CLEVELAND — Vasily Ponomarev was insistent.
On Monday, in the hallway outside the visiting dressing room of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, a reporter thanked him for an interview, and Ponomarev responded with a suggestion.
“I hope next time you ask me about my number 11!” Ponomarev boomed, referring to the new jersey number he adopted after joining the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins by way of a trade March 7.
OK, what’s up with number 11?
What followed was a brief history lesson of the earliest days of the Pittsburgh Penguins as well as a display of candor mixed with charm.
“The first season for the Pittsburgh Penguins, it was 1967,” the 22-year-old Ponomarev said authoritatively. “Happy for me, I (played) for the Chicago Wolves for three years with a perfect guy, Gene Ubriaco (the Wolves’ director of hockey operations). He played in the first season for the (Penguins). We’re close friends right now. We’re always on the phone.
“When I went from Chicago, he texted me (to) take number 11. ‘I played with number 11 in 1967.’ ”
It was in those digits that Ponomarev scored his first goal as an employee of the Penguins organization. During Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s 5-2 road win against the Cleveland Monsters on Monday, Ponomarev tipped a point shot by defenseman Jack Rathbone for what proved to be the winning score during the second period.
Bonesy with a missile from the blue line! pic.twitter.com/TlbZboq5sY
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) March 19, 2024
The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired Ponomarev from the Carolina Hurricanes just before the NHL’s trade deadline earlier this month in a move that was less than popular with fans and even incumbents on the roster as All-Star forward Jake Guentzel and spare defenseman Ty Smith were sent to Carolina.
Ponomarev was part of a bundle of assets that came from the Hurricanes along with NHL forward Michael Bunting as well as fellow forward prospects Ville Koivunen and Cruz Lucius along with two conditional draft picks.
Of the prospects, Ponomarev is the most NHL-ready because he already has played in the NHL. The Hurricanes recalled him in for a pair of games. In his debut, he tallied a goal (on his first shot) and an assist in a 6-2 road win against the Washington Capitals on Jan. 5 at Capital One Arena.
Carolina goal!
Scored by Vasily Ponomarev with 00:59 remaining in the 3rd period.
Assisted by Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
Washington: 2
Carolina: 6#CARvsWSH#ALLCAPS#CauseChaospic.twitter.com/R65W2kEPtw— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 6, 2024
Two days later, he was sent back to the AHL and stayed there until the Penguins acquired him.
The effervescent Ponomarev has plenty of stories to share, even about how the trade unfolded from his perspective.
“First of all, I was so, so surprised,” Ponomarev said. “I never (saw) anything in the news that I’m supposed to be traded to anywhere, not particularly Pittsburgh. My agent told me that everything is fine. At 10 (p.m.) I fell asleep, then my roommate (forward) Max Comtois comes around 11:30 and started to yell at me, ‘Wake up! Wake up! You got traded!’
“I woke up and I looked (at) my phone, I got two missed calls. That’s how I (learned) I got trade.”
What followed was a 10-hour drive from Chicago to Northeast Pennsylvania. Ponomarev — as something of a multipotentialite — listened to podcasts on religion and history during the transit and claimed he only made two stops en route to Wilkes-Barre.
His journey from Russia to professional hockey has had unique layovers in several places, however.
A native of Moscow, Ponomarev opted to join the Shawinigan Cataractes of what was then known as the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (which recently changed its name to the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League).
Such a move isn’t rare for Europeans with legitimate aspirations of reaching the NHL. It helps them acclimate to the style of hockey played on the smaller rinks in this continent.
But for Russians specifically, it’s not a typical decision, especially given the lure of playing for significant salaries that can be offered in that country’s Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) to say nothing of the politics revolving around the sport there.
For Ponomarev, moving to Shawinigan was necessary for him to realize his dreams.
“You know your goal in your life, (the) target,” said Ponomarev, 22. “You want to play in the NHL. (Many do) not (do it) this way, (and they) struggle if they want to go to the NHL. Or they want to make some money in Russia then go to the NHL or maybe they just want to play in Russia.
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“I knew my goal was to play in (the) NHL and not just play (as) a third- or fourth-liner.”
After posting 49 points (18 goals, 31 assists) in 57 games with Shawinigan in the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season, Ponomarev (whose name is pronounced, “vah-SIH-lee paw-noh-MAIR-ehv”) was a second-round pick (No. 53 overall) of the Hurricanes in the 2020 draft.
He spent a second season with Shawinigan in 2020-21, also limited by the pandemic. Serving as an alternate captain, he tallied 38 points (10 goals, 28 assists) in 33 games.
Une belle pièce de jeu de Vasily Ponomarev a mené au premier but d’Anthony Di Cesare dans la @LHJMQ! ☝???? pic.twitter.com/ewYbzgv6QL
— Cataractes de Shawinigan (@Cataractes_Shaw) November 24, 2020
Ponomarev then returned to Russia for a unique 2021-22 campaign.
He wound up playing for four teams in four leagues:
• Spartak Moscow of the KHL
• Khimik Voskresensk of Russia’s second-tier VHL
• MHK Spartak Moskva of Russia’s junior-level MHL
• And the Wolves of the AHL
On top of that, he managed to appear in the postseasons of three of those squads — Khimik Voskresensk, MHK Spartak and the Wolves (with whom he won the Calder Cup).
