Dominik Simon, by anyone's standards, is having a great start to his third season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. His 10 points (two goals, eight assists) are the second-most on the team, trailing only Daniel Sprong. He's on track for 58 assists this season, which would be a significant improvement over his first two seasons of 23 and 31. He's also having success on the Penguins' power play.
That production doesn't meet his standard, though.
"Sometimes it's kind of frustrating, trying your best and the points are not coming," he told me of his start to the season. "But sometimes you got to go through these frustrating moments and move on."
Frustrating?
Simon wants to make it back to the NHL, of course.
He's played a total of five games with Pittsburgh, three in the 2015-16 season and two in 2016-17. He picked up an assist in each stint. During training camp, Simon practiced on a line with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel, and he said he felt comfortable playing alongside that dynamic scoring tandem.
"It was unreal. It's great," he said of playing with Crosby. "He makes the game so much easier for you 'cause he's always in the right spot and he makes plays ... It felt really good, I loved it."
Simon, 23, is no stranger to playing with star linemates. During the 2015 IIHF World Championships in the Czech Republic, he got some time playing on the line of his childhood idol, Jaromir Jagr. "It's, like, one of your dreams to play with or against that guy ... We scored together too, so it was like another dream came true."
Simon picked up the secondary assist on Jagr's goal in a win over France:
Simon had plenty of success in his first two professional seasons in North America, tallying 25 goals and 23 assists in 68 games as a rookie, in addition to being selected for the AHL All-Star Game, and adding 15 goals and 31 assists in 70 games last season.
He credits some of his success to the path he took to the AHL. He was drafted in the fifth round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft when he was already 21, a few years older than the average draft prospect. He had already played parts of two seasons with HC Sparta Praha and a full season with HC Plzeň in the Czech Extraliga, the highest level of hockey in the Czech Republic. "I've been through pro teams in Czech Republic, I went to the national team," he said of his path. "So I think I had good stuff behind me to come over, and I feel kind of not that young ... Kind of more experienced."
With eight assists but only two goals this season with Wilkes-Barre, it would seem that Simon is taking a different approach to his game and focusing on setting up his linemates more. He insists, though, that this isn't the case. "Probably because I'm shooting bad right now, so I can't score too much," he explained. "I'm still thinking like, shot first, but sometimes it comes like this, and I'm glad I get some points."
His two goals this season have come on power play chances close to the net:
Simon mentioned improving his shot was one of his main goals for the season, as well as his defensive game and his net-front presence. His main focus over the summer was working on his leg and core strength, as well as his breathing on the ice, something he thinks has also improved his core strength while skating.
He's not too concerned with getting that call from Pittsburgh anytime soon.
"You always try your best no matter what happens," Simon said of a potential call-up "So I'm trying to stay positive and don't be thinking too much, just enjoying the game."
He's enjoying his time in Wilkes-Barre because of his teammates. "(Fellow Czech) Dom Uher, he left me (in 2016) so that wasn't nice for him," he joked. "No, I got Lukas Bengtsson here, couple other guys from Europe too, but there's a great group in here in Wilkes-Barre so it helps a lot. We have great group of guys, it always feels good to come to the rink, they're all having fun on the ice and off the ice. They're working hard for each other on the ice. I think it's important to have good group of guys like this."
SPRONG'S SHORTCOMINGS
Daniel Sprong still needs to work on being better in the Penguins' defensive zone, something Director of Player Development Scott Young mentioned during training camp as one of their goals for Sprong this season. He's dominating offensively, but these mistakes would be exploited by teams more at the NHL level. More time in Wilkes-Barre will allow him to work on that aspect of his game. This blind pass led to a Marlies goal on Wednesday:
This has been an issue for Sprong this season, including this turnover coming in a game against Hartford last month:
TINORDI'S RETURN
Defenseman Jarred Tinordi, playing in his second game of the season after returning from injury, was a shot-blocking machine on Wednesday. Tinordi is a former first-round pick of Montreal and plays as a physical, stay-at-home shutdown defenseman. He never really fit in with the Canadiens or even got much of a shot with them in the NHL, but he's fitting in with WBS in his few games so far. These three blocks came on the same 5-on-3 penalty kill:
Tinordi's goal on Saturday was his first since Oct. 28, 2016:
He added another goal on Sunday, doubling his total from the previous season:
HAGGERTY HEATS UP
Right winger Ryan Haggerty, 24, is lighting it up in his second season with the Penguins. With his six goals, including two game-winners to start the season, he's already over halfway to last season's total of 11, in only five games. He matched his career-high in points in a single game on Saturday when he added his first two assists of the season and the overtime winner:
MORE FROM WILKES-BARRE
• Nov. 8: vs. Toronto, 4-2 win
• Nov. 11: vs. Providence, 4-3 overtime win
• Nov. 12: at Hershey, 5-1 win
• Forward Freddie Tiffels, and defensemen Jeff Taylor and Dylan Zink were reassigned to the Wheeling Nailers on Wednesday. Tiffels (sixth round, 2015), had been a healthy scratch with Wilkes-Barre recently, only appearing in three games. Taylor is in Wheeling rehabbing an injury.
