Rookie Tournament: Potential Future Penguins

The Penguins started the rookie tournament slow, losing their first game to the Maple Leafs, but started putting it together as the tournament progressed, returning the 4-1 loss by way of a strong effort. McKeen's correspondent Gus Katsaros has notes on several notable rookie Penguins including 2009 first round draft pick Simon Despres (pictured).

Simon Despres D, Pittsburgh

Fluid with good mobility, stuck to the play mostly but showed he has horses to run .. quick to cut lateral angles at the top of the zone, not giving much space .. plays/watches the puck and misreads plays, such as misplaying a 2-on-1.. makes a lot of stick checks, takes immediate space away .. tough pairing with Bortuzzo .. smooth, takes a lot of offensive chances and likes jumping into the rush .. makes a lot of short passes, most of the suicide variety, right in center ice .. clearly lacking urgency and issues with speed/pace .. likely Junior bound.

Eric Tangradi LW, Pittsburgh

Big, thin and vocal, directing flow while talking to teammates on the ice .. was a penalty killer but with poor positioning, mostly in dead areas of the ice .. deep on defensive positioning, struggles getting to the pointmen allowing too much time/space for directing shots on goal .. plays a healthy physical game and doesn't shy away from work along the boards .. struggled reading the game and must upgrade overall positioning .. easily bodied off the puck .. lacked some fire and effort in first game but improved as the tournament progressed.

Luca Caputi LW, Pittsburgh

Weak skater, lacks first-step acceleration .. throws his body around and fights for position .. protects the puck with a long reach, but resorts to stick checks and passive defensive stances .. shooter, power-forward type, excels at space down low by the goal line .. unbalanced at times and knocked off the puck .. can be one-dimensional and predictable doing too much on his own and neglecting scoring outlets .. makes passes as a last resort and won't pass otherwise, a mentality prevalent throughout the tournament, as players tried to show off their skills .. sloppy at times, yet intensified better efforts as the tournament progressed.

Alex Grant D, Pittsburgh

One step too slow and struggled reading the defensive game .. peeks at the puck and puts his head down when starting the rush .. pace/urgency need upgrading .. doesn't identify streaking men behind him and loses his defensive assignments.. seems to have regressed with questionable decision-making from this tournament.

Joey Haddad RW, Pittsburgh

Smart, quick hands and feet .. makes intelligent plays with his head up .. good passing and shooting ability .. goes to the net .. tenacious with strong second efforts .. killed penalties but plays too soft and low in the slot, leaving pointmen exposed with too much space up high in the zone .. fought a smaller opponent in Jesse Blacker but didn't overwhelm.

Keven Veilleux C, Pittsburgh

Did a better job getting to dirty areas than last year's tournament, but still takes indirect routes .. has to keep his feet moving and do a better job of staying in scoring areas instead of skating through them .. began many plays from a stationary position, requiring a push of momentum to be part of the play .. misreads the play and doesn't anticipate the game at this level .. also doesn't use his sizable body to battle for positioning in front of the net, although he did a good job along the boards.

Patrick Killeen G, Pittsburgh

Excellent kick saves early in first game kept the Penguins in the game otherwise they could have easily been down by three early ..good lateral movement and efficient going post-to-post .. good glove, quick .. squares up to puck after dropping into butterfly and gets back to position quickly .. easily stole the show early in the first game of the tournament .. gets strong pushes from legs and edge of skates, showing impressive leg strength .. good rebound control and rarely gave up the juicy ones in front of the net.