Rookie Tournament Buzz
- Word out of Penguins circles is that Dustin Jeffrey and Geoff Walker have been the two best players on the ice in the Penguins 2010 Rookie tournament. Zach Sill has also been a standout.
- Â Jeffrey who has three goals in the tournament, is doing what he has to do as some of the Penguins top personnel members have been in attendance.
- This is the year the Penguins are expecting Jeffrey to make his mark in training camp. Questions though are still unanswered regarding how Jeffrey's game will translate at the NHL level.
- Walker, 22, is a big winger with good size (6-3, 225) has some intrigue about him. He's putting himself in position to get an early opportunity in Wilkes Barre to earn a spot on one of the top three lines..
- Defensively top prospect Simon Despres has been characterized as being "dominant at times" in the defensive zone but the player who has been the best overall defenseman I'm told is Brian Strait. His upside is not as high as Despres or Robert Bortuzzo but Strait is a guy that the team believes will have a long productive NHL career. One team source believes he'll be NHL ready by January 2011.
- Meanwhile, Bortuzzo who is widely regarded inside the organization as the Penguins No. 2 defenseman in their system behind Despres, is also projected to be NHL ready by the start of the 2011-2012 season. With the Penguins locked in long-term with Paul Martin, Brooks Orpik, Zbynek Michalek, and Kris Letang, they are going to be pressed with an interesting scenario.
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