Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Danny Shirey is back on the show for ALL things Penguins!

Episode Date: May 25, 2022

It's a special Tuesday episode of Locked On Penguins as Hunter brings Danny Shirey of DKPittsburghSports back onto the show to touch on a multitude of topics surrounding the team. The two first start with Ron Hextall's press conference and what Danny's main takeaways were from that. What are Danny's thoughts about bringing back Evgeni Malkin? He gives some stats to show the anti-Malkin crowd just how good he is. They also touch on Kris Letang before getting to an interesting comment about Kasperi Kapanen from Ron Hextall. What are the chances that Kapanen returns to the team? Should he get another shot after a rough season? The two then discuss Hextall's comments about cap space and what that could mean. IS a defenseman going to be on his way out? Is POJ ready to come up full-time? Hunter also brings up how the Penguins can potentially get more youth and skill into the lineup next year and Danny throws out some names from Wilkes-Barre that would have the chance to make an impact heading into the 2022-23 season. Finally, Danny pleads for the team to bring back Evan Rodrigues, plus discusses what the Bryan Rust contract means for the rest of the offseason. All that, plus much more on this episode of Locked On Penguins.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.Athletic GreensAthletic Greens is going to give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit athleticgreens.com/NHLNETWORK. 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, happy Tuesday. So today I have a very special guest joining the Lockdown Penguins podcast, Danny Shirey of DK, Pittsburgh Sports, recently promoted Danny Shirey. That is, we're going to talk all about Ron Hextall's press conference, what to expect during the all season, probably parts of that series against the Rangers. That's all coming up right after this drop. You're 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, and follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, follow this show, Twitter, at L.O. underscore Penguins.

Of course, thank you all so much for making the Lockdown Penguins podcast your first listen of the day. As promised, joining me now is Danny Shiree of D.K. Pittsburgh Sports. And as I said in my intro, So recently promoted to full-time Penguins writer, Danny Shirey, of that site. Danny, it's been a while since I've had you on. I've been wanting to get you on for a while now, but I appreciate you coming on. Yeah, I really appreciate you inviting me.

It's a pleasure to join you as always. Yeah. So we'll just obviously get right into it. So Danny Ron Hextall spoke, finally had his end of the season. Press conference took a little over a week, which is something that I did not expect. But, you know, what was, I guess, your main takeaway from that press conference? Because, you know, he could have said a lot of things, but, you know, it sounded like to me that they're all in for the next few years. Yeah, the two biggest takeaways I had, and I guess the three biggest takeaways is one,

that Hextall seemed a little more willing to divulge information than we've seen in the past. Obviously, he doesn't speak with the media all that often, and especially, not anywhere near the level that Jim Rutherford did when we had him for several years as well. But the first big takeaway is that the penguins are absolutely interested and want to resign Chris LaTang and Evgeny Malkin. Hextall made that explicitly clear. He did say that they've got some extenuating circumstances, mainly pointing toward the salary cap and their limited cap space that they're going to have to work with. but by all indications they are all on board with bringing both of them back. Hextall mentioned that, you know, he would love to have Malkin and Lattang finish their careers

as penguins. And quite frankly, I think that he understands that if either of them walk, that he's not replacing a second line center or a top D man for anything near what they'd be able to retain them for on the open market. And then the second biggest takeaway that I had from his presser is that he did not seem like a guy that is in any sort of jeopardy of losing his job. I know there's been a lot of talk about whether Fenway Sports Group might clean out the front office and kind of put their guys in there or just go with a new regime. But just with the confidence and I don't even know what to call it,

he just seemed very at ease and definitely didn't come off as a guy that, you know, seemed like he might be in danger of losing his job here at any point in the near future. and he even on two separate occasions mentioned that him and the front office have had really good communication with FSG and that they're on board with his plan that has been rumored to be out there. So they're all on board and it definitely seems like he's going to be the one that's tasked with navigating this huge offseason. Yeah, I mean, I've said this on the show probably 100 times now. This is probably the most pivotal point in this franchise's history.

and definitely the last 20 years, to say the least, probably, you know, going back further than that just because of what's at stake, who the free agents are. And, you know, in a Gennie Malkins case, Danny, we'll just get to him real quick here. You know, I've been having this take for a while now. And if he does come back, and I obviously, I hope he does, people need to, I guess, temper their expectations a little bit with him. The guy is 35, 36 now. But, you know, he's not bad at 5E5.

anymore. He can still drive play very well. I think too many people look at the plus minus and see, oh my God, he's a minus player when that's probably like one of the most useless stats to look at what you evaluate a player. I will say if he does walk, I say this on my Monday episode, you know, it's easier to replace a 2C than it is in number 1D, which is why Crystal Tang should be a higher priority for this team. Again, I don't want them to move on from either one of those players, especially of Gini Malkin, but I do think it's a little bit and easier to replace him if he does walk. But, you know, I think he still should be brought back.

I mean, I think I saw your tweet today, Danny, 6-16th in the NHL and 5-5 points per hour. This season was on a 40, I believe a 42 goal, 84-point pace this season and only played half a year. I mean, I would love to see what he could have done in the first half, but playing with maybe Evan Rodriguez, who was on a tear of some of these other players. If the penguins do bring him back, what are your expectations for him now that he's a bit older now at 5-5 and on the power play? Yeah, well, I mean, like you said, he's going to be 36 for this upcoming season. And, you know, most average NHL players are on their way out the door if they're not already out the door by the time they're that age.

So the fact that he just had a season where, you know, he scored at a 40-something goal pace and over a point per game after coming off a major need. surgery, I think just speaks volumes to the player that he still is, even if that's not the player he was 10 years ago. And, you know, I think that kind of leads to a greater point. You know, I see a lot of frustration among Penguins fans that, you know, he's not effective anymore or the Penguins aren't cup contenders or whatever it may be. And the reality is, is that all of their star players are past their prime. That doesn't mean they're not good anymore. That doesn't mean they're still not, you know, near the top of the league. But the reality is 36-year-old Evgeny Malkin is not as good as 25-year-old Leon Dysidle.

And that's okay. Nobody's expecting him to beat Leon Dricidal. But that's why it's so important for the penguins to, you know, make sure that they're making those micro decisions, especially further down their lineup so that they can kind of make up for some of that gap that might be between a Malkin and Drysidal at this point of their career. But, you know, going back to them. Malkin and specifically his 5 v.5 play. I've seen a lot of talk about how he's just an extreme defensive liability and that he can't generate offense anymore at 5V5. First of all, his defense, while not great, is certainly not horrendous. You know, he's still graded out as a roughly below

average defensive player this past season. But with that being said, it's not like he's out there, you know, forcing the penguins to get cratered. in every time he's out on the ice. And I think a lot of the sentiments coming from, oh, you know, he can't generate on his own at 5B5 anymore just as a result of some puck luck this past season. I know everybody's sick of hearing, you know, bad puck luck. But the penguin shot 7.6% with him on the ice at 5B5. Yeah.

If a couple more pucks had ended up in the back of the net while he was on the ice at 5B5 this past season, I think we'd be having a much different conversation. And I also just wanted to make a point, you brought up plus minus and how many of that crowd really like to cite it. I always find that funny because people will cite plus minus and then they'll say something and you're like, you don't even know how that stat is calculated. Like somebody will be like, Malkin had 40 points this past season and he was a minus 10. So that means the penguins were given up way more goals. And it's like plus minus is just arbitrarily granted you a plus or minus for a certain situation. So I don't read into that at all.

And if there's anybody out there listening that wants a plus minus replacement, go look at 5B5 goals share. And then we can have a separate discussion. Go look at Evolving Wild. Go look at Micah's stuff on HockeyViz, which, you know, they are both worth a subscription. So you can actually see what is going on when the beginning of all can, is on the ice you know it's funny they'll call him lazy in a power play specialist but yet they'll come back at you with very lazy rebuttals um and and i think part of it is you know they want to be right that they can win without him you know a certain person in the city has been pushing that

narrative for almost a decade now uh everyone that probably listens to this podcast knows who that is because i have said his name on here a couple times he does not need to be um it does not need to be be repeated. That's for sure. And I also think if he does come back, get him some better linemates next year. He was had Kaspari Kappen next to him for most of this year who was absolutely dreadful. I mean, and we'll get to Kappi a bit later because I will have that comment. Yeah, we'll get the cap on.

But one thing, you just bringing that up, like Malkin, after he came back, he spent a pretty good chunk of time with Hinen on his left wing. And the penguins actually played really, really well with those two together at 5V5, but it just so happened to coincide with the stretch of the season where Hinen was having a little bit of a rough stretch and not being able to put the puck in the net, even though he was creating chances just like he had been all season. So, you know, I started to see some comments that like, oh, Hinen's not a fit on Malkin's line. And I'm looking, I'm like, the penguins are control and play better than, you know, any other line that they have right now with Malkin and Hinen out there. I don't think it's the greatest idea in the world to just straight on move away from it just because the puck hasn't gone in the back of the net for the past month and a half. And like I said earlier, the penguins only shot 7.6% with Malkin on the ice at 5B5.

That's pretty low for his standards. And that's especially with the offensive skill and Malkins' individual finishing ability. I don't see any reason why that's not due for a positive regression next season. Yeah, no, I absolutely agree with that. And I would like to see more of Hinen if he's on the team next year with Malkin, if he is back as well. You know, Hinen in almost 20 goal season this year. I know Jeff listens to this podcast. I will be coming up to collect my investment of those 10 goals that Hinen scored because that was probably the easiest bet I will ever take.

And anyways, last thing before we get to our first commercial break, Danny, but we'll just get to Chris Lange here. He is, to me, way more irreplaceable than have getting Marlon. Malkin is. And that's not a slight to Gino, obviously. I know how hard it is going to be to replace him. But Latang, you know, you look at the trade market, you look at the free agent market. There's really no one there that you can realistically get that is going to replace the production, defense, the leadership, all the, all the tangibles, all the stats, everything he does on and off the ice. I touched on last week. John Klingberg was an option. His numbers went to the, tank this year. Maybe part of it is due to Rick bonus, but I think another part of it is due to him just not being as good as he used to be on the trade market. I know Matt Dumbah's name is out

there, but I think he's on the downward trajectory. Jacob Chikrin, excuse me, you have to give up like four to five pieces to Arizona. And I do not think the penguins even have anything close to what the coyotes would want. This is a player to me, Danny. They have no choice but to bring him back. and I know the contract could look a bit bad down the line, but I don't really care if you want to give him four times eight, four times eight point T or something like that. I feel like you got to do it just because of how great he was this year. Yeah, you're absolutely right.

And just like Malkin, I'm not going to sit here and tell you that Latang is coming off the best season of his career at age 35. That would just be ridiculous. But like you said, there's not a whole lot of options out there and probably the best pending unrestricted free agent on the right side of the blue line is John Klingberg, like you said. And, you know, I really don't see the point in letting Latang walk to maybe

save a million and a half dollars on a contract for Klingberg. And Klingberg is just not a better player, even though he's younger, and you can point to Dallas in the system that he plays in. But I don't see Miro Hayskin and having any problems playing in that system either. So, you know, Klingberg's not better offensively by any stretch of the imagination. And I just don't see the point in trying to make a lateral move or even downgrading just for the sake of doing so. But the penguins have to re-sign Latang if he's gone, and especially if they don't end up signing like a Klingberg that leaves who, John Marino, to man your top pairing. and, you know, is as great as Marino was his rookie year and looked like he might be a guy that could eventually step up into a larger role. That hasn't come to fruition yet.

And he's certainly not a guy that you want playing 25 minutes a night, you know, out with your top line, out with your top power play out on the top penalty kill unit. He's just not that guy. And that's okay. But that just speaks even more so as to how important it is to bring the tank back. Yeah, I hardly agree. and especially to your point with Marino, you know, went back to his rookie mode, I thought, in the playoffs before that bad giveaway to Mika Zabedajad in game seven.

And if he can play like that moving forward, that is going to be a big help to the defense, but, you know, he doesn't produce enough offense to play at that number one, you know, that number one spot on the right pair, say, at least, you know, who's going to drive all your offense? Mike Matheson, you know, for as good as he is, now, as good as he was this year, I don't know if that's going to be, you know,

a thing every single year for the rest of this contract, just because, you know, offensively, yeah, sure, good, defensively better at times, but also, you know, he's that full chaotic player where, you know, obviously there's people out there that think he should be a forward at times with how he plays defense, but they have no choice, but to get this done. I think Elliot Friedman said it sounds like they're closer on talks with him

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All right, we're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. I'm going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the shows, Twitter at L.O.Nors for Penguins. Of course, my special guest is Danny Shire of D.K. Pittsburgh Sports. So a couple other things I wanted to dive deeper with you for this episode. I only really gave my analysis on these yesterday. But again, you were like one of the only reporters, I think, to put out Ron

Hextall's quote about Campaninan. And Ron goes, yeah, you know, we would like to see more. of him, you know, be better next year. I was like, that's interesting because he just had a terrible year. It's probably the right call to give him a qualifying offer. I wouldn't expect him to accept it, which means if I'm correct, he'll be a UFA if that happens. I think I got that right, Danny. No. So my understanding of it and Taylor Haas has been a huge help in, you know, helping me understand it as well, because she, she knows like all the nuances of contracts and and the salary cap and everything. But my understanding is that if the penguins submit a qualifying

offer to cap an or any of their restricted free agents, they retain their rights regardless of whether the RFA actually signs the contract. So that's why it's such a big deal for in a no-brainer for the penguins to submit that cheap qualifying offer to Cappan because, you know, they'll be able to submit a qualifying offer, I think, at like $820K to like a million dollars, top. So it makes all the sense in the world for them to submit that to him because even if he doesn't sign that qualifying offer, the penguins are going to retain his rights. And it's basically going to be like, all right, Capy, well, you've got to sign that deal or you're going to sit out or we're going to trade you for, you know, some separate assets. And, you know, he's been very outspoken about how much he loves Pittsburgh and playing with the penguins and specifically the group of guys that they have in that locker room right now and how much they've meant to him. So even if that dollar figure isn't necessarily where he wants it to be, I'd have a tough time seeing him, you know, sitting on the season.

