Six months ago, Harrison Brunicke became the talk of Penguins training camp, coming out of nowhere to nearly make the opening night roster as an 18-year-old.
Chatting on the phone with the Post-Gazette about that experience, the promising prospect laughed as he recalled one meeting with Mike Sullivan and David Quinn.
“Our meetings were really good,” Brunicke said. “But they just told me that at first they didn’t really ‘know me from a hole in a wall,’ which was kind of funny to hear.”
Sullivan and everyone with the NHL club knows him now. So do fans in Pittsburgh, many of whom kept tabs on him after he returned to the Western Hockey League.
His WHL season ended Saturday night, with Kamloops having missed the playoffs. But Brunicke is not done playing yet. He is expected to join Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League in the coming days and aid the team’s Calder Cup push.
“With how good that Wilkes-Barre team is doing, that is pretty special. Hopefully, I’m able to go there and reunite with those guys and have some fun,” Brunicke said Monday. “As far as I know, that is the plan. I think it’s as soon as we can, basically.”
He still has another season of WHL eligibility. So he will head back to Kamloops in the fall if he doesn’t make the NHL club out of camp. But getting his first taste of pro hockey with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton should be beneficial for his development.
Brunicke has already been a big-time riser since the Penguins drafted him last year with the pick they received from the Carolina Hurricanes in the Jake Guentzel deal.
The rangy right-shot defender, who was picked 44th overall, first raised eyebrows at the annual Buffalo Prospects Challenge with his poise and crisp breakout passes. Brunicke carried it into his first NHL training camp, hanging around until final cuts.
Looking back fondly, Brunicke can admit that he surprised even himself a little bit.
He figured he would play maybe one NHL preseason game before he was returned to his junior team. He got in one. And then another. And then two more after that. As he remained in Pittsburgh into October, Brunicke said his parents and his billet family in Kamloops, British Columbia, still didn’t fully grasp that he might not be coming back.
In the end, even though the kid outperformed a number of defensemen with NHL experience, Pittsburgh felt going back to Kamloops was best for his development.
“I didn’t really expect to go as far as I did. But I’m super grateful and fortunate that I did, and there were a lot of things that I could carry over into junior hockey and going into [2025-26] that can help me try to make the Penguins,” Brunicke said.
The 6-foot-3 defenseman’s confidence was sky-high as he rejoined his WHL team.
He had three goals and 12 points in his first 15 games and was invited to Canada’s selection camp for the IIHF World Junior Championship. But he broke his wrist in practice and was shelved for more than two months, denying him a chance to play.
“My injury kept me out for quite some time. I missed a lot of hockey. That sucked for me,” he said. “Even now, I am saying jokingly that the season felt so short.”
Since returning in late January, Brunicke had two goals and 18 points in 25 games heading into Saturday’s season finale. And down the stretch, the Blazers asked him to shoulder significant responsibility, including joining the rush more often and being a playmaker in the offensive end as they tried to rally into playoff position.
“Since I came back, I think I’ve been playing some of my best hockey again. I think a big thing for me is sticking to what the coaches preach, sticking to the structure. And then from there, you can kind of play your game around that,” Brunicke said. “But I’ve got to make sure I play my role as a defenseman and play my role well.”
Brunicke and the Blazers staff deserve much of the credit for Brunicke developing into one of Pittsburgh’s top prospects. They are the ones who put in the work every day. But Brunicke was surprised to see how hands-on the Penguins are. They have sent staffers to see him a few times and are in regular communication with him.
“It’s been awesome,” Brunicke said. “It’s been crazy to see how much involvement and how much time and effort that they have put into developing me as a player.”
As his season came to a close, Brunicke was cognizant of the fact that his time with Kamloops might be up. That will hinge on his performance in the fall. But if this is indeed it, he’s grateful to the organization and the community for embracing him.
