Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Is P.O. Joseph about to get even more minutes due to this Jeff Petry injury?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, Penguins fans, happy Tuesday, December 13 for today's show, because there's a couple of off days for the Penguins next game on Thursday against the Fiancy Cats. We're going to get into a big injury update for the Penguins, as it looks like. The streak of them being fully healthy is about to come to an end. It is a defenseman that is on the shelf. I will get to who it is directly after this drop.

Starting point is 00:00:25 And we'll also get into just how good POJ has been this season. We're going to dive into the numbers. Talk about more stuff that I saw from the game on Monday with how he is just developing at a really nice pace right now. And we'll also get into, you know, just a small little preview of what to expect against the cats. We'll have a full preview on Wednesday when I'll be joined by Armando Veliz of Locked on Panthers for a full crossover episode with that.

Starting point is 00:00:53 So today's episode is all coming up right after the 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 everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I am your host. Hunter Hodes, we're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, follow the shows Twitter at Eleanor for Penguins. And of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen of the day. So let's jump right into it. Penguins injury curse will live on.

Starting point is 00:01:43 It'll always be a thing. I'm at this point. So just a few days after Jeff Petrie said, hey, I'm fine, my hand's okay, kind of buckled on him. He went right to the locker room. He missed the game on Monday. He saw this as he was being evaluated for that injury.

Starting point is 00:01:58 On Tuesday evening, the Penguins officially placed Jeff Petrie on long-term injured reserve, which means he'll have to be out for a minimum of 10 games or 24 days, and may have recalled defensive of Mark Friedman, and forward Drew O'Connor, so, you know, he's an extra forward for them. The Penguins are fully healthy to forward, but, you know, he's just another body. I don't think he's going to be in the lineup on Thursday, but, you know, he's an extra person to have right now. Unless there's a forward.

Starting point is 00:02:23 That's her too, but I don't really think there is. But the big news is that Petrie is going to be out for at least the next three to three and a half weeks. That injury kind of tells me right now that probably a broken hand, some kind of hand injury. I don't know if it's fully broken, maybe it's brain, but his hand is not doing well, and he'll be out for at least three and a half weeks, potentially could be four to five.

Starting point is 00:02:49 The earliest he could return is January 8th. I believe that game is against Arizona, if I recall correctly. And the Penguins, they had no choice, but to put him on LCIR if he was seriously hurt, because they don't have any cap room to call players up. I mean, they had $5,000 literally, against the cap

Starting point is 00:03:10 before Jeff Petrie got hurt. It is purely dollar in and dollar out. Again, he suffered that injury on December 10th against the savers was probably a left wrist or a left arm injury. And I think with O'Connor, what they're looking for with him, he's played really well in these last couple of games, nine points in those two games. He's been one of the worst players.

Starting point is 00:03:35 We'll see if he'll draw in Freeman. He's just kind of kind of be able to. a warm body for them. I think they're just going to keep rolling with the same defense that they had on Monday night. But it definitely stinks that Petrie did get hurt because he was having a pretty solid season. I know some of his underlings, you know,

Starting point is 00:03:53 weren't the greatest, but, you know, if you go down up to natural statuary, like 28 games, the Penguins when he was on the ice, had basically 50% of the shot attempts, 53% of the actual goals for, 54% of the expected goals, 53% of the scoring chances, 55% of the high danger chances.

Starting point is 00:04:08 So shot temp's a little down, but overall his other underlines are pretty decent. Start out a bit slowly taking the penalties, but I really did think that he was finding his form really well. And, you know, he was really making that trade look like a good one. I think it was at the time I even said that I thought Petrie over Matheson is an upgrade, even though Petrie is a bit older. And so far, I think I've been proven correct with that. I think he's been as advertised, a good defenseman in his own zone, someone who can play well, um, offensively too.

Starting point is 00:04:41 I think he's been, he was, he's been really good on the power play as of late. This hasn't brought, you know, like, I don't want to say this. He's brought some offense. He's been good in the offensive zone. Just hasn't brought as much as I thought he would so far. And yeah, he went on a little bit of a heater when he was under Marty St. Louis for part of last season. But, you know, this is still a system that benefits him or suits him well.

