3 Days Into Camp ...

3 days into training camp on-ice workouts and here are the team storylines ..

- The Penguins are already set to play their first exhibition game against Tampa Bay tonight at Mellon Arena. It appears as if Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts didn't make the trip for the Lightning, but No. 1 overall draftpick Steven Stamkos did. Among the Penguins' bubble players, Ryan Stone and Pittsburgh native Bill Thomas will be in the lineup tonight. I'm anxious to see what Thomas can do out there.

- With the exception of one player, all of the promising prospects in the organization -- Luca Caputi, Dustin Jeffrey, Kevein Veilleux, Casey Pierro-Zabotel, and Alex Grant -- all were already returned to their junior teams or the baby Penguins. The Penguins made their first cuts yesterday. In Caputi's case, he seems to have been the victim of a shorter camp and a hip injury that didn't give him a meaningful chance to show what he can do. The one prospect who remains with the team right now, not surprisingly, is defenseman Alex Goligoski.

- Rob Scuderi hasn't been practicing for the last 2 days due to injury. This can't help his efforts to ensure his spot on the team.

- New free agent acquisition Miroslav Satan has started out camp on Sidney Crosby's wing. Both will be in the lineup and expect to play together tonight.

- Jordan Staal has been getting a lot of time on Evgeni Malkin's left side in camp. It looks as if the Penguins are going to try that combination at the start of the season.

That's the latest. I'm eager to see the boys on the ice beginning tonight. Janne Pesonen is another player I'll be following closely. I'd love more than anything for him to take Pascual Dupuis' spot on Crosby's left wing -- not because I dislike Dupuis, but because he's miscast in that role. I'd rather see Fedotenko than Dupuis there, in fact. I suppose we'll see. Any combination is possible with Therein behind the bench.

Let the game action on the ice begin ....