Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Is John Marino the heir apparent to Kris Letang?

Episode Date: January 4, 2021

The season is just about underway which means it's back to five episodes a week for Locked On Penguins! Today's show starts off with the big news that John Marino has signed a six-year extension with the Penguins. Is this a good deal for both sides? What does he need to show in order to be the heir to Kris Letang? After that, Hunter goes into the first day of practice and that means...line combinations! Evan Rodrigues on the first line? Who's on the top power-play besides the big four? Finally, Hunter touches on some comments from GMJR about getting a high-impact player in free agency in a couple of seasons. Who would the Penguins have to move out to make it happen? Which position would the player likely be? All that, plus much more on this episode of Locked On Penguins.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus. Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order. 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.

Your Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day. Hello, welcome to this Monday, well, late morning, early afternoon episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. Follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes.

Follow the show is Twitter at L-O- underscore Penguins. Reminded to you guys that this show is brought to you by Bill Pard. You can go to BillPar.com and use promo code locked-on. You'll get 20% off. your next order. So we're fully back now with five episodes a week. It's pretty crazy. You know, we've gotten through the offseason just about training camp. Their first, Penguins' first official practice was today. I'll have some lime combinations for you guys coming up later. But, you know, the big news that came out of the weekend. No, it was not the Steelers almost beating the rounds with their

backups was John Marino's contract extension. So news came out around this time, basically 1130 on Sunday morning that, you know, the Penguins were agreeing to a six-year deal. I think Pierre Lebrun first had it. And I saw that, I'm like, you know what? I wouldn't be surprised if it's $4.4.5 million per because, I mean, it would make a lot of sense. And I think that would be a steal of a deal. You know, I actually got something right. Peter LeBrun followed that tweet up with his average per year with his $4.4 million.

Again, guys, that is a hell of a contract. I don't know how Jim Rutherford can just time travel back to 2017 with a great move. But he did there. You know, it's amazing that he can stink at trades at times and stink at a lot of free agent signings, but he absolutely nailed this Marino contract, you know, 4.4 per year for him at six years, and it's going to cover all of his prime years. That's just a gorgeous deal for them. And I do think that this contract signifies that he is the heir apparent to Crystal Tang, but, you know, we've got to see how he plays first in this season and for the coming seasons,

can his offense come out. And it's going to have to if, you know, people are going to take Marino being the heir apparent to Latang seriously. I mean, Crystal Tang averages 50, 55 points the season when he's fully healthy. I mean, he's done, I think, 60 once before. I think Letang also had 15 goals last season. His underlying numbers are read offensively. So we're going to have to see some of that this season for Marino. Like I said, if people want to take that seriously. But you know, you look at Marino's past season for the Penguins. I mean, he's an elite shot suppressing. His goal's 4%. It's 56.4%. His scoring chance is 4.6. His scoring chances 4. Scoring chances he ends. 3754 to 356. High danger chances 4.

155 high danger changes against 130. His high danger chances 4 percentage was 54.3%. I mean, this was a hell of a player last year. Goals 4 at high danger 26 to 16. On a safe, he was a product of good goaltending on the ice 919, I think. And it was just a very stellar rookie season for him. And I think he kind of saved the penguin's defense this past season. No one really expecting him to make the team out of camp.

Remember, they had Eric Granson at the time. And everyone was going to be like, oh, he's going to play in the top floor role. John Marino said, no way, made the team end of training camp, made good brands and expendable. They traded him to, I think it was Anaheim, I think, if I'm not mistaken. And that was all C-Rote. So I'm really excited to see how Marino does this season. That's a great contract. Jim Rutherford probably made his best move of the off-season right there with that contract, six years, 4.4 million per.

I know some people are going to be like, oh, it could be the Olimada deal, you know, not a big sample size. I really don't think this is going to be the next Olimada, guys. I think if you look at the underlying numbers, Marino is better defensively than Mata was at the time when he signed his deal. And I think Marino has a lot more to give offensively. We all know Mata did too, but I think Marino can actually get there as opposed to Mada not getting there. So I would be pretty surprised if Marino honestly did not have more offense in him this season.

