Faceoff Factor

WBS Penguins Set Franchise Record For Promotions

Kyle Dreibelbies | WBS "Baby" Penguins

Feb 19, 11:51 AM | Hype this story!

Yesterday afternoon, W Joe Jensen was called up to the Carolina Hurricanes and played seven minutes in a 5-1 loss to New Jersey. Normally, this would not be newsworthy to anyone outside of the Jensen family. However, this extended a franchise record for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguin as Jensen marked the 13th player to start the year in Wilkes-Barre to play in the NHL this year.

Of the 22 players who dressed for the opening night WBS vs. Hershey matchup, only 8 have not been called to the NHL this year. D Ryan Lannon was also called up to Pittsburgh this year, but did not play in any NHL games. Here is a look at how these players have done in their NHL games:

D Kris Letang – 41 GP, 4 G, 9 A, 13 Pts, +1, 12 PIM
C/LW Tyler Kennedy – 33 GP, 8 G, 4 A, 12 Pts, -1, 22 PIM
C/LW Jeff Taffe – 26 GP, 2 G, 2 A, 4 Pts, E, 4 PIM
D Alain Nasreddine – 6 GP, 0 Pts, -4, 4 PIM
C Nathan Smith – 10 GP, 0 Pts, E, 2 PIM
C Tim Brent – 1 GP, 0 Pts, -1
LW Connor James – 2 GP, 0 Pts, E
LW Chris Minard – 1 GP, 0 Pts, -1
C/LW Ryan Stone – 5 GP, 0 Pts, -2, 5 PIM
RW Jonathan Filewich – 5 GP, 0 Pts, -2
D Alex Goligoski – 1 GP, 0 Pts, E
G Ty Conklin – 24 GP, 15-4-3-2, 2.19 GAA, .932 SV%

LW Joe Jensen (traded to Carolina) – 1 GP, 0 Pts, -1

Obviously, Letang, Kennedy, Taffe, and Conklin have been the most significant contributors in the NHL this year. This year shows the importance of maintaining a good minor-league system. Letang, Kennedy, Stone, Filewich, Jensen, and Goligoski have been developed through the Pittsburgh organization. The rest were signings done by GM Ray Shero and assistant GM Chuck Fletcher. The plethora of injuries at the NHL level have allowed eight of those players to make their NHL debuts this year.