“It has been unreal ever since I got drafted here. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do the WHL route or go college or go [Alberta Junior Hockey League]. But looking back, I made the right decision,” Brunicke said. “This was probably the best place I could play junior hockey. They just helped me grow so much as a player and a person.”
POINT SHOTS
• A few days ago, I wrote about how Matt Grzelcyk has played really well across the last couple of months. He has been the team’s steadiest defender. He wants to stick around in Pittsburgh, and I think the Penguins should re-sign him. A two-year deal with a total value between $6 million and $7 million seems like a fine compromise.
Grzelcyk is 31. But he still skates well, is a smart player and a good veteran to have around youngsters such as Owen Pickering and maybe even Brunicke next season, especially with Marcus Pettersson gone. Their defensive depth chart is very thin right now, so it’s not like he would be blocking any of those prospects from playing time.
Maybe the Penguins not trading Grzelcyk was a sign that they’ll try to keep him.
• What more can you say about the top line at this point? The trio of Sidney Crosby, Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust continues to produce at a high rate. They are one of the NHL’s best lines at creating offense off the cycle but can still make some pretty plays off the rush, like that tic-tac-toe tally they had in Friday’s win over Columbus.
• I might have to put Conor Timmins on my Norris Trophy ballot. The trade pickup posted a plus-6 rating and an expected goals share of 66.7% while playing alongside Ryan Graves, per Natural Stat Trick. That is Cale Makar kind of stuff right there.
Jokes aside, the 26-year-old defenseman is off to a strong start in Pittsburgh. He moves well for a man his size, he is a willing and capable shooter and he has some physicality to his game — something the Penguins obviously lack on their blue line.
Consistency’s been one of the knocks on him throughout his NHL career. If he can smooth out his game, Timmins may be a fine fit as bottom-pair defenseman.
STICK TAPS
Sidney Crosby. The captain continues to pile up points. He had another multi-point effort Friday. He is now just four away from locking up the record for most consecutive seasons averaging a point per game.
Boko Imama. The popular pugilist dropped the gloves in Friday’s win and scored his first goal in black and gold. Boko’s a must-watch any time he goes over the boards.
Joona Koppanen. The 27-year-old scored his first NHL goal Tuesday, a nice reward for someone who’s been a valuable leader and role player for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
YOU ASKED...
With the amount of money that the Pens will have available. Why won’t they offer some young talent? Carolina did that and fast-tracked their rebuild. I feel like teams don’t utilize it enough.
— Alex K (@AlexKStudios) March 21, 2025
I do expect Kyle Dubas and the Penguins to sniff around restricted free agents this offseason. They have stockpiled picks and now have a great deal of salary cap flexibility. And Dubas has made it clear, both to other teams and dopes like me who stick microphones in his face, that he covets young NHL talent over picks and prospects.
Why? It’s ambitious, but the Penguins want to push for another Stanley Cup before Crosby retires. And every year matters when it comes to threading that needle.
I don’t know if Dubas would do an offer sheet at the price point of a first-round pick or more. But I believe second-round compensation is very much on the table. That was what St. Louis gave up last summer to lure Philip Broberg away from Edmonton.
STAT N’AT
19 — Empty-net goals allowed this season by the Penguins. That is not the most in the NHL, but it is the highest total in team history, per the invaluable Bob Grove.
FINAL BUZZER
The all-but-eliminated Penguins have won five of their past six games. And so, some fans are dismayed about the impact this little run may have on their rebuild. At this point, that concern is overblown. I don’t think it has meaningfully changed much.
In terms of their draft pick, the Penguins have climbed just two spots in the league standings over the last two weeks. And their lottery odds changed only about 1%. If the Penguins keep winning, it will become a problem. But it’s no biggie right now.
As for Dubas and the long-term plan, he will continue to take a 10,000-foot view of his team. He is smart enough to recognize this is fool’s gold and knows there is no shortcut he can take in one summer to make the Penguins contenders next season.
First Published: March 23, 2025, 8:00 a.m.
Updated: March 24, 2025, 3:09 p.m.
