CRANBERRY, Pa. -- The Penguins reduced their training camp roster to 54 players on Wednesday.
Goaltenders Tommy Nappier and Taylor Gauthier were assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the AHL training camp, Ron Hextall announced.
Nappier and Gauthier both attended the Penguins' development camp and rookie camp this summer in addition to the start of training camp.
Nappier, 24, was a free agent signing out of Ohio State during the 2020-21 season, and is entering the final year of a three-year AHL contract with Wilkes-Barre. He was Wilkes-Barre's starter in the AHL playoffs last season after Louis Domingue and Alex D'Orio both got called up to Pittsburgh. He did not dress for any preseason games.
Goaltending development coach Kain Tisi spoke highly during development camp of what he saw from Nappier toward the end of last season.
"He took advantage of some opportunity," Tisi said. "He was a guy that came into camp in great shape and we thought very highly of him coming out of his college career. He's taken advantage of a lot of the opportunities he got. He got us into the playoffs last year, he won a series against Hershey for us. At his best he plays at a very high level. We want to help him establish his consistency and build his game. But we feel very highly of Tommy and what he's done, the value provided for Wilkes last year was huge when we needed him most. So I think it's he's been great."
Gauthier, 21, was signed to a three-year entry-level NHL contract this past spring out of the WHL's Portland Winterhawks and will be making his professional debut this season. He dressed as the backup goaltender for the Penguins' exhibition game in Columbus on Sunday but did not play.
Tisi said in development camp that the No. 1 strength of Gauthier's game is his confidence.
"I think he has a great skill set, great game plan," Tisi said. "He's a great human being as well. He's had a lot of success in the WHL and for five years has played a lot of games. He's had a good track record. He's shown well in camp, he has a great skill set. He's fit very well with the guys and we're excited to have him as well."
Four goaltenders remain in training camp: Filip Lindberg and Dustin Tokarski, along with Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith.
Nappier and Gauthier are the third and fourth players to be cut from the Penguins' initial training camp roster after defense prospects Isaac Belliveau and Ryan McCleary were re-assigned to their respective junior teams on Monday.
