Upper-line RW job Sprong’s next goal
the summer back home in Montreal, where he worked out with Penguins defenseman Kris Letang and other NHL players such as fellow forwards Jakub Voracek of Philadalphia and Anthony Duclair of Columbus.
“We had a good group of guys and we were all pushing each other in the gym,” Sprong said.
No one pushed him harder than Letang, who, despite being a decade older, refused to be outworked. Letang came away impressed by his young teammate’s work ethic in the weight room.
“He likes to compete,” Letang said. “He’s a kid that wants to be the best. He works really hard.”
Sprong, like many of the Penguins, took advantage of a few extra weeks of offseason after the second-round exit from the playoffs. Two summers ago, shoulder surgery shortened his offseason. In 2017, even though he did not appear in any games in the Penguins’ run to a second consecutive Stanley Cup, Sprong was one of their “Black Aces,” so he got another late start.
This summer, in addition to hitting the gym and skating with Letang, Sprong worked out for four days with strength and conditioning coach Alexi Pianosi, who visited him in Montreal.
The extra weight he put on his 6-foot frame — assuming it’s the good kind of extra weight — should help Sprong stick with the NHL club. He was sent back to the AHL last winter after contributing two goals and an assist during an eight-game cameo and again watched the NHL playoffs from the press box.
“This season, it’s a new chapter, and new things could happen, so I’m looking forward to it,” he said.
This chapter could include Sprong graduating from top prospect to, perhaps, top-line right winger.
The Penguins say they aren’t going to just hand Sprong a spot on one of their top three lines. But it seems that when training camp starts this weekend at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, they will be more worried about with whom Sprong will play, not which league he will play in.
In a scrimmage that wrapped up the informal skate Tuesday, Sprong got time alongside Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Coach Mike Sullivan, however, was not on the bench barking out line combinations. So, while Sprong admitted that “it was pretty cool” to “fool around” during the scrimmage with a pair of “unbelievable players,” he suggested that it was merely coincidence.
He added: “In a game, if you get the opportunity, you need to make the most of it.”
Sprong is cognizant of the biggest criticisms of his game, saying he must “make sure I’m responsible defensively and make sure I support the puck.” But he also knows he can’t forget about what got him atop the list of Penguins prospects in the first place: the ability to bury goals in bunches.
“When I get chances to shoot, I have to make sure I shoot [them],” he said. “And, hopefully, they go in.”