It may be the most pivotal point of his. Of course, my dog decides to bark in the background. I think a package just got delivered. So that's a perfect way to have that. I always love perfect timing. But thank you for telling me that. I think she hopefully stopped there. I swear I mean, the funniest things,

always happen during the show. Just the other night, she comes downstairs, comes out, had to pause the recording just because she just, you know, dogs are just something else. But, you know, okay, thank you at least for telling me that, Danny, because, again, I originally thought that if he didn't take the qualifying offer, he would be a UFA. so I appreciate the clarity on that. That's for sure. Yeah, it's definitely a no-brainer. But my thing is, though, Danny, you know, even if he doesn't take it, do the penguins still want to bring him back just because of how bad this year was for him? I know he had 30 points and 40 games the year prior to that.

But, you know, it's definitely going to, I don't know. I think the only way I would do it personally is if it's a cheap kind of prove it year deal. You know, I don't think if the penguins do bring him back, I don't think he's going to get anywhere near three million that he was making on this contract. It would probably have to be, you know, I don't know, like a two million, maybe a bit below just because I feel like his very. value right now is so shot because of how bad he was this year. Well, yeah, I mean, if he were just an unrestricted free agent, it wouldn't shock me at all if the penguins were just like completely fine with letting him walk. But I think because of the cap constraints that they have and, you know, if they do end up getting Malkin and Latang re-signed, that's going to take

up a pretty hefty chunk of the just under 24 million in cap space they have remaining after Brian Russ signed his deal. But, you know, I think they're going to just try and squeeze some value out of this qualifying offer that I'm expecting them to give to him. You know, like you said, he did put up 30 points in 40 games his first season with the team, and then he followed it up with pretty much the exact same production in twice as many games this past season. So I don't necessarily believe that, you know, Kappin's as bad as he showed for large stretches of this past season. and he obviously has some pretty untapped potential. That's not necessarily on the penguins to figure it out.

But I think being able to bring him in on such a bargain bin deal, it's worth the risk considering the potential that he has and the cap crunch that they're in right now. Obviously, yes, you'd like to go out and get maybe a player that you know is a little more consistent and might not be as influenced by their confidence or whatever it may be. But I think because Kappin and short up a lot of deficiencies in his game away from the puck this past season, mainly his defensive play and getting involved, you know, taking smart routes on the forecheck and even getting involved physically on the forecheck. While, you know, he doesn't necessarily excel at any of those things, they were major problems before. So because he cleaned some of those up, I think the penguins are going to be a little more, you know, willing to ride with him on this bargain bin deal if it ends up happening. but it's anybody's guess as to how it'll play out.

Yeah. And if I see that if I see him and he's on the team next year, go into the offensive zone with so much speed, stops, curls back and looks for that pass. I may, there will be problems just because I feel like he didn't do that his first year, he would actually use his speed in that shot to his advantage. This year does the complete opposite, comes in with so much speed, stops along that right far wall and then looks for the past. It's like you're not trusting yourself like you used to.

I think that's one of the biggest reasons why he was struggling, I think. Yeah, I mean, when the penguins initially traded for him, because back at the time, the maple leaves were probably the team that I watched the most outside of the penguins. And, you know, I thought he was an okay player, but I immediately saw people like, oh, this is Crosby's new winger or whatever. And I immediately told people, I'm like, he is going to frustrate the crap out of you guys.

And, you know, one of my points was like you brought up. He would just fly into the offensive zone with a bunch of speed. Looks like he's about to beat a defender wide. And the defender maybe closes like a half an inch to an inch of a gap on him. And then all of a sudden, captain's like, oh, can't beat him and just holds up at the half wall waiting for support. And, you know, obviously there's a time and a place to do that. We see a lot of goals scored where a guy will hold up right there. But at this point, it seems like defenders are pretty much sitting on.

happen and holding up at that point, and they're able to keep a little bit of a tighter gap and not necessarily respect his speed because they know he's not willing to use it. So, you know, it's frustrating. Like I said, he does have the potential to be an extremely impactful player, but, you know, the production just hasn't been there. And, you know, even at the beginning of the Rangers series, he was playing what many called some of his best hockey of his season. and that only lasted for a couple games,

and it really felt like he went down with a whimper throughout the rest of that series. So obviously not a perfect player. In an ideal world, you'd maybe like to have a bit more of a surefire bet maybe in your middle six or down on the third line on the right wing. But, you know, they're going to have to ride with them considering their cap constraints.

