Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Brian Burke speaks out, plus is Radim Zohorna ready to be up full-time?

Episode Date: June 30, 2022

Pittsburgh Penguins President of Hockey Ops Brian Burke spoke to some of the Pittsburgh media on Wednesday and yes, most of it centered around Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin., Hunter looks at Burke said and gives his thoughts on what the "deadline" part means, and why Burke basically confirmed that Letang is currently the higher priority over Malkin. He also looks at when that final "take it or leave it" offer will be in and whether it's likely that either player circles back to the team when free agency opens. After that, Hunter reviews Radim Zohorna's season and looks at how he put up some of the best underlying numbers that he's ever seen in such a short sample size. Is there a chance he keeps that up for a full season? Hunter looks at that, plus touches on how he's on a one-way deal this season. Is the team expecting him to make the jump for the entire season? What attributes would he bring to the bottom six? Finally, he ends the show with some long-awaited draft talk and gives the top two players on his board that could be available for the Penguins to take.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello there. Happy Wednesday evening, June 29th, officially two weeks away from the start of NHL free agency. We've already seen some action around the NHL, Kevin Fiala being traded from Minnesota to Los Angeles. And I'll get to that a little later on, just a quick little thought on that trade. The draft is next week. I will have a couple targets that you all should be, you know, keeping in mind for next week if the Penguins do indeed keep their first-round pick. I haven't put together my full, I guess, big board. Yeah, you know, me and Jason are still working on a little bit, but I do have a couple of names that I can share with you all that.

You know, I think could be in play at 21. That would be a good pick for the Penguins. And we'll also get to Brian Burke's comments, Dave Malinari, today. He got some updates on the Chris that's hanging of getting Malkin discussions, and I'll give my analysis or just my thoughts on those. We'll also get to Redeem Zornis season review. So that will be today's episode of Locked on Penguins podcast. It's all coming up right after this drop.

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 am your host, Hunter Hodes. We're going to follow me on Twitter on Hunter Hodes. Follow the shows, Twitter at L.O.

Armstrongsore Penguins. And, of course, thank you all so much for making this your first. listen of the day. So let's start out with the comments from Brian Burke. So he spoke to Dave Molinari of Pittsburgh Hockey now. If I can go up here, I'm going to find the comments really quickly. So this is the first time I think Burke has spoken all offseason. I'm glad that Dave was able to do some good work here, speak to Burke.

And Brian said to him, we have to figure out what Chris wants to do, what Gino Gino wants to do. Once we determine that, all the other pieces will fall into place. Right now, we are waiting on those two. That said, it might not be the case much longer. You know, that's just typical GM speak. You know, he's not going to really tip the scales or, well, he's basically putting it in the player score. You know, this is how it goes. I'm sure if you ask Chris Tang or Guinea-Malkins agents, you know, they would say, you know, we're waiting for the other side, maybe give us an offer that we want to accept. That's just that that's how, you know, these executives and these agents speak. I've been seeing this far too often over the years.

And, you know, as for being the case much longer, I mean, there's two weeks to go until a free agency open. So they're going to have to know sooner rather than later. And speaking of that, Brian Burke said, I don't think a hard deadline would be productive to say right now, but yes, at some point, one will kick in. So I'm sure many of you all ask me, what's that deadline? And my guess, day before free agency, you know, the day of, like, maybe like that morning, because usually free agency opens at what? noon or 1 o'clock or something like that.

So they probably would want to know by them, like, hey, you know, this is kind of our final take it or leave it off or if you're not going to ticket, you know, we're going to, you know, explore other trades, like, you know, maybe for like Jacob Trickwin for Lattang or, you know, for, God, God, for, you know, Vincent Trocheck or something like that to replace a Gunny Malkin. I think that would have to be the hard deadline. I don't think it's next week or anything like that. But I do think it's the week after either the day before

agency starts or the day of. And this was another big one from Dave's story. Burke said, so Dave obviously said the payments have about $23 million in Calais available. Burke said it is a very real possibility that there will be trades to open up additional space, but we're not there yet. So what that tells me is that they don't want to trade anyone right now unless they really have to.

I think if they have to bend to the player's side, I think that will have them potentially open up some more space. I don't think it's going to be what the while would have had to do to keep Kevin Fiala today. I think Billy Garon spoke to the media and said that they would have had to trade two to three players just to sign him. So in the Penguins case here, you know, they would really only have to trade maybe one, but they can also just bring both of them back. and still have at least a little bit of room to make some changes

to the other parts of the roster. I think that point is definitely being missed among some fans. There's nothing. How do I want to say this? There's no rule that, oh, well, if you want to make meaningful changes, you, I don't know, like, screwing this up so badly. There's no rule that says you can't make meaningful changes. is if you bring both of those back.

