Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Brayden Yager signs his ELC, will he get a 9-game tryout with the Penguins?

Episode Date: July 26, 2024

It's just Hunter for the Friday edition of the Locked On Penguins podcast. With Pat on vacation, Hunter starts the show with Brayden Yager signing his ELC and what means for this season and in the future. Hunter discusses what the rules indicate for Yager since he's only 19 years old. He then dives into when his ELC is slated to start and if he can show enough to warrant a nine-game tryout this season. After that, he discusses who Yager should play with if he does do enough to warrant a nine-game tryout. Should it be Sidney Crosby? What about Evgeni Malkin? Finally, he discusses an update on the Patrik Laine situation with him being out of the NHL/NHLPA Players Assistance Program.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotors.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. As playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up ALL CUSTOMERS with a boost or a bonus, DAILY! That’s right, there’s something for everyone, every day, all summer long! Visit FANDUEL.COM and add a big win to your summer bucket list!FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Will the Penguins be getting some Yeager bombs this year? I'm going to discuss that and more right after this. Your Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your hosts, Hunts or Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes.

You can also follow the show's account on Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins. And you can follow my host on. Twitter, Patrick Damp at Sundin for What. In case anyone missed it, Pat is not on today's episode. He'll be back next week because it's his turn for a beach trip. He's at the beach today, getting cooked by the sun. He'll be there all weekend. He'll be back on the next episode, which is scheduled for next Tuesday.

More on that a little bit later on in today's show. But getting back to the Friday edition, thank you all so much for making this your first listen slash watch the day. We are free and available wherever you get your podcast as well as YouTube. And finally, today's episode is brought to you by Game Time, down the GameTime app, create an account and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. So the Penguins announced some pretty big news on Thursday.

They have signed Top Prospect, Braden Yeager, to a three-year entry-level contract. That will kick in either A when he turns pro or when he plays 10 or more NHL games, potentially this season, if he is able to make the team out of training camp. a lot of people have questions about what this means overall for Yeager, and I will try to answer each and everyone during this episode today. So the only way Yeager's ELC will activate this year is if he plays 10 or more games at the NH level, that's because he is still only 19 years old. If he were 20, the ELC would kick in this year because he'd be starting his professional hockey career with the Penguins. Kind of like what Owen Pickering is doing. Pickering, he will have his first

professional season with the penguins this year because he's 20 years old. He's not going to be going back to junior. So his ELC is kicking in no matter what were the penguins, even though it was signed a couple of years ago. And we all know picturing, he's going to be trying to make the team out of training camp, but in my opinion, I still think he's probably going to be on Wilkesbury to start the year overall. So the only way Yeager's ELC will kick in is if he makes the penguins out of camp, otherwise he will be going back to his junior team in Moosecha because of the NHL's transfer agreement with the CHL. Again, if he will be making. were 20 years old, he'd be turning pro this year, but he's not turning 20 until right after

January of this year. So if he doesn't make the team out of camp, he'll go back to junior, and the ELC will start next year because he'll be 20 years old and he'll be turning pro, either starting with the Penguins or with Wilkes-Sherberry. But that said, training camp's about to get a lot of fun now, my friends, considering how good Yeager looked at Pamp last year, I know he got sent down after a couple preseason games. We all knew at that point he wasn't ready, after the season, he just had Moosechaw with the way, excuse me, Moosechaw won the WHL championship, the way that Moosecha played in the Memorial Cup, and the way Yeager played especially at the Memorial Cup.

And with the way he looked during rookie camp earlier this month, I'm going to be really fascinated to see how he looks at camp. I'm sure he's going to get some looks next to Cindy Crosby and next to Hugenie Malkin at training camp. I mean, you'd be kind of foolish to not give him looks with at least one of those top two centers to see what he can do with his release going up against maybe one of the top goaltenders on the team, whether that's Tristan Jari or Alex Ndilkevich. Heck, I'm sure he's going to get some looks at Joel Blumenquist as well.

Again, it'd be kind of dumb to at least not give him a look there during camp. But there is also the opportunity for him if he plays really well during camp this year and the preseason, that the team will give him a nine-game trial, similar to what they did with Daniel Sprong back in 2015. the kicker there is they played him more than 10 games, so they burned that first year of his ELC. And that's concerning to me, because I don't want them to just put him on the team

for the sake of putting on the team. If he is fully ready for a full 82 game season, then okay, that's fine. But if you're just putting him on the team for the sake of putting him on the team and burning a year of his ELC after game nine, I'm just not really too interested in that. Say what you want about Daniel Sprong,

and I know that trade worked out really well, the Penguins because they got Marcus Pedersen back for him, but I still feel like they rushed his development a bit too quickly in 2015. Remember, he was a second round pick in that draft, and yeah, he did have a good camp, he did have a good preseason. He looked decent during the nine-game trial,

but he only lasted for a few games after that before he got sent down to his junior team. Even though he got sent back to his junior team and played most of that season on that team, they still burned a year of his ELC for no reason. I don't want the Penguins to make the same mistake they did with Sprong, now with Yeager. Obviously, two completely different regimes. You know, at that point, it was the Jim Rutherford regime.

