Penguins assistant GM Jason Spezza touts prospects, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's success
On individual and collective notes, Jason Spezza has ample reason to be pleased with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s season to date.
Spezza, assistant general manager for the Pittsburgh Penguins, directly oversees the club’s American Hockey League affiliate.
Led by first-year coach Kirk MacDonald, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins boast a 27-12-5 record and are second in the Atlantic Division heading into their Friday game vs. the Hartford Wolf Pack.
“It’s been really good,” Spezza said. “Kirk’s come in — and I don’t think it’s a slight to the guys who were there prior — but when you get to hire your own coach, you’re very aligned with what you want the program to be pushing towards.
“He’s done a good job of individually developing players but also making it a priority to win hockey games, too. We want to teach the guys to be in a winning environment and so far, they’ve been able to do that.”
Spezza, speaking with reporters following the NHL Penguins’ practice Wednesday in Cranberry, offered his thoughts on a multitude of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s players.
• Ville Koivunen: The 21-year-old winger from Oulu, Finland, was part of the return haul from Carolina for Jake Guentzel last March, and in his first full AHL campaign, has dazzled. Koivunen has played 45 games, scoring 15 goals with 24 assists, with his 39 points ranking second on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton behind only Emil Bemstrom (44).
Koivunen is also tied for the AHL lead in scoring among rookies.
“I think Ville’s a really driven kid,” Spezza said. “His competitiveness is probably really underrated, so I think that’s allowed him to have sustained success so far. There’s still ups and downs in his game because he’s a young player playing a lot of hockey. But his brain is his best quality. I think he’s really smart, has a great hockey sense and he’s done a good job using it.”
• Rutger McGroarty: Spezza’s boss, president of hockey operation Kyle Dubas, made waves last summer when he orchestrated a blockbuster trade of top prospects, shipping forward Brayden Yager to the Winnipeg Jets for Rutger McGroarty. Both players were first-round draft picks (Yager 14th overall by the Penguins in 2023 and McGroarty at No. 14 by the Jets in ’22), but Dubas reasoned McGroarty might be closer to NHL readiness and capable of helping the Penguins more quickly.
McGroarty, 20, went on to make the Penguins’ NHL roster out of training camp but has spent the majority of this season in the AHL, where, following a slow statistical start, he has found a groove.
Through 43 games, he’s contributed six goals with 19 assists while seeing top-six minutes and playing a role on the power play and penalty kill.
“I think (McGroarty) has been a huge success story for us right now in terms of just continually getting better,” Spezza said. “There’s still a ways to go consistency-wise, but he’s been playing well for probably over two months now. I think it’s the little things in his game that show up. I think he’s the type of guy that, as the games get bigger, he will have bigger moments because of his details. He already has that naturally and now is just getting used to the grind of the schedule and the consistency. He struggled offensively to begin, and it might have been the best thing that could have happened to him. … He does so many things that allow us to win hockey games that don’t show up on the scoresheet.”
• Sam Poulin: The Penguins’ first-round draft pick in 2019 has yet to find a way to translate his skills into an everyday NHL role as, since 2022-23, he’s appeared in 12 games over parts of three campaigns.
As he continues to navigate his own hockey journey, the Penguins have restocked their system with promising fellow wingers such as McGroarty and Koivunen, clouding Poulin’s potential path back to Pittsburgh and overall role.
However, in 25 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Poulin has 13 goals and 12 assists.
Much of his production has come recently: Over his last 15 games, he’s scored nine goals with three assists.
Poulin may still have room to grow, but Spezza is encouraged by his ongoing development.
Sam Poulin is finding his game back! His 7th points in the last 6 games. pic.twitter.com/w2FccLXfLZ
— Pens Prospects (@pensprospects_) February 16, 2025
“Sam’s really bought into what he is, what he needs to be and how he produces,” Spezza said. “He’s played on the wing a lot this year. He was primarily a centerman before, but is kind of becoming a guy that can play all over the lineup. He can play in the top six, play in the bottom six, both special teams, so we’re really trying to round Sam’s game out and give him confidence so that he has utility when he does get an (NHL) opportunity. At the American League level, he obviously can score and drive play, but to be an NHL player doing that is difficult. We’re trying to help him become more versatile. I think he’s doing that, buying in and contributing to wins.”