And also, you know, if the people are comparing this contract to Mata, as me, Mado was also a lot slower on the ice than Marino. And, you know, his underlying numbers of the defensive zone. were not nearly as good as Marino. So I think that's mostly why I'm just pretty bullish on this Marino contract. But yeah, great news for the Penguins. It was always going to be a big question what Marino was going to get with his next contract just because of how great he was during his rookie season.

But you don't have to worry about that anymore. You have him locked up. You have Brian Dumlin locked up. You have Marcus Pedersen locked up. You have Mike Matheson locked up for a little too many years. You have Chris LaTang still locked up for a couple more years. The defense is mostly intact for a while now. And while I do think Crystal Tang will resign with the Penguins, though for probably a much cheaper cap hit on a cheaper deal,

the defense is honestly not that bad. I know they have Cody C.C. signed to a one-year deal. We're secretly going to see how much he's going to play if by defensive parings you look at today, which I'm going to get to. It looks like he's probably going to be an every-night player, which kind of sucks just because his limitations are. You can obviously see what his limitations are. I'm just going to say that. But, you know, the defense is pretty locked up. I mean, I could see them maybe moving Marcus Pedersen at some point down the line to get P.O. Joseph in there if he's ever NHL ready.

But that's probably not, I think, for a couple of years. I think they're going to keep Pedersen up there and not top full role for a while. And I'm curious to see how Pedersen does this season next to Marino again. You know, him and Marino, their underlying numbers together were pretty damn good. So that's going to be fun to watch. And before we do get to our next day, we can talk about some of the line pairings. And, you know, I get to bitch about them because, you know, it's one of my favorite pastimes to do. And, you know, it's also the world is healing a little bit, and it's a new year.

So Penguins had their first day of training camp today. Well, first day on the ice for training camp, I should say. For those that are not aware, Casperi Captain will not be here for training camp. I don't think he's going to be here for the entire training camp period because he's having, I think, visa immigration issues in Finland. I've been reading that he may not be available for the first game of the season against Philadelphia, maybe not even the second game in the season. That's due, of course, he has to come back to Pittsburgh.

He has to quarantine, I think, for seven days. and I think he has to have four to five negative tests in a row for the coronavirus. I think that's what I read. So yeah, you know, the Kisbury Capitan era part two. Off to a great start is he's not here. I think he's the only player that's not here. I think also think Colton Severe was on the ice today. I'm sure Mike Sullivan will have an update on that after practice, but for the lines,

Gensel and Crosby, they put Evan Rodriguez up there. That should be interesting to see how Rodriguez plays next to Crosby. I know a lot of people are high on Evan Rodriguez. He could be a decent play driver. You know, we just, we got to see it. You know, it was such a small sample size last season. He only played in a few games. But, you know, if he can take a big step,

the Penguins could have something made with Rodriguez and only a 700K contract, I just don't know how well he will drive play for this team. That's my big thing. But, you know, the second line is intact, Zucker with Malkin and Rust. Third line, though, is where it gets sketchy. And Jim Rutherford had some comments about that

in a piece this morning from Josh Yo. I'm going to get to that in the second segment. Jared McCann on the 1. wing, Mark Jane Kalski at center, Sam Lappertie on the right wing. Yeah, that third line is a bunch of crap. That is not a good third line in all. I have never been that big of a fan of Sam Lafferty. I don't really think his underlying numbers are good.

I mean, he can get into the zone fine with the puck, but I don't think his shooting ability is that good. Playmaking ability is kind of okay. I see him on his team as a 13th forward when everyone is healthy. Obviously, right now he's going to get playing time because Zach Asson-Rise is out until February or March. But I just, I don't know. I've never been a fan of them.

