Faceoff Factor

Part 6: Minor Additions

Eric Politowski | WBS "Baby" Penguins

Sep 13, 11:50 AM | Hype this story!

Now that you’ve read about the competition for NHL roster spots, this piece will give you a run down of the new minor leaguers who have joined the Penguins organization since last season and what their roles will be.

First, we’ll start off with the goaltenders. The Baby Pens already had two solid netminders in John Curry and Dave Brown, but the following new addition might give Brown a push for the back-up spot. Although I don’t think he will, personally.

G #35 Adam Berkhoel – 5’11, 190 lbs
Butterfly Goaltender

Berkhoel, originally drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks, is a young goaltender out of the Detroit Red Wings system. Berkhoel was signed mid-summer along with Wheeling Nailers goalie Curtis Darling. Last season in the AHL, he posted a record of 10-14-4 with a 2.93 GAA and a 0.888% save percentage. Berkhoel also has some NHL experience, where he was 2-4-1 with the Atlanta Thrashers in 2005-2006.

Currently, Berkhoel is viewed as the 5th goalie in the organization, behind Marc-Andre Fleury, Danny Sabourin, Curry, and Brown.

The Penguins have good depth in numbers in net this year, which always is a good thing. It seems as though Curry will be traveling with the Pittsburgh Penguins on their trip to Stockholm, Sweden.

Now, we’ll move on to the newly acquired defensemen. After the Baby Pens lost Alain Nasreddine, Ryan Lannon, and Mark Ardelan, the blueline needed a boost. And, as it looks right now, the Pens may even be in better shape now than they were last year.

D #46 Danny Richmond – 6’0, 192 lbs
Defensive Defenseman

Richmond is a unique blueliner. He has the ability to score the timely goal, but also is good defensively and drops the gloves frequently. Considering he also has 49 games of NHL experience under his belt, he should be high on the Pens’ depth chart. He likely will be the 2nd defensive call-up after D Alex Goligoski.

D #39 T.J. Kemp – 5’11, 197 lbs
Defensive Defenseman

Last year, Kemp spent the season with the AHL’s Springfield Falcons, where he scored 46 points in 73 games. His plus-minus rating is an issue with Kemp, but looks like he could pan out to be a good two-way defenseman one day. Kemp is viewed as the 3rd defensive call-up behind Goligoski and Richmond.

D #54 Joey Mormina – 6’6, 220 lbs
Defensive Defenseman

You may remember Mormina in a Carolina Hurricanes uniform braking Jeff Taffe’s nose last year. That was his only game in the NHL, but shows he could be an impact player down the line. Mormina is a monster, standing 6’6” tall, and has been compared to Hal Gill, but quicker on his skates. The opposing AHL talent should keep their heads up when this guy is on the ice.

D #96 Reid Cashman – 6’2, 205 lbs
Defensive Defenseman

There’s not much to say about Cashman, except that last year he played well in the ECHL with the Columbia Inferno. He also was called up to the AHL last season and spent 8 games with the Toronto Marlies. It looks like he will spend most of this year in Wheeling, but injuries could give him an opportunity to bump to the AHL as he did last season.

General manager Ray Shero and his assistant Chuck Fletcher were busy this offseason bringing in new defensive talent. Over the years, they have solidified the blueline with stay-at-home men like Deryk Engelland and Ben Lovejoy, and still have some offensive threats with Goligoski and Jonathan D’Aversa.

Last but not least, we’ll move on to the forwards. Over the offseason, the Baby Pens lost a lot of their proven scorers such as Tim Brent, Nathan Smith, and Kurtis McLean. Here are the two new faces you will see in the line-up at the forward position.

F #37 Bill Thomas – 6’1, 185 lbs
Sniper

The addition of Pittsburgh native Bill Thomas should be huge this season for the Penguins. Thomas is a proven point producer in the AHL, scoring 52 points in 75 games last season. To add, Thomas has done well at the NHL level, as he has scored 17 points in 40 career games. He will probably see some time in Pittsburgh this year, mainly as one of the 1st forward call-ups.

F #43 Adam Henrich – 6’4, 231 lbs
Power Forward

Henrich is a tough, power forward type of player who has good size and loves to take the puck to the net and isn’t afraid to get dirty in the corners. After he flourished in the ECHL with the Wheeling Nailers last year (scoring 20 points in 12 games), he was promoted to the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL, where he scored 31 points in 43 games.

As you can see, the Pens do not have a slew of new names coming in from other pro organizations. Management was able to keep a lot of their free agents under contract for this season, and they will be relying on some scoring from their draft picks and others out of the junior ranks. Jean-Michel Daoust, Paul Bissonnette, Jonathan Filewich, Dave Gove, Connor James, and Ryan Stone will be returning, unless promoted to the NHL, and Luca Caputi, Nick Johnson, and Dustin Jeffrey are expected to have great rookie seasons.

Overall, the Pens could have a better team than they did last year. Only time will tell where borderline players such as Kris Beech, Stone, Taffe, Thomas, and even Finnish sensation Janne Pesonen end up after training camp.