That's what I wanted to say. Some fans think that there is for some reason, but there's not. They have the cap space to bring both of them back right now as it stands. If you want to open up a little bit more, sure, that would be really nice. Again, I've talked about that numerous times on this podcast. Brian Dumlin, his four million cap, it could be gone. If you want to trademark is Pedersen, which I advise against, in my opinion, even though I would understand why they would trade him.

You can do that. you can potentially trade Brock McGinn, open up almost $3 million there. There are options for the penguins here. And for those that are maybe going to come back and say, well, you know, you can't bank on that. I mean, you know, GMs help other GMs all the time. I mean, you know, first case, Joe Shackick was, you know, he ended up signing Jack Johnson.

And obviously, congratulations to him. He helped them win the Stanley Cup. But, you know, not everyone is perfect. I mean, Chris Drury went out and signed Barclay Godoro to that insane. six-year term. Jim Rutherford went out and signed a Brandon Tana do a six-year term before he went off to the Seattle Cracken when he was picked last summer. General managers love those kind of bottom six-forids. I really do think if the penguins were willing to shop someone like McGinn, I don't think they will because I think Hectorahl likes him and it's only been a year on his

contract. I do think there would be takers out there, just like I do think there will be a taker out there for someone like Brian Gungle. So I am glad that Burke said, that, you know, they're open to creating more cap space. And, you know, again, I know they're not there yet. They want to be able to do this, I think, without having to take anyone off the team to do it. But, you know, if it comes to that, I really don't think they should be hesitant to pull the trigger on a trade to keep both players here. I mean, at the end of the day, these are your franchise icons. They're still elite players.

If I have to lose, you know, one of those three players that I mentioned to put them under my cap, I am doing it every single day of the week. I'm not even, it's honestly, I mean, it's not even a discussion. You know, another quote that I did see, you know, Burke did say, you know, we should know, I am guessing in the next little bit. We've made determined efforts to meet with and assign Chris saying it's been a little less determined with Malkin only because we have to know how much money we have to work with and we have to put this Jigsaw puzzle together.

So we've had direct discussions with the agent for Malkin, which I believe is J.P. vary, but they're less intense. And, you know, this all goes to show, at least for me, that Latang is the higher priority. And they're right to prioritize him. He is the higher cap hit. He, I think, is the better player. I hate comparing them because, you know, two different positions that you can't really compare how they play.

But, you know, in terms of how good they are at their respective positions, Crystal Tang is a better defenseman than of Guinea-Malkin is, you know, at forward in terms of a league-wide basis. And if you look at the free agent market for defensemen, outside of John McLeanberg, and there's no guarantee the Penguins assign him, there is absolutely nothing there. So the Penguins are right to prioritize Latang,

and I am glad that they are having, you know, some big time discussions with Latang. Again, someone's going to have to bend here. Two signs may have to bend to make this work, but I'm not surprised in the slightest that Latang is getting the priority. He says there's also got to be some sequence here, one has to sign and then the other or maybe neither of them will, but it's coming to a head soon. So it sounds like, again, just based off what I read there, they want to get a deal done with one of them,

and then they want to see what happens with the other one. If I had to guess, a Tang will be the one that goes first, then they can really circle back to Malkin and get that negotiation underway. But, you know, time really is running short here. There's two weeks left until Free Agency opens. Ron Hexton and Brianberg really do not have any time right now to screw around. at least that's just how I see it. So I'm glad Brian Burke was able to speak to the media today. But overall, I mean, this is typical GM executive speak.

They're not going to negotiate through the media. They're obviously going to say that, you know, it's in the players court and all that. And at the end of the day, you know, they're hoping they can, you know, to potentially get team-friendly deals for both and bring back the two players so that they can retire. as members of the Pittsburgh Penguins organization. So those are my thoughts on Burke's comments about Latang and Malkin. I mean, I got to admit to you all. It's been about, what, month and a half now since the Penguins got eliminated.

I'm definitely getting a little tired of having the same discussion about these two players over and over again. I will celebrate definitely if they sign, obviously, because I won't have to talk about it anymore. But a small part of me will also celebrate that I'll have to, I'll get to. to stop talking about it if one or both of them walk away because it is just, it is a, my mind just goes in so many different directions when it comes to discussing these two players. And I would love to discuss other things surrounding the team for, you know, at least a, you know, an episode where I, again, where I just, I don't focus on them at all. And I feel like that's just been very rare this off season. But, you know, when, when you have two of your best players of all time,

up for new contracts. You know, that's going to be, that's going to dictate what you're going to talk about a lot. Coming up in the next segment, we're going to get to Reims the Hornets season and review, what I liked about him, if he can potentially be up here full time next year.

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I am your host, Hunter Hodes. Remember to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can also follow the shows, Twitter, at L.O. underscore penguins. So let's get to one of the final forwards that was really up here from Wilkesbury during the last season. That actually got some decent time from Wilkeshire. Outside of Drew O'Connor, it was redeemed to Horn that got the most games from Wilkesbury.

So had two goals, six points in 17 games, 5.5 per natural strat trek, totally fine numbers for a third or fourth line, mostly a four-pointer. When he was on the ice, the penguins at 57% of the shot attempts. They had 92% of the actual goals at 5E5. No, I am not joking. 13 goals for, one goal against for his career, a 25 game sample size.

The Pagments have 20 of the actual goals for and only three goals against. I don't know if that's going to stay that way if he's a full-time NHL or next year, but that's a very good start to his NHL career. He is very defensively responsible. And I think that's definitely played a role with how much the coaching staff likes him. Penguins, when he was on the ice, they had 57% of the expected. Goals, 60% of the scoring chances, 59% of the high danger chances,

eight high danger goals for, no high danger goals against. These are elite numbers for a bottom sixer in the NHL. And I, again, I know it's only 17 games. Those numbers will not stay the same for an entire regular season. But damn, those are very, very solid numbers. I just said, I like him defensively. also has that very long frame. He's a big body, has a heck of a release on that shot.

He's the perfect, you know, bottom sixer, I think, for this team, especially, you know, with the size he has, again, the shot, the reach that he has to break up plays. His skating is not bad at all, especially for someone who is, it looks like he's almost seven feet on the ice. And, you know, going into this year, I think some people forget this. this is a one-way contract for him. Remember when the Penguins signed him, it was last off-season, it was a two-way contract for this past season and a one-way deal for the 2022-2020 season.

So I think the Penguins are expecting him to come up from Wilkesbury, make the leap full-time, and to contribute on a nightly basis for this team. I think he's going to be given every opportunity in training camp to make this team in 25 games I've seen from him so far. I'm intrigued by this player. I want to see more for him. 17 games a season I don't think was enough. I even think the eight games that we saw last season from him

when he had two goals in those games, three total points. I don't think, you know, that was enough either. You know, some of his numbers a little bit down, 50% of the shot of TEMS, but, you know, 70% of 77% of the actual goals for, 51% of the scoring chances, you know, 71% of the high danger goals for, you know, some really elite ones. still some that are a little bit down. But, you know, if you can stick him on a fourth line with, you know, Teddy Bluger,

who I think could use a nice balance back here, I think he could actually really help Lugar bounce back. And, you know, maybe you put the gin on there if he's still on the team or, you know, or you sign someone else in a agency to come on to that line on a cheap deal. You know, I think that Hinglingling will be having something there. You know, I said it earlier this week, and I'll repeat this now. I do think it is a very distinct possibility that both O'Connor, Honor and Zohorna are on this team next year.

I think they are the two biggest forwards that are NHL ready at this point. You know, could you make a case for Voltaicru? Sure, and I'll get a little season review for him at some point down the line. But, you know, outside of these main two, especially, you know, Zohorna, who is the topic of discussion right now, you know, I don't think there is really anyone else down there that is NHL ready. And again, again, I'll preface this. You know, you can make the argument that Pustin is.

I still think he needs a little more time down in Roak's very, but you can certainly make that argument. I'm just saying my opinion. I think it's those two and everyone else at this point. You can put Zohorna, I think, on the penalty kill. His long reach would be a great asset there. He's shown an ability to block shots at the NHL level. He's a threat to score shorthanded, especially with the shot that he has.

He's also pretty quick to lose pucks. I think that would make a lot of sense for me, in my opinion. So I was really pleased with how he played last season. I'm really curious. He's one of the guys I'm going to look to see how he does in training camp. I thought he had a good camp. Last year was one of the final cuts before the regular season started. You know, can he build off that?

And can he build off a pretty decent season? It looks very, as I look up the – So I'm looking to see how he – finished here for the season. And, you know, honestly, I should throw Alex Neelander in there. I think he's pretty close to being ready to go back up in the end. He had 22 goals, 42 points this past season in total. But if I go down to Redeems O'Hourne here, yeah, 12 goals, 21 points in 39 games.

