CRANBERRY, Pa. -- It's impossible to make any major, sweeping assessments of any prospect in a development camp scrimmage.
The Penguins' scrimmage to close development camp last month was 4-on-4 with a running clock, not exactly a game-like situation. You get to see glimpses of some of the players' skillsets, but nobody should be drawing up any scouting reports or ranking lists based off of this camp.
That being said, one of the biggest standouts of the scrimmage was a player who will be playing his first full season in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton next season, and it'll be interesting to find out if the Penguins found a diamond in the rough that is the undrafted free agent market.
That standout is Ty Glover, a left wing the Penguins signed to a three-year entry-level contract this past spring following Glover's sophomore season at Western Michigan University.
Glover was the only player in the scrimmage to score two goals. The first goal came early in the game off the rush, after Glover flew up the left side of the ice past several opponents before sniping a shot past Taylor Gauthier. The second came later in the game, when a nice passing play between Glover and forward Colin Swoyer caused Tommy Nappier to get caught out of position. Glover dropped to one knee and had a wide-open net in front of him as Nappier tried to make a diving save:
"It was a fun scrimmage out there today," Glover told me after the game. "I'm one of the older guys, I'd say. So I try to lead by example there."
This was the first development camp in Pittsburgh for the 21-year-old Glover, and his first opportunity to work with the Penguins' staff. I asked director of player development Tom Kostopoulos after the scrimmages for his impressions of Glover, and what stood out the most to Kostopoulos went beyond Glover's skillset on the ice.
"His attitude, compete and work ethic fits right in here in Pittsburgh," Kostopoulos said. "It's off the charts. He's a great kid. He's a fantastic teammate. He comes in here, he led the way in flag football. He was a beast in the firefighting course. His work ethic and practice on the ice is fantastic. There's some things he needs to tidy up on the ice. But some of those qualities he has, it's amazing to watch. And it was a lot of fun to watch him score two goals in the scrimmage. He deserved them both."
Glover brings some size at 6-foot-3, 201 pounds, and projects as a power forward-type of player.
"I can play in all ends of the ice," he said. "But I definitely try to be reliable for the coaching staff, getting pucks out and winning small puck battles in those blue line areas and getting pucks deep, and being hard on the forecheck and chipping in as much as I can."
Glover ranked No. 9 in team scoring for Western Michigan last season with eight goals and 13 assists in 39 games. He scored twice in the Broncos' NCHC tournament game against North Dakota to advance to the conference championship game. Both goals were net-front tallies like this one:
Watching other highlights of Western Michigan goals, there are numerous examples where Glover doesn't show up on the scoresheet, but he can be seen providing a screen at the net-front and tying up opposing players:
That kind of net-front presence is a major part of Glover's game.
"I played there all of the last two years at Western Michigan on the power play, the net-front," he said. "That's kind of my bread and butter area."
Glover already made his professional debut last season after the end of Western Michigan's season, joining Wilkes-Barre on an amateur tryout contract at the end of March. He spent the first month in WIlkes-Barre just practicing with the team, then played the final two games of the regular season, slotting in as the third-line left wing.
It was a short sample size, but it was a good early preview of what the pro game will be like for Glover next season.
"It's all pros up there, everyone's snapping it around in practice," he said. "I'd say that the speed is fairly similar to NCHC college hockey, but just the players, everyone's just really good. There's no there's no bad players."
Glover's speed off the rushes stood out in the camp scrimmage, and that's a part of his game that he's looking to keep growing, as well as his overall skating ability.
"The game is only getting faster and faster," he said. "I'm definitely working on my edge work and making sure my skills are getting better each summer. I keep working on that stuff back home with my skill coaches."
The Penguins made a concerted effort to add some size and physicality to the prospect pool this past year, as evidenced by the selections of defensemen Owen Pickering and Nolan Collins and forward Luke Devlin in the draft.
A big, power forward like Glover who is effective at the net-front is just what the Penguins are looking for in their system.
PENGUINS
Ty Glover in the Penguins' development camp.
