Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - How active will Dubas and the Penguins be during NHL Draft week?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Business is about to pick up, ladies and gentlemen. It is officially NHL draft week, and we're going to get you set for everything you need to know over the next couple of days. You're locked on penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. Welcome in to another edition of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your hosts, Patrick Damp. You can follow me across all social media platforms at Synonym 4Wet. Joined as always by the one and only Hunter Hodes. It's going to be a big week for him, ladies and gentlemen.

Starting point is 00:00:45 It's draft week. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can give our show's Twitter account a follow at L.O. underscore Penguins. And now you can also follow us on Instagram at Lockedon underscore Penguins. And of course, as always, we appreciate you. this part of your daily routine because we're your team every day. Don't forget, we're free and available wherever you get your podcasts as well as YouTube. Plus, if you follow us on YouTube, make sure you've hit the notification button.

Starting point is 00:01:18 That way you can be among the first to know when we drop our daily Monday through Friday episodes or any breaking news emergency episodes that we may need to drop this week. because as I said in the start, business, ladies and gentlemen, is about to pick up. The draft is here. It takes place this weekend Friday and Saturday from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, 7 o'clock p.m. on Friday night, and then business picks back up for the rest of it on Saturday at 9 a.m. Obviously, Friday is the first round, and then Saturday is the rest of it. we will obviously be keeping tabs on it, especially that first round when the penguins will have

Starting point is 00:02:03 the 11th overall pick and potentially the 12th overall pick as well. We will know that by Wednesday, which is the deadline for the New York Rangers to inform the penguins if they are keeping this year's pick and giving the penguins their 2026 pick or if they're going to give the penguins their pick this year and hold on to their 2026 pick. But we are going to do so much more draft analysis looking into prospects, looking into potential picks, looking into potential trades and anything else in between later on in this show as well as for the rest of the week. But before we get into any of that, Hunter,

Starting point is 00:02:44 I actually wanted to get your take on something that is more global when it comes to the NHL draft this year. For those who may not know, this is the first year that the NHL is doing a decentralized, draft. What that means is this is not going to be like all of the drafts in the past, where you got the draft floor where every team has their table, their general managers, their scouting staff, their coaching staff, all sitting in one place in the same building. This is going to be like the NFL draft now, where teams have a draft war room in their own facility in their city,

Starting point is 00:03:21 but the prospects will be at the draft venue. Simply put, Hunter, I wanted to ask you this. Do you like this or do you not like this? It hasn't happened yet, but I still just have a weird feeling because it's so cool seeing every NHL team have their respective table. And then it's also cool seeing NHL GMs go up to other GMs, talk to them. You see those tweets go out. All the speculation starts happening even though it can be a five, 10 minute conversation. But it creates excitement and you're not going to have that this year at the NHL draft.

Starting point is 00:03:54 So it just creates a little bit of a mixed feeling for me. A lot of trade chatter is going to happen before the draft. So usually it's an opportunity for GMs to go meet face to face to either A, finish those trade conversations and get that over the finish line or B, start those conversations face to face and then get bet over the finish line, maybe the next day or maybe into July. I remember going back to the horn quits for Neil trade, Jim Brother Verde and David Boyle,

Starting point is 00:04:20 they were talking on the draft for a long time before finalizing it. And, you know, stuff like that, it creates excitement. I always remember when a couple of times, Penguin reporters, when Rutherford was still the GM, would be like, oh, Rutherford's on the phone again. Rutherford's on the phone again. And, you know, you have the meme when Kyle Dubez was in Toronto of him with the two phones on his ears.

Starting point is 00:04:39 Like, stuff like that, is it a little bit cheesy or corny? Yeah, but you know what? It creates excitement for some of the casual fans, like even some of the diehard fans out there. So it's going to be weird, not seeing it. And if it doesn't go like the NHL wants it to go, I think you're going to see. I think you're going to see the draft not be like this going forward. I think you're going to see every single team back at the initial draft next year and then going forward.

