Generally speaking, having a key young player sitting as a healthy scratch for an extended period of time is far from ideal from a development perspective. But that has been the case for Penguins defenseman Harrison Brunicke , a rookie blueliner who has only played twice this month and not since November 3rd.

However, it appears that his time in the press box will continue for at least a little while longer. GM Kyle Dubas recently mentioned in an interview on the Penguins Radio Network ( audio link ) that the 19-year-old will remain with the big club through the weekend but will continue to be a healthy scratch.

Brunicke has now been scratched for more than five games. While that normally doesn’t mean a lot, it does allow Pittsburgh to give him a two-week assignment to AHL Wilke

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