WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Different hockey players bring different things to the table. Some players provide blazing speed to their team. Others are intimidators. Some are leaned on for consistent offense, while some can deliver reliable defense.
Atley Calvert went undrafted during his time in junior hockey, but over time, he started to demonstrate several different attributes that caught the eye of Penguins scouts.
Perhaps a diamond in the rough, the late-blooming Calvert is still humble when discussing his own game. However, his teammate, Pittsburgh Penguins first-round pick Brayden Yager, is more than willing to exude effusive praise when it comes to what Calvert provides to a team.
“He plays a pro-style game,” Yager said. “He gets dirty in the corners. I’d say he’s one of the best junior players at coming out with pucks in the corners, and you see him on the power play in front of the net. Not very many guys are as good as he is in front of the net, getting in the goalie’s eyes and deflecting pucks.”
Calvert is listed on the Western Hockey League’s website as standing at six feet tall and 193 lbs. That’s certainly not small, but players that match the scouting report by Yager typically share bigger vitals. Calvert is less interested in standing tall as he is in playing tall.
Furthermore, his dogged style also resulted in plenty of offense in his last two junior seasons. He broke out with 40 goals and 73 points in 2022-23, followed by a 47-goal, 95-point campaign in 2023-24. Over those two years with the Moose Jaw Warriors, his combined 87 goals ranked second on the club, and his 168 points placed him third.
Calvert’s growth and development was reflected wonderfully on the scoresheet, but he continued to learn valuable lessons during Moose Jaw’s run to winning the WHL Championship this spring.
“I think the biggest thing I took away from [the playoffs] is you’re never out of games,” Calvert said from his stall at Penguins Development Camp earlier this month. “There were lots of times when we were down, but we found a way to claw back into games.”
Comebacks were a signature of the Warriors’ championship journey. There were five instances in which the Warriors erased a multi-goal deficit to either win the game or force overtime. Calvert had multi-point efforts in three of those comebacks and was named the first star of the game in one.
This playoff experience mixed with his mature playing style should serve him well as he embarks on his rookie season this fall. Signed to a two-year AHL contract by the Penguins in early June, Calvert will be an interesting player to monitor from the start of training camp through this rookie campaign. And as Penguins fans watch Calvert closely, so will some of his biggest supporters in Moose Jaw will be doing the same.
“I remember coming into the bubble year, he was 17,” Yager said. “It feels like yesterday. Now he’s off to Wilkes-Barre. He’s come a long way. I couldn’t be prouder of him.”
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