Starting point is 00:05:07 But again, I think weird is the word I keep coming back to. Like it's odd that all the teams are going to be in their respective cities in their own war rooms. But yet some of the prospects are going to be out of the draft in L.A. I don't know. It just seems odd. Right. I'm of two mindsets when it comes to this. I agree with it being weird, mainly because some,

Starting point is 00:05:26 of that's nostalgia. Like I do love that there are reporters who basically spend the entirety of the draft tracking the movement of general managers of, oh, hey, I was getting debauchy dinner when James Neal was traded for Patrick Holmquist. I always read. Right. You know, you have, oh, Kyle Dubis is over at the Anaheim Ducks table and he's talking to them and, oh, this general manager and this general manager just walked off the draft floor together because that's fun. Like you said, it's a lot. It's enjoyable. On the other. hand, it's 2025. Everybody's got internet. Everybody's got an iPhone or a Blackberry or whatever sort of personal use device they've got. They've all got email. They're easily in touch. It's not the

Starting point is 00:06:11 1990s anymore where you've got to call through a landline and you got to hope that somebody's not on the internet at that moment so you can get through. But at the same time, those personal in-person interactions are getting lost because you hear it from reporters, you hear it from former general managers, you hear it from agents that a lot of deals don't get made on the draft floor. It's not Kyle Dubis walking over to the Nashville Predators table and talking to Barry Trots for 10 minutes. It's when the draft is over. It's where before the draft begins or the night before the second round when they're at

Starting point is 00:06:48 the hotel bar, they're yucking it up and they have a couple beers, couple pops. they start talking about deals. They start talking about getting business done. And when you've got everybody in their own city, that kind of goes away. So I'm interested to see how it goes. I think I like the idea overall because let's be honest, the draft should be about the people getting drafted. It should be about the kids who are about to achieve a 16, 17, 18 year old dream

Starting point is 00:07:20 of making it to the highest league on earth. And this is the culmination of that. But at the end of the day, it really does serve as the epicenter of hockey in the start, in my estimation, of a brand new season. So curious to see how that goes. I know some people will try to compare it to the NFL because the NFL teams are in their respective cities for the NFL draft while the top prospects go to the city that the draft is being held. But the NHGEL doesn't do that.

Starting point is 00:07:48 Like, they really never do that. So it's just, again, it's weird. that you're going to see this. I want it to go back to where all the teams are together for the draft. So you can see some of those conversations being had on the draft floor. And even if you don't see some deals made there, they're usually made, you know, a week or two or maybe even three weeks later into July. So it's cool that we got to see them all together at the combine,

Starting point is 00:08:16 but not having all them there at the draft. Hopefully, again, we'll have to see. I got to see how it goes, but right now, kind of getting a little bit of the heck about it. Right. So real quick before we end this segment, because like I said at the top, this is going to be Mr. Hodey's week to shine because we're going to keep going through his draft board and looking at some potential picks that the penguins could make. But before we do that, let's give everybody this quick rundown of what to expect this week

Starting point is 00:08:49 and what to expect on Friday and Saturday the Penguins. Right now, they have 10 picks in this draft. They've got the first round, 11th overall. In the second round, they got 59th overall. In the third round, they've got three picks, 73rd, 84th, and 85th. In the fourth round, they've got the 105th pick. The fifth round, they've got two more picks, 130th overall, 148th overall.

Starting point is 00:09:17 they've got the 169th pick in the sixth round and the 200 in first pick in the seventh. So a lot of opportunity for Kyle Dubus to not just make a lot of picks this week. But he also could use a lot of these assets to help improve the team in the immediate, get some young talent, get some young help and prospects to bring into the system. So overall, this is shaping up like it could be a pretty, active week for Kyle Dubus and the Penguins. I would be surprised if we don't get at least one deal from the Penguins this week, if not two.

Starting point is 00:09:57 They're, you keep reading the same report, Pat, over and over and over again. You have Elliot Freeman saying like, oh, they're like a salmon going against the stream. You have other people saying they're the only team selling.

Starting point is 00:10:09 Yeah, it's all fine and dandy that we keep seeing the same reports. But with me up when something happens. And I do think you're probably going to see a trade or two for the Penguins this week, but I'm sorry, man, I can't keep reading the same report over and over again every single day. It's reminding me of the Brandon Ayuk nonsense with the Pittsburgh Steelers last year. Please, let's just get on with it at this point. I'm sorry, I can't just keep reading the same report. But as I said, I do think you will see the Penguins very active in the trade market

Starting point is 00:10:37 this week. And I think you see one, if not two trades made this week by them. And the good news is, Hunter, you're not going to have to read those reports for much longer. because it is draft week. We've got just a couple days before the penguins make their picks and make their trades. And we'll obviously be tracking them all week long, making sure you're updated. But that is going to do it for our opening segment. Hopefully our quick and easy guide to this week's NHL draft has you caught up and ready to go. Now let's get you caught up on some prospects.