Yeah, no, I 100% agree with that. And, you know, speaking of the cap constraints, you know another thing I saw from that press conference, Danny, I think Mike DeFabo of the Post-Gazette asked the question. He's like, I think he's like, is there anything you like you would want more of this offseason? And I think Ron said, you know, maybe maybe a little more camp space. And I'm like, okay, that's interesting.

He had the, I think he also had the, I think someone also asked him about the logjam on the left side of the defense. Because I think that POJ is probably very close, if not already ready to play. in the NHL. And obviously one of the ways to create cap space is to move out one of those three defensemen. Probably have to be Brian Dumlin

after the seasons that Marcus Pedersen and Mike Matheson just had. You know, do you foresee Hextall going out and creating a decent amount of cap space this summer or do you think it's going to be harder than, you know, some expect? Because, you know, all the armchair GMs on cap-friendly and on social media and stuff, Danny. Well, trade out Jason Zucker, trade out this. guy bring in this guy it's like you know it's harder to do all this just because you know teams

they value players a certain way so i figured i would you know ask you about that and just you know do you expect ron to make a dealer to you know to shed some cap because it definitely sounds like he would like to do that yeah i mean i i i definitely think he would like to do so but he during his press conference he mentioned on on several occasions how he'd like to have a little more clarity and like you know, a couple other pieces to the puzzle that he's trying to build. And, you know, nobody wants to hear it. But the reality is that the rest of the Penguins roster doesn't matter if they don't figure out what's going on with Balkan and the tank.

So once you have those pieces taken care of, I think, I think, you know, the picture becomes a lot clearer and you can really start to hammer down, you know, what other decisions you might want to make. But as far as moving out one of those left-handed defensemen, I agree with you that it's got to be Brian Dumolin. But then who's going to trade for a 30-year-old defenseman coming off, probably the worst season of his career. And oh, by the way, he tore his MCL during game one of the playoffs.

So I don't necessarily see any team taking a stab at him. So that leaves Matheson or Petterson over on the left side. If you want to move a guy and, you know, Matheson showed this past season that he's really the only other guy outside of Latang on the Penguins Blue Line that can consistently generate offense. And Marcus Pedersen has been one of their most steady defensive defensemen over the past two, three seasons. So it's kind of a situation where, you know,

you almost make a move for the sake of making a move and end up hurting yourself elsewhere. I don't know. I'm glad that I'm not the one that has to make these decisions because whatever happens, there's at least going to be some hesitation in that. But, you know, it's tough, too. I sent out a tweet toward the end of the season that said something along the lines of. If I had to make a deal or if I had to trade away one of the two, I would actually move out

Marino before I moved out Pedersen. Now people took that as saying, oh, you're saying Marino is a better player than Pedersen or whatever it may be. And I don't necessarily believe that to be the case. But as you brought up, P.O. Joseph, the Penguins have to figure out what's going on with him this season. He can't spend another year in the minors, at least until the peasant. penguins get an extended look at him. So unless, you know, they want to give him a chance in the lineup, I don't see him as a Pedersen replacement.

Joseph is a guy that's good with the puck on his stick and has a little bit of offensive upside. But, you know, he's not great defensively. He's not a towering presence or anything like that. And I have extreme hesitations that he'd be able to slot in and kind of fill Pedersen's role where they used him as a guy that could go out there and really shut down some mid-level competition. But one of the other things that kind of stood out from Hextall's press conference

is that he noted all of P.O. Joseph, Sam Poulin, Philip Hallander, and Valteri Pustinen is players that could make the jump into the lineup for next season. So, you know, when all these armchair GMs, like you were saying, are putting together their rosters on cap-friendly, you know, from all the unrestricted free agents that are out there, they might want to start looking into some of these guys that are down in Wilkeshire right now. Because the reality is, like we've talked about this entire episode, the penguins are going to be up against the cap. And, you know, they're not going to have the ability to go out and sign, you know,

these middle of the lineup, bottom of the lineup guys for $2, $3, $4 million. It's just not going to happen. So they're going to have to fill out some of those roster spots with guys like Poulan or Pustin or whoever it may be because they're going to be on those, you know, league minimum contracts or close to league minimum. contracts. Yeah. Now, I definitely think, you know, Pustin is probably the forward that I'm really interested, interested about because, you know, he looked NH already when he was up this year. At least I thought. So he only played, I think, a game or two. But I do think they should try to give him an extended look. Going back to POJ, Danny, you know, he got a decent look, not this

past season, but last season when the Penguins were doing some injuries, looked ready to me at that point. I think played on the top pairing with Crystal Tang. Struggled a little bit just because, I mean, you're playing top pairing minutes against the best players in the world. But you have to see what you have in this kid. You know, he was the prime, you know, the prime jewel in that Phil Kessel trade. He's done well in the HL. It's time to bring him up with the big boys and see what he can do for at least a little bit, you know, Poulban. I think he had a nice end to his regular season and in the playoffs, if I recall correctly, Hollander came up a couple times. We'll see what they have there.

