CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Looking around the Penguins' locker room, there are quite a few players with extensive playoff experience on the roster, some with a Stanley Cup ring or two ... or three.
More so than in years past, though, the Penguins have a large number of players with very limited or no Stanley Cup playoff experience on the roster as well.
Two players -- Jared McCann and Teddy Blueger -- will make their NHL postseason debuts this year. 22-year-old McCann is in his fourth NHL season, but missed the postseason in his first three years with disappointing Canucks and Panthers teams. There's no shortage of experienced players for McCann to look to for guidance -- he'll have a Stanley Cup champion or two on his line wherever he plays.
"I'm just trying to pick their brains as much as I possibly can," said McCann on Monday. "(Sidney Crosby) and (Evgeni Malkin) and those guys who have won the Cup and been there. I'm just trying to keep my energy high and show the boys I'm ready to go."
Blueger said that he can "for sure" lean on the veterans on the team for advice, but he's not trying to overthink things. He just wants to play.
"Obviously I've watched (NHL playoff hockey) my whole life," said Blueger. "We haven't talked too much about it, but obviously the intensity is through the roof. The stakes are higher for everything, mistakes matter more every play. You can talk about it all you want, but you've got to go out there and play. That's where you really get your experience and get a feel for it."
Blueger really hasn't seen much playoff action at all in his professional career. He's been a part of the AHL postseason three times with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton -- one second-round exit, and two first-round exits. Last season, Wilkes-Barre was swept in three games in the best-of-five first round. Still, those past disappointments aren't any extra fuel for Blueger at this level.
"I don't think you need any extra motivation to play for the Stanley Cup," said Blueger. "You dream about it your whole life, playing in the NHL and winning the Stanley Cup. I don't think that's any extra motivation. I think the motivation's all there. This is the most fun time of the year, when the stakes are the highest. Hopefully we can get on a run here."
Five skaters -- Marcus Pettersson, Dominik Simon, Zach Aston-Reese, Nick Bjugstad, and Garrett Wilson have seen the Stanley Cup playoffs just once in their careers. Pettersson had the shortest taste of postseason action, when he and the Ducks were swept by the Sharks in four games in 2018. Simon and Aston-Reese made their playoff debuts last season, and Aston-Reese saw his year ended by Tom Wilson after nine games. Garrett Wilson and Bjugstad were both on the Panthers team that made the playoffs in 2016, only to be knocked out by the Islanders after six games.
It's an interesting dynamic for Wilson. He's in his eighth professional season, and a little on the older side at 28. He started the season as the captain of Wilkes-Barre, a veteran leader amongst a group of young forwards. He's now one of the more inexperienced guys in the room.
"It's fun going into the playoffs and having guys in the room with the experience that we have," Wilson said. "I think that's going to help us a lot."
Erik Gudbranson has two seasons of postseason experience -- he was on the 2016 Panthers team with Wilson and Bjugstad, and on the 2012 Panthers team that was eliminated in the first round by the Devils.
Like the others, Gudbranson will try to draw from the more experienced players at this time of year. He believes that the veterans will be able to draw from their energy, too.
"Hopefully it works both ways," he said. "I'm certainly going to be leaning on those guys. I've got a little bit of experience, but not anywhere near what these guys have been through. It's going to be a pleasure to play with them. ... It's so hard to get to the playoffs, and once you're in it you're going to put everything you can, every single night, into it. If that brings some extra life for the guys that have won before, I hope I can do that."
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins practice, Cranberry, Pa., April 8, 2019 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS