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As the Pittsburgh Penguins approach their final preseason matchup, the organization is preparing for another round of roster reductions. With Friday's practice condensed to a single session and the AHL preseason starting Saturday, additional cuts are imminent within the next day.
However, not all prospects will be reassigned immediately. Injuries and veteran preseason regulations have necessitated keeping extra players for Saturday's exhibition against the Buffalo Sabres. Yet when the roster is ultimately trimmed to 23 or fewer, one name stands out as deserving to remain: defenseman Owen Pickering.
Pickering, 22, has endured a challenging two-year stretch. After a promising start to the 2024-25 campaign, his performance dipped, leading to a demotion to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins after 25 games. He received another call-up following an early-season injury to Caleb Jones last year but lasted only four games due to inconsistent play. He did not appear in another NHL game during the 2026-27 season.
Nevertheless, according to general manager Kyle Dubas, director of player development Tom Kostopoulos, and WBS assistant GM Amanda Kessel, Pickering showed significant growth in the second half of the AHL season. He developed greater consistency and evolved into the reliable, shutdown defenseman the organization envisioned. This progress carried into the Calder Cup Playoffs, where he played on an injured foot.
Pickering concluded the AHL regular season with seven goals, 28 points, and a plus-16 rating in 68 games, improving as the season progressed and the stakes heightened.
Is This Finally Owen Pickering's Opportunity to Stick with the Penguins?
Pickering, one of Pittsburgh's top defensive prospects, remains a potential long-term solution on the blue line. He entered training camp with the same objective as every other player: to earn an NHL roster spot. Dubas has consistently stated that young players must earn their places, while veterans must also earn the right to keep theirs.
"If [the young guys] continue to push all the way – and it's very clear that they should be on the team – they'll make the team, and we'll deal with whatever the ripple effects of those are on some of the more veteran guys," Dubas said during his preseason press conference before the 2025-26 season. He added: "The message to the veteran guys is that, with where we're at, the young guys are coming, they're going to get opportunity, they're going to have to earn everything... but it's been very clear to them what the expectation is. And it's up to them to hold onto their jobs and hold onto their spots and their places with the Penguins and in the NHL."
A year later, Pickering has clearly earned his opportunity through his camp performance. He appears transformed from the player who arrived last season, displaying confidence and poise. He has learned to leverage his 6-foot-5, 213-pound frame, using his long reach to disrupt plays and hold his ground in front of the net and in battles along the walls and in open ice.
His skating has improved dramatically, and he now looks relatively fast. His gap control and defensive posture are markedly better. He is making smart decisions and sound defensive reads, knowing when to join the rush and when to stay back. He is not getting beaten to pucks or in many puck battles. Credit where it is due: Owen Pickering has looked very solid and sound, noticeable for his well-timed, intelligent defensive plays.
Credit where it is due, Owen Pickering is looking very solid and sound out there. He has been very noticeable with making well timed, smart defensive plays. I like what I have seen so far.
— Matt Meagher (@Fluxcc) September 21, 2026
By nearly all accounts, he appears NHL-ready. Even if Harrison Brunicke – his regular defense partner this preseason – has had a strong camp, Pickering has been better. Kaedan Korczak has looked fine in games and practices, but Pickering has outperformed him. Declan Carlile has shown physicality and solid defense in his one preseason game and alongside Erik Karlsson in practices, yet Pickering has been superior all-around. Ilya Solovyov has had an excellent camp, marginally improved his footspeed, and excels on breakouts and in defensive positioning, but Pickering has at least equaled his performance.
Who Will Win the Penguins' Final Forward Spots?
With injuries mounting among forwards, NHL opportunities have opened for some of Pittsburgh's promising young players. The problem is that Pickering has outperformed presumed NHL regulars during this camp, even though others have been adequate. He has distinguished himself among them. However, barring injuries, there is a strong chance he will not be on the roster when the season opens against the Philadelphia Flyers on Sept. 30.
Even assistant GM Jason Spezza's comments about the youth movement at the start of this year's camp sounded different from Dubas's words a year ago, despite prospects like Pickering being a year older and better. "What we would love to see is for the young guys to really push their way in," Spezza said on Sept. 18. "Everybody always wants finality at the end of training camp, that, 'This is the team. This is what it's going to be all year.' And I think there's going to be plenty of opportunity for young guys to establish themselves as NHL players as the year goes on. Whether that's on opening day or not, that will kind of sort itself out here over the next couple of weeks. We know we want to inject youth into the lineup. We know we have to. But, we have to make sure we do it when the guys are ready and when they're going to help the team."
Pittsburgh, like all NHL teams, is navigating new preseason rules under the updated Collective Bargaining Agreement. It appears a player has proven he is ready, deserving, and capable of helping the team. So what happens when someone like Pickering – who is waivers-exempt and seemingly destined to pair with Brunicke on the top pairing in WBS – exceeds expectations and outplays players who are supposed to be on the roster?
Certainly, it is not catastrophic if Pickering and Brunicke start the season in the AHL, logging top-pairing minutes, being deployed in key situations, and positioning themselves as the first call-ups when injuries occur. The training camp roster is not the final roster, and Pickering will likely get opportunities this season. Balancing patience with urgency in development is crucial.
But that is not the issue. The concern is the precedent it sets for Pickering and other young players who genuinely earn spots but fail to make the team. If they give everything, perform at a high level, and are told they can earn or overtake spots but then are not rewarded by actually securing them, what is the point?
OWEN PICKERING pic.twitter.com/xa86UudaCw
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) February 9, 2025
Yes, players must earn their spots and overtake NHL players and placeholders to do so. But when they actually accomplish it, rewarding their efforts is important for their development and psyche. It is one thing to hand players spots they have not necessarily taken with authority, but it is another to prevent deserving players from the NHL roster due to logistics like contracts, acquisition cost, NHL seniority, and waivers eligibility.
If they are not rewarded – and that becomes a pattern – it could foster frustration and resentment, which is not something you want from your most promising young talent. The worst possible outcome for the organization is deserving younger players wanting out because they do not feel they have a legitimate path.
Not every young player has been good enough in this year's training camp to force the organization's hand and seize an opportunity. But Pickering has earned a spot on the NHL roster this season – from the start – because his performance has said so. The Penguins have a chance to show their young players that the door is truly open if they go out and accomplish the difficult task of stripping a spot from someone else. With Pickering, let's see if they take it. If they do not, the potential ripple effects for future similar cases might leave a sour taste in the mouths of the very players the franchise's future is supposed to be built around.
Opinion: If Penguins Are To Let Youth Shine, They Need To Make Some Room. If the Penguins enter the season with their roster as currently constructed, it leaves no room for some of their NHL-ready youth to have a chance at establishing themselves in the NHL.
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Originally reported by yahoo.