Before the Pittsburgh Penguins’ sixth preseason game in Buffalo on Wednesday, Head Coach Dan Muse commented on the performance of the younger players and their impact on roster decisions.
“That’s what you want,” Muse said. “You want to get to this week and feel like you have some very hard decisions to make. And I think that’s where we’re at. I think that’s a credit to both the young players, and I think it’s everybody. I think guys have been pushing, guys have made it very difficult. And so, I hope that continues here over the next couple of days.”
During the game against the Sabres, three younger players—Tristan Broz, Avery Hayes, and Ville Koivunen—each scored as Pittsburgh won 5-3. Ben Kindel, selected 11th overall in the 2025 NHL Draft, assisted Matt Dumba’s goal. Filip Hallander secured an empty-net goal late in the match.
Goaltender Arturs Silovs played for the entire game and recorded 27 saves, including two key stops against Tage Thompson during shorthanded situations. The team played most of the night with only five defensemen after Jack St. Ivany left following a blocked shot in the first period; his status is still under evaluation.
Avery Hayes has continued to stand out since signing his first NHL contract with Pittsburgh. Amanda Kessel noted his scoring ability after he led all Penguins players at the Prospects Challenge with four goals in three games. Kyle Dubas also recognized Hayes’ strong performance and its influence on earning more opportunities during training camp.
Hayes recently had a chance to play alongside Sidney Crosby in Marc-Andre Fleury’s farewell game.
“It was amazing, yeah. I mean, I got to learn so much just from one game and the couple practices before,” Hayes said. “So, I was super proud of myself how it went, and yeah, an amazing feeling.”
Hayes assisted on Crosby’s first goal in that match—a detail highlighted by Muse when discussing Hayes’ contributions over recent weeks.
“Going back there to just the rookie tournament, he was finding a ton of different ways to impact the game there, when the team really needed momentum swings… scoring big goals, big plays,” Muse said. “As the games continue on, they continue to elevate deeper into camp. So, I still think he’s been able to find different ways.”
Teammates have spoken positively about Hayes’ presence off ice as well.
“He’s awesome. I love him so much,” Broz said. “He’s the best hype man, guy to talk about really anything with. Just a genuine person. More than anything, he really wants you to succeed, just as much as he wants himself to succeed.”
Filip Hallander contributed both a goal and an assist during this preseason win over Buffalo; he originally joined Pittsburgh via draft pick in 2018 before spending time between North America and Sweden due largely to family considerations during COVID-19 restrictions.
“It was just tough with covid,” Hallander said. “Just having a tough time off the ice with my family, just finding some stability. We had our second child right after we went back. So just getting home (to) be around family friends again—I think that worked out good those two years back home—and now we all feel very excited to be back.”
Hallander comes off a productive season with Timra IK in Sweden’s top league where he posted career highs for goals (26), assists (27), points (53), and finished plus-16 overall.
“I think that I kind of grew as the first season went on,” Hallander added about his recent form abroad.”Had a good coach in Olli Jokinen that really believed in me…a lot of leadership on me…but it was a good time grow both on-and-off ice as person…it was nothing really more than confidence.”
Regarding training camp competition: “I think it’s been very competitive so far,” Hallander stated recently.”It’s been high intensity…everybody feels they have good chance take spot…”
Tristan Broz now has two power-play goals this preseason but emphasized his focus is showing maturity rather than offense alone:
“That’s number one thing for making it Pittsburgh out camp—is being able defend those top-six guys playing responsible games,” Broz said.
Muse observed improvements defensively from Broz: “He’s been out there lot different situations…it’s kind changed little bit [game-to-game] …I think it’s been good …he’s been right spots detail’s been pretty solid.”
Broz summarized his experience: “We’ll just see what happens tomorrow Friday—but yeah—I feel good how I’ve played.”