This time it's the Kyle Dubus regime. But I still don't want them making that mistake. I only want him on the big squad past game nine if he fully earns it. And I'll also say the same thing about a nine-game trial. I want him to earn that during training camp. I want him to be a big standout during camp and during the preseason. I want him to show the coaching staff and show the management staff that you can't say no to him and that he deserves at least a look at the NHL level.

That's what I'm hoping for. To me still, I think it is more unlikely that it is likely that he makes the team out of camp just because I think the penguins want him to bulk up a little bit more. I think they want him to work on a couple more things down in his junior team. I understand he doesn't have too much else to learn down there considering the year he just had. But I think he could still work on his two-way game a little bit, especially if he wants to be a center at the NH level. To me, I still think he's kind of a winger. But again, that's also just my opinion.

He also needs to bulk up, as I said a few seconds ago. And also, this year, I think if he does go back to his junior team, which I think again is likely, I want to see, excuse me, that he can be the guy down there. He had a little bit of help this year. He was awesome, but he did have some great players around him. This year, I think he will be the quote-unquote guy down in Mooshaw in the WHL. How will he adjust to that? I'm going to be curious with that one as well. Going into the contract details a little bit, according to Puckpedia,

initial salary, 855K, signing bonus, $95,000, minors, $82.5,000. Total, when you add it all up, cap hit 950K and AAV of $1.45 million. right now he's expected to be an RFA in 2027 and then a UFA in 2032 but that's as of right now because if he doesn't make the team out of training camp or say he plays all nine games in a trial and then goes back to your junior team the ELC gets extended to next year and then his RFA year goes to 2028 and his UFA year goes to 233 no harm no foul with that the ELC only starts this year if he plays a 10th game with the penguins. So just want to clear that up for everyone overall. But still, very exciting news for the penguins and Braden Yeager. I understand a lot of people, myself included,

are very excited about this top prospect. It's been a little bit since the penguins have had this good of a prospect in their system. And I can't wait to see what he does during camp in the preseason to see if he can show everyone that he is deserving of that nine game trout. I just want everyone to be a bit cautious. Don't throw out too many. big expectations overall. He's still only 19 years old, and I don't want his development being rushed at all. But that will do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, I'm going to go into more about Braden Yeager. And if he does get a nine-game tryout after performing well at camp in the preseason, if he's able to get that, who should he play with on the Penguins during those first nine games

of the season? I'm going to discuss that in the second segment. But before I get to that, I have to tell you all about our first sponsor, and that is Game Time. Game Time is an authorized ticket marketplace of Major League Baseball, which makes getting tickets faster and easier. Prices on the GameTime app actually go down the closer it gets to the first pitch, and with killer last minute deals, all in

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Download game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunts or Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Huns or Hodes. You can also follow Pat on Twitter at Sin and Verwet. Again, he is on vacation right now. And also, this is his one-year anniversary on Locked on Penguins. So if you want to wish him a happy anniversary, send him a DM on social media,

or you can leave a comment down in the YouTube comment section. Pat, thank you so much for everything you have done for the show over the last year and everything you will continue to do for the show for years to come. But continuing with our conversation about Brady Yeager. So say, for instance, he goes out there, performs great during camp in the preseason, basically tells the Penguins, yeah, you really can't say no to me at this point. And he gets that nine-game trial. Who should he play with?

So for me, I don't think he's going to learn anything by playing third or fourth line minutes. And I mean no offense to someone like a Blake Lazot, a Lars Eller, Nolichari, Matt Nietta, whenever he's ready to come back, Anthony Bobileje, Kevin Hayes, Valisari Pustin, yes, he, Pauier. I do not mean any offense to those players. But I just don't think Yeager is going to learn that much playing next to those guys. If you want to see what he can truly do at the NH level, and I know he projects to be a player in the middle six,

you need to give him top six minutes with either. or Cindy Crosby. For me, I prefer minutes with Cindy Crosby because I think he's going to mesh a little bit better with him. But I also just love the idea of the second line right now heading into next season. I really want to see a full season of Michael Bunting next to Fgeny Malkin,

considering the instant chemistry they had to end last season. I also think Ricard Raquel. Even though Raquel has played really well with Crosby, I thought Raquel was finally starting to turn a corner a little bit towards the end of this past season, when he was at least fully healthy. If he can get close to the player that he was when he first started with the penguins, that'll be a big deal.