• Pittsburgh re-assigned defenseman Zach Trotman to Wilkes-Barre. Before being called up, Trotman had two assists in four games with Wilkes-Barre. He was scoreless in three games with Pittsburgh.
• The Penguins defeated the Toronto Marlies 4-2 on Wednesday, with goals coming from Andrey Pedan, Haggerty, and Thomas Di Pauli (2). The Penguins outshot the Marlies by an impressive 42-24 margin, with seven coming from Trotman alone. Casey DeSmith picked up his fifth win of the season.
• After being outplayed for much of the first half on Saturday and facing a 2-0 deficit, the Penguins rallied with goals from Kevin Czuczman, Tinordi, and Di Pauli, only for Providence to send the game to overtime with 29 seconds remaining. Haggerty's overtime goal won it for the Penguins and gave DeSmith his sixth win of the season, but head coach Clark Donatelli was not entirely pleased with his team's performance. "I like our resiliency, but I'd like us to finish that out in regulation," he said after the win. "We can't let them score like that. It's just too easy ... They're a good team, we just weren't ready to come out and play."
• DeSmith was near-perfect in Sunday's win, allowing only one goal. Wilkes-Barre got goals from Tinordi, Zach Aston-Reese, Di Pauli and Sprong. Sprong was awarded a penalty shot in the third period, but missed. The Penguins were outshot 13-32, including only three shots in the third period.
• The Penguins' record of 10-2-0-1 and a point percentage of .808 trails only the Tuscon Roadrunners. They are 9-0-0-1 in their past ten games.
• Lines and defense pairings from Sunday:
Zach Aston-Reese - Jean-Sebastien Dea - Ryan Haggerty
Garrett Wilson - Jarrett Burton - Daniel Sprong
Adam Johnson - Colin Smith - Dominik Simon
Thomas Di Pauli - Teddy Blueger - Pat McGrath
Andrey Pedan - Ethan Prow
Chris Summers - Kevin Czuczman
Jarred Tinordi - Zach Trotman
Bengtsson was out of the lineup with an illness. Agitator Pat McGrath, a Wilkes-Barre native, played his first game of the season. McGrath is in his fifth season with the organization.
• Christian Thomas is away representing Team Canada in the Karjala Cup, a tournament being used for Olympic team evaluation. After three games he has one goal, which was scored in Canada's loss to Finland on Sunday.
• The Penguins only have one game this week, when they travel to Binghamton, N.Y. on Friday to face the Devils (5-6-1-0).
GOALS OF THE WEEK
Pedan, acquired from Vancouver for Derrick Pouliot, scored his first goal of the season on Wednesday. The 6-foot-5 defenseman has a lot of power behind that shot:
Sprong just blew past a Bears defenseman for his ninth goal of the season on Sunday:
Aston-Reese scored his second goal of the season in Hershey:
SAVE OF THE WEEK
DeSmith had a fantastic week; there are so many great saves to choose from. This pad save in Hershey earns the honors this week:
TOP PICK TRACKER
• Defenseman Zachary Lauzon (second round, 2017) returned to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies' lineup this week after being out with an injury since September 27. "He's an experienced guy," Huskies assistant coach David Lapierre said. "It will bring us leadership and intensity ... We are a better team with him in our lineup." He was scoreless in three games this week and had three hits on Saturday. Before his injury, he had one assist in three games.
• Forward Kasper Bjorkqvist (second round, 2016) had a goal and an assist in Providence College's two games against Massachusetts this week. His five goals in 10 games already surpasses last season's total of three goals in 30 games. His two assists are on pace for last season's total of six.
• Goaltender Filip Gustavsson (second round, 2016) represented Sweden in the U20 Four Nations this week. He allowed one goal in Sweden's 5-1 win over Russia.
#U20: Nice stop here by G Filip Gustavsson (PIT 2nd/2016) to preserve Sweden's 3-0 lead. Liked the play of C David Gustafsson (Ranked No. 77), who for a big kid is agile and skates extremely well. pic.twitter.com/2jXfW3vtEC
— Steve Kournianos (@TheDraftAnalyst) November 8, 2017
• Defenseman Connor Hall (third round, 2016) was scoreless and had four penalty minutes in the Kitchener Rangers' two games this week, bringing his season total to 55 penalty minutes.
WHEELING WATCH
In case you missed it last week, the Wheeling Watch is now a separate feature! I'll have a story tomorrow about the Nailers' Cody Wydo, the Robert Morris alum tied for second in scoring in the ECHL.
PROSPECT FUN THING
Garrett Wilson somehow got his glove stuck in the glass in Hershey. They eventually had to remove the glass to get it free:
Garrett Wilson lost a glove to the glass. Sprong tries to free it. No dice.#WBSPens #WBSvsHER pic.twitter.com/vXxakCPAQN
— Taylor Haase (@TaylorHaasePGH) November 12, 2017
JUST THE STATS