Starting point is 00:05:05 I should say so I was kind of surprised to see his point. not up to par just yet, but I still think he was having a pretty good season. So this loss is going to be a big one for the Penguins. He's their second best puck mover, in my opinion, that's going to really create a gaping hole now on that right side. So that means, you know, we'll hang. The pressure is going to be really on him to eat those top pairing minutes. You're going to see other defensemen slot up.

Starting point is 00:05:29 I think you're going to see Januta start getting second pairing minutes. And then on the third pairing, you know, they can flip some guys around. They can put Chad Rueel over there if they want to, or they can continue to use him on the left side. I think what you're probably going to see, you know, if I had to guess, Pedersen-Latang, I think you're still going to see Duman Ruta. And then Joseph Roodle, I think that's probably what they're going to do. Essentially if they want that, you know, that full left, righty like Mike Sullivan likes having for his defensive court. So I think those could potentially be the pairings moving forward.

Starting point is 00:06:10 I wouldn't be surprised if they kind of flip-flopped a little bit. Maybe Ruda plays on the left side. He's had some history doing that. You know, obviously, Ruudel has played on the left side before. Freeman also, you know, if he gets in the lineup, he is actually more comfortable, I think, on the left side compared to the rights. But, you know, I know this weak into defensive bid, and I know it's a big loss, but I do think the penguins will be able to withstand this. You know, they were able to withstand a short absence from Chris Tang. I think with Petrie, even though he's had a good year,

Starting point is 00:06:41 I do think this team is well equipped to handle that absence, excuse him, because I think this defensive core is still pretty deep. Now, as for, you know, the weak calls and stuff, you all were a call back early on in the season when Mark Friedman, he had to go through waivers, right, right before the season started. He will not have to go through waivers before he goes back down again when Petrie's ready to go unless he plays over 10 games or spends up to 30 days on the team. If he does one of those two things, he will have to clear waivers.

Starting point is 00:07:17 If not, he can be said back down to Wilkesbury without having to clear waivers. So that is really nice. Drew O'Connor, he is wavers exempt. So he is fine. He can go down anytime they feel like it. So that is the reason why they brought up those two. I understand people are going to ask me, well, what about Ty Smith?

Starting point is 00:07:37 Why is that trade looking so bad for John Reno? Guys, you know, he makes a lot more money at this point than Drew O'Connor and Mark Freeman does. You know, he actually makes more money combined than them. There you go. Yeah, I know they could have easily done it. They put Petra on LTIR. That frees up 6 million accounts base.

Starting point is 00:07:59 They could have easily done it. But, you know, I think at this point, you know, Why bring Ty Smith up also if you're just going to set him? I mean, what are we doing here? You know, he's going to continue to get playing time down there. If you're bringing him up, you're going to play him. I think it would just make no sense for if they were to just bring him up and for him to just sit in the press box every night.

Starting point is 00:08:25 Because, you know, he does have more talent than Mark Freeman, especially offensively, and you want to see what he has. But when you bring him up, you want to make sure that he is in the lineup. You know you have a safety ball in him when Brian Duman likely walks after the season. They probably have been talking about that a lot too. So he's probably not really even taking this personally, not being called up. It's just that Mark Friedman, he's more equipped, I guess, to sit in the press box just because he's been a number seven, number eight defenseman for most of his career. So I don't really have a problem with it, but I understand that people are going to complain to complain.

Starting point is 00:09:00 But, you know, that's the reasoning I at least have for why they're not bringing up. Smith. So some unfortunate news for the penguins with injuries, but, you know, this is what we all signed up for. You know, you knew it wasn't going to be, you know, sunshine and rainbows all years. The same goes, right? But, so Petrie will be out at least until January 8th. We'll have to see if it's longer than that. Big loss, but penguins do have O'Connor and Mark Friedman right now. So that wraps up. This first segment going into a big injury and what it means for the penguins moving forward. with their defensive corps. Coming up in the next segment, we're going to get into P.O. Joseph

Starting point is 00:09:36 and how he is really just turning into a shutdown top four defender right now and how, if it weren't for this outstanding rookie class, I'd be getting a lot more calling her trophy life. But before I get to that, Benonline.net is your number one source for sports betting info, stats, news, and analysis. You get the latest odds and trends for every professional and amateur league out there. From pro football to college bowl season to basketball and World Cup, we've got it all at that online.net.

Starting point is 00:10:00 And if you love sports podcasts, you can even find those at that online as well. We're always the fastest easy way to get your betting fix. You head to your website today, or you should mobilize to more or more. Better align where the game starts. 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.

