CRANBERRY, Pa. -- The John Marino comparisons were inevitable when Josh Maniscalco signed with the Penguins.
It was the summer of 2020. Marino was coming off of a successful rookie season, leaving college after three years and breaking straight into the NHL.
The Penguins, looking to bolster their shallow prospect pool through the college free agent market, landed another right-handed defense prospect who they had their eye on for a couple of years: Maniscalco, who had just finished his sophomore season at Arizona State. Maniscalco had initially planned on continuing his college career, but the uncertainties surrounding college sports and the possibility of a short season the following year due to COVID-19 led to Maniscalco electing to go pro.
Maniscalco had interest from several teams at the time. The Penguins even used Marino's path as an example of a path Maniscalco could follow in their pitch.
“Right away, (then-director of player development) Scott Young, the first thing he said to me was ‘Just look at John Marino,'” Maniscalco told me in a phone interview after he signed. “I think just the fact that they’ve had success with college free agents making an impact right away, that makes me bat an eye and look further into what’s going on.”
Maniscalco's foray into professional hockey didn't exactly follow the same path that Marino took. He only played in eight of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's 32 games that season, spending much of the year as a healthy scratch and focusing on improving the parts of his game that he could in practice.
The Penguins sent Maniscalco to Wheeling in the ECHL last season. He spent almost the entirety of the season there, aside from a two-game stint in Wilkes-Barre when the AHL club had a number of holes to fill on the blue line due to COVID. He had a strong season with the Nailers and made strides in his development that he's hoping will lead to him becoming an AHL regular this year.
Maniscalco found success in college as a puck-moving, offensive defenseman. He names offensive defenseman like John Carlson, Kris Letang, John Klingberg, and Seth Jones as players he likes to watch and try to emulate on the ice. He had no issues racking up the points at the ECHL level, scoring 17 goals and 36 assists in 64 games to lead the team's defensemen in scoring, and finish No. 3 overall in team scoring.
The Penguins like seeing that kind of production from Maniscalco, but it's not going to earn him a regular spot in Wilkes-Barre's lineup. The points don't come as easily in the AHL, and other parts of his game need to be stronger in order for him to still contribute to the lineup.
"For us with Mani, his role changes a little bit when he comes to Wilkes-Barre," head coach J.D. Forrest told me when I asked what Maniscalco needs to do to become an AHL regular. "So we just have to make sure we're seeing growth in that area. ... We like what Mani can bring if he can continue to develop his awareness defensively so that he doesn't rely so much on his offense when he's with us. That's going to be a big step for him."
A part of Maniscalco's game that the team wants him to develop and rely more on is his physicality. They want him to really utilize his 6-foot-2, 205-pound frame, and that's been the message the coaching staff has communicated with him throughout camp so far.
"They just want to see me bring physical, being just a good, hard-playing, physical, two-way defenseman," Maniscalco told me. "I feel like a lot of the stuff I want to work on comes from just the mental side of it, having a little more physical presence and an attitude like that going into the games."
While the offensive production in Wheeling was a nice bonus, it was those parts of Maniscalco's game that he was trying to hone over the last year at that level. Being in Wheeling also provided him the opportunity to adjust to a professional schedule with games occurring more frequently than in college, where teams only play twice a week.
"You know, I thought it would be a little bit easier," he said of the experience. "But, playing 60, 70 games in a year, it's a lot to manage. Sometimes you're playing three, four games in a week. It can be a lot to just learn how to manage that, be conservative know when to maybe rush the puck, just how to manage the game and stuff like that. It was good, it was definitely a big learning experience. I feel like I learned a lot and developed a lot."
Being able to play top-pairing minutes, play on the power play and penalty kill with Wheeling was also just a huge boost to Maniscalco's confidence, especially after not seeing the ice much at all for games in his rookie year.
"It's good to feel the puck and be looked to in all situations," Maniscalco said. "Coach (Derek) Army and (assistant) coach (Ryan) Kuwabara down there did a fantastic job with me, I have all the praise in the world for them."
Maniscalco seems ready to take that next step in his development and become an AHL regular, though there is some tough competition for a limited number of spots. Wilkes-Barre is getting two strong incoming right-handed defensemen in prospects Jack St. Ivany out of Boston College and Colin Swoyer out of Michigan Tech. Right-handed defenseman Taylor Fedun, Wilkes-Barre's captain and an 11-year pro, is returning. Left-handed veteran Xavier Ouellet was added in free agency. One or more of the young defensemen in NHL training camp -- like Ty Smith or P.O Joseph, both lefties -- could end up in the AHL due to the current depth on the NHL roster. There is a strong crop of AHL-contracted defensemen who will be pushing for spots, a group that includes the returning right-handed Mitch Reinke, and left-handed Chris Ortiz, Jon Lizotte, and Clay Hanus.
"He'll push for a spot," Forrest said of Maniscalco. "But it's going to be challenging with our D corps, we have some good D."
Maniscalco knows how tough that competition will be in Wilkes-Barre's training camp, and he's up for the challenge.
"Nothing's given and everything's earned," he said. "I'll just take it day-by-day and put in the work and see where I end up."
MORE FROM ROOKIE CAMP
• The Penguins' 2022 first-round pick Owen Pickering is absent from the on-ice sessions with an upper-body injury but is still attending the off-ice sessions. Their 2022 sixth-round pick, Nolan Collins, is participating in the on-ice sessions in a non-contact capacity as he recovers from an upper-body injury. Their 2022 fifth-round pick, Zam Plante, isn't listed on the roster but I saw him at the rink. He had shoulder surgery before the draft and is sidelined until sometime in October.
• The lines and pairing used Friday were the same as in Day 1:
Filip Hallander - Sam Poulin - Valtteri Puustinen
Nathan Legare - Sam Houde - Lukas Svejkovsky
Raivis Ansons - Jonathan Gruden - Kyle Olson
Ty Glover - Jordan Frasca - Brooklyn Kalmikov/Corey Andonovski
Colin Swoyer - Ryan McCleary
Chris Ortiz-Jack St. Ivany
Isaac Belliveau - Josh Maniscalco
Clay Hanus - Nolan Collins
• I've been surprised at the level of physicality in these drills through the first two days of camp. There are several players on this roster (most notably No. 27, Corey Andonovski) who play a physical game, and that's been on display here:
• Most practices in general in hockey begin with some individualized goalie work, usually with the goalie coaches recruiting a couple of skaters to help out. The Penguins' development staff has a number of members who aren't that far removed from their own playing careers, and so a nice product of that is that they're able to do those drills themselves. This is Kevin Porter, Tom Kostopoulos, Chris Butler and Trevor Daley taking shots on Filip Lindberg:
• The lone exhibition game of this camp is Saturday afternoon in Buffalo against the Bruins' prospects. There are three goaltenders on this roster -- Lindberg, Taylor Gauthier and Tommy Nappier. Wilkes-Barre assistant coach Kevin Porter was asked about the plan for the goaltenders and he didn't have an answer yet.
"There's a few people ahead of me that will make that decision," he said with a laugh.
• This is the first camp for Sheldon Brookbank, hired as Wilkes-Barre's second assistant coach this summer after being let go by the Blackhawks last season. I asked Porter for his initial impressions of Brookbank and what he can bring to the coaching staff.
"He's been great," Porter said. "You know, it was difficult just having two of us last year, you kind of get spread thin a little bit. But with him coming on, now he's going to get to work with the D and I'll work with the forwards a little bit more, so a little bit more in our comfort zones. Having him on, he's a great guy, he fits right in with the organization. So it's good to have him."
• Danny Shirey and I spoke more about the first two days here:
