Is Beau auditioning for a future LW spot?
The answer hinges greatly on what the Pens elect to do with Hornqvist. At this juncture, trading him for a top 4 d-man makes some sense. The trickle down effect would allow Sprong to play on the 3rd line, as well as getting either Scott Wilson or Conor Sheary, both currently point per game players in Wilkes-Barre, in the lineup. However, were the Pens to do this, they would be one Bennett injury away from having significant depth issues. Many fans clamor for Sprong to get a shot in the top 6; while he passes the eye test, he must improve in the possession department before they consider granting him those type of minutes.
Working in Hornqvist's favor is the Pens' ace in the hole: Derrick Pouliot. With his job on the line, Johnston finally made the correct move by scratching Rob Scuderi, realizing that having actually puck movers trumps Scuds' fabricated intangibles. If MJ moves forward with this mentality, it should only be a matter of time before we see Pouliot up with the big club. He is essentially David Warsofsky, but better (0.75 AHL ppg vs 0.42) and with a much higher ceiling. Many of his flaws are contrived. He was thought to have been a defensive liability, but he registered an zone-adjusted relative CA60 of -2.24; the Pens were better defensively when he was on the ice. He was said to have been sheltered, but he actually faced the 3rd toughest competition of the 7 Pens d-men who logged at least 400 minutes that year.
For this reason I think Hornqvist will stick around. I believe the Pens will ride out the Kunitz-Crosby-Bennett line so long as it succeeds, with Hornqvist being the contingency plan should it struggle. That being said, Kunitz will die off eventually. Bennett-Crosby-Hornqvist should be considered a reasonable long term option. You could argue that it's not prudent to move Beau from his natural wing while he's playing well, but he has enjoyed success in the past at top 6 LW (with Malkin and Neal in '12-'13). Ultimately, Sprong's pedigree with likely force Bennett to move to LW, and the proposed line could be a good fit when the time comes.