Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Can Ron Hextall get out of his passive ways and get stuff done for the Pittsburgh Penguins?

Episode Date: June 28, 2022

Tuesday is an action-packed episode of the Locked On Penguins podcast. Hunter goes all into Josh Yohe's story on what he's hearing about the Penguins heading into free agency and the draft and it's safe to say a lot of it is bad. He starts with the Evgeni Malkin rumors as more smoke is growing about how he won't be back with the team. Are Malkin's contract demands too high? Why is Hextall being stingy with him? That discussion then goes into another one about how Hextall may not be cut out for this job, considering how passive he was in Philadelphia. That won't fly here, especially if one or both of the core members of the team walk. He looks at how Hextall isn't too keen on spending money to replace either Malkin or Letang and why that would quickly backfire on him. Hunter also discusses the latest on Kris Letang and while it's more of a positive update, it's still not where it needs to be yet. Hunter also gets into the Pettersson vs Dumoulin debate and why the Penguins look to be taking the wrong side of it, plus gets to the latest on JT Miller and Vincent Trocheck. All that, plus much more on this episode of the Locked On Penguins podcast.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 Tuesday evening. I'm starting to record this right around 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday evening right before I get ready to make my dinner for the evening. I figure I would get this out of the way. Upload it, do some editing. Well, do some editing and then upload it. We have a lot to get to for today's episode. Josh Yew, he dropped a bombshell of a report on the athletic Tuesday morning with updates on Crystal Teng and of Guinea Malkin and a whole lot more when it comes to the Pittsburgh Penguins. We're going to get to. all of that for today's episode. It's probably going to take up the entire episode. If it does not, I will also have a season review of Redeems Sohorna in what I expect from him going the next season. But to start off, we're going to go into what Josh wrote about of Guinea-Malkin first, then Chris is saying potential fallback options if both are not able to come back.

Wiron Hextall is really not doing too well, at least as of right now, and we'll get to a whole lot more in our. So that'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 Hoddies. We're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can also follow the show's Twitter at L.O. Arnold's Four Penguins. Let's just jump right into this. You know, I work pretty early on Tuesdays. I start at 9, go till 6. I usually am up by, I don't know, 8.48, 45.

I have my cup of coffee. I open on my laptop. I get ready to start my day. And that's when I see Josh Joey's tweet out. And I'm like, okay, this is either going to be a really good or be really bad. There's really not going to be anything in between. That's just how it's been with Penguins news with both of the last two general managers. And, you know, I think this update, you know, fall into the latter.

It was really bad. And Josh started out the story by saying numerous agents have told me that after conversations they've had with Juan Hextall, they believe it is unlikely that if any Malkins are turning to the Penguins. Some people I have spoken with in the Penguins organization feel the same way. He says, Hextall is willing to sign them at a certain price. However, resources says the two sides haven't been speaking regularly after initial talks, haven't been speaking regularly after the season ended on May 15th,

people who speak with hex on regular basis are very much under the impression that Malkins return to the Penguins is no sure thing. Okay, a couple big things from that. The fact that they're not even speaking on an everyday basis is really bad. There's two weeks until a free agency. I know Chris Lattang is your number one priority, but wasn't he still your number one priority when you went out and signed Brian Russ, those contract trucks were never closed.

you have no problem agreeing to a six-year term with him for a little over $5 million per year, I don't understand, you know, what's different here in this case. And, you know, the fact that, you know, I'm fine with a certain price thing. Do I think of getting him all-being is worth $8 million per at this point? No, I don't. But I feel like you can come to at least, you know, to terms that it's going to be a three-year term. But, you know, if you're not willing to pay $7 million per for him, I mean, there's going to be plenty of teams that will on the open market.

He's just got to, Ron Hexel needs to stop being cheap with that sort of stuff. I know I don't have, you know, the numbers in front of me here. And, you know, he's going to probably keep everything quiet. And I don't know if it's ever going to leak out unless Elliot Freeman or one of the other insiders do some digging. But the fact of the matter is that it's kind of laughable that will oministic to my certain price. And I'm going to potentially, you know, play hardball with one of the five best players ever play for this franchise. It's a joke. I don't understand what he's doing in that regard. If you are not willing to at least pony up seven million per to play of Guinea Malkin for the

next three years, you probably should not be a general manager in the National Hockey League. Full stop. I mean, that's stupid. I think that is a fine contract for him three times seven. If you can get him maybe for three times six point five, I think that's doable too. If you have to go a little over seven, hint hint, seven point one million, because of course, Sid makes $8.7 million per year, I think you could probably get that done there. You know, it's just, this is really bad if Josh's reporting is pretty accurate here, that the two sides are not talking on a regular basis when there are only two weeks left until free agency opens.

That's mainly, you know, the big Malkin news from this. And, you know, you hear the same people in this fan base that, you know, underrate of Gany Malkin. Well, he's too old. You can't pay him that much money. He's already declined. He's a power play. My favorite one from the very loud minority part of the fan base,

he's a powerplay specialist. You can't pay him. But yet, when the power play stinks next year, if he doesn't come back, those same idiots are going to be the one saying, well, why does the power play suck? Well, when you lose the Vgeny Malkin, your power play is going to hit the crapper.

You know, he's, Sure. Is he not as good as he once was at even strength? Yeah, I have no problem saying that. But, I mean, at the end of the day here, he still is a very good player for this team, elite on the powerplay, still fine at 5E5. I just, I can't wait to see if he does not come back and the power play does stink. What are those fans going to say now? I'm waiting for all those tweets. Well, I wish we had Afghani Malkin. It's like, yeah, gee, I tried to tell you that probably about 1,500 times. during the off season. So that's going to be honestly hilarious.

And to go off of that a little bit, those same people, that very loud minority part of the fan base, they are just like waiting for the team to stink for some reason. And honestly, Adam Gretz of pro hockey talking Pedsburg, he said it best today. There seems to be a segment of the fan base that actively wants the penguins to get worse and be bad before they need to and it makes no sense.

They will also be the loudest in the room when the team does stink. And what I say to that, exactly. I 100% agree with Adams assessment right there. I don't know why people want to make change for the sake of making changes. I probably said about 100 times throughout the offseason here. And I'll say this. You know, if you are one of those people that is saying that the penguins should get rid of the two core players, one in the because, well, they have it won in the first round in the last

four years. I hate to say this. I don't know if you have a basic understanding of how this sport is, especially in the playoffs. I think you need to do a little more research before you give your take on something like that. The playoffs are super freaking random. The last couple of years, they have gotten boned by horrific goaltending. Malkin has literally been a point per game player. The last two seasons in the playoffs, the Tang has also played pretty fine. You know, the Montreal all won. I mean, that's five months after the season ended. I don't really care about that when the Islanders won. The team just wasn't that good. You know, people will say the argument that, well, you know, what's the definition of insanity? And it's just like, that that doesn't apply

here because these are two world-class talents who still, you know, are really good at what they do on this team. So no, I'm not going to listen to the argument that, well, they got to make change for the sake of it. And, you know, you can't keep bringing the same guys back because they haven't won around in four years. Yeah, I can bring those same guys back because they actively help you win games. I would rather have those guys be back and have a chance at winning around than not have those guys back and then miss the playoffs. Because, you know, if both of them do not come back, there is a real shop that the Penguins do not make the playoffs next year. And if that does happen, I honestly, I'll obviously be sad, but I will be

kind of laughing at those people who said that they think the team will be better off without one of these two players. It's just, it's absolutely hilarious to me. Last thing, before I get to a commercial break here, Josh says, agents often find Hextall frustrating they can deal with, which isn't necessarily an insult towards the GM, giving agents to players what they want can create a quick road to disaster. Hextall is being stingy with Malkin and Littang in regards to what they want. Many agents around the league have also confirmed that Haxstall isn't likely to give

the contract links that pre-agents on the market. are demanding. Okay, hold up. So, A, he's being cheap with two of the best players in the franchise history, yet he had no problem going out and signing Jeff Carter to that really bad contract. And he had no problem going out and giving 40 years to Brock McGinn of all players, who I'm a fan of, but that's just ridiculous. And he doesn't want to give out big contracts to free agents to replace those players. What is the plan here? You have to have a backup plan in place. in case you can't bring back one or both of these players. What are you doing if you are not willing to go out and spend your money in free agency?

I understand that he is known for being a bit passive. He's patient from his Philadelphia days. But this is a different situation. You are the general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, a team that spends to the salary cap every freaking year. You have an ownership group that mandate, has mandated you, to keep contending in the Sydney Crosby era, and you're not willing to go out and sign free agents

to deals where the market is demanding, even though one or both of the two of the court players are potentially going to walk? I mean, what's going on here? And, you know, as for, you know, I'll get to Latang in just a second, but, you know, for Malkin, you know, there definitely are options out there. And I know nothing is guaranteed in a free agency,

but you're telling me you're not even going to try, you know, to go after someone, even if he can't come back. It's just, I don't know what is going on in his head there. You know, this is, the vibes are definitely not there for me, to say the least. I was very disappointed to read that, that's for sure. And, you know, Josh goes on to right here. He knows that this team only has so many years with Crossey playing on a dominant level,

and he seems apparent that he doesn't want to dish out lengthy contracts that could hinder the rebuilding movement whenever it arrives. But my argument is that it really wouldn't hinder the rebuilding movement because you can probably get something in return for anyone you sign in free agency and eat half the cap. I mean, even if you sign someone to replace either Chris Tang or Guinea-Malkin, you can potentially trade them down the road and eat some of that cap and still get a decent, you know, return in that trade. So I don't really think it would hinder the rebuild at all. In fact, I think it would accelerate it, at least in my opinion. But I just, I don't know, man. I'm really disappointed after reading that article.

You know, I know some of it is definitely pure speculation, but, you know, the nuggets that Josh did drop so far, it's not the greatest, to say the least here. But I still have a lot more to get to from this article for the Locked on Penguins podcast. We have updates on Crystal Tang. intro check JT Miller or potentially Mark Andre Flores stuff who could be the odd man out defensively I have all that coming up a little later on

in this episode but before I get to that Ben Online.net is your number one source for all of your betting needs and your sports info you can find all the latest sports developments league reviews and news including this year's and NHL playoffs and Major League Baseball. Bet Online is your continued scores for all of your sports wagering information including live betting, e-sports and scores. And Bet Online 10Net remains the best spot for all of your sports scores

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You can also follow the shows Twitter at L.O underscore Penguins. Excuse me. And I apologize if I was a little all over the place in that first segment, I was trying to tie up everything. from the Afghani Malkin stuff and just the Ron Hextall stuff in general. Now, let's get to this stuff on Chris Letang. Josh says they very much want to sign him. They believe he remains a number one defenseman despite being 35.

And given his training, they believe he can remain elite for a long time. Hextall is also aware that no one on his current roster can replicate the minutes that Latang can handle. They like Marino, but they don't have the notion that he's the penguin's next number one defenseman. They also like Mike Matheson, but they feel the same way about him as they have with Marino that he can't be the next number one guy. He talks about John Glingberg, but the penguins know they'll be overpaying for anyone they land once free agency begins. So they have offered him a three-year deal. It sounds like Latang is not interested in that.

He wants something five years, a little more of $8 million per year, perhaps as high as $9 million. I'll get to that in just a second. Both sides are only needing to compromise a bit to get this done, but make no mistake. Hextall wants to bring him back. Okay. So the three-year term I'm fine with, I think they want to have that number, be high for that short of turnout term. But I also think they want all three to go out together at the same time,

which is what, 2025 or 2026 season, I think. That's when all three would be at UFAs. I think they would probably all retire at that point or at least, you know, maybe one of them comes back, maybe Cindy Crosby comes back on like a one-year contract or something. And then, you know, if Gennie Malcon goes off back to Russia to retire, maybe Chris Stang calls at her career at that point.

But that's what at least it sounds like for me. I think they all want to go out together. But, you know, Let's hang, he has every right to ask for a five-year term. He feels like he's outplayed his last contract. He just had the best season of his career. You know, I have no problem with him seeking what he is worth, either from the team or just in general, you know, when he set to hit free agency in a couple of weeks. Now, north of $8 million, that's when it starts to get tricky. I've openly said on this podcast, I would be willing to do four times eight, five times eight for him, maybe a little more.

Now, when it comes to $9 million, I think that's a bit steep. I will openly say that. I don't know if I don't think he's worth $9 million at this point in his career. I know darn no nurse, but just went out and signed an $8.25 million deal with Edmonton Oilers. That was a ridiculous contract that he is not worth that money to say at least. I know Dougie Hamilton just went out and signed a big contract for over $8 million per. I think Latang is definitely worth over $8 million.

But, you know, if he's asking for something like, you know, eight times. eight times five times eight point eight or something like that i just i don't know if the penguins can really stomach that because you know say he does really decline you know what happens there you know what happens to that contract to say the least obviously the devil as advocate would be you know do they have any choice who are you going to get to replace them and you know i i do fall in that you know line of thinking mostly because there's no one on the free agent market that can do what he does on a nightly basis i mean point blank i mean i've been having that argument throughout all offseason the numbers back it up compared to all of the free agent defenseman

chris le tang is the cream of the crop and it's not even close in my regard so you know it's as josh writes um some both sides are going to need to have a compromise to get this done maybe letang takes a shorter term like three to four years maybe the penguins are able to get that aev down to say you know 7.7 to 7.9 you know, maybe a little less of that, you know, upwards of $8 million. If they can do that, you know, I'd love it. But, you know, I think with the Brian Ross, it's going to have to be similar to the Brian Russ contract. Obviously, it won't be like $5 million perfor, let's hang.

But, you know, if you can, you know, because Rust wanted the term. But the number he got, he could have gotten a lot higher in free agency. So, you know, it's going to have to be, you know, kind of similar to that. But for the penguins, they want a shorter, shorter term. but a potential higher number. So I love to see with that. That's definitely at least a little more encouraging than the Afghani-Malkin news. You know, they're still 15 days away from that.

But, you know, they got to start nailing these down. You know, we're in crunch time here to say the least. Next up on the list here. So Josh writes, the Hexton Burke, they don't hold P.O.J. in the same regard as Jim Rutherford did. Still, they don't dislike him. And it's time for him to become an antichel regular. to make room for him, though a current NHL defenseman needs to be traded.

It's the big ones, Marino, Pedersen, and Dumlin, and this is the big kicker. A source within the Penguins organization said Pedersen is the player that Penguins refer to move. They don't dislike them, but there are factors moving against him because Marino is right-handed, even though Dumlin didn't have a good season. Apparently, Chris Singh loves playing with him, and the coaching staff remains very comfortable with him. I mean, I'll stop right there and give my thoughts. It is honestly hilarious that I can sit here and read that nonsense that Marcus Pedersen should be the odd man out

when he literally had one of the best seasons of his career this year playing next to John Marino. I don't know what the Penguins coachies have as a whole is watching and the Penguins, you know, management regime is watching when they're thinking that Pedersen should be the one that should be moved over someone like Dumlin who had a much worse season. I understand that Dumlin and Letang are a very good pairing together. Lo-Man covers up for La Tengue's mistakes.

I think Pangar is very comfortable playing next to him. He's been playing with him ever since 2015-16. But that said, you can probably still sign, you know, a Brian Dumlin code in free agency, cough, cough, and Nikita Zadurov, that can do what he does at a higher level, especially with how he played this year. And you can move Dumlin in a trade. And I think you can definitely get something decent back from him. I touched on my Monday episode.

Nick Letty, for example, he went for a second round. picked twice when he was trading the islander traded him to Detroit Detroit traded him to St. Louis. You know, he got a pretty hefty return there. So the penguins, they will have an opportunity to get a decent return for him. It's all a matter of, you know, do they want to trade him? And, you know, you can shed that $4 million. I don't think you're going to have to retain salary.

But I just, I don't know what their player evaluation, how do I want to say this? You know, it's, their player evaluation is definitely different from how I evaluate Brian to win Marcus Pedersen, especially because, you know, numbers-wise, Pedersen was a lot better. I thought he was smoother defensively and in transition. He was being a lot better offensively towards the end of the year. Dumlin, he's never been known for his offense, but he struggled with his foot speed. Defensively, he was not covering up, you know, for some of the tank stakes that he used to do. And honestly, he just, his net front defense was also really bad, to see at least two.

And, you know, I just, you know, outside of that one glaring, error in the playoffs, game seven against the Rangers, I really can't think of a big mistake that Marino and Pedersen made as a pairing this season and especially in that series. I think the Benghlins are going about that the wrong way. Again, if there's one to trade, it is why June 1. And I am all for POJ getting a spot on this team or him proving that he belongs on this team. But when it comes at the expense of Marcus Pedersen, who quite literally just, just had the best season of his career, I just, I disagree with that line of thinking,

to say the least. Josh, you know, there's there's, there's quite a few things to get to for our final segment of the Locked on Penguins episode for today. Mark Andre Flurry, Vincent Trocheck, J.T. Miller. There's a Drew O'Connor, Tibut in there. I'll just throw that in here. Sounds like he's going to be given every opportunity to make the team out of training Cam, which is what I was talking about on Monday episode, I would be kind of stunned if he was not on the opening night roster next year. So keep it right here on Lockedon Penguins. I'm going to give my analysis on everything else that Josh writes coming up here in this next segment. All right, I'm back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast.

I am your host, Hunter Hoddies. You're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. He also follow the shows, Twitter, at L.O. underscore Penguins. So Josh does get into the Mark Andre Fleury rumors. He doesn't really say too much on this. I think this is mainly to speculation. It sounds like it's kind of unlikely. But the big tip here from Josh is that it sounds,

his sense is that from what he's been told that Casey DeSmith might not be back next season. So that means they are going to have to go fill a backup goaltender spot in free agency. There are options out there. You can get someone for cheap. If that ends up being the case, my thoughts on this, I'm fine with that. I think to Smith, he's a fine backup. But I think, again, there are upgrades to be had there. over him. You know, two seasons in a row now, he's been banged up towards the end of the year.

Some of that is probably out of his control, but when the Penguins really needed him, especially this year when Tristan Jari was out, you know, he was playing through an injury that just it got worse. And, you know, he's also been very inconsistent at times. So if he does walk, I'm totally fine with that, to say the least. Josh also has a tibitz on Vincent Trocheck and J.T. Miller. He says they're both Pittsburgh-R people. I do think they would love to offer you to play for the penguins. Of the two, if you're talking about it, any Malkin replacement, J.T. Miller is a better player and it's not close. He just had the best year of his career, points-wise, numbers-wise. He would have to be acquired via

trade. I'm Jim Rutherford and Patrick Walvin. You know the organization very well. I think it would have to be centered around someone like John Marino, though I'm not really sure if Ron Hextall would be willing to part with Marino. I think if it did come down to that and it was a potential one-for-one swap with some draft picks in there, some other stuff. I think I would probably do it because J.T. Miller is that good. And I understand he only has one year left on his contract, but I think you can make it work where he could sign an extension next year. He would probably be one of the only replacements that I would be comfortable, you know, trading forward to replace a Benny Malkin. No, I'm not that big of a fan from Trocheck.

He's going to want six times six. And honestly, Gans, if he weren't a Pittsburgh talent, if he wasn't from the city, no one would even be saying anything about them, to be honest with you. I get that Trochecks a two-way center would be maybe a fine fit, but he doesn't put up the points that Malkin does. He doesn't drive offense the way he does. He wasn't that good in the playoffs for Carolina. Just go back and look at his numbers in the Rangers series.

