Penguins Practice: The Cody Glass Audition; Injury Updates

CRANBERRY, Pa — All were present and accounted for except Bryan Rust, who remains on injured reserve. For the first time in a few weeks, the Pittsburgh Penguins practice was entirely and blissfully uneventful.

Yes, nearly every line, except the top line with Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, and Rickard Rakell, was swapped around, but that’s been par for the Penguins’ course for two weeks running. It seems Cody Glass is getting an audition for a greater role as a top-six winger, but for that to happen, coaches needed to flip Noel Acciari to center, where he has been far less impactful.

Glass, 27, has no goals and four assists in 12 games as he’s shuffled from the wing to third-line center and now second-line RW with Lars Eller in the middle. Contained within Sullivan’s answer about giving Glass a chance was also an indirect explanation of why you may not see a young Finnish winger there.

“He plays a conscientious game … We were trying him in the center position, (and) we know we can play him there. He skates well, has good size, makes good decisions, and he’s shown an ability to score goals in this league,” Sullivan said of Glass. “Part of it is a little bit of an opportunity to get him going offensively, but also not compromising anything from a defensive standpoint because of his conscientious game away from the puck … We’ve cast him in a little bit of a different role than maybe he’s been accustomed to, and he’s really embraced that, but we do think there’s another dimension to his game offensively.”

It wasn’t necessarily a ringing endorsement of Glass’s production, but Sullivan may feel like the Little Dutch boy plugging holes in the lineup.

Part of the bliss was that there were no new injuries to monitor.

With everyone in place, executives Jason Spezza, Amanda Kessel, and Wes Clark watched from the perch above the ice. The coaches spent the first half hour of the delayed practice working on two-on-one drills, though based on the results, they probably still need a little more work.

The 5v5 zone entry drills went a little better.

The Penguins begin the week in a much better mental position than last week, but the standings are still a mess. The Penguins are no longer cellar dwellers in the Eastern Conference (that dubious position now belongs to the Philadelphia Flyers), and four teams rest below them in the standings. However, three teams are still between them and the last wild card.

Penguins Lines

Evgeni Malkin-Sidney Crosby-Rickard Rakell

Drew O’Connor-Lars Eller-Cody Glass

Michael Bunting-Noel Acciari-Jesse Puljujarvi

Kevin Hayes-Blake Lizotte-Anthony Beauvillier

Defense

Matt Grzelcyk-Kris Letang

Marcus Pettersson-Erik Karlsson

Ryan Graves-Jack St. Ivany

New Middle Six, For Now

Acciari sort of shrugged off Sullivan’s compliment. Saturday, Sullivan conceded he’s moved Acciari around the lineup but also said, “I think he’s a beast.”

The overt praise rolled off Acciari.

“For me, I mean, center wing, I’m used to both. I try to make my game as simple as possible so whoever I play with, wherever I play, knows what game they’re you’re going to get from me,” Acciari told PHN. “(I) just try and do anything I can to help who I’m playing with. Hopefully, we’re productive and relied on defensively.”

For Glass, it’s a chance to put himself in the NHL lineup firmly. He never got the chance in Vegas, where he was the organization’s first-ever draft pick in 2018.

“(The lines have) kind of been in a blender, so I’ve been playing with everybody,” Glass told PHN. “But I’ll try and stick to what I’ve been doing best, and that’s working hard and trying defensively to let everything else kind of take care of itself. It’s been good. I don’t know how it’s going to be; no one really does, but that’s kind of how it goes.”

In Nashville, he had a two-year run but faltered in the second year, and Nashville general manager Barry Trotz affixed a third-round pick to Glass so Penguins GM Kyle Dubas would bite. It was a salary dump, but the affable Glass isn’t feeling much pressure to start lighting the lamp.

The one thing everyone agrees on is that no one should get too comfortable with the lines.

Penguins Injuries

Matt Nieto was again a full participant at practice. For the first time in his nearly year-long rehab, he will join the team on the road trip. Even if he is fully healthy, the Penguins cannot activate him without a corresponding roster move due to salary cap reasons.

Nieto signed a two-year, $1.8 million deal on July 2023 but has undergone more surgeries than scored goals. He has four points (1-3-4) in 22 games for the Penguins.

Rust will also join the team on the five-day, three-game road trip beginning on Long Island on Tuesday, then a back-to-back in Carolina on Thursday and Washington on Friday.