Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Is Bryan Rust in line for a rebound next season? Plus, another potential goaltender target!

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hello, Yan's, happy Friday, April 28th. This is also my sister's birthday. So happy birthday, Dari. This is her 23rd. She does not listen to this because she's not a hockey fan, but if she never somehow somehow someone upon this, happy birthday. I'm very proud of you with everything that you do.

Starting point is 00:00:16 But for today's episode, we are going to touch on Brian Rust's season in review. Go into how he was a bit unlucky in some areas this past season and also why he could bounce back in a decent way next season. and also get into another goaltender option that the Penguins could trade for that a YouTube commenter suggested. I'll leave it at that. And then we'll touch on the semi-cut playoffs as we finally have a couple of teams with advanced two roundties. That's all coming up right after this drop.

Starting point is 00:00:46 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. I'm not to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the show's Twitter at Endlorsal Penguins,

Starting point is 00:01:20 and of course thank you so much for making this your first listening today. We're free and available on all platforms. So let's jump right into it regarding Brian Rust in his season review. So, you know, when you look at the, you know, his regular counting stats this season, you will obviously see some lows. It was definitely not the season that he envisioned. 20 goals, 46 points this year. His 20 goals is the lowest since 2018-19.

Starting point is 00:01:49 We had 18 after that had 27. He had 22. Last year, 24, this year, 20. He also had 12 less points this season. Again, paired with last season. Last season, he actually set a career high in points. 58 points in 60 games this year, 46. and 81. So it was only about a little over half a point per game this season.

Starting point is 00:02:10 His underlines were fine for the most part. It was just he was getting unlucky. I'm going to get into that, you know, right now. And I'm going to start with, I'm not ready to give up on him just because, again, I do think he can come back a bit better next season. You look at some of the numbers on the power play. And, you know, this comes courtesy of natural statrix. So this season, in 80 games,

Starting point is 00:02:35 Russ Hattie, so he had 175 minutes on the power play. You know, two minutes per game on the power play. Well, an average of that. Well, yes, an average of two minutes, two, 11. His goals per 60.6.8. If you compare that to last season on the power play, 2.62 goals per 60 on the power play. Season before that, 2.32.

Starting point is 00:03:01 And then before that, 3.19. even this season total assist per 60 3.08 last year 3.49 primary assist per 60 on the power play 1.71 this season 2.33 last season total points per 60 on the power play 3.76 6.1 last season 4.25 this this season before 6.77 and 2019 20. His shooting percentage 8%. Compared that to the last two seasons. seasons where he shot over 18%. That tanked his scoring. You know, he wasn't, you know, I understand the power play was not good this season, but he just couldn't do anything on it. He couldn't, you know, he couldn't generate chances. You know, he couldn't generate shot attempts. He couldn't do anything. And again, if you compare that to all of the seasons before that, it's night and day.

Starting point is 00:04:05 So if that just goes back to even a fraction of what he did last season and then before that, I think you see his numbers definitely go up next season. Most of his production this season came at five on five. And, you know, it's similar and a little, it's a little similar to Jake Gunsell because Jake didn't have many power play goals this season, but Rust had less power play goals than Jay. That's just how much Brian struggled on the power play. That's why you saw him actually get replaced on the power play, you know, about

Starting point is 00:04:35 a quarter of the way, third of the way through the season for Ricardo Rquel. Because you're always going to have Latang, Crosby, Malkin, you know, you're always going to have Gensel on it. But for a long time, it was Rust on that top unit. But they ended up replacing him because he just couldn't do anything. And even when he was getting time on the second unit, it still was not good enough. So I think that's, I think the main reason why his numbers really tank this season. And then if you go down to his five on five numbers,

Starting point is 00:05:05 You know, they were in line, you know, with where they were in prior seasons. You know, this season played 81, you know, obviously full season, a thousand, 82 minutes at 5E5. Average a little over 13 minutes. His goal is per 60.7.8 before that, 0.73 last season, 0.76 on the season before that. So his 5-on-5 numbers are decent. His total assist per 60.7,8. His total points per 60, 1.55.