People complained that of Kenny Malkin wasn't doing enough when he had six points and seven games his passion in the playoffs. Go look at what Vincent Trochik did in the two rounds against both Boston and Carolina. The cries from the fans, if that were of Guinea Malkin through two rounds, would be through the roof, to say the least. So I'm not a super, I'm not a big fan of Trocheque, especially on a six times six, six point five million per year.

That's just, that's a buyout waiting to happen, at least for me. But, you know, J.T. Miller, I would be willing to move assets to get him if it does come down to a beginning malcon being or going to a different team. to say the least. Has some tibits on Ricard Raquel. I personally don't think Rickel is going to come back to this team. He's probably going to want...

I think it was being a rumor that he wants a four-year four times four, four times four-point-five, and a little over that. I touched on this on my Monday episode. I think 4.5 is a little too steep for him considering where he is at this stage in his career. I don't think he's ever going to score 30 again. Maybe he scores 20 for you next year.

You know, is he, you know, can he do that for the next four years, considering where he is aging growth-wise? I'm a little bit skeptical with that. And the funny thing is, you know, Josh writes, the family of sports group, they're not interested in any kind of rebuild. This is an ownership group that wants to win right now, expect plenty of transactions this summer.

Yet that goes against kind of what Josh were reporting earlier in the article, where he was saying that Hextall is kind of against going out and giving a lot of money in free agency. So I don't know where a lot of these transactions are going to come from, are they just going to make a lot of trades? You know, there's a lot of moving parts, I think, right now for the Penguins. I mean, to sum this all up, this is probably one of the most pivotal points in this franchise's history. Everything that they're about to do this offseason is going to shape where this team goes,

not for the next couple of seasons, not for the next five years, or for the next 10 to 15 years, to say the least. and I just I don't think Hextall is capable of handling it. I really don't. I'm definitely a bit sour on him right now. I don't think he has what it takes to negotiate these kind of deals with franchise icons. I'm tired of him. You know, it sounds like he's just being cheap and all that.

That's not going to fly here. You know, this isn't the Pittsburgh Pirates here with Bob nutting, you know, throwing his money around and, you know, other owners around sports, just being, you know, cheap with their cash. This is the Pittsburgh frickin penguins. They spend up to the salary every year. Ray Sherro had no problem giving what's hanging Malkin what they wanted last time around. I don't see why, you know, Hextall should be any different here

unless it's like something really, really outrageous. Say Lisa. And again, you know, I said this on my Twitter day. I'll say it again. I love the fact that they went out and overpaid for 38-year-old Jeff Carter, yet they're playing hardball with one of the five greatest players that ever played for this franchise. It doesn't make any sense to me.

You know, it's silly season. I know, again, a lot of, you know, this story was, you know, some of those definitely peer speculation, but there's definitely, I think, a lot of factual info in here. And, you know, we're going to have to see if all this comes to pass in two weeks. You know, this is going to be very, this is a busy time coming up, Ian's. Drafts next week, Frayagasy starts two weeks from Wednesday. There's going to be a lot of news coming for this team.

And I hope you keep it right here on Lockdown, England's. I'm going to have everything right here for you all. I'll be the first to have it. I'll get my analysis on Twitter. Then I'll go live either on the YouTube page or I'll just record something. This is where we're in crunch time now. And I'm really curious, but I'm also nervous as to what's going to happen going forward. The Penguins, they cannot afford to screw this up.

So I think I said everything I wanted to say for this episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I will be back with another episode on Myon. Wednesday we will have more season reviews I know I didn't get to the redeems 1-01 today I will get that one I will get to that one on Wednesday and if there's any breaking news that happens with roads of the penguins I will get to that as well so thank you all so much for listening let me know what you all thought about my analysis you can comment on the YouTube page send me a DM on social media and leave a review all that jazz you can follow me on Twitter hunter hoodies

follow the shows Twitter L-O-N or so Penguins and of course thank you all for listening We'll be back on Wednesday.