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Top Penguins Prospect Pickering Faces Pro Struggles, WBS Problems (+)

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WILKES-BARRE, PA — The Pittsburgh Penguins’ most recent first-round pick is getting quite an education in the professional game. The 19-year-old was the Penguins’ top pick at the 2022 NHL Draft (21st overall) and recently completed his third season with the Swift Current Broncos of the WHL.

Pickering played his third game on an amateur tryout with the WBS Penguins Wednesday against the Charlotte Checkers at the Mohegan Sun Arena. He didn’t have a point and was a minus-2 in his first two games.

Unfortunately, Wednesday was his third pro game and probably one of the worst nights of the WBS Penguins season. The Penguins lost to Charlotte 5-0, and Pickering was in the eye of the storm.

The defenseman is still growing into his lanky 6-foot-3, 179-pound frame. Just a few years ago, he was less than 6 feet tall, and it’s not a tiny adjustment jumping from the WHL to the AHL at the end of the season. That is to say, Pickering is still a work in progress.

Wednesday, PHN made the trip to Wilkes-Barre to cover Pickering’s third professional game and to get a good look at the Penguins’ top prospect. We came away with a lot of info about Pickering and the state of the Penguins’ minor league system. Those are important pieces of the puzzle as the Pittsburgh Penguins both try to “win now” and transition to the next chapter.

Unfortunately, things are not going well with the WBS Penguins. And that’s an understatement.

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