At roughly the halfway point of the 2022-23 NHL season, see what Pittsburgh Penguins prospects make the grade.

Major Junior

Isaac Belliveau: B+

Isaac Belliveau (Gatineau Olympiques), a fifth round pick in 2021, ranks ninth among all QMJHL blueliners with 33 points in 34 games–just shy of a point per game average. Belliveau leads the Olympiques with a plus 25 plus/minus rating as the team appears to be a legitimate contender for a QMJHL championship.

Nolan Collins: C-

Though drafted for strong defensive play, Nolan Collins (Sudbury Wolves), a 2022 sixth round pick, ranks fourth among blueliners on the team with 13 points in 39 games–only slightly ahead of pace of 18 points in 65 games last season–and almost last on the team with a minus two plus/minus rating. A bit of a disappointing sophomore campaign so far, Collins hopes to find some consistency at both ends of the ice in the remainder of the season.

Luke Devlin: C-

Luke Devlin (West Kelowna Rockets), a sixth round draft pick in 2022, ranks seventh on the team with 24 points in 34 games. The Cornell University commit hopes to up the production in the back half of the season before heading to the NCAA to continue developing.

Ryan McCleary: C

With almost as many goals as assists with 11 and 14, respectively, in 43–a strange stat line for a defenseman–Ryan McCleary (Portland Winterhawks), a 2021 seventh round pick, ranks ninth overall on the team and second among blueliners with 25 points, but only slightly ahead of pace from last season with 30 points in 63 games–and outside of the top 20 among defensemen in the WHL.

Owen Pickering: C+

Owen Pickering (Swift Current Broncos), the 21st overall pick in 2022, missed the start of the 2022-23 season recovering from injury, but currently leads blueliners on the team and ranks fifth overall with 27 points in 37 games as the captain of the team–ahead of pace of 33 points in 62 games as a rookie last season. The most notable improvement comes in a jump from a minus 29 plus/minus rating to a minus two in on a Swift Current team still near the bottom of the standings in the WHL.

Zam Plante: D

Like Pickering, Zam Plante (Chicago Steel), a 2022 fifth round pick, missed the start of the 2022-23 season recovering from injury, but so far appears to be regressing from 21 points in 31 games last season with only 14 in 24 so far. If the University of Minnesota-Duluth commit fails to up the production in the back half of 2022-23, hopefully a full summer of recovery leads to a better change of further development in the NCAA next season.

NCAA

Tristan Broz: B-

Despite a very slow start to 2022-23 with only two points in 13 games, Tristan Broz (University of Denver), a second round pick in 2021, now ranks fifth on the team with 20 points in 27 games–well ahead of 11 points in 36 games last year as a freshman with the University of Minnesota. Expect next season to be a bit of a “show me” season for Broz–trying to match consistency with production.

Judd Caufield: B-

Also getting off to a bit of a slow start, Judd Caufield (University of North Dakota), a 2019 fifth round pick, now ranks third on the team with eight goals and fifth with 15 points in 27 games. Slightly ahead of pace of 20 points in 39 games as a junior last season, a strong possibility of going unsigned by the Penguins exists for the power forward with 58 points in 121 career NCAA games.

Daniel Laatsch: C-

A lanky blueliner with a defense-first mentality, Daniel Laatsch (University of Wisconsin), a 2021 seventh round pick, already surpassed three points and a minus eight plus/minus rating in a freshman campaign last season to five points and a minus one rating as a sophomore so far, but remains a long-term project in the prospect pool.

Chase Yoder: C-

Contrasting a few slow starts among Pittsburgh Penguins prospects in the NCAA, Chase Yoder (Providence College), a 2020 sixth round pick started the season with 11 points in 16 games, but now carries a pointless streak of 12 games–a bit underwhelming after putting up 11 points in 38 games as a sophomore last season.

Europe

Santeri Airola: C-

Santeri Airola (Koovee), a 2019 seventh round pick, ranks fifth othe team in the Mestis, the second tier of professional hockey in Finland, and carries no points in five Liiga appearances in 2022-23 after missing the previous season recovering from surgery. Already 22 years old, Airola appears to be a longshot for the NHL.

Kasper Bjorkqvist: C-

After appearing in six NHL games last season and scoring a goal, Kasper Bjorkqvist opted to return to Finland for the 2022-23 season and carries only eight points in 34 games with Karpat in the Liiga. Several injury-filled years in the AHL likely stunted the development of the Finnish forward, and, at 23 years old, likely remains in Europe for the foreseeable future.

Kirill Tankov: N/A

Unfortunately, Kirill Tankov, a 2020 seventh round pick, suffered a broken vertebrae in the first game of the 2022-23 season and remains sidelined until further notice.

AHL (U25)

Corey Andonovski: B-

Corey Andonovski plays the role of bottom six power forward well enough for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with seven goals, 13 points and 50 penalty minutes in 36 games. Already 23 years old, the rookie, undrafted signee out of the NCAA likely remains a fixture in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton barring a breakout season next year.