Starting point is 00:11:11 The penguins could be picking with one of these many picks on this weekend. And we will do that when we will do that. we come back right after this. But first, we've got to tell you about today's first sponsor, and that is Wonderful Pistachios. If you're looking for a snack, that is both delicious and nutritious, crack into a good source of protein with wonderful pistachios. Wonderful pistachios, it is one of the highest protein nuts, and each one ounce serving

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Starting point is 00:12:11 my little butt back into shape. But if you're looking for that satisfying crunch, the classic in-shell variety is always an option. So get snacking and get cracking with the snack that packs a protein punch and visit wonderful pistachios.com to learn more. Welcome back in to the Monday edition of Locked-on Penguins. I'm Patrick Damp right alongside Hunter Hodes and Hunter. I'm treating you this week like a golden retriever that's got acres and acres of land because you are going to get to run this week, my friend. I have said it before. I try my best to keep up with prospects, but I simply just don't have the time. I'm not going to lie to our listeners and say that

Starting point is 00:13:03 I'm a prospect expert because I simply am not. It's my one blind spot as a hockey analyst, but I know that you have been grinding away for the past couple of months, looking at potential draft picks and prospects that you think the penguins will have interest in. And let's start with a really interesting one that you have said you want to get a lot off your chest for. And that is Center Jake O'Brien, a big boy, a big body, and he has got a lot of creativity for being that big of a player. So Hunter, tell us more about J.O.B. I love that you brought up creativity because he is very silky with a puck on his stick.

Starting point is 00:13:48 the amount of times I saw him take a player out of his skates this season was ridiculous. He would literally make players fall on the ice so bad because he would just knife through these dudes in the neutral zone, knife through these dudes in the offensive zone. He is a treat to watch when he has the puck on his stick. 32 goals, 98 points in 66 games this season for the Brainfraud Bulldogs. He was outstanding. It's a 19 goal increase from the previous season. As I said, very silky can de-sulky.

Starting point is 00:14:18 players out of their skates. He creates his own offense with his shot, but he's still, I think, to me, a little bit more of a playmaker. His vision, absolutely absurd. I think that's one of my favorite parts of his game as well. His skating, I think it's fine enough. I think he projects to be a good top six center if he pans out. I would be over the moon if he were available to the Penguins at number 11 as well, but there might be a big run on centers to start the 2025 initial draft hat. So the chances of him being in 11 might be a little bit more slimmer when you compare to someone like Eklund. I'll say this.

Starting point is 00:14:51 I think Eklund has a better shot at being available to the Penguins at 11 than O'Brien does. I think Eklund is a better overall player, but this is what happens when you have a potential big run at centers because O'Brien is a center. I expect him to go in the top 10. But if he is there at 11, heck, if he's there also with Eklund, who the Penguins have a pretty big decision to make there

Starting point is 00:15:14 because both are two of my favorite prospects in this year's draft. But Jake O'Brien, man, the vision that he has, the playmaking ability, has a good shot. His skating is fine. I would be over the moon if they were to somehow get him at 11. When you told me this is who you wanted to look at today, I dove into some of the footage. I dove into some of his tape.

Starting point is 00:15:37 And there was one thing about his creativity that stood out to me. And it's something that, and again, I don't want to, you know, overinflate values. I don't want to sit here and say that, oh, these guys are the next ones. They're going to be, you know, the next Crosby, McDavid, yada, yada, yada. But let's keep it realistic here. When I looked at his footage, one of the things that I noticed about his creativity and the way he plays the game, the way he possesses the puck, in the way he creates offense,

Starting point is 00:16:10 is he has an ability to pull defenders in and make defenders in defending teams focus on him, which opens up opportunities for his teammates. And that is something that is so valuable in the National Hockey League because we know, regardless of how you feel about coaches, whether you have ones that you like, ones that you dislike. We know that this game, and it's been a pet peeve of mine for a while now,

Starting point is 00:16:40 is that the game is overcoached. The game is so structured, it is so sticking to exactly what the system is. But if you can get a player like Jake O'Brien in that mold that plays creative, is able to improvise a little bit, and is able to pull defenders in and open up opportunities for teammates, that is incredible. incredibly valuable. Oh, 100%. And again, the way that he sees the ice, the vision that he has, the hockey IQ that he has, I know that sounds so cliche to say, it's off the charts. Like the way that he can thread the needle so nicely with some of those plays once he gets into the offensive zone is second to none. And that's another really big thing that stood out to me when I was watching the tape and just watching him throughout this process was, you know, how patient he is with the puck. And again, man, he makes it look so easy. I felt, like for a time he would try to do too much with some of the deeks i'd be like okay turn it down a little bit just because i saw him lose the puck a few times but a whole bunch of other times he's just going

Starting point is 00:17:45 through these players like they're absolutely nothing so again penguins can get someone like this in their system it would go a long way towards willie improving this prospect pool even more and we have another senator to talk about coming up here in the final segment that is depending on who you talk to is either top five or is not even in the top 15. He is on my list though, and I am getting a bit more comfortable as each passing day goes that the penguins potentially want to take him at 11. Ladies and gentlemen, if you are not in the podcasting or radio business, that is what we call an elite tease.