Starting point is 00:10:23 Follow the show's Twitter, Eleanorstall Penguins. And, of course, thank you so much for making this your first listen of the day. Sorry, I just had to respond to my girlfriend because she was sending me some weird text message where did you see that okay done put the phone away i don't know what the heck that was about anyways getting back to the overall topic here of discussion so p o joseph another ridiculous game um on monday night i mean i was just i had my eyes fixated on and the entire time because man does he play great defense in his defensive zone every time the stars were coming in when he was on the he would be the first one to poke that puck away.

Starting point is 00:11:06 The Penguins would be going right back down the other side of the rank. A couple of instances, where he was involved in one-on-one defense, shut that down like it was nothing, gets his first goal this season and his second career NHL goal and just roofed that one pass. Jake Onger, also really nice pass from his very captain and to get that puck to POJ.

Starting point is 00:11:25 Go look at that. It was a really good play. And, you know, he's, captain, you know, he's definitely feeling himself right now. if he's making those kind of passes, excuse me. But, you know, overall, P.O. Joseph is just showing the coaching staff just how good he was. Because remember, I touched on it on my late Monday and Tuesday episode. This was someone who, honestly, they were trying to trade him during the offseason,

Starting point is 00:11:56 during the preseason, especially after they got Ty Smith. You know, I was sitting there saying, like, there's no way they're going to leave Ty Smith off the roster. Obviously, I took the big fat owl. I have it on my forehead right now. He was great in camp, great in the preseason. And I was expecting a trade. I knew Mark Feehan was going to go down. They were trying to trade him, but they couldn't find a taker.

Starting point is 00:12:15 I think Hextall is probably thanking the Lord right now that he didn't do it. Because, you know, in those first 25 games so far this season, this is the most he's played in the NHL season. Remember, during the COVID shortened season, 16 games, last year only played four games. This is already 25. he is putting up some rock solid numbers at five on five right now. When POJ is on the ice, penguins had 52% of the shot attempts. They also have 66% of the actual goals. 22 goals for 11 goals against when he is on the ice.

Starting point is 00:12:51 That is ridiculously good. Going to some more numbers. Scoring chances, 54% of those. That is a career high for him. 53% of the high danger chances for the penguins when he is on the ice, 52% of the expected goals, and then 55% of the actual high danger goals for, that's 10 to 8 right there.

Starting point is 00:13:13 Just absolute spectacular stuff right now from the first year defenseman. And I'll say it again, if he keeps playing like this and when Petrie comes back, I would really consider putting POJ up with Latang and having that be your top area. You know, I think Pedersen has done a great job on that peer with Letang. I think he's really, you know, balanced him out. It was obviously not working with Doomlin just because he was looking washed.

Starting point is 00:13:42 And I know Tanger, after that was kind of having some rough games. Stroke happened. But the last couple of games, I think he's looked more like the Latang that we all know he loved. It's helping that he's playing with Pedersen. But he did play with Joseph. And that first came back, and he looked good next to him. You know, Joseph did not look out of place at all. Lettang was, you know, leading the team in Ice Time in his first game back after that,

Starting point is 00:14:04 which is typical of Letang. You know, that's just how it goes, I think, at this point. But, you know, P.OJ was right there with him and his numbers were good. You know, you remember a couple seasons ago when they did play on the top herring for a decent amount of time in those 16 games and the numbers were not good? I think, you know, P.OJ just had a little bit of the NHL jitters. He wasn't playing that well. He was playing too eye in the lineup right now. he's been taking on that bottom hearing top four role.

Starting point is 00:14:30 He's crushing those minutes. And I think if you were to give top pair of minutes to him right now with how he's playing, I think he would play well with those as well. And I think that balances out the defense pretty well because you can move Pedersen down to play with Petrie, right? That's been a great pair of old year. And then Brian Dumlin can play with Yon-Ruta. For as much as I have bagged on Dumlin for a lot of this season,

Starting point is 00:14:53 and I think a good chunk of it is deserved, he has played better on the bottom pairing, which is, you know, I think that's more suited for him right now as he, you know, this is his final year in a penguin uniform. But I just, I couldn't stop gushing over how good P.O. Joseph looked on Monday night. That goal was awesome. He was also evolving himself, you know, more offensively after that, getting a couple other scoring chances.