Raivis Ansons: C-

Raivis Ansons remains a bit of a project with only three points in 30 games as a rookie in the AHL, but the 2020 fifth round pick projects as more of a two-way forward, and, at 21 years old, remains a candidate to develop into a bottom six player, but needs to take a fairly substantial leap next season.

Ty Glover: C-

Ty Glover seems to be struggling so far with only four points in 21 games. The NCAA signee posted 32 points in 63 NCAA games with Western Michigan University prior to signing with the Penguins organization and projects to be more of a bottom six power forward or grinder type.

Jonathan Gruden: C+

Currently ranking third on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with 11 goals in 32 games, debuting at the NHL level makes 2022-23 a memorable season for Jonathan Gruden, but the ceiling appears to be a bottom six NHL forward. In a contract year, the 2018 fourth round pick potentially finds a home elsewhere next season.

Filip Hållander: B+

Producing at nearly the double the rate last season as a rookie in the AHL, the only knock on Hallander seems to be consistency–going cold for stretches and stringing together point streaks, still the 2018 second round pick boasts 25 points in 26 games and leads the team with a plus 12 plus/minus rating.

Nathan Légaré: D

Legare failed to up production so far after a lackluster rookie AHL season. With only five goals and 10 points in 41 games, the window appears to be closing rapidly for the 22-year-old third round pick in 2019.

Alex Nylander: A-

Nylander leads the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins with 17 goals and 34 points in 40 games and continues to be a strong offensive player for the team. Still, under a point per game average and already 24 years old, Nylander the chances for the former eighth overall pick seem to be running out.

Samuel Poulin: N/A

After scoring four goals in 13 NHL games and a debut at the NHL level, Samuel Poulin took and remains on a leave of absence.

Valtteri Puustinen: A

Ahead of pace from last season after leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with 20 goals and 42 points in 73 games, Valtteri Puustinen continues to impress–especially for a seventh round pick–with 33 points in 41 games and improved on a minus 15 plus/minus rating last season to a plus nine so far in 2022-23.

Ty Smith: B

With 14 points in 28 games, Ty Smith tanks second among points per game among blueliners on the team after playing the past two seasons in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils. The 2018 first round pick looked competent with four points in nine games with Pittsburgh, but returned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton due to roster limitations and salary cap constraints.

Jack St. Ivany: C-

Though projected as a defensive defenseman, St. Ivany carries only five points–all assists–through 33 games despite posting 60 points in 115 career NCAA games. The former fourth round pick signed in the offseason needs to up the offensive consistency slightly to be a viable candidate for a call up to the NHL level.

Lukas Svejkovsky: C

Svejkovsky showed some promise more recently after a slow start to the season, carrying eight points through 25 games–okay for the rookie taken in the fourth round in 2020, but not quite good enough for the undersized forward projected to be a point producer.

Colin Swoyer: C

With four points in 16 games, Colin Swoyer, signed out of the NCAA in the offseason after putting up 72 points in 141 games over four years with Michigan Tech, looks like good depth at the AHL level, but already 24 years old, unlikely to appear with Pittsburgh.

ECHL (U25)

Jordan Frasca: D

After signing with the Penguins last season and putting up 87 points in 61 games with the Kingston Frontenacs in the OHL, Jordan Frasca dealt with injury at the start of the season and after going without a point in three appearances with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, joined the Wheeling Nailers and carries two assists through 14 games.

Josh Maniscalco: C+

Josh Maniscalco continues to be a force in the ECHL with 28 points in 31 games–fifth among all blueliners and fourth with a 0.90 point per game average among all blueliners (with at least 10 games played), but failed to match the success in the AHL with only a single assist in eight appearances with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. At 23 years old and slated for free agency, expect Maniscalco to sign in the AHL or Europe next season.

Goaltenders

Joel Blomqvist: B-

The numbers for Joel Blomqivst (Karpat), a 2020 second round pick, dipped a bit after a string rookie campaign in the Liiga last season, but the Finnish netminder still boasts a .907 save percentage and 2.29 goals against average in 21 appearances.

Taylor Gauthier: B

Stuck behind Dustin Tokarski and Filip Lindberg on the depth chart, Taylor Gauthier (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins) showed some promise with the Wheeling Nailers but looks comfortable in limited action with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins so far–boasting a .919 save percentage, 2.20 goals against average and 5-1-0 record in eight AHL appearances.

Filip Lindberg: C

Filip Lindberg (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins) missed the majority of last season recovering injury and showed promise at time, but so far lacks consistency in 2022-23, stringing together a 6-9-1 record with a .901 save percentage and 2.92 goals against average. The former NCAA champion hopes to boost those numbers with the backup spot likely opening up in Pittsburgh next season.

Sergei Murashov: A

Sergei Murashov (Loko Yaroslavl), a 2022 fourth round pick, leads the MHL–the top junior league in Russia–in almost every major statistical category with a .951 save percentage, 1.42 goals against average and 11 shutouts in 36 appearances. The Russian netminder got a win in one KHL appearance with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and looks to be a prospect to watch for the next year or two.