I know I've read that some writers say, like, oh, he's one of their best players on the ice during their return to play and the training camp for those couple weeks. I don't doubt that, but then, you know, when he played in the playoffs, I think in that first game, he didn't really do much for me on that third line with McCann. So I'm just not a big fan of him. And even during the regular season, I just, like, I wasn't into it.

But, you know, he has time to prove me wrong. And then the fourth line, Teddy Bluger and Brandon Tannibov, of course, and then Drew Connor gets the left wing spot on the fourth line, and of course that's due to Zach Astnery's being out, and Colton Crier not being at practice. It looks like the team is pretty high on Drew O'Connor from what I've read. I think he's from Dartmouth. Pretty decent score from there.

They signed him, I think, to a, what was the two-three-year entry-level deal? It was either this past year or the year before that. I have to double-check, but I know they signed him pretty recently. I don't think he's going to make the team, but, you know, he's definitely going to be playing Wilkesbury. and when injuries happen with the penguins, it most likely will, I could definitely see him being a call-up,

maybe right after Nathan Legerre or Sam Puan. And then for the defensive course, no really big surprise. Is Brian DeWin next to Chris LaTang? That's one of the best top pairings in hockey. Marcus Peterson next to John Marino. That's a hell of a top four. Mike Matheson next to Cody Cici.

Cody Cici is going to play this season, folks. I mean, he's probably going to win the number six job for as much as I've talked about on this podcast this off season about wanting Chad Rueel to beat him out because, I mean, I think he can. It's just probably not going to happen with Mike Sullivan. They just signed Cody Cici. They want to see what they have in him.

It's fine, and it's only for a million because if he absolutely stinks, which he probably end up will doing, you can just put him in the press box. It's $1 million. It's a $1 million. It's a $1 million where he signed for five years at $3.25 million or something like that. And then you can just pet Chad Rueh in there, who I do think is better defensively and offensively. But they are going to play Cody Cici, guys.

I mean, that's just going to happen. We're going to have to suck it up because that's just what Mike. Sullivan is going to do, and then the other pairing Yusel Rechola and Chagruidel. So we'll see how much playing time Rikula gets the season. He probably will play a little bit, assuming injuries do happen, because, like I said, it's

the penguins and they always have injuries. But, you know, overall, I don't mind a lot of this defensive corps. It just seems like it's night and day from last year's. I mean, the top four is awesome. I think I honestly think, guys, like, no bias aside, that this is one of the best top fours in the league for defense.

Just because of Chris LaTang, when He's on his game. Top 10 defenseman, Brian Dumlin, one of the best number twos in hockey. And then John Marino only continuing to get better than with Marcus Patterson, who is great defensively, though. A little bit of a down here this past year. I think he can get back to that level. He's great, too. And then your bottom pair, it's a lot better than Johnson's.

You know, we're going to see what we have in Mike Matheson really quickly. Can Tom Rader works some magic with him? And then Cody Cici, if you can not have his limitations be standing out very bad like Jack Johnson's, it could turn out to be semi-okay. I'm not going to go out and say, oh, it's going to be great with Cody Cici because Todd Reardon is there as he's the defensive whisperer,

as everyone like to say that, that Sergei Ganshaw was. But, you know, if he can be semi-okay this year, I think I would chalk that up as a win in my book for the Penguins. And, of course, both goaltenders were on the ice as well. Tristan Jari and Casey dismissed,

and it looks like practice wrapped up as Mike Sullivan wants to keep them fresh. So that's basically it for the lines. Not too many complaints, though, you know, I still wish Hyder Reidelito would be at the number seven. spot and then you know I'll be curious to see how Drew O'Connor does in training camp if I can read

more about him and then you know we'll have to see what happens with the third line is colton seviour going to return to practice is he hurt we'll have to see what happens with that but still it's good to see the team back on the ice for training camp and have a bit of normal see in the world here as the season is getting underway in about nine days now but you know to close out this segment before we do get to the next segment the penguins I think they have so they're another team that have the um a logo entitlement partner I think the capitals did one So they have a big PPG now logo on their helmet. It looks absolutely terrible, just total dog shit.

