul "Biz Nasty" Bissonnette and Wade Brookbank, basically three enforcers. Add the abrasive Matt Cooke and players who can get feisty like Tyler Kennedy and Ryan Bayda and you can see where this is headed.

It's a good chance for guys like Chris Conner, Nick Johnson and Dustin Jeffrey, who have a reasonable chance to get some power-play time, which can be a rare thing in Pittsburgh when guys like Crosby and Malkin eat up almost the whole shift sometimes. The blessing for those individual players could be a curse for the team, the Pens don't have much in the way of offensive skill and firepower. But "ugly" goals go up on the scoreboard just the same as "pretty" ones.

DEFENSEMEN

Jay McKee-Alex Goligoski
Mark Eaton-Robert Bortuzzo
Ben Lovejoy-Nate Guenin

Jay McKee said he's always played the left side of the ice, so watch how Alex Goligoski handles playing the right portion of the ice. Could be a lot for a young player, but Goligoski has had a wonderful camp so far.

Robert Bortuzzo is another youngster that has impressed and he's been rewarded with the opportunity to play with an NHL caliber defense partner tonight. Given the lack of elite skill players, this could be a "crash the net" mentality game, so a big shot by Bortuzzo or Goligoski could be a big part of the Penguins offense tonight.

Finally on the 3rd pair it looks like Ben Lovejoy gets a chance for redemption from last night's tough outing. Nate Guenin will get in the action too and look to establish himself, but given the Pens went back to Lovejoy (who's been in the organization for a while), you'd have to think he's still a leading candidate for an NHL roster spot.

GOALTENDERS

Brent Johnson, John Curry

While I don't have official word of a starter, Curry played all 60 minutes last night and I see no reason to play him back-to-back nights. Brent Johnson, who gave up 3 goals on 7 shots in his first outing with the Pens, ought to get a chance to get back in the net and get some more playing time behind his new team.

Also, kind of cool the Penguins brought a Quebec flavored lineup (Caputi, Dupuis, Despres, Letang, Fleury, Crosby played in the Q etc) to Montreal last night and tonight they're letting a lot of their guys with Ontario ties get in a game against Toronto. Not a coincidence, to be sure, but something to keep it interesting and a nice treat for the players none the less. Little touches like that matter big time to the players, so I think the Pens organization was wise to set their rosters up the way they did.

We'll wait to see what roster Toronto comes with, but something tells me that tonight's game will have much more snarl (and a lot more penalties) than last night's relatively clean game against Montreal....Call it a hunch.

Penguins sign Wade Brookbank and Wyatt Smith

Hooks Orpik — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:46:56 -0000

From the official site:

The Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins have signed forwards Wade Brookbank and Wyatt Smith to one-year contracts, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Ray Shero.

Brookbank, 31, registered one goal and 40 penalty minutes in 27 games with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2008-09. The 6-4, 225-pound winger also spent part of the season with Norfolk of the AHL, recording one assist and 46 penalty minutes in 24 games.

Brookbank has appeared in 127 career NHL games over parts of four seasons with Nashville, Vancouver, Boston and Carolina. He was part of the Penguins organization in 2006-07, when he had one goal and 116 penalty minutes in 39 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL. He is a native of Lanigan, Saskatchewan.

Smith, 32, appeared in a combined 71 games with San Antonio and Norfolk of the AHL in 2008-09, tallying 19 goals and 47 points in addition to 71 penalty minutes.

The 5-11, 205-pound center has played parts of eight NHL seasons with Phoenix, Nashville, the New York Islanders, Minnesota and Colorado. Smith has recorded 32 points (10 goals, 22 assists) 65 penalty minutes in 211 career NHL games. He is a native of Thief River Falls, Minnesota.

This adds some depth and NHL experience for players that will likely start out the season in Wilkes-Barre. The Penguins have had to deal with the defections of players like Chris Minard and Jeff Taffe, so these signings likely go to replace that depth.

Wyatt Smith Traded To Phoenix

David Driscoll-Carignan — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 03:26:00 -0000

Former Avalanche forward (and lightning rod of this sites comment section) Wyatt Smith has been traded by the Lightning to the Phoenix Coyotes, the team that originally drafted him in 1997. Smith has been in the minors all year, so it's unlikely we would have seen him on Saturday against Tampa. I don't imagine it's any more likely that we'll see him this Friday against Phoenix, but one can always dream, yes?