Starting point is 00:05:34 So it went down a little bit, but last season it was 2.05. The season before that 1.5, 2 and his numbers were a bit better. 300 percentage 8.24, little below where he was last season at 8.55. But, you know, you're seeing that his 5-on-5 production, it was decent. You know, he was creating scoring chances. He was positive and expected goals, positive and high danger chances. He was turning those into goals. but you know he just he sometimes didn't get rewarded and you could obviously say that for the power play

Starting point is 00:06:11 as well I really think his biggest thing this season and I know it's been a team issue for the last couple of years is his lack of finishing and usually that's not the case for someone like Russ because he's good at finishing his chances you know he's he has a shooting percentage you know usually well over you know 10 11 percent this season it was a little bit lower than that You know, he had the right, you know, this was the big thing for him. The process was there. The results were not. And am I still concerned going into next season a little bit?

Starting point is 00:06:43 Yes. He just signed that big extension. A player like this can go down the hill really quickly. If he has another season like he had this year next season, you know, I'm going to be a bit nervous for that, that's for sure. But, you know, overall, I thought he played a bit better down the stretch. I mostly think a good chunk of his season was due to bad luck and poor finishing. And if he can get the finishing back to where it was this season before this one, and then in 2021, in 2020, I think he'll have a much better rebound next season.

Starting point is 00:07:20 I really did. And the funny thing is, again, he still had 20 goals this year. I mean, the whole Penguins' top six had 20 goals. But it looked like for a while that he wasn't going to get there. Then he did have that nice hot streak to win the season. and, you know, he's capable of doing that. You know, he's also kind of a streaky player. There were times this season where he would go eight to ten games without a goal,

Starting point is 00:07:40 and he's harm on himself. You can sell, you. After shifts where he's not scoring, he's slamming the bench door, he's smashing his stick on the bench. I remember, you know, even on the penalty kill when he's not even scoring, when the penguins gave up that goal with less than three minutes left against the centers, where they couldn't even get a point out of that game. You know, apparently he was just by side himself,

Starting point is 00:08:02 in the locker room because he just he knew that he was having a miserable season so i think he's going to take this one to heart and i do think you know at least my hope is that he has a better campaign in 2023 2024 so if i had to grade him would maybe give him like a c you know maybe a little lower than that like a c minus if you want to put plus and minuses in there but i think he can definitely go up to at least a b next season if his finishing does improve so let me know what you all think do you think Brian Ross is going to be an improved it's going to improve next season and if so why or tell me if you don't think he's going to improve also tell me why on that so that wraps up this first segment of the podcast coming up to for the second sentence I was in the final second segment we're going to get into that other goaltender option that a YouTube commenter pointing out to me because you know I if the penguins want to strike big they could do this one but before we get to that we do have to discuss eBay Motors for a championship team, it's all about making sure every player is a perfect fit. It's the same when it comes to your vehicle.

Starting point is 00:09:05 Every part needs to fit just right. So the next time you need parts and accessories, head to eBay Motors. With eBay guaranteed fit, you can be sure every part you need fits right the first time around. Just add your ride to my garage and look for the green check to know the part will fit, or you get your money back because just like in sports, confidence is the name of the game, when you shop on eBay Motors. And with over 122 million parts to choose from, you'll be back in the game in no time. after all, it's easy to bring home a win when the right parts are guaranteed.

Starting point is 00:09:31 Get the right parts, the right fit, and the right prices on eBay motors.com. Let's ride. eBay is only guaranteed fit to U.S. customers eligible items, only exclusions apply. All right, I'm back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes. You're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the show's Twitter at NLORS4 Penguins. And, of course, thank you all so much for making this.

Starting point is 00:09:58 Your first list in the day we're freeing available on all platforms. So I saw a comment on the YouTube page earlier today. I believe this came from Andrew Gamos. He says, here's one for you, Hunter. Having just watched Johnny Hawkeyes' video about Rick Bonas's blowup after the Jets were eliminated and oh yeah. Yeah, if you did not watch Rick Bonus blow up to the media. He spoke for two, three minutes and he let everyone have it. The Jets got destroyed by the Vegas going nights on Thursday night.

Starting point is 00:10:29 Bonus was not happy. He was, you know, when you put the words disgusted a few times in your answers, oh, there's going to be some day changes coming to Winnipeg. And this is where Andrew leads it. He goes, you know, he suggested that Connor Hellibuck would be requesting a trade to a U.S. team. If the Jets dismantled their current team by trading a lot of their core, next year is the final year of Hellebuck contract.

Starting point is 00:10:50 What do you think of the Penguins making a move for Connor Hellbuck through a trade? I mean, obviously, Andrew, sign me up for Connor Hallibuck. I mean, if the Penguins can go after him, I would do that in a heartbeat. You know, it's kind of similar to throwing everything at UC Sorrows. I do think you're going to see a lot of changes with regard to the Winnipeg Jets. You know, the time has maybe reached an end here with the core. You have Mark Schifley. What's going to happen with him, Blake Wheeler, Pierre Locke Dubois.

Starting point is 00:11:19 He's getting close. Nikolai Eilers, Kyle O'Connor. Like, you know, what's the plan here? What's Josh Morrissey, you've got to figure out who's staying and who's going in Helibuck. you know, I can see, and Elliot Freeman talked about this on the 32 thoughts podcast today, too. He even said, yeah, I mean, there's a chance that he could even get traded this summer. And, you know, Hella Buck, he's awesome people. I mean, I know in the playoffs, you know, if I can just making sure I have his numbers here,

Starting point is 00:11:51 he did struggle, allowed three more goals above expected. 86% percentage, 3.44 goals against average. but during the regular season. He saved 31 goals, saved above expected play in 64 games. 920, save percentage, 2.49 goals against average. The same percentage on block shots was 9.56. He carried the Jets to the playoffs. He was the only reason.

Starting point is 00:12:14 They were really good the first half of the season, and then they started to stink in January and February. But he was still very good in the second half, even when it looked like they were not going to make it at times. It was funny. The Jets, every time they would win, it would look like, oh, they're going to pull away.

Starting point is 00:12:29 But then they would lose a couple. It's like, oh, you're inviting Nashville to come back in. You're inviting Calgary to come back in. And eventually they got in, but I don't think any serious person picked the Jets to win that series. I understand Vegas was very fraudulent coming in, but they got Stoneback. Ikel's awesome. Theodore Patrangelo, Braswa is playing decent for them. They were going to win that series.

Starting point is 00:12:51 Maybe they weren't, I didn't know if they were going to win in five, but I thought Vegas was the better team and they showed that. Honor Hella Buck can only do so much for you in that situation. So, I would be all for it, Andrew. You can definitely add that to the Penguins' goaltending wish list, if you want. Trade package. That's a big one. You're talking first round pick, top prospects, good roster player, probably another first round pick.

Starting point is 00:13:25 I know that sounds like a lot, and I know some of these players don't go for that kind of price. But in terms of Heloduck, who is arguably the best goaltender in hockey, you know, I think they're going to ask for a king's answer for him if he gets put on the market. But he would solve a lot of the penguins' problems. I know his contract, it's not super long. You know, you said he does have, you know, next year is the final year of his contracts to get a full season with him. but that next number, it is going to be a big one.

Starting point is 00:13:59 You know, it's, that's going to be a high ticket. And I don't know if the penguins will be able to afford that. Then that gets really interesting, right, if you want to go down this rabbit hole. See, the penguins do trade for Connor Hellebuck, and we're just, obviously, this is, we're in silly season right now, people. This is how it goes. Say they do trade for Hella Buck. They don't, they don't have an extension for him or Jake Gensel.

