Prospects Buzz: Archibald, Wilson, Rust are next wave of young forwards with NHL potential in Pens system

LATEST PROSPECTS BUZZ The Pittsburgh Penguins are an organization that has struggled mightily to develop forwards in their system. There’s no denying that fact. The team doesn’t have one forward in their system right now that screams top-6 forward/winger, but there’s a small group of forwards who project as the next wave of young forwards who could become NHL players in the next 1-2 years. Jayson Megna has come onto the scene this year and has shown enough where he could earn a full time bottom-6 role next year and Brian Gibbons has some in the organization believing he’s an NHL player who could have a future here, though, he’s more of a tweener. After those two, there’s not a

Prospects Buzz: Improvement in key area has Penguins believing Pouliot is on fast track to NHL

PROSPECTS BUZZ Improved defensive play has some in the Penguins organization believing that 2012 1st round pick Derrick Pouliot, the 8th overall pick, is likely to emerge as a strong candidate for regular NHL action next season, sources say. Pouliot made a strong impression on the Penguins coaching staff in training camp with his top end offensive skills but the Penguins and scouts outside the organization all seem to be in agreement that Pouliot is evolving into a more complete player. That’s what scouts coming out of the recent SuperSeries are telling me about Pouliot and if paired with a defensive minded defenseman at the NHL level, the Penguins could have two 20 year old defensemen in the lineup next

Prospect Buzz: Gregory Polanco ranked 22nd best prospect in baseball by Keith Law; Is Taillon gaining on Cole?

PIRATES PROSPECTS BUZZ Keith Law released his newly updated top-25 prospects list and as expected, Gerrit Cole (No. 12) and Jameson Taillon (No. 14) remain in the top-25 but the biggest surprise is outfielder Gregory Polanco (No. 22) ranking No. 22, a jump of 33 spots from Law’s preseason ranking of Polanco at No. 55. Polanco, 21, is hitting .310 with 6 home runs, 27 RBIs, 14 doubles and 19 stolen bases for the Bradenton Marauders. Law mentions that while some scouts question whether Polanco will stay at center field, Law speaks highly of Polanco’s offensively ability and feels he can very good in a corner outfield spot or a star if he stays at center because of his hitting

Scouts Buzz on the Penguins notable prospects in Wilkes Barre and who’s knocking on the NHL door

ON THE FARM SYSTEM The Penguins have loaded up for a Cup run but there figures to be a lot of turnover this summer with the cap going down to $64.3 million. The Penguins have several key unrestricted free agents in Jarome Iginla, Matt Cooke, Pascal Dupuis, Brenden Morrow, Craig Adams, Douglas Murray, Mark Eaton and notable restricted free agents include Tyler Kennedy, Dustin Jeffrey and Robert Bortuzzo. A number of those players likely won’t be back next season. Today’s we’ll take a look at the development of the Penguins notable prospects in Wilkes Barre and others who could be knocking on the door for an NHL role: TOP-5 PLAYERS TO WATCH Beau Bennett, RW, 2010 1st round pick 2012-2013

Scouts Take on five Penguins draft picks playing in the Men’s Hockey NCAA Tournament

PENGUINS PROSPECTS BUZZ Five Penguins draft picks, Teddy Blueger, Minnesota State, Kenny Agostino, Yale, Scott Wilson, UMass-Lowell, Ben Hanowski, St. Cloud State, and Bryan Rust, Notre Dame, will be participating in the NCAA Tournament this week. The Men’s Frozen Four is April 11 and 13 at the Consol Energy Center. UMass-Lowell is in the Northeast Regional, Yale in the West Regional and Notre Dame, St. Cloud State are in the Mid-West Regional. UMass-Lowell and Notre Dame are No. 1 seeds and considered favorites to get to the Frozen Four. Pens Prospects in Action This Week: No. 1 Notre Dame (25-12-3) vs. No. 4 St. Cloud State (23-15-1), Saturday, March 30 1:30 p.m. ET No. 1 Massachusetts-Lowell (26-10-2) vs. No. 4

Latest Penguins Prospect Buzz on college free agents

LATEST PROSPECTS BUZZ The Pittsburgh Penguins, as expected, have made a play to sign defenseman Andrej Sustr, Nebraska-Omaha University. Sustr a towering defenseman at 6-foot-8, 228-pounds, is regarded by many scouts as the top potential college free agent available and is being coveted by as many as 23 teams this week. Sustr had 9 goals and 25 points and a +16 rating in 39 games for Nebraska-Omaha University. [instory] The Penguins have been expecting word today on whether they are a finalist for Sustr but expectations appear to be very low inside the organization as the Penguins don’t feel Sustr attending the Penguins prospect camp in July gives them any edge to sign Sustr, who according to a source, is

Prospects Buzz: Two Penguin prospect camp invitees among top undrafted college players coveted by NHL teams

PENS SUMMER CAMP INVITEES COVETED Two college players, defenseman Andrej Sustr, Nebraska-Omaha university, and forward Antoine Laganiere, Yale, are among the highest coveted college players by NHL teams who are looking to dip into the college free agent pool this spring. [instory] How this relates to the Penguins is Sustr and Laganiere have been players of interest to the Penguins and both were invitees to the Penguins summer prospect camp this past July. Sustr a towering defenseman at 6-foot-8, 227-pounds, is regarded by many scouts as the top potential college free agent available. He has 8 goals and 14 points in 33 games for Nebraska-Omaha. Laganiere who possesses excellent size at 6-foot-4, 215-pounds, has 12 goals and 24 points in

Prospect Buzz: Chatter On Beau Bennett; Josh Archibald among a group of intriguing forward prospects Pens have drafted in late rounds

WBS NOTES Following last night’s 3-1 loss to Binghamton, where they outshot Binghamton 44-15, the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins (14-15-2-1) have now lost 11 of 12 games. A bright spot again for the Baby Pens was Beau Bennett (6G-16A-22Pts) who scored a beautiful goal coming down the right side and beating goaltender Robin Lehner top shelf. Bennett leads the team with 22 points and has 16 points in his last 16 games. Bennett the Penguins top forward prospect, has showed great vision and playmaking ability and hockey people just rave about how well he see’s the ice. The area I’m told he needs to improve is more mental in becoming more confident as a goal scorer because he has the shooting