But, you know, they also have Danny. Obviously, Drew O'Connor, you know, he lit it up in the first half of the regular season was looking like someone who could be a 12, 13th forward. Redeems the Hornet. I believe his contract is a one-way contract next season. I think they're going to really hope that he can make the jump full-time to the NHL too. So I definitely think, you know, there's a good amount of talent down there in Wilkesbury that could potentially come up for, you know,

the full-time team with the Penguins. But so a little more to get to for our final segment of the show. That's all coming up right after this break. All right. We're back here on this episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes. Of course, I have Danny Shire here of DK. Pittsburgh Sports.

Danny, I have been thinking about this, too. We kind of basically almost talked about it, but it goes hand in hand. I do want the team to get, you know, younger, a bit faster next season, just because, obviously, you know, the core guys are a lot older now. I think, you know, some of the other players on the team, you know, like a Jeff Carter when he's not really scoring, he's not really doing too much. You know, Brock Begin struggled. A lot of those players, you know, they're not super, I guess, fast. But I feel like if they can, you know, either sign a younger player in free agency or bring some players up from the HL that are a bit faster and younger to inject some youth into this team,

I do feel like that's going to pay off for the next few years in Cindy Crosby's era. I figured I would ask you like what would you say about that? Do you think they should, you know, go into the free agent market and the trade market looking to get a bit younger? Or do you think it should mainly just be like some of those Wilkesbury guys that we talk about or both? No, I mean, like we were talking about a little bit ago, it's going to be really tough, especially on the free agent market. Even through a trade to, you know, add any impactful, you know, speed. or youth to the top of their lineup. And, you know, if Malkin and Raquel and even LaTang end up coming back,

there's not really a whole lot of room toward the top of the lineup to kind of transition guys out anyway. So, you know, I'm really looking kind of toward that fourth line. And specifically guys like Drew O'Connor and Redeems O'Hourna, like you said, before the break, that can step in. They were extremely impactful in their, you know, limited stints during this past season. And, you know, at the end of the day, worst case scenario, I think a redeems of Horna, can it bare bones minimum provide the value that a Brian Boyle provided for the penguins this past season

with potentially maybe even a little more upside. So, you know, he's a guy that I really think the penguins need to figure out what they have in him. He's not necessarily a young guy either. He's in his mid-20s, but, you know, he's still pretty green and doesn't have a lot of, you know, games under his belt throughout his career. So that's a guy that I'm definitely interested in seeing more of. But I also think Drew O'Connor has a pretty good chance of being a play driving prowess on that fourth line or maybe even on the third line if the penguins have some injury issues and need a guy to step up. You know, he vastly improved his skating from what we first saw in his time with the penguins. He definitely got a lot quicker, but he seems stronger on his skates too.

And that's a guy, unlike a lot of fourth liners that we see, that's a guy that seems to be able to shoot the puck pretty well. And we saw him almost score. And when he got into a game during the Ranger series, he put a puck off the elbow pipe right past Jasturkin. So those are both two guys that I think if the penguins need them to can step into the bottom of the lineup and provide some impactful results. Yeah, and especially, you know, that they could be helpful on the penalty kill.

Danny, it was so weird to see that unit play so well during the regular season. And then I don't know if that was a deployment issue with Brian Boyle and Brock McGinn out there. I know I think, Clark, I think that's his name, 404 response code on Penguin's Twitter. We talk about how Rodriguez and captains should have been given more minutes just because they're a lot faster than those two players. you know, it was weird that the Penguins were being way more passive against the Rangers. And, you know, just getting faster players that would get, like a Droghontor, like it was a Horna who also has a pretty long reach, I think that would really help the PK get back to where it was during the regular season,

just because, you know, it was one of the main reasons why they lost that series against the Rangers. And it was something I didn't see coming because, you know, the PK had been such a strength of this team all year. And to see it go backward like that, definitely really weird to say the least. Yeah, I mean, the one thing I'll say in regard to the penalty kill, you know, results or results, don't get me wrong. But especially, you know, like halfway through the year when the Penguins had, you know, it seemed like they hadn't given up a power play goal in months. And they were at the top of the league standings and penalty kill percentage.