I can definitely see him getting back to being a 20, 22, maybe 23 goal score for the Penguins next year. I am in love with that second line. But the first line, we all know that Prosby still very much needs another winger on that line. As of right now, the favorite is Drew O'Connor. But as I've said, 5,000 times in a perfect world, Drew O'Connor is on your third line in, you know, 16 to 20, maybe. even a little more than 20 goals during the season. Why not give Yeager some minutes next to Sidney Crosby

and see if the two can cook together and see if Yeager can use his release to his advantage? There's a reason why Yeager had one of the five best releases during his draft class. That thing is wicked. You saw it on full display during his run in the WHL, especially in the playoffs, how he led Mooshaw to the WHL championship

and during the Memorial Cup, he was awesome. He continues to work on his shot. It's a beautiful thing. And I want to see what he would be able to do at the NHL level next to someone like Sandy Crosby, who is still one of the best playmakers in the league. And also, I think Yeager's playmaking ability could make a big impact on that line.

He's really worked on that over the last couple of years. His numbers have gone up, especially this past season. He's really turned into a strong playmaker in his own right. So maybe getting to see him set up Cindy Crosby for some chances, maybe even setting up Brian Rust for his chances, considering how good a finisher rust has been at the antel level. I think that's also really intriguing to me. You can move Rust to the left wing if you want to.

Put Yeager on the right wing. You could flip-flop them. Then just interchange them any way you want, I think, in my opinion. And throw him to the wolves, so to speak. I really think that would be the penguin's best interest if he does get that nine-game trial to see if he's, truly ready for NHL minutes. I still think overall for Yeager at the NHL level,

he projects more to me as a winger than a center, just because I still think he needs some more work with his two-way game. I don't think it's all the way there yet. If he's able to do that, maybe down at junior for this year and be a bit better defensively, I'll be a bit more comfortable with him at center for being a full-time NHLer. But right now I see him more as a winger, especially considering the amount of offense he's been able to put

up in the WHL. But if the Penguins are dead set at the end of camp in the preseason on giving him a look for nine games, you have to put him with Cindy Crosby and see if you can get some good offense going there. I'll be really curious to see what the underlying numbers would look like with Yeager on a line with Crosby and potentially Rust. You could also flip-flop line mates as well. Maybe if you want to put Raquel up there, that would make sense at two for a time,

even though, again, I still think Raquel meshes a bit more with Malkin right now. overall compared to Crosby. So that's what I'm looking at in terms of a nine-game trial for Yeager. Again, folks, I am really excited for training camp this year. This is going to be one of the biggest storylines, I think, during camp. Can Yeager blow everyone away at camp in the preseason and earn his spot on the team for maybe not just nine games, but for a full season? I still think that that'd be wishful thinking.

I think still he's a year away. he is going to be a very good NHLer. I'm convinced of that. I don't think he's going to be a 90 to 100 point player, but I think he has the ability to at least be a player that scores, you know, 50, 55, 60 plus points at the NHL level overall, maybe even more if he's able to, you know, get that boom level of production, I think for himself.

But for ELCs in general, I'm excited because I love when you see a a team getting good quality production for cheap when a player is on an ELC. This is a very loose apples to apples comparison. I kind of compare it to, for example, NFL rookie quarterbacks because those rookie quarterbacks, they're not getting that much money. They're giving you great production, but those teams are able to build a lot better around them just because you're not giving a quarterback 45 to 50 million a year like you're seeing so many teams do right now.

some of these teams are so cap-strapped by quarterbacks that they have to make some really tough decisions. With the Penguins, they'll be able to surround Yeager with a lot more talent during his ELC. And also towards the end of it, the big three will be retired. That opens up more money, even if Yeager does get his payday, which he will. It's not going to be like, you know, Austin Matthews level or anything like that. He'll be getting a big raise once he's at the end of his ELC. But still, I love when teams get cheap, quality, good production.

on an ELC. I absolutely love that. But I think that will do it for the second segment of today's show. Coming up in the final segment, Patrick Linae is now officially available for trade after being cleared from the NHL and NHLPA player assistance program. Will the Penguins come calling? I'm going to discuss that a little bit to end the show.

