CRANBERRY -- I don't know what the record is for recalls and reassignments in a single season, but left wing prospect Freddie Tiffels had to have come close in his first professional season last year, moving between Wheeling and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton a whopping 11 times.
When I spoke to Tiffels last season, he called the experience "mentally draining", and said that he always tried to focus on the positives of the situation.
Tiffels, the Penguins' 2015 sixth-round pick, is hoping he now has what it takes to stick around in the AHL in his second professional season.
Tiffels, 6-foot and 192 pounds, skated in the third group on the opening day of training camp, a group comprised mainly of minor-league players. While they haven't scrimmaged yet, Tiffels' line with Sam Lafferty and Troy Josephs was a fun one to watch during drills. All three of those guys play with a lot of speed, and Tiffels' skating stood out among his linemates. Tiffels and Josephs had some chemistry from their time in Wheeling, and the two-way play of the three players make them a potential bottom-6 line in Wilkes-Barre once the season starts.
Tiffels' feet made him stand out any time he was in Wheeling's lineup last season -- he was the fastest guy on the ice every night. His 16 goals and 17 assists in 44 ECHL games drew him some attention as well. He always looked like he was too good to be in Wheeling's lineup, but he said his time there helped build his confidence.
"It's always good to play a lot of minutes, it helps the confidence," he told me after practice. "But ultimately it's not my goal to play in the East Coast, but way up."
Tiffels, 23, is no stranger to playing on a big stage. When Wheeling failed to qualify for a playoff spot last season, Tiffels was on the move again. Not to Wilkes-Barre as a Black Ace, but to Denmark for the World Championship, his second time representing Germany in the tournament. He scored two goals this time around, same as last year.
"It was awesome, it's awesome to play for your home country in such a big tournament," he said of the experience. "It's a lot of fun."
After last season, Tiffels will surely spend most, if not all, of this season in Wilkes-Barre, bringing some much-needed stability to his development.
"That's going to be my goal. It wasn't much fun to go up and down, so I hope I can stay in one spot this year ... I want to be the best I can be."
MORE PROSPECTS FROM DAY 1
• Mike Sullivan gave an injury update at the end of the day, and Wilkes-Barre was dealt a major blow. Veteran defenseman Kevin Czuczman, who was their top defenseman most of last season and led all Wilkes-Barre defensemen in points with 35 in 71 games, will be out until December after undergoing shoulder surgery this summer. Czuczman was injured in Game 2 of the Penguins' short-lived playoff run.
• Team 3's session featured some potential Wilkes-Barre lines for this season:
Johnson - Blueger - Angello
Tiffels - Lafferty - Josephs
Wilson - Lindberg - Haggerty
Anthony Angello and Josephs have played center throughout their careers, but were playing wing in this session. With the Penguins' center depth throughout the system, these guys very well may find themselves on the wing during the season too. Sullivan said it's easier for a center to transition to wing than it is for a wing to play center. Jean-Sebastien Dea wasn't in this session, but I'd like to see him reunited with Ryan Haggerty next season. The two saw a lot of success on a line with Zach Aston-Reese last season.
• Each group did laps at the end of their sessions, with Sullivan keeping time with a stopwatch. No surprise, but Adam Johnson was impressive during his groups' turns, leaving his linemates in the dust. Haggerty was another guy who stood out and showed some speed. Right wing Jimmy Hayes and veteran defenseman Will O'Neill were definitely struggling by the end of the drills.
• Last season, Johnson's main weakness was his size. At 6-foot, he's not short, but he's skinny -- around 175 pounds. It really didn't look like he put on much weight, if any, this summer.
• I saw Tobias Lindberg wearing a Tim Tebow Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Mets AA affiliate) shirt before and after the skates. I needed you all to know that.
• Goaltender John Muse played in the Flyers organization last year, mostly for the ECHL's Reading Royals. His mask is still at the painters, so he wore his black and orange mask with a big Lehigh Valley Phantoms logo on the front today. That clashed with his black and gold pads, just a tad.
• Sam Miletic scored the opening goal of the scrimmage, playing on Team 1. His production in his final OHL season was impressive, amassing 36 goals and 56 assists in 63 games. He was a 20-year-old overage player, though, so he was playing against much younger guys. Not many players who stay in juniors long enough to be overage players amount to much, so it'll be interesting to see how Miletic transitions to the pro game this fall. For now, it's probably better for him to test himself against these NHL players in the first two training camp teams, rather than with most of the other AHL guys in the third team.
• Tom Kostopoulos was behind the bench of the white team during the scrimmage, in his new role as player development coach.
"It's really weird," Haggerty said of seeing his former teammate behind the bench. "We were really close the last two years and we still are, and it's kind of funny. At the end of the day he's there to help us just like he was down in Wilkes-Barre. He's another to reach out to to help my career and help this organization.
• These AHL guys are in their separate locker room during camp, not the main one the NHL team uses. It's very much the "kid's table" of camp, judging by the atmosphere and conversation in the room. They keep things light after practice.
