KITCHENER, Ontario -- The Penguins like Simon Despres' size, and they should.

Anytime a kid barely past his 18th birthday stands 6 feet 4 and weighs 205 pounds, he has the potential to mature into an imposing hockey player.

They also are struck by the way Despres handles himself on the ice. He plays with poise, makes sound decisions and uses his stick effectively at both ends of the rink.

"You can see he has the structure in his game, the skills, to be an NHL defenseman, for sure," general manager Ray Shero said.

But the most impressive thing about Despres might be the perspective he has on himself, on where he has come from and where he wants to get to.

He hasn't forgotten that he was the Penguins' first-round draft choice a few months ago but recognizes that the draft was not his destination -- merely a step toward his long-term objectives. Being the 30th player selected won't help when he's trying to break up a two-on-one rush or to get the puck to his forwards.

"The draft doesn't mean that much," he said. "It's only a draft. In two years, you're not even going to remember where you were drafted. It's where you are in two years [that matters]."

Whether Despres will be in the NHL by then is impossible to predict, although few defensemen are ready to step into the league at age 20.

"It's a rough position to play," Shero said. "He has two years of junior left. We'll keep monitoring his progress and working with him."

Despres needed a period or so to adapt to the increased speed of play during this week's prospects tournament at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium, which the Penguins concluded with a 3-2 victory against Boston yesterday, but acquitted himself well after that.

He certainly validated management's decision to have him participate in the main training camp, which begins with a physicals-and-photos session tomorrow and actual workouts Sunday.

It's a virtual lock, however, that he will be returned to his junior team, St. John of the Quebec Major Hockey League, later this month because the Penguins are wary of force-feeding him to a level of hockey for which he is not prepared, and thus retard his progress.

"It's a step-by-step process," Shero said. "One is rookie camp, two is getting to our main camp for four or five days and see how he does and just kind of go from there."

Of course, the Penguins had a similar plan for their first-rounder three years ago before deciding that it would be prudent to deviate from it.

"We had a grand design for Jordan Staal, too," Shero said, smiling. "That didn't go as planned."

Then again, Staal was the second player chosen, not the 30th, and he's a forward, a position that generally needs less time than defensemen to hone abilities to NHL standards.

The Penguins are confident Despres will get there eventually, even if his game always will be more solid than spectacular.

"I don't think he's ever going to be that flashy defenseman who jumps out at you [by] making an end-to-end rush or having a big slap shot from the point or, on the defensive side, being a guy who steps up in the neutral zone like Scott Stevens and making those huge hits," assistant GM Jason Botterill said.

"He's going to play a very reliable game, do a lot of small things on the ice and is a guy you can trust defensively. Also, a guy forwards are going to enjoy playing with, because he's going to give them the puck and let them go."

If so, his future teammates figure to end up liking Despres every bit as much as the Penguins' front office and scouts do now.

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NOTES -- Casey Pierro-Zabotel, Andy Bathgate and Keven Veilleux scored for the Penguins, who finished the tournament with a 2-1 record. ... Forwards Ryan Schnell and Justin Dowling and defenseman Brenden Dillon, all of whom participated in the tournament on tryouts, were released, while goalie Patrick Killeen and Bathgate, a forward, were returned to their junior clubs. ... Training camp workouts Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at Mellon Arena will be open to the public. All sessions begin at 9 a.m. except Tuesday's, which starts an hour later.

Defense-man Simon Despres was the Penguins' first-round draft choice in June.