I'm not going to get super upset about it, unlike some of these other people that have really gotten mad online about it. I just think it's terrible. If you guys want to check it out, go to the Penguin's official Twitter account. It looks just pretty bad. But you know what? If you're going to overreact to it, just reevaluate your life, please, because it's really not that big of a deal,

even though I do think it's pretty bad. It just looks really weird on there, but, you know, I'm not going to get my panties in a bundle over. it. But before we get to our next segment, it is time to talk about bet online. There's only one place that has you covered in one place to retrust that is betonline.ag. You can actually sign up today for a free account at that site and use that promo code locked on for your 50% off welcome bonus. Don't just sit on the sidelines anymore, guys. Get in on the action. Don't forget to use that promo code locked on. You get a 50% off welcome bonus with your first deposit. Bet online,

your online sports book experts. All right. Welcome back to this episode. episode of being locked on penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodey. So Josh O'Y of the Athletic had a really great story this morning on talking to Jim Rutherford, just about a whole bunch stuff. The big thing, whoa, was he was basically just talking about the future of the team. And the season hasn't even started yet. So it's interesting that he's already talking about that. You know, the 2022 is the big year for the penguins. Gino and Tangro's contracts are up, and they're both going to need new ones if they're going to stay with the penguins. Obviously, that's the biggest obvious statement I've probably ever said.

And I think also Brian Russ's contract is up that year. And I think Caspera Kappan's contract is up that year too. But this was the big thing that Rutherford said here to Josh. He goes, he's spending a bit of money. He says, we've got to have some young guys and key spots. The key to this as we go forward a couple years down the road, we'll be plugging in an impact player in our lineup. Maybe a couple of them, not just a good player, but an impact guy.

It's hard to get the truly impactful guys like Crosby, Gino, or Latang. But at the time will come. We'll have to add one of those types of players. It's something what we're probably going to have to do in free agency. We'll have to find the right year to do it, but the time will come when you will need to find a truly impact with player who is probably in his mid-20s. That's a pretty interesting statement there from GMJR. He's already saying that when this season hasn't even got underway yet. And there's definitely is a way to do it for the Penguins, but you know, it is a hard way to do it.

This is a cap team. They do not shed a lot of salary. They will have to do with Vegas to this offseason if they want to add a high impact player like they did with our Turtranjil. They move someone like Paul Stassie. They move someone like Nate Schmidt. You're going to have to move an impactful player or two to get an impact player, like a forward, into the lineup. And who could that be? I mean, would the team feel comfortable trading someone like Brian Dumlin?

I wouldn't, but, you know, that's someone make a potential look to move. Marcus Patterson would fit that bill. Maybe you don't re-sign Brian Rust. I mean, who else could you trade? You're going to trade Jason Zucker? He was pretty good for you. That would be kind of stupid. you're going to let one of the other core guys walk?

I don't think so. You're going to trade Chris Lattang and move that salary out if his play deteriorates, which I don't think it will. There's a lot of questions that Jim is going to have to answer. They will have to trade a good player to get an impactful guy in free agency. And, you know, the Penguins will have to pay up to get that player too. I mean, you're talking like what, seven to eight year deal, seven to eight million per for a cap team that spends up the cap every single year.

Yeah, you're going to have to be. move outside, just like Vegas did. And I don't mind what Vegas did. They got a great player in Alex Petrangelo, even though he's 30 years old, and Jim wants to get a player that is in his mid-20s. But, you know, like I said, you're going to have to move some salary out, and it'll be interesting to see. I mean, Casperi Capman, his deal is up in 2022. That contract comes off the books. Maybe that will help get the impact player, Brian Russ. Would you move on from him too? Would you trade a defenseman like Dumlin or Pedersen? I feel more comfortable trading Pedersen than that scenario than Newman is because I think Dumlin is.

