Casting our eyes to the future in today’s Friday poll
Harrison Brunicke got the nhl.com treatment with a nice profile by Wes Crosby.
Brunicke ‘going to do whatever I can’ to make Penguins’ opening night roster ⤵️https://t.co/EtiduIIz0T
— NHL.com (@NHLdotcom) July 17, 2025
Worth a read in full, here’s a part:
Brunicke wants to be in that room by the time Pittsburgh opens its regular season at the New York Rangers on Oct. 7.
“As far as my mindset and my play, my goal is to stay here this year,” Brunicke told NHL.com on the first day of prospect development camp. “So, I’m going to do whatever I can to make that happen.”
He’ll have a shot. Brunicke made an impression at training camp last year, just after being selected in the second round (No. 44) of the 2024 NHL Draft.
In his first camp, Brunicke did well enough to work alongside defenseman Marcus Pettersson for a bit before being sent back to Kamloops of the Western Hockey League.
To some, that would have been a surprise. Brunicke wasn’t projected to be picked that high. He’s now considered one of the Penguins’ more promising young defensemen, alongside Owen Pickering (selected No. 21 in the 2022 NHL Draft).
Brunicke didn’t care if he was considered a reach.
“Just kind of ignore it,” Brunicke said. “You’re going to get criticism for the rest of your career. It’s all kind of outside noise. But like I said, wherever you get picked, no matter where it is, you just have to keep working hard and see how far it can take you.”
The momentum could have quickly stalled. Brunicke broke his wrist in a practice on Nov. 10, keeping him out until January. He finished last season with 30 points (five goals, 25 assists) in 41 games for Kamloops.
“It’s pretty exhausting mentally, just having to deal with that,” he said. “So, just doing as much as you can away from that injury, whether it’s my wrist, my foot, whatever. Just trying to get as much as you can throughout the course of your injury.”
Brunicke (6-foot-3, 195 pounds) earned a shot with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League, having two assists in 10 regular-season games there and two points (one goal, one assist) in two games during the Calder Cup Playoffs.
“If you watch his games in Wilkes-Barre, there was growth,” Penguins director of player development Tom Kostopoulos said. “Like, it took off. It was impressive how he grew and the games in the playoffs, he looked very confident for a young kid. So, we’re really excited about the potential he’s got to be a really good two-way defender with some offensive upside.”
The AHL was immediately challenging.
“Credit to him, he figured it out quick,” Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coach Kirk MacDonald said. “Came in initially and, you know, he had junior habits where you can just skate by people and hold on to the puck for a long time. I thought he did a really good job the last couple regular-season games. And in the playoff stint, he was moving pucks quick, jumping into the rush.”
Brunicke’s star continues to rise, he was clearly a lot more advanced than the rest of the young prospects in town earlier this month at the development camp. Come September he will be right in the mix and push the conversation about whether his NHL debut should be happening in October.
This won’t be the only young player looking to make waves in training camp. Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen did so well at the end of the 2024-25 regular season that it would be a disappointment if both aren’t regulars (and contributors) to the NHL club next season. Owen Pickering and Joel Blomqvist are looking to take the next steps in their respective career. It used to be rare that the Penguins had even one young player legitimately in the running to make their team on a yearly basis. Now there are several. The question is, who is the primary focus to keep an eye on?