And I don't remember if I actually put it out there or not. just at risk of having the pitch forks come after me. But if you looked at the quality of the chances that the penguins were giving up when they were on the penalty kill, they were still an above average team in that regard. But there was heavy indication that they were being propped up by the performance of Jari, specifically on the penalty kill. Now, that's not to say that the penalty kill was bad and the skaters in front of him weren't doing a good job.

They were. But let's also take a look at some of the guys that were trotted out there for every penalty kill, including Jeff Carter and Brian Boyle. And they both did, you know, fine at certain points in time. And obviously Carter's got an immense, provides immense value on the faceoff dot. He was one of the best faceoff guys in the league this past year. But, you know, I also think there's something to be said for trotting both those guys out there for every single penalty kill over the course of an entire season when they're both in

their late 30s. I mean, that's obviously going to have some effects down the line. And Carter even said as much as at his end of season media availability, that, yeah, it was kind of a difficult season for me because past two seasons were shortened for us. And I played 76 games. So I think we really started to see the effects more so on Carter, especially, as the Penguins got into the postseason. Yeah. And I kept saying this, everyone on this podcast, you know, it's great that he's scoring, you know, don't get me wrong.

But as soon as he signed that two-year deal, his isolated impacts, his overall impacts on with his teammates, they just went off of, just off a cliff compared to where he was last year. You know, Danny, you truly went back to bed when Carter was playing like that, to say the least. I'm vindicated. You got vindicated this year. I think you had a tweet out there.

You were like, this is how I expected him to play last season. and then he obviously went on that heater and then played very well in the playoffs. But yeah, that is a unit that has to be better moving forward for next year. I still think this is a playoff team heading into next season. I look at the Eastern Conference and I'm like, okay, who is going to pass them from below? The Flyers, no. The senators, you know, maybe they spend a little bit of their money. the Red Wings, probably not.

The Islanders, I would say yes, but Barry Trotz is not there anymore. And I also think they need a couple more scores. So I don't think they can just ride Sorokin all the way. How do you see the team moving forward through the offseason? Obviously, there's going to be a ton of moves. It's just such an important offseason. But, you know, as it stands right now,

I personally think this is at least a playoff team heading into next year. What about you? Yeah, this is a playoff team heading into next year. And I do think that the Eastern Conference is a better conference than the West. But with that being said, I wouldn't be shocked in the slightest if the exact playoff teams from this season are the exact playoff teams from next season from the Eastern Conference. Like you said, I don't necessarily see any teams like the Flyers or the Islanders or even the Devils unless they figure out their goal-tending situation, you know, really taking a next step and maybe they'll squeak in over, you know, some of these other teams in the east that might lose some pieces here this

off-season. But I definitely don't see them, you know, leapfrogging the penguins, at least not while Sidney Crosby's around. So, and quite frankly, while Sidney Crosby's around and still at least for this upcoming season, if he's going to be there, you have to try and at least compete for another championship. You know, otherwise, I feel like you're just wasting your twilight years. And at that point, you might as well just go ahead and go into a rebuild rather than being like, oh, yeah, we made the playoffs for the 17th consecutive season or whatever it may be. Like, yeah, that's cool and that's great. And it cements history and legacy for you. But at the end of the day, everybody's goal here is to win a championship. And I think with Crosby still around,

especially after the season that he just had, that, you know, that is at least a somewhat attainable goal if, you know, all the pieces fall into place. And, you know, hopefully they don't lose their starting goalie going into the playoffs or hopefully their starting goalie doesn't have the worst six-game stretch of their career. So, and, you know, I tell people this all the time. They're like, you know, they're running it back with the same team that hasn't won a play off round in five years or whatever year. And so much of winning in the postseason, yes, obviously you've got to be a good team,

but you more so have to be lucky. Well, it's luck, but you've also got to capture lightning in a bottle. So that's not to say the teams that are winning are just straight up being lucky. They're good teams that are benefiting from some luck. But they've also got everything working at the right time. They've got their goal tending, at least playing up to par. Their stars are performing it at a level that it's expected from them. Their depth is chipping in.

And those are the things that I'm, you know, largely referring to when I talk about capturing lightning in a bottle. And, you know, quite frankly, if we were doing what a lot of these armchair GMs are suggesting and, you know, just letting Malkin and Lattang walk, throwing a bunch of money at random free agents or whatever that's that's how you end up like the flyers in the situation that they're in right now so if you want to end up like that be my guest and and speaking of the flyers john torrella interview there today so i i hope to god i hire him uh just be a great theater but no that would be one hundred percent right you know i don't

want this team to turn into the detroit wings here it's like oh my god 25 years in a row like yeah that's awesome like someone that was born 25 years ago was i seem to make the playoffs every year but what are you doing during those those end of the twilight years paledatsy khenrich zetterberg left and then you really tell off so um i definitely do not do not want the team you know like that but real quick here danny just two more things i'll combine them uh the brian russ contract six times 5.1 a ridiculous steal to me um i said on this podcast six times six six times six to a half was probably what he was going to get. I probably had a 95% chance he was going to walk.

