Gruden Among Those In The Mix For Pittsburgh's Bottom-Six Forward Core

It's not now or never, but it is certainly approaching make or break status for Penguins forward Jonathan Gruden's NHL aspirations as he enters his fifth season of pro hockey this fall as training camp gets underway in cranberry Township Wednesday morning.

"Obviously, everyone's goal is to be in the NHL," Gruden told InsideAHLHockey.com. "And that's no different with me."

While his season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins came to a bitter end by way of a two-game sweep in the opening round of the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs, Gruden's 2023-24 season saw him continue to make strides in multiple facets of his game.

He earned himself a longer look in the NHL last season and was getting more ice time in those 13 games he suited up for than the three NHL games he played in 2022-23, culminating with his first career NHL goal on March 2 in game at Calgary.

"I think with every game I got more comfortable up there," Gruden explained, adding, "they helped me a lot up there just with what I needed to work on."

A member of the Penguins organization for four years, Gruden knows the systems and what to expect at the NHL level.

Now, he needs to fine-tune his game to fully acclimate to the NHL and earn head coach Mike Sullivan's trust if he wants to secure more NHL playing time this season.

While his path to making the NHL roster out of training camp is cluttered with several other bottom-six hopefuls, Gruden's familiarity with the system and coaching staff might give him an inside track to pushing his way onto the NHL roster this fall.

"[Last year] I took a big step with that and hopefully it continues to grow [this year] and, you know, we'll see what happens."

If he's not in the NHL to begin the season, Gruden, 24, will likely continue being a leader with the AHL Penguins.

With last year's captain Taylor Fedun and alternate captains Vinnie Hinostroza and Xavier Ouellet all out of the Penguins organization this summer via free agency, Gruden is one of the few returning players from last year's leadership group - a role that he took on and embraced last season.

"Oh 100%, yeah I felt I took steps [last year] in that department and matured a lot on and off the ice," Gruden said. "I've had a lot of guys lean on throughout the years that I've learned from so all credit goes to them."

Regardless of where he's playing in 2024-25, Gruden can be relied upon to play a hard-nosed and straightforward two-way game - capable of killing penalties, taking faceoffs and being hard to play against as a relentless forechecker unafraid to get to the dirty areas of the ice.

While he's not the head coach in Wilkes-Barre anymore, former Penguins head coach JD Forrest said Gruden "embodies what it is to be a Penguin" and will certainly be someone new head coach Kirk MacDonald can rely on this season.