Penguins roster for final preseason tuneup today in Buffalo

This isn't a pure dress rehearsal game, new rules limit veterans of 100+ games to playing in only two preseason games. At the same time, teams must dress a certain number of veterans per game, so players like Elmer Soderblom and Connor Dewar who are likely to be in the opening night lineup to start the regular season can't play in this one. In their spot are players like McGroarty, Broz and Zonnon.

On defense, it's interesting to see Harrison Brunicke (and not Ilya Solovyov ) take part in the proceedings, if only as the seventh defenseman who will get scratched after warmups. Brunicke hasn't made as noisy and flashy of a run to a lineup spot in this training camp, compared to 2024 and 2025 when he was one of the biggest subjects around, yet he looks to be in good position just the same. The team has plenty of right shot defenders and may choose to start Brunicke in the AHL where he can play, but at this rate he might not remain in Wilkes-Barre for very long.

There's no surprises in goal, where it looks as if Sergei Murashov has nudged ahead of Joel Blomqvist when it comes to nailing down an NHL roster spot. That situation played out as expected, and seemingly as the team wanted to make their star young goalie prospect the first in line for NHL minutes this season over his competition.