Starting point is 00:14:18 What do you do there? That's what I'm really looking for. You know, and again, you shed some salary to keep both. that would be interesting. I think there could be a way you keep both because, you know, a lot of the core has taken discounts to come back. But then you have sit up in two seasons. You know, you have to figure out the math.

Starting point is 00:14:38 And obviously, I think a new GM will be able to do that. Because I think you can figure out a way to get all those players signed back and be able to add, you know, quality depth around, you know, your star and your core. But, oh, it's definitely an interesting question to say the least. but no, I would be all for adding Hellebuck. He would be a perfect goaltender for this team. Do I think it happens?

Starting point is 00:15:01 Probably not, Andrew, but, wow, sign me up. You know, him, UC Soros, Jeremy Swayman. They got to do something big, I think, in goal for next season. You know, if it's not that, you got to bring someone in who can challenge Jari. It can't just be Jari and just not running it back. And then that's if they do bring Jari back on like a short-term deal or something like that. But I don't think he should be, you know, the full-fledged starter if he does. come back. I think you need to get someone in there who can really push him. He can play the same

Starting point is 00:15:28 out of games, if not a little bit more than him. And that's what I'm looking at for the goal-tending position for next season. But yes, Conner Hellabuck, you can come on down there. You can bring Kyle Connor with you if you want. You can bring that, well, I was going to say Nick Lightyler's great when healthy, but he's obviously pretty banged up a lot of times. But you can bring Kyle Connor with you for all I care. But yeah, so I think all I really have to say, say about that. That wraps up this second segment coming up to end the show. Finally have some teams in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. We're going to discuss that to end this. Don't go anywhere. It's coming up right after this commercial break.

Starting point is 00:16:08 All right. I'm back here in this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes. I'm going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the show's Twitter at LORS for Penguins. And of course, thank you all so much for making this. Your first list in the day, we're freeing available on all platforms. So Stanley Cup playoffs. you know, we finally have a couple of teams who have gone through. We discussed Vegas. They defeat the Jets in five games.

Starting point is 00:16:30 And we did just see the hurricanes take out the Islanders in six games. Look, you know, the Islanders get no sympathy for me. You know, I know my, you know, my, my fandom as a kid is coming out there because they, you know, they, they've, they've broken my heart a few sometimes. And I know they've broken a lot of people, a lot of people's other hearts. who are a lot older than me, I know 93 comes to mind, but also know a series before that in the 70s comes to my high, trust me.

Starting point is 00:17:02 That that team has been a thorn in the penguin side ever since they came into the league. And, yeah, that's why it doesn't get any sympathy for me. It just felt like that team had 10,000 lives, and it felt only fitting that Ilya Sorokin gave up a garbage goal for them to lose because he came on in the scene two years ago. And outside of Tristan Jari was the biggest. reason why the Islanders won because I will continue to say that the Penguins easily should

Starting point is 00:17:27 have won that series in 2021. They were the better team. Their underlinings were much better if they would have gotten a save from either one of their goalies, or mainly Trish and Jari, and if they, if Sorokin wasn't God in game five, they probably win that series. But, you know, that's two years old. But Carolina, the deserved winner, I thought they were the better team in this series. They really turned it up in the third period and in overtime. I don't think they're going to beat New Jersey. If the Devils win, New York, they might be able to because the Rangers are ruling right now. But, you know, the hurricanes are just really banged up.

Starting point is 00:17:59 I'm not really sure they're going to have the firepower to match New Jersey or potentially New York. If they're able to come back and win that series, you know, speaking of that, the Devils just blow out the Rangers in game five, game six set for Saturday at Madison Square Garden. I said this on my Thursday episode into Friday. Rangers news that game. I think you're looking at a coaching change. I think a lot of Rangers fans are out on Galant. I have a couple buddies texting me who are Rangers fans saying, well, you know, if the Penguins want to fire Mike Sullivan will gladly take them off their hands.