No, that's solid numbers. One of the only, one of the few double-digit scores. for that team. So I'm excited by him. You know, Big Z, as all the fans here, call him. I do think he's going to really make a push for a roster spot. And I'm telling you all right now, don't be surprised if he's on this opening night roster and that he stays up here for the entire especially with that one-way contract. So that will do it for this segment of the Locktime Penguins on podcast. Coming up in the second segment, I am going to get to a couple of Players that, you know, I'm kind of keeping my eye on for the Penguins at number 21.

So that's all coming up right after this commercial break. All right, I'm back here on this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hon. Hotis, you're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hoddes, follow this show's Twitter at L.O. Rscore Penguins. So let's take a look at some of the players that I am keeping my eye on. I definitely, one of them, is Brad Lambert. I know a lot of my mutuals have been damning me about him saying that he'd be a good pick at 21.

You can coach him up and stuff. But, you know, if you go to hockey, you know, prospecting and you look at the full comps for him, you know, it's definitely not as, you know, and this is not the end all be all. You know, they've had plenty of their misses. But the full comps for Brad Lamber, who I think is probably going to be in play here at 21. and for those who don't know, he is, you know, he can play center or right wing. Full comps, Scotty Walker, Chris Porter, Sandy McCarthy. A lot of these players are just, you know, basically just bottom sixers in the NHL. That said, I am still, you know, looking at him because I really do think, you know,

he seems like that typical Ron Hextall-Bryon-Byrk pick, you know, with the truculins that I'm sure he could provide. and, you know, they love their bottom six forwards. You know, I think Tristan Luno, I think he's a potential pick for the Penguins at 21, though. I think he, no, most like projections that I've seen from him have him sliding to the second round. I think a lot of them really don't see him as a first rounder. And again, you know, I am the furthest thing from a draft batsbury. I'm on hockey prospectus all the time and hockey prospects and, you know, elite prospects and all those other sites.

Looking at these scouting reports and, you know, me and Jason are looking at some of the videotape to seeing, you know, who could be, you know, realistic for the penguins. And, you know, some of these players definitely are. But, you know, the last two that I've definitely mentioned, not the best ones to say the least. but in terms of some that I really do like at 21, this is a good one here. Daniela Yorov out of Russia, the full comes from him,

Alex DeBrinke, Nail Yakopov, Mike Bossy, even Matthew Kuchuk. He is one of my top players that if he's available there for the Penguins, you take him and run with it. There's no guarantee that he is going, to be there, but if he is, the penguin should take him and run with it. He's a great right-winger.

He's put up really good production in his junior leagues. And the other one that I'll leave you all with this. Lane Hudson, defenseman out of the United States, full coms for him, Zach Begoge and Ryan Ellis, Quinn Hughes, Ty Smith, and even Paul Coffey is on there. The NHL are probabilities from Hockey Prospecting.com in the 72nd percentile. that is very good. Even the star probabilities, the 55th percentile. Those are the two players that I think I'm really focusing on for the NHL draft for the Penguins.

Again, I'm going to have a big board coming up either later this week or early next week before the draft. But right now, I promised I would bring you all some draft content. Those are the two players. I would circle right there in terms of who I would. in terms of who I would basically look to pick Act 21. We did see some moves today around the NHL. Well, one big one. Kevin Fiala was traded from Minnesota to Los Angeles

is going to sign a $7.7.9 million contract. I thought the Kings did well there. They're ready to go. Alex Alifalo, Anjoupitzar. Philip the No, Victor Arvinson, Drew Doughty's still kicking when he's healthy. Their goaltending was good this year. Quentin Byfield is ready to go there. Now you add Kevin Fiala, you know, that team is, they're going to push, I think, for first in the Pacific Division next year, in my opinion. You know, they push the Oilers to seven games.

They were even up three games and two on them going into game six and they couldn't close it out. And that was a team that really couldn't score as much in the playoffs as they did in the regular season. So, you know, I'm curious to see how they do next year. Rob Blake has done this right. I think he has more up his sleeve. They dealt from a position of strength, dealt one of their defensive prospects in our first rounder. They don't really care about that.

They are in it to win it now. So that'll do it for this episode of the Locktime Penguins podcast. I really appreciate all of you listening to this one. I'll be back with another episode on Thursday for you all. And then we'll have another one on Friday before going into the draft and all of the free agency stuff in the next. couple of weeks. So look around for all that coming up soon. Again, thank you so much for listening. Hope you all have a great rest of your evening. And I'll be back with you all on Thursday with a

special crossover episode with Dan of Lockdown Capitals where, yes, we will discuss the potential of Ganyi Malkin going to Washington. So look for that and a whole bunch of Caps, Penn's talk for Thursday's episode.