great and you know what do you do with the two core guys mean you obviously know sydney crosby is going to retire as a penguin forever but you know what happens with gino and letang i would like to think that gino will stay for three or four more years after that maybe at a lower discounted price than his 9.5 million that he's making right now but i think he will stay then letang what do you do with him he'll be what 35 at that point you have john merino signed for a long time i'd like to think that they would bring latang back on a shorter term deal maybe like what two three years something like that at a lower average annual value per year to just finish off his career with the penguins because you know i would love to have sid gino and

letang just finished their careers together i know i've been reading some bold predictions that some people think that oh yeah you know this could be it for letting this could be his last season here with the penguins i honestly don't see it i still think he finished his career here with the penguins but you know i'll be curious to see what impact player jim would add in phangely i need to honestly go on to cat friendly and look to see what players are available to because I think for this coming free agency class, there's not really like that many of big name players available. I think it's for the next one that is.

But in another episode this week, I'm going to go on to Kath Rennley and take a much deeper look to see what players they could go after in free agency for like a big name contract. But, you know, other stuff in the article from Jim, I'm just scoring through it basically right now. He already talked about the defense. You know, I touched on that earlier.

He said there was also a little question. Jared McCann will play an important role for these penguins. He's been streaky during his time, Pittsburgh. and he will be moving from center to left wing to begin the season. Jim thinks it's going to be beneficial. He's a good player and we want him to be comfortable. I honestly disagree with Jim Rutherford on that. I think McCann is better at center than he is at wing.

I get playing Mark Janowski there. You know, you want to see what you have in him. But, you know, you look at the underlying numbers, and I think McCann was better at center than he was at wing. I get it, though, if you just want him to stick at one position, you don't want to keep moving him around from center back to wing and then left wing back to center. So I understand that, but I just think he's a better,

fit at center than he is at wing. So, but you know, they're around to see who his center is going to be. Like I said, probably will be Jankelski, but who's also going to flank him on the right wing? You know, is it going to be Sam Lafferty? Is it going to be Colton Severe? You know, if he ever returns to practice, we'll have to see what happens on that front. And lastly from the article, Jim said it's possible that Poulin and Nathan Ligarie can make the team, though. I think at this point, it's unlikely.

I think they'll probably start the season in Wilkesper. So that's basically it from Jim Rutherford with this article from Josh Yewee. I mean, yeah, I'm just, I'm curious to see what kind of impact player that they would add, you know, it's probably going to be a top six winger, I would guess. I don't really think they need to add anyone else to their defensive scores unless you're maybe looking at a depth signing for the bottom hearing when Cody Cici's contract

runs out, but I would have to think it's most likely a top six forward. And with that, before we do get to our next segment, it's time to talk about Bill Barters 18 amazing flavors, six new ones, caramel brownie, cookies and cream, lemon almond cheesecake, carrot cake, are a few, 12 original flavors, raspberry, german chocolate, peanut butter, banana, red, mint, brownie.

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4 grams of nebacarbs. You can go to Bilbar.com, and he has promo code locked on, and it'll get 20% off your next order that has promo code locked on for 20% off at Billbarr.com. All right, welcome back to this episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast.

I'm your host, Hunter Hodee. So, for some reason, I think I forgot about the power play lines for the Penguins, this morning for practice, I almost said this evening. Well, case in the Monday is there. It looks like the big four are obviously on the power play. Cindy Crosby, I've got to Gensel, Chris LaTang,

but the fifth guy that is on there, it is not Jason Zucker, it is Brian Rust. That's not too unexpected. I kind of want to see both of them interchange on there, just because I think both have similar skillsets, but, you know, with the season that Russ just had was scoring almost 30 goals, it's not hard to see why that Rust is given

the first shot on the top power play. I mean, Casperi Captain is obviously missing time, so he can't get a shot on the towel properly. But when he does come back, I would expect him to get a little bit of a shot just because of the price of the Penguins paid to get him. And then the second unit, I have it right here, Jason Zucker, Jared McCann, Marcus Pedersen, John Marino. Last but not at least, Evan Rodriguez. So that's pretty interesting that they're going to give O'Dron Regas some second power play minutes. I mean, I guess they really want to see what they have in this player. Some other power play notes from Matt Vensel, who covers the team for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