I will take the L on that one. That was, did not see that coming. And just want to get your thoughts on that deal. And then also, Danny, this team, I think, needs to bring back Kevin Rodriguez. I have seen so many people on either social media, you know, sports talk videos, you know, calling him like a fraud or something like that or saying he's not, not that good. But, you know, he just had the best season of his career really, turned it on in the playoffs as well. He is a great debt piece for this team. Just wanted to get

your thoughts on that. To you all combine that with the Brian Russ question because he, you know, he needs to be brought back. Yes, starting with Rust, I was expecting his cap hit to be at least like six and a half million, especially because during his end of season media availability, he was alluding to the fact that, you know, he was significantly underpaid for the past several years as cap hit was only three and a half million dollars. And even though he, you know, was producing at or near a point per game and was producing points at a rate that was, you know, on par with some of the better players in the league. So he kind of made it sound like he would at least be open to testing the waters and maybe a Detroit would throw $7 million at them per year for six or seven years. and, you know, I hadn't written that off and kind of expected something like that to happen. So the fact that the penguins were able to get him at just over $5 million per year is absolutely outstanding.

Now, I don't necessarily think that, you know, he's going to be living up to that in year four, five, or six of his deal. He very well may could. But, you know, as far as I'm concerned, and I'm going to go against what I would do in any normal circumstance, but I truly believe that the penguins need to do everything that they can to try and maximize their chances to win a Stanley Cup either this season or maybe the following season. So if you have to hand out two, three, maybe even four years for a guy like Letang, extra years, then you would maybe want to have them around for. I think it's okay to go ahead and do that because at least getting near or maybe even

potentially winning a Stanley Cup at this point in time is going to be far more gratifying than being able to say, oh, yeah, we're a playoff team in another three, four years from now, but being kind of stuck in that middling ground where you're definitely not a contender, but you're still good enough to make the playoffs and not get a lottery pick in the draft. So that's kind of where I stand with that. And as far as Rodriguez is concerned, I'm with you 100 percent that the penguins absolutely need to bring him back. He's coming off the best season of his career. The penguins are most likely going to be able to get him at an extremely low-cap hit for the

value that he's going to provide. And, you know, he seems like a guy that, like Kappan, really loves this team and likes playing for the Penguins. And, you know, why wouldn't he's had the best success of his career with the Penguins? It would make sense, especially for a guy that seems to be influenced by his confidence more than most, just like Kappan. For a guy that seems to be influenced by his confidence so much, it seems like it would be important to him to kind to stay in a familiar environment, you know, where he knows he's found success before. And, you know, he's a guy that can slot in at center or wing on legitimately any line. And we know how much Mike Sullivan likes his Swiss Army knives.

And he fits that bill to a T. So I would be shocked if the Penguins don't re-sign him as well. Yeah. And I'm sure they can get him on a pretty decent cap hit. You know, maybe three something is probably the number. I think they would get him at. But, you know, there's so many, you know, the market is so weird, I think,

with some of those players. But I think that I'll do it for this episode, The Locked on, England's podcast, Danny. I really appreciate you coming on. We probably could have gone for another 45 minutes to an hour or something with 70 topics regarding this team. But, again, I really appreciate it. I'm just you told the listeners what you got coming up for the site.

Yeah, so every Thursday at D.K. Pittsburgh Sports, I have an analysis column that goes out called Drive to the Net. I look at individual players, team, tactic stuff, roster building, whatever it may be. Don't want to spoil anything yet because we've got some pretty exciting stuff coming up. But me, along with Taylor Haas, our other beat reporter for the Penguins over there, we've got some pretty exciting stuff planned. And if I can't give you anything, I'll just hold off. But if you guys want to follow me on Twitter, my ad is at Danny Shirey, PGH.

And you guys can keep up with all my work there. I tweet out all my articles. I'll tweet fancy stats out. I'll tweet regular stats out, charts, graphs, all the good stuff. Yeah. If you are not following Danny and his work, you are doing it wrong for being a Penguins fan. I'm just waiting for him to get his checkmark, I think, at this point. That's the thing that we really need him.

See, now that he does this full time. So hopefully it's coming soon. Yes, it badly needs to you. You definitely deserve that to say the least. But again, thank you so much for coming on, Danny. I really appreciate it. And we'll definitely have to do this again in the offseason, that's for sure. Yeah, absolutely.

Thanks so much for having me, Hunter. It was a blast. Yeah, of course. We'll be out for another episode on Wednesday, and I'll talk to you guys then. Have a great Tuesday.