Prospect Camp: Day 2 Scouting Report, Buzz & Observations

Here are some player reports, buzz and observations from day 2 of Penguins prospect camp:

Simon Despres: I never try to over-rate a player's abilities, based on what I see in a prospect camp, but 2009 first round pick Simon Despres continues to show how close he is to being NHL ready.

The Penguins are said to want Despres to get top pairing minutes in Wilkes Barre and learn the system before a full time callup but when a players ready he's ready.

If Despres comes into camp and performs like I think he can, I for one see no issue with the Penguins working him in slowly and playing a 3rd pairing role as the No. 6 defenseman. However, I'm not sure the Penguins see it that way.

Despres had a very strong day and was dominanting play when the group went into 3-on-3 play down low. Despres was just too big and strong for the others, scoring 2 quick goals.

As I mentioned yesterday, his shot has come a long way from the time he was drafted.

Defensively, he has been strong in 1-on-1 drills and as the video indicates, players have struggled to get around Despres due to his long reach and strength.

The one area I see that Despres needs some work on is with his lateral and side to side movement.

Video: Black Team: Beau Bennett No. 19 | Josh Archibald No. 15 | Andrew Blazek No. 10 |

White Team: Scott Harrington No. 8 | Bryan Rust No. 12 | Brian Gibbons No. 17 |

Eric Tangradi: Tangradi told me today he is tired of playing in the minors and is really motivated to become a regular with the Penguins.

Tangradi is in excellent shape and is really chizzled right now and is doing his part to be a force from a physical standpoint in training camp.

Tangradi has added 10-12 pounds of muscle and believes the extra muscle will actually lead him to play at a more high pace than he was able to last year.

"I'm 232 right now and looking to be around 230 for start of camp. I want to make an impact, play confident and a focus for me has been to play at a higher pace than last year, " Tangradi said.

A big question mark is whether a spot is going to open for Tangradi. On the depth chart at left wing, he has Chris Kunitz, James Neal and Matt Cooke in front of him.

To earn a top-9 role, which is what it's going to take for Tangradi to make the team on a full time basis, he's going to need one of those three players to move to right wing, which is possible or Tangradi play the off-wing, which I asked him about today.

"I'm comfortable on both left and right side, " Tangradi said. {Regarding depth chart at left wing| "From the indications,