• Tristan Broz: The 22-year-old is in his first professional season after winning a national championship with the University of Denver in 2024. The 6-foot winger, a second-round (No. 58 overall) pick by the Penguins in 2021, has been limited to 33 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after contracting mononucleosis.
However, Broz is tied for second on his club with 15 goals.
“He’s been a guy that there’s a lot of positivity around,” Spezza said. “Very coachable, works hard, cares a lot about his game and it sucks that he got mono, because he had really come in and was playing good hockey. A guy we’ve been happy with. I like his competitiveness. I think it’s one of things we find has really come out for him the second half of last year, winning the national championship, getting an elevated role and now coming to Wilkes and turning pro. I think he doesn’t shy away from the heavy games, which is a good sign that’s more skill-based.”
WELCOME BACK TRISTAN BROZ pic.twitter.com/FVzsQNF0JL
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) February 8, 2025
• Vasily Ponomarev: Along with Koivunen, Ponomarev was a prospect the Hurricanes parted with last season in order to land Guentzel. Ponomarev, a 5-foot-10 forward from Moscow, Russia, got a brief taste of NHL action this year, suiting up for four games with the Penguins.
But in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, he plays a prominent role. Through 34 games, he has 11 goals and 18 assists.
“I think he is trying to push the edge on being a gritty player,” Spezza said. “I think there are good lessons to learn along the way as a player. He’s trying to figure out where the line is and where it isn’t. … He’s very driven and just wants to make the NHL. He’s trying to do whatever possible.”
• Sergei Murashov: In the recent past, few prospects seemed to generate more excitement among Penguins fans than the 20-year-old netminder from Yaroslavl, Russia, who was a late addition to the Penguins’ prospect development camp last summer.
Attending those practices represented Murashov’s first time in the U.S. and soon thereafter, he turned pro, inking a three-year entry-level deal with the Penguins.
Murashov’s transition to North American hockey has been smooth.
The majority of his campaign has been with the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL, where he is 15-5-1 with a 2.38 goals-against average and .922 save percentage in 22 games.
But Murashov was also pressed into action with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and put up even stronger numbers at the AHL level, going 6-0 with a 1.99 GAA and .934 save percentage.
Spezza was bullish on Murashov’s ceiling.
“Sky’s the limit,” he said. “I think you have to be patient with a young goalie. It’s a tough transition coming from Russia. I think he’s cleaned up a lot of areas in his game and has been, overall, a great kid to work with. In terms of the rest of the season, they have a good club down in Wheeling. I imagine he’s going to spend most of his time down there.
“If we run into injuries, I think he’s shown he’s more than capable of coming up and playing in the American League.”
• Jack St. Ivany: From just about every vantage point, 2024-25 has been a disappointing season for the 25-year-old blueliner, who looked to build on a strong NHL debut in ’23-24.
Last season, St. Ivany appeared in the Penguins’ final 14 contests, earning a nightly spot in the lineup.
That performance contributed to the Penguins inking him to a three-year, $2.33 million deal in May worth $775,000 annually.
However, following 19 games played at the start of this season, St. Ivany was sent down to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where he’s remained since early December.
After only a handful of AHL games, St. Ivany was sidelined by injury for approximately six weeks.
He’s played in 14 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season.
Spezza remains confident St. Ivany can regain his prior form.
“I think (there’s) still hope,” Spezza said. “I don’t think we felt Jack was just going to come in and be a plug-and-play, everyday defenseman right now. He’s still very young in his development, too. He’s a little bit older than some of these other guys, but he’s a guy that played a lot for us last year, played good hockey, but we needed him to grow. Then he gets derailed with an injury after getting sent down.
“We’re pretty happy with where he’s at in terms of development, and Jack realizes he’s in a fight for ice time as more guys come in. He’s a competitive kid, and I don’t doubt that he’ll continue to push.”
Justin Guerriero is a TribLive reporter covering the Penguins, Pirates and college sports. A Pittsburgh native, he is a Central Catholic and University of Colorado graduate. He joined the Trib in 2022 after covering the Colorado Buffaloes for Rivals and freelancing for the Denver Post. He can be reached at jguerriero@triblive.com.
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