Coming off a letdown of a weekend against the Wild and Kraken, the Pittsburgh Penguins returned to practice on Monday looking to brush those games aside and prepare for a trio of contests awaiting them this Thanksgiving week. As has become tradition in Pittsburgh, the Penguins will host a Thanksgiving Eve contest on Wednesday night, welcoming the Buffalo Sabres to PPG Paints Arena.
They will cap off the holiday week with another back-to-back set, traveling to face the Columbus Blue Jackets on Black
Friday then back home on Saturday to wrap up the November slate against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Pens Points…
Player moves aplenty for the Penguins on Monday. Tristan Broz will be in line to make his NHL debut on Wednesday night after being recalled from the AHL. Defensemen Harrison Brunicke and Jack St. Ivany were both sent down on conditioning stints. [Pensburgh]
After taking just one out of a possible four points over the weekend, the Penguins are in desperate need to get back on track ASAP. With another three games on the schedule starting Wednesday night, the Penguins will have another shot at banking some points before the schedule toughens. [Pensburgh]
The 2025 NHL Draft brought in a major prospect haul for the Penguins and some of those new faces are showing out early in the season. One name to keep an eye on is fifth round pick Ryan Miller, who is currently riding a 17 game point streak in the WHL and on pace for new career scoring highs. [The Hockey News]
It’s been a good start to the season for the Penguins and an even better one for its farm system in the AHL and ECHL. With a growing pool of talent, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Wheeling Nailers have jumped out to league leading records at their respective levels of play. [PPG]
While in town for shoulder surgery, 2025 draft pick Peyton Kettles took care of some separate business with the Penguins, putting pen to paper on a three-year entry level contract. Kettles is expected to miss the next six to seven months as he recovers from his operation. [Penguins]
An injury from late last season kept Rutger McGroarty out for the beginning of this season, but now he’s healthy and back on the ice. The plan was to start his comeback down in the AHL, but based on the early returns from down there, it shouldn’t be long until he’s in Pittsburgh. [Trib Live]
NHL News and Notes…
It was the Rasmus Andersson show for the Calgary Flames this week as the defenseman posted nine points in four games and will take home NHL First Star of the Week honors for his efforts. Zach Werenski and Macklin Celebrini were honored as Second and Third Star respectively. [NHL]
Despite a slow start at Penn State, Gavin McKenna remains the clear top overall prospect among those eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft. After McKenna comes off the board, you could see a run on blue liners as a number of defensive prospects have been rising in recent weeks. [TSN]