But before we get to that, I have to tell you all about our next sponsor. And that is Fandul. I love sports. I love them so much that I never want them to stop. But as the playoffs swine down, we get fewer games. sports aren't sporting like I want them to, but Fandall lets me keep the sports going whenever I want. All I have to do is open the app and dream up bets any time I'm in the mood. In this summer, Fandle is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily. That's right. There is something

for everyone every day all summer long. So head on over to fandual.com and start making the most out of your summer. That's Fandle, the official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball. All right, we're back to this episode of the Locktime Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, and you can follow my co-host on Twitter, Patrick Gamp at Syndham for Wet. So the NHL world got some good news on Friday as according to Elliott Friedman, he says that Patrick Linae has been cleared to return from the NHL and NHL PA player assistance program. That is outstanding news, considering everything he has been through over the last year. That said, he is still recovering from shoulder surgery,

so he's still a bit banged up. But he also notes that teams that are interested in acquiring him via trade have been told they can contact line A whenever they want and see if he's interested. So the blue jackets and line A kind of have to decide how to proceed from there. Pat and I have discussed Linae quite a bit on the show overall. I'll continue to say that I think he is at least worth checking into for the penguins. I understand that he is not everyone's cup of tea, especially with how he plays defensively. I know some people kind of question sometimes his effort level on the ice. But you know what that kind of reminds me of a little bit, my friends?

kind of like Phil Kessel in a way. And I don't think Linae is going to be like a Phil Kessel acquisition for the Penguins, but the critiques that you see about him are similar to what some people said about Phil Kessel. Now, the contract, that's the biggest thing for me when it comes to Lina. And he makes $8.7 million for the next couple of seasons until he's a UFA in 2026. I don't know. That's going to be tough to swallow for the penguins. Even if you're able to get the jackets to retain, it's still going to be tough.

when you look at the penguins cap situation overall, they're going to have to send money out for that trade to work. I know Aaron Ports Line said this week that the jackets are kind of looking for some picks or prospects for Line A. Definitely says to me that they're trying to dump most of that salary. Again, I don't know if the Penguins are going to be able to take on all of his salary considering their salary cap situation right now. I think for the Penguins,

it makes more sense as a hockey trade compared to picks and prospects. And also, that goes against what Kyle Dubus has been doing ever since the trade deadline. He's been wanting to stock up on picks and prospects to do this quote unquote re-bolt on the fly. I don't think he wants to trade a good chunk of those to try and get Lainey for the next couple of years. I think if he's able to make a hockey trade, that makes more sense. But I just don't think Dubus is going to look to trade a good chunk of the picks and prospects that he's accumulated over the last several months at this point for someone like Lainey. I do think he would have a place in the lineup, obviously in the top six, I think, for the penguins.

if they're able to acquire him. Having him play next to Crosby or Malkin would be a lot of fun seeing Linae finish chances on a Crosby line would be pretty cool considering the level that he's played at throughout his career. I mean, he was great in Winnipeg for a few years. Obviously, he's had his ups and downs at the at the actual level,

but I really do think a fresh change of scenery would do wonders for him overall. And again, getting a chance to play with some future Hall of Famers in Pittsburgh, I think that would have to be pretty enticing for him. So if I'm Kyle Dubus, again, I am still at least giving Columbus a call, seeing if it would work, seeing what they're interested in wanting back for Line A. And if it doesn't work, oh, well, that's okay.

At least you try. But again, if I am the Penguins, I am at least giving Columbus a call overall about Patrick Kline. I don't want to repeat myself too much. Pat and I have said a lot on Line A overall, but I do want to provide you all an update on the Line A situation and how it looks like he's now officially available for trade, considering he's now out of the player assistance program of the NHL and the NHLPA. But I think that will do it for today's episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.

I know it's a bit shorter today, but that also comes with me being a bit solo today, Pat, on vacation. If Pat were here, we'd be going probably for 30 to 35 minutes at this point. But today is the final daily episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. The show will be down to three days a week, starting next week for the next seven weeks. So starting next week all the way until September 13th, the show will be three shows a week. And then we'll be back to doing daily Monday through Friday episodes starting September 16th because that's when training camp will be at least getting closer to starting for the Penguins.

And we'll be really cranking out the content, getting you all ready for the start of the 2024, 2025 season. Pat and I really appreciate all of you listening to slash watching these episodes, especially when it got kind of dead towards the end of July. It really means the world to us, whether it's one episode, three episodes, five episodes, 10 episodes, 15, or heck, every single one throughout this month. But again, thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this one. And the show will be back on Tuesday.

We'll be taking the day off on Monday. We'll be back with episodes on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday for next week. But then going forward for the rest of the three-a-week schedule, we'll be having episodes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for you all. But until then, I'm Hunser Hodes. Thank you all so much for tuning in, and we'll be back on Tuesday.