Starting point is 00:18:21 And that is why Hunter is one of the best in the business. We will leave it there on the Jake O'Brien preview. And when we come back, just like Hunter said, we've got a pretty polarizing one that when you take a look at draft experts, some like them, some love them, some don't even like him at all. We will talk about him when we get back right after this. But before we do that, we've got to tell you about today's last sponsor, and that is Fandul.

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Starting point is 00:19:25 So open the Fandul app today or visit Fandul. com slash locked on to get started. Back here on the Monday edition of Locked on Penguins, I'm Patrick Damp right alongside the one and only Hunter Hodes. And you said it before we went to break Hunter, not to go full iteration here with this segment, but it's a bit of a polarizing prospect. And that is center Roger McQueen, a right shot, another big boy, depending on when you look at some of his rankings, but if there is one thing we know about him, 6-5 is 6-5, no matter what

Starting point is 00:20:06 ranking you put it at. Had a solid year this year in the WHL, but it was a limited year. He had some back issues. He had some injury issues. Only played 17 games, but in those 17 games, 10 goals, 10 assists, 20 points, and 40 penalty minutes to go along with it. If there is one thing that stands out about McQueen, if nothing else, it is that he is a physical specimen.

Starting point is 00:20:35 But Hunter, some scouts and some draft experts have their questions about McQueen. What are those questions? And why aren't you worried about him anymore? I mean, how do I want to say this? I'm still worried a little bit just because of the injury concerns. So you look at what he did this year, right? So he go as high potentially as top five. He could even drop out of the top 10 to top 15.

Starting point is 00:20:59 He was limited to 17 games this season, 10 goals, 20 points in the WHL for the Brandon Weekings. Though if I did have to guess, even though I've seen other people put him outside of their top 10 and top 15, if I had to guess, he probably is still going to go in the top 15 due to the potential that he has. And if the Penguins doctors clear him and they say that he's, He is all good and the penguins want to pick him at 11 if he's still there. Hey, I'll support it because when you turn on the tape,

Starting point is 00:21:31 even though it's limited for this past season, he's still very, and I mean very good. 21 goals, 51 points and 53 games last season. As I said, health is the biggest thing. He's had some bad problems, but there's been some reports that there was a bit of a misdiagnosis and that he's fully healthy now. And they keep talking about the penguins. We want to get bigger. we want to get bigger. Well, McQueen is 6'5 and almost 200 pounds. Play center. There you go for that.

Starting point is 00:21:58 Number one for me, he loves driving to the net. He actually uses his frame to his advantage. I talked about Lyndon Lackovic last week, who is also a big boy, but he doesn't use his frame to his advantage. He doesn't go to the net as much. Roger McQueen, he will, and he'll bully players out of his way to get to the net and get what he wants. Also has some really nice playmaking ability. One of my favorite plays when I was watching the tape from him from this past season was he kept the puck in the zone of the point on one of his power play chances. He drove to the middle, brought everyone with him, and then set up a teammate for a wide open one-timer. Just a really nice play from him. The Penguins were also one of the teams that took him out to dinner at the Combine. So they are at least very much looking at him

Starting point is 00:22:41 as an option number 11. He skates a lot better than someone like Lackavik, who, again, similar size. I don't think it's awkward. I don't think it's conky. It's actually a really nice stride, I think he could maybe work a little bit more on the first first, but again, when you compare to someone like Glockovic, and even though he's 6'5, I think his skating is much better there, even though I still think it could be a little bit better going forward. But again, that's what comes with the development, right? He's not as much of a distance shooter, but he can still rifle a puck. Like I would categorize his release as good.

Starting point is 00:23:13 It's not great, but I would say it's good. Again, not as much of a distant shooter, but he can still really use it when needed, can thread the needle with some soft passes to some areas. There will be times where he would try to deat too many players when coming into the offensive zone and he would lose possession. I say less is more for something like that. But to me, he has all the potential. The skill is there.

