PITTSBURGH – The Predators like to say the road to Nashville is through Milwaukee, referring to their American Hockey League affiliate where most their players have paid their dues at some point in the early parts of their career.
General Manager David Poile's philosophy is not to rush players to the NHL.
While the Pittsburgh Penguins are built a different way, there's no doubt a number of their key players were molded well in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., site of their AHL club.
Last year, players such as Bryan Rust, Conor Sheary, Matt Murray, Brian Dumoulin and Tom Kuhnhackl stepped right into the Big Pens' lineup after the Baby Pens and made huge impacts. This year, it has been players such as Jake Guentzel, Carter Rowney, Chad Ruhwedel and Scott Wilson.
"Let's be honest, we don't win the Cup last year if not for these Wilkes-Barre players coming up and playing big roles," veteran center Matt Cullen said. "It's happening again this year."
GM Jim Rutherford gives big credit to former players Mark Recchi and Bill Guerin, who are integral parts to the Penguins' player development department.
"They're champions," Rutherford said. "They won as players. They bring that to our organization. Billy and Rechs have done a terrific job on the development side. You see the players that come in with the big club, and they immediately come in, and when the coaches take them over, they're ready to play, they fit in. It's such an important part of our game now. Like, the scouts have to do their job, they have to draft the right players. But if you don't develop them right, they never get to where they need to get to. That's what those guys did."
Added Rust, "It starts with the connection from management all the way down to the young players. They're always in touch with prospects, always trying to help you along the way. Even when you're in college or juniors, you get calls and texts from the assistant GMs and player development guys on a regular basis checking in and giving tips."