Starting point is 00:15:17 His shot from the point is just a booming one. Really nice job. Quarterbacking that second unit, I would actually love for his. him to stay quarterbacking that second unit, even when Petrie's out. And if he, even when Petrie comes back, excuse me, and if he really crushes these minutes when Petri is out, I would potentially just have, you know, Joseph as a lone defenseman on that second unit and have Petri on the bench.

Starting point is 00:15:41 I know Mike Sullivan may not do that. He would opt to, you know, have two defensemen on that second unit. He's done that at times for the first unit, but I think right now with everyone healthy, he likes seeing Latang as a lone demon on there. But, you know, this is a big opportunity for him. with Jeff out to really cement himself as that top four, shotgun defenseman and someone who can really quarterback to power play because it looked great on Monday night.

Starting point is 00:16:05 Defensively, he was a rock. Offensively, I already talked about it. No, it's a really good start right now as we're over a quarter of the way into the NHL season. Don't take this for granted. You know, he is looking like someone who was going to be on this blue line for years to come. You know, that has me super excited, to say the least. But that wraps up the second segment of the show.

Starting point is 00:16:31 Coming up in the final segment, we're going to get into a very small preview of the Ford of Panthers and what's making them just not play as well these season, because remember, they were averaging four goals in the game last season. So look for that coming up right after this commercial break. All right, I'm back on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes. You know enough follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, follow the shows, Twitter, Eleanor Square Penguins,

Starting point is 00:16:59 and of course, thank y'all so much for making this year first listen of the day. So it's no secret. If you look at the NHL standings, which I'm going on my phone right now, but just to make sure, but I know it for a fact. Sometimes I just can never doubt myself. But you have the NHL standings,

Starting point is 00:17:15 and you see the Panthers outside the playoff picture with a 13 and 12 and 4 record. There are four points out of a playoff spot behind the New York Islanders. They're also behind the Montreal Canadiens. Washington Capitals and Detroit Red Wings who are a bit above them. But this season, not been good for the cats. You know, I was a little bit skeptical about that Paul Maurice Seier.

Starting point is 00:17:36 Didn't really know what they were doing with that. I mean, Andrew Burnett did a good job with them. I understand that they kind of fell off a little early in the playoffs. Got embarrassed by the Big Brother to the Tampa Bay Lightning. But I thought it was a bit much to fire him. I think he did an admirable job after Philly. in for Joel Quendville, who of course resigned to the situation with Kyle Beach,

Starting point is 00:18:00 led them to their first series win in, what, 25, 30 years? I understand you look awful against the lightning, but the lightning will do that to you. The lightning showed them that you're not ready for this yet, but they've also shown that to a lot of teams over the past few seasons.

Starting point is 00:18:15 But I just didn't think the move for them was, okay, we're going to go hire Palmer Reese, who has just had middling results through most most of his in the NHL tenure. And then the loss of McKenzie Ligon is looming large because their defense is not that deep. And sure,

Starting point is 00:18:34 Kachuk is really good because he's the better player in that deal. But, you know, man, they're also missing Jonathan Hebrano. Right now as well. You know, you look at that lineup. Kachuk, Barkov, Ritehart. I mean, that's a ridiculous top line. Barkov, you all know how good he is. I mean, I don't have to, I don't have to say it. You know, one of the best two-a centers in the league

Starting point is 00:18:54 can do it all offensively, defense. defensively. He's ridiculous. Cachuk, he's the goal score on that line. Ryan Hart can do it all as well. It's a very good top line. After that, you know, it gets a little, you know, Sam Bennett's centering their second line with Colin White. E.2 Lister Reinen is on that second line left wing. Nick Cousins, Eric Stahl, you know, Dennisenko is on that third line. Chris Tierney, Ryan Longberg, Zach Delp. It travels off quick. And I think I'd understand right now that they do have some injuries. Patrick Hornquist is out right now for Penguin of course Carter Verhege he is day-to-day Anton Lindell is out Anthony Duclair is still on IR he has not been able to come back just yet but you know about that board group right now in that trading I know they brought back the better player even though I think Calgary could win that trade in the long haul potentially but that forward group it's it's not the same and defensively it's the same as well

Starting point is 00:19:54 Gustav Forrestling, who is a good defenseman, he's just not McKenzie Wigger. Aaron Eckbott, you all know what he can do after that, though. Mark Stahl, Brandon Montor, both are not that good anymore. Josh Mahura, Max Kierstead, you know, not good enough either. So, you know, their lineup is just not as deep. And, you know, scoring four goals a game, that's not going to last. Like, sorry. I mean, like, you, there's going to be regression when it comes to that.