“It was a pretty hard season for me because in Russia, I played in three different leagues, junior, second pro and first pro,” Ponomarev said. “In (three) leagues, I played in the playoffs. Only in the (AHL) playoffs, I won the Cup. It was a hard year mentally. This (season), I’m feeling more confidence than I was before (during the 2021-22) season in Russia.”
That confidence is apparent to anyone who has the opportunity to make even a passing acquaintance with Ponomarev.
Chatty and affable, he is beyond comfortable speaking with media, even in a second language. And on the ice, he knows he commands a prominent role on whatever team for which he suits up.
But not without a dollop of humility.
Before Monday, Ponomarev had gone nine consecutive games without a point.
“It was a long a no-point streak,” Ponomarev said. “It’s hard more mentally because you’re doing the right things. You’re playing well, I feel like. Sometimes, it doesn’t go in. You have to go through this. I hope I’m done with this.”
Penguins management seems to appreciate his blend of bold self-esteem with frank self-evaluation.
“He trusts himself as a player. He believes in himself as a player,” Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins forward coach J.D. Forrest said. “He has a reason to. He’s a pretty good player. He certainly helps us. He’s a nice young player for the organization to have.”
While the left-handed Ponomarev views himself as a “playmaker” — suggesting he likes to “make some interesting plays in the (offensive) zone” — several external projections suggest he will be a third-line center at the NHL level. To the naked eye, it’s apparent much of his offense comes near the net.
In addition to his tip-in goal, Ponomarev worked on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s top power-play unit Monday by hovering around the cage, seeking tips or rebounds (aka “dirty goals”).
“He’s a guy that gets second and third opportunities because he stays on the puck,” Forrest said. “It hits him in the shin pad, and it goes to his stick. Someone tries to take it, and he takes it right back. … He’s got a pretty good skill set to go along with it. That’s what we notice the most with him the most right now. He just sticks to the play, sticks to it, sticks to it. He’s pretty brave in those areas.”
Ponomarev’s estimated time of arrival for the Penguins’ NHL roster is to be determined. President of hockey operations Kyle Dubas suggested Ponomarev could earn a recall before the regular season is over. Forrest notes Ponomarev is still learning the organization’s system.
“We play different than what he’s used to (with the Wolves),” Forrest said. “He’s doing a great job of picking that up as it goes. With the course of the last few games here, he has to think less out there because he knows what he’s supposed to do without thinking about it because he knows what he’s supposed to do without thinking about it. The more that we get through those hurdles of little ins and outs of the system, it’s going to release him to play even more confident with less thinking.”
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Ponomarev thinks he has a pretty good role model within the Penguins organization to mold his style of play around.
And, fascinatingly, he cites a baseball film in explaining things.
“My favorite player was Sidney Crosby,” Ponomarev said. “Some guys are asking why it’s not (fellow Russian Evgeni Malkin). He’s a different-sized player compared to me. You can’t play the same kind of (way Malkin) is playing. It’s like the ‘Moneyball’ movie. (Some teams) can’t build their team like a rich team. That’s like me. I can’t play like (Malkin). I have to compare myself (to) a guy that’s like my height and weight.”
Ponomarev is 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds. Crosby is listed at 5-11 and 200 pounds.
Malkin towers over each of them at 6-3 and 195 pounds.
Born in 2002, Ponomarev grew up as part of a worldwide generation of hockey fans who watched Crosby compete against Russian superstar Alex Ovechkin.
While other players might have assumed the mantle as the best in the world in recent years, Crosby and Ovechkin are still seen as the icons of the sport in Russia by Ponomarev’s account.
“I’m pretty sure (Edmonton Oilers forward Connor) McDavid and (Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan) MacKinnon are playing at a different level,” Ponomarev said. “But (Ovechkin) and Sidney, they’re ‘NHL.’ They’re what (the) NHL looks like right now. Maybe in the future, it’s going to be like MacKinnon and McDavid. But right now, it’s Sidney and (Ovechkin) that (are) stars that represent the NHL.”
Crosby and Ovechkin squared off in the first NHL contest Ponomarev ever saw in person.
In April of 2017, as a 15-year-old, Ponomarev came to Philadelphia to play for Russia in the World Selects Invitational tournament. On an off day, he traveled two-plus hours to the south to Washington to see Game 1 of a second-round playoff series between Crosby’s Penguins and Ovechkin’s Capitals in what was then called Verizon Center.
Crosby scored twice, and Ovechkin tallied one goal as the Penguins claimed a 3-2 win in front of Ponomarev who experienced a profound moment in his life at the rink where he eventually would make his NHL debut.
“You know, that’s really important because two NHL stars on the ice, and they’re playing,” Ponomarev said. “That was my first (NHL) game that I attended. I was so happy. It’s way different from (the) KHL because (the) game is so different. Maybe (the) crowd and everything around the ice is very similar. But the game, it’s different.
“When I made my debut in the same rink, I can’t explain how happy I was.”
So far, Ponomarev seems fairly happy in his still-brief tenure with his new team.
But he’s far from satisfied.
And he’s not afraid to speak his mind as to his aspirations.
“My goal is to play,” Ponomarev said. “Make plays and push my team for it (as a) top-six forward (and) help team win the (Stanley) Cup.”
Note: Forward Jonathan Gruden was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Wednesday. … The Pittsburgh Penguins did not practice Wednesday because of a scheduled day off.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.