Starting point is 00:18:28 And it's like, no, yeah, that doesn't need to happen. Thanks. I don't need Mike Sullivan going to a division rival because I actually think he would make the Rangers to be a really good team. So, no thanks to that. But Bruins Panthers, wow. If you would have told me that Bruins Panthers would be going to game seven after how awful the Panthers looked in games three. three and four, I would have thought you were on meth. I'm serious. I am one million percent serious.

Starting point is 00:18:58 I would have thought you were on meth, cocaine, whatever drug you want to put out there, because they got crapped on in the sunrise. They go into Boston game five. They get a little lucky to win that game. Boston outplay them, Barbaraowski play well. But tonight, All Mark Stunk, the Bruins were bad in the defensive zone.

Starting point is 00:19:16 That was a back and forth affair, just total drunk hockey. no goalie could make a save. We're going to Game 7 on Sunday and all of the pressures on the Bruins. Oh, you cannot lose that game after winning 65 games to win the President's trophy

Starting point is 00:19:36 with all those expectations. You cannot lose that game. I know the Pan-I know people, I don't want to say this. I know the Panthers will say, oh, there's pressure on us too. Oh, ho-ho, not nearly as much as it is on Boston. they you lose that game oh social media is going to have a feel day with that and i'd be curious to see what happens in that in that organization this summer because after the season they had how

Starting point is 00:20:04 they destroyed every team can't lose that especially going up three games to one and looking dominant you cannot lose that series lose that an eighth seed three times in a row no so i'm really curious to see how that goes on sunday couple of of the other scores right now. If I'm just making sure I have this right, this is obviously going to be changed by the time. You also listen to this. Last time I saw, okay, so the Cracken did tie it up.

Starting point is 00:20:32 Vince Dunn, Vince Dunn got the opening goal, and then it was Miko Ramston to tie the game late in the first period, so 1-1. And the stars are currently up on the while right now, Rupe Hints, as they're trying to eliminate them. And then we also will get Edmonton, L.A. on Saturday. I like the Oilers to win that.

Starting point is 00:20:50 I think they're going to win the series. Seeing them go up against the Golden Knights will be an awesome series. We really want to see that with all that scale. Goaltending, I think will be pretty decent for both teams. I would really want to see that. Rangers Devils, you know, want to see what happens here. The Devils have really turned it up a notch. It's up to the Rangers to adjust.

Starting point is 00:21:09 That's not Gerard Goantz Forte. He's been brutally outcoached again in this series. I'll continue to say it that Mike Sullivan was schooling him before Louis Dominion couldn't make a save in last year's playoffs. he was running him out of the building. Gerard Galant is not a good coach. He's just not. If there's a coach that gets bailed out by superstar talent, it is him.

Starting point is 00:21:33 And honestly, you know, there's some legacy games on the line here for Panarin and Zabinajad. They haven't done a thing all series. Kane had that one moment where he did something good. But it's mainly been for them. Igor Shostorkin, Adam Fox, and Chris Kreider. I don't really. to think about anyone else on our team has really showed up, to be honest. Maybe Barclay Goodrow a little bit.

Starting point is 00:21:56 But their star players have got to be a lot better going forward. But, you know, that will wrap up this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast a little bit shorter than usual. But we still had some good things to talk about. I'll be back with another episode for you all on Monday as we start the month of May. Crazy how fast this month is going, how fast this year is going, excuse me. And we'll get all the updates on the Stanley Cup playoffs, continue the season reviews. also hopefully have some more mock offseason moves and we'll also have Danny Shari on next week

Starting point is 00:22:27 as long as still trying to confirm that he's obviously from D.K. Pittsburgh Sports. So thank you all so much for listening slash watching. I really appreciate it. I'll be back with another episode for you all on Monday. Have a great weekend.

Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Is Bryan Rust in line for a rebound next season? Plus, another potential goaltender target!

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