Pens Points: Bits and bobs while on break

The Pittsburgh Penguins aren’t back from their holiday break until Saturday.

Here are your Pens Points for this Friday morning...

The Pittsburgh Penguins aren’t back from their holiday break until Saturday, so let’s look at a few topics about the team. [PensBurgh]

The IIHF World Junior Championships started on Thursday, and a few Penguins prospects will be featured throughout the tournament. Forward Tanner Howe (second-round pick, 2024) will be representing Canada, and a pair of Finnish defensemen Kalle Kangas (seventh round, 2023) and Emil Pieniniemi (third round, 2023) will also be involved. [PensBurgh]

Speaking of Howe, he was interviewed about the opportunity to represent his home country in the World Juniors and he, like I’m sure many would in this scenario, says it’s a ‘dream come true’ to play for Team Canada. [Penguins]

Defenseman Sebastian Aho has plenty of NHL experience under his belt. That experience is likely what he thought would allow him to latch on with the NHL’s Penguins. Yet Aho finds himself on the eastern side of Pennsylvania in the AHL, and while he’s in the ‘A,’ he embraces a leadership role for the team. [Trib Live]

News and notes from around the NHL...

The Detroit Red Wings fired coach Derek Lalonde on Thursday and named Todd McLellan as his replacement, prompting further questions about the success of the famed ‘Yzer-plan’ in ‘Hockeytown.’ [ESPN]

With inclement weather possible in Chicago over the next few days, crews began putting lines, face-off dots, and logos on the ice at Wrigley Field on Thursday ahead of the Winter Classic between the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues on Tuesday. [NHL]