Starting point is 00:20:26 You know, you can't just be the best offensive team like that for one season, think, oh, it's just going to carry over, we got Kachuk and all that. No, like, it's very hard to average four goals a game and back-to-back seasons. And I haven't even gotten to the golden yet. Sergei Bavrovsky has been brutal this season. You know, he is sub-900 yet again. That contract continues to look absolutely gross. And I'm going to go down here on MoneyPy.

Starting point is 00:20:52 to get to this because it's funny, Spencer Knight has been the better goalie this year. And honestly, guys, it's not close. Like Spencer Knight right here, he's played in 50 games this year, right? He saved 3.5 goals above expected, 9502 save percentage on unblocked shots at 5E5, 919 overall same percentage, 2.64 goals against average. The Panthers should start him on Thursday against the Penguins because he is a better goalie. Now, if you scroll down a little bit more, and we go find, if I can find him right here, if we go to Sergey Grabovsky in 16 games.

Starting point is 00:21:29 So it's kind of been a 1A, 1B situation, though I think Knight should be getting them more than the point I'm going for. 16 games for Sir Dr. Grabovsky. He's allowed four goals more than expected, 884 save percentage, 3.58 goals against average. That is awful. If I were the Penguins, I would be hoping that Paul Murray starts him on Thursday. always been bad against the penguins throughout his career. But man, that contract by Dale Talon signed him to is aging like milk. And everyone knew he was going to.

Starting point is 00:22:00 You know, day one, why are you signing him to an eight-year deal worth well over $8 million per year? Just did not make any sense. At the time, it continues to make less and less sense as each passing day goes. Spencer Knight, he is the goalie of the present and he's the goal of the future. he should be their number one guy. It's time for them to just ride Barbarovsky on the bench and use him as a backup. And I know that's hard to do because he's signed for a lot of years and you're putting a lot of money on the bench. But so what?

Starting point is 00:22:29 Knight Knight is your guy. And they need to keep playing him no more games at this point. But Panthers, they've got to figure out a way to get back to the playoff picture here. Just has not been that good of a start for them. They have high-end talents. So the Penguins will have to be aware. Cucuk is awesome again. Barkoff, Ryan Hart, Ekblod.

Starting point is 00:22:46 but they're definitely not as dangerous, I will say, as they were last season. And those three games they played against them last season were a lot of fun. I remember that game. The first one I think they played was four or two in the third year. The pink penguins go up. Nine minutes left. Paperers come storming back to tie it, winning in overtime. And then I think another one they played in Pittsburgh was a lot of fun.

Starting point is 00:23:09 The other one after that, you know, they were three pretty high scoring games. So if I were a betting man, I would tip me over on this. think these are going to be, or this is going to be a really good game. I'll be full preview for this one. Coming up on Wednesday's episode with Armando-Lez, and he'll touch more on what's made the pamperer struggle this season. If it's, you know, more than them just getting bad goaltening from Brobrovsky and them just being banged up it forward and not having as many impact forwards as they did.

Starting point is 00:23:37 I also do think the loss of Mason-Marchment is paying a big price for them. He was awesome last season. He's been lighting it up with the Dallas Stars. as well. But that will do it for this episode. I really appreciate all of you listening to this one. We've hit about 750 subscribers on the YouTube page. Really hoping we can make the push to 1,000 soon. I would hope like to get there by the end of the season. So tell a friend, if you're an or if you were an audio listener or you have not subscribed to the YouTube version, please drop a sub there, really trying to get 1K because once there is the 1,000,000

Starting point is 00:24:10 subscribers, I am going to do a little bit of a giveaway for a jersey. something like that. I'm really excited about that. But again, thank you so much for listening. Always appreciate it. I'll be back tomorrow evening with another episode with Armandoval Liz of Locked on Panthers.

Starting point is 00:24:27 Then I'll recap the game on Thursday and then we'll preview the weekend on Friday when the Penguins will come up to Raleigh to play the hurricane. So again, thank you all so much for listening. I'll talk with you all on Wednesday.

Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Is P.O. Joseph about to get even more minutes due to this Jeff Petry injury?

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