Starting point is 00:23:35 It's just that A, can he stay healthy? And B, can he do this on a consistent basis? Those are the two biggest things for me. If the penguins believe that both the answers to those questions are yes, then by all means take him. him. I'll trust West Clark when you look at his draft history in Toronto. I'll trust Kyle Dubus and all that. I had him a bit lower on my board coming into this. I've started to rise him up a little bit just because some of the health concerns for me are easing up. And I very much see the talent on display when I put

Starting point is 00:24:07 on the tape. I would still have them behind players like a Victor Eklund, like a Jake O'Brien, even a Brady Martin, which we'll get to later this week. But if he is there at 11, If he is the pick, I will understand it. And heck, you look at some of the data for him, like the tracking data on elite prospects and stuff. It's comparable to Mesa, who should go number one in this class. You might not, might go number two, because maybe the Islanders might go for Schaefer at one, potentially.

Starting point is 00:24:39 But it's comparable to Mesa, who, again, is one of the two best players in this class. So that's where I stand on Roger McQueen. I was obviously a bit cooler on him for a while than most, but I've been warming up to it a bit more over the last couple of weeks as we've gotten more information about the injury stuff and a couple other things as well. You brought up one of the concerns that I noticed about him when it comes to his game. I love the tenacity.

Starting point is 00:25:14 I love the skill. I think this kid, if like you said, he can stay healthy, could really develop into a very good forward in the National Hockey League. But you brought up that there were a lot of instances where he would try to do too much. Yeah. And you have to hope that you start to develop that discipline with time. Because I am never going to hold a player to an unfair standard and try to criticize, and get mad at every mistake they make. I want young players to try.

Starting point is 00:25:50 I want young players to learn and get better, especially skilled tenacious forwards like a Roger McQueen. You look at his game. The guy is not afraid to use that 6-5 frame. The guy is not afraid to bully people and be the kind of player that can be successful in a changing NHL where size, physicality, and skill are all starting to get molded together, but you also don't want him to take unnecessary risks.

Starting point is 00:26:19 You don't want him skating right into a trap. You don't want him to see a team stack up defense at the blue line, and he skates right into it leading to a turnover in a chance the other way for the opposition. All that said, I very much am of the belief that that comes with time and experience, especially when you're a skilled player who has been one of the better and bigger players at every level he's played at. And eventually you start to learn, okay, I'm playing at a higher level now. The guys who are around me and the guys that I'm playing against were a lot like I was coming up. It's not me feasting on lesser talent like I got to do at some lower levels.

Starting point is 00:27:04 Now everybody can do this. but when you mix the skill, when you mix the size that this kid has, there's a recipe for this kid to become a really effective NHL player. Just has to put it all together. Again, that's where the consistency comes into. If he can do this on a more consistent basis and he can stay healthy, he can develop into a top of six center in the NFL. I've seen a couple of people compare him to Gino when he's healthy.

Starting point is 00:27:32 Not really sure if I see that just yet. I think that's a little too much right now. I think people are just looking at the size and like, oh my God, like, look, he could do that type of stuff. People got you out a little bit on that. But I will end it with this. When you look at some of the tracking data on elite prospects for Roger McQueen, he ranks in the 98th percentile for offense,

Starting point is 00:27:52 96 for transition, 95 for defense. I should have added that. His two-way play, it's fairly good. I don't think it gets talked about enough. And again, his shot, it's not great, but I think it's an underrated aspect of his game. I think it's a good release and he could use it a little bit more, even though I still like his playmaking ability quite a bit as well.

Starting point is 00:28:11 One last thing, as I said, if he is healthy and the Penguins doctors clear him and he is there at 11, I will not have a problem with them taking him with that pick. Just make sure he's healthy. The skill is there. Just have to hope that he's healthy. I think that is a good of place as any to leave our Monday episode. Hopefully you learned a bit more about two potential penguins picks, but they are not going to be the only two that we go over.

Starting point is 00:28:40 Like I said, this is going to be Mr. Hodey's week to shine because he has been grinding away at this draft board. And I want to make sure everybody gets a chance to see who he has ranked. So we're going to leave it there for the Monday edition of Locked on Penguins. Hunter and I will be back with a brand new episode, for you on Tuesday. We're going to go over two more prospects as well as any other news and notes that come up between now and then. So for Hunter Hodes, I'm Patrick Damp. Thank you as always for tuning in and we will be back on Tuesday.

Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - How active will Dubas and the Penguins be during NHL Draft week?

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