Prospect camp recap: Tomas Galvas shines again for Penguins

For the second game in a row, defenseman Tomas Galvas was one of the standout players for the Pittsburgh Penguins at the 2026 Prospects Tournament, making a huge impact in their 4-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday night.

Brayden Edwards scored two goals, while Carter Sanderson and Galvas both added one to help the Penguins improve to 2-0 in the tournament.

Edwards’ second goal was the game-winner and came off a fortunate bounce in the third period, and he is now the top-scorer in the tournament as a result.

After taking the lead the Penguins penalty kill had to come up big two times in the third period, and was able to do so.

But the big story from this game was, again, the play of Galvas, who consistently looked like the best player on the ice. At no point did that seem more apparent than on his goal that was an incredible individual effort that showed off all of his skills, both with and without the puck.

After breaking up a stretch pass in the neutral zone, Galvas collected the puck, circled back through the defensive zone, and then dangled his way through the Detroit defense before roofing a backhand shot for the goal.

That’s just spectacular hockey and tied the game, 2-2, midway through the second period.

Galvas does not have the size hockey people always look for with defensemen, but he has not only demonstrated superb skating ability, but also a knack for being really difficult to knock off the puck.

He also delivered a big open-ice hit if you are in to that sort of thing.

The Penguins were really excited to grab Galvas with the No. 54 overall pick in this year’s class, and he is certainly making a great first impression here.

Making too many judgements off of a prospect tournament is always a dangerous game, but if nothing else he has made himself somebody to pay extra attention to when training camp opens. It remains to be seen what his immediate future is, but if he puts together a strong camp and can build off of this it would not be a stretch to see him start the season in the American Hockey League. He has excelled in the Czech league in recent years, and a new challenge might do him well.

The Penguins have not been in a position to get a top-five pick with this rebuild, but have done a good job of stockpiling picks in the top-50 range. It is still possible to find impact players in that area, it’s just not as likely. Given how many swings they have given themselves in the top half of the first two rounds, you would hope that one or two players could emerge from that group and become a top half of the lineup player.

Could Galvas maybe be one of them?

Not everybody is going to pan out, but the Penguins prospect depth chart on defense is starting to look a little more promising. Not just with Galvas in the mix, but also Harrison Brunicke, Owen Pickering, Finn Harding, Jake Livanavage and Peyton Kettles.

They need somebody in that group, and ideally more than one, to pan out.

Speaking of Brunicke, while Galvas shined the past two days, Brunicke seemed to have a few struggles on Sunday and did not stand out as much as the Penguins probably would have hoped. It is not anything to be overly concerned about long-term, but he did not pop off the screen the same way some other players did for the Penguins.

The other big news to come out of the tournament on Sunday is the news that the Penguins are expected to host the prospect tournament next year.

The tournament will also include the Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets and Dallas Stars. After the Penguins host in 2027, Columbus will host in 2028 and the Stars will host the 2029 tournament.