CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Owen Pickering was really, really looking forward to his first NHL training camp.
Pickering, the Penguins' defense prospect chosen with their first-round pick this summer, was putting in the hours in the gym in the time between mid-July's development camp and the start of rookie camp two months later.
The progress he made was measurable.
Pickering is lanky, which is understandable. In a matter of three years he shot up from 5-foot-7 to his current 6-foot-4, and the rest of his body is still catching up to filling out that big frame. When Pickering came to development camp in July, he weighed in at 173 pounds. When he reported back to Cranberry for the start of rookie camp in early September, the scale showed 183 -- a gain of 10 pounds. He thinks that his skating has improved as well since he was last in town for development camp.
Pickering wasn't able showcase any of that progress on the ice, however. He was held off the ice for all of rookie camp and the start of the main training camp with an upper-body injury sustained from a hit in the first game of the WHL preseason with his junior club, the Swift Current Broncos. The team hasn't provided any further specifics on the nature of Pickering's injury, but I noticed him wearing a brace on his right wrist earlier in camp while watching the first on-ice sessions from the other side of the glass.
Pickering was able to resume skating with the team this week, and shed the non-contact jersey on Wednesday. He met with reporters following Thursday's practice at the Lemieux Complex and told me that he was "feeling good," but still "working through" the injury.
He's tried to remain in good spirits despite the disappointment that comes with being a limited participant in his first NHL camp.
"There's obviously some difficulty mentally right off the bat when it happens right before your first initial training camp," he said. "There's obviously a lot of excitement coming in. But you quickly just have to turn it into a positive."
Pickering said that he's been relishing the opportunity to get to know the staff and teammates off the ice as he recovers from his injury. He was also able to be a limited participant in Tuesday's morning skate with the NHL group ahead of that night's game against Detroit, and was able to see up-close how those players prepare for a game.
"It's pretty surreal off the bat," he said of the experience. "The morning skate was pretty cool, getting out there and being around all the big guys, trying to watch what they do and emulate them, because that's where I want to be."
One of those "big guys" is Kris Letang, who was in Montreal for the draft and had the honor of announcing the Penguins' pick of Pickering that night, something Pickering said he was "in awe of" at the time. Getting to spend time with Letang at training camp has been a great experience for the Penguins' young defense prospect.
"It's been pretty special talking to him about the draft," Pickering said. "It was pretty special hearing that backstory to that a little bit and just spending time with him. Obviously that's the guy that you want to emulate and be like, so I'm just watching what he does."
Pickering will report back to Swift Current for his junior season sometime in the near future. Both he and Mike Sullivan weren't quite sure yet when I asked if Pickering will be able to get into an NHL preseason game before he has to head back out west.
Pickering would like to be able to get that exhibition game this year and show what he can do. But if not, his limited time at training camp has still been a valuable experience for him.
"It's nice to be practicing with the guys," he said. "It's a lot of fun. I'm just taking it day-by-day."