appears the penguins want more interchangeability on the powerplay, for example, at different moments. We've seen Malkin line up in both circles and at the point. Apparently, Crosby has also been floating around in between the hash marks instead of parking off the right post and a more overloaded look. That Crosby point, it looks like, does Todd Reardon want Sid to be like the T.J. OSHA on the power play? Because O'Shee always kind of just is bound to hash marks. I've always seen them score that same goal on the penguins like each year that Reardon was running the power play, just right in between two players and then just fire. that one-timer passed Murray, just happened in the playoffs, happening in the other season.

It would always be a pass from Backstrom. So I'll be curious to see how much they move sit around. I always prefer Sid to be down low on the power play. I think that's just where he works the best. His high-dangered passes down there are just absolutely through the roof. And just his vision on the ice from down low is just top-notch. I don't think there's any player that's better than Crosby behind the net on the powerplay or for even strength than him.

He's just absolutely sensational with that. And then for Gino, lining up in both circles and at the point, I don't really mind that too much. I mean, I don't mind him running the second point, but, you know, I also don't care if he's just, you know, both circles. He'll be good at any position, I think, on that power play. Just I don't really want him down though. I'd rather have Sid down though just because of the reasons I just said.

So it is definitely, I think, going to be a new power play for the team this season. There's just going to be a lot of different setups to it. And, you know, and with Todd Rue and running it, you know, I think he runs a better power play. than a lot of other coaches in this league. I mean, it'll be a hell of a lot better than Mark Reckis because his unit last season and the season before that was just absolutely pathetic to watch.

I just, you know, in the playoffs and the return to play against Montreal, that power play was just, that was one of the worst penguin power plays I think I've ever seen for as long as I've watched the team. So it can only go up from there, and I'll be interested to see, you know, what other wrinkles that Reardon would have for it going to the season. But I think that will basically do it for this episode. You know, funny enough, as I'm finishing recording this,

Danny Shabry Irving, who's been on the podcast, does great work. for the Penn's blog. Sent me just a Pittsburgh 5-5-office with Sam Lappertie on the ice, 443 minutes. His expected goals for 60 minutes, 1.91. There is a lot of blue on the heat map. You obviously want more red from Micah Blake's, just his unblocked shot rates charts. And yeah, it was just, it was not a good season for Sam Laffernan.

I think that's why a lot of people, and myself included, are just not that high on him. You know, I know some people are, you know, I can't wait for him to have like five. goal or something and be a fan favorite, you know, while Jared McCann just basically gets squashed over by the fan base for just having a bad few games. It's third line left winger or third line center. So we'll have to see what happens with that. We all know what the team's biggest problems are going to the season. What's going to be made of the third line? How much playing time

is Cody Cici going to get? What's going to happen with Tristan Jari? Later this week, I'm going to have some bold predictions for a show and just, you know, my expectations overall for this team, how far I have them going and all that. As we just ramp up to the season. And also this week, we will have Jesse Marshall on the podcast again. Haven't had him on, I don't think, since August, after a couple of moves. So we're going to pick his brain a bit on how he sees the team doing this season, some bold predictions from him,

what to make of some of the line combinations, what the ceiling is for some players, you know, all that. That's coming up, I think, on a Wednesday episode. I'll be posting that on Wednesday. I think I'm recording with him on Tuesday. So stay tuned for that. It's great to be back recording five episodes a week. I'm really excited for this.

I'm sorry for the lack of content during the off season. but you know we're back in full swing now we're going to have more guests on during the season I can't wait to just be talking about all these games with you and just talking about the practices and everything surrounding the team so stay tuned for another episode coming tomorrow and I will talk to you all then I hope you have a great rest of your Monday