Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Is there a lot of intrigue heading into camp?

Episode Date: September 14, 2022

Training camp is officially a week away! The season is a month away! This offseason has flown by, and Hunter starts the episode by going into Evan Rodrigues and why he's expected to be a great fit with the Colorado Avalanche. He looks at what he will bring to their lineup and why a select number of Penguins fans will miss him more than they think. Following that, he looks at the battles that could take place during camp and why there's not as much intrigue compared tto the last couple of years. Finally, he looks at how some pundits will pick the Penguins to miss the playoffs and how that's just folly.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts! 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.

Hey everyone, happy Wednesday, September 14th. It's pretty crazy. Well, we're just basically halfway through September. And yes, for those that are watching on YouTube, this is, I think, the first episode that I've ever recorded without a hat, at least for a long time. So everyone gets to see my crazy flow that I have going with something. It's not even really flow. It's just a mop. I think at this point I look like a total dweeb. But that might be coming to an end. And then next week, I'm honestly not at my house right now about my uncles for the next couple of days. She's been doing with some stuff at the house. and all that going to go up to my parents' house on Thursday for about a week and a half and all that

stuff. But yes, no hat. That is how it is right now. For today's episode, obviously, I am back from Maruba, so we're back to three episodes a week for this week before we go back to Dailies. Next week for this episode, Evan Rodriguez officially has signed in Colorado. I'm going to go over why that's a good fit for him and why. I couldn't believe some of the pushback I got when I said that this is going to be a big loss for the Penguins. And we'll also go away in this. and training camp battles and why, you know, I think it might be, I guess, what's the word I'm looking for? You know, I wouldn't say a boring camp, but I guess maybe a mellow training camp for the Penguins with not a lot of spots truly available. So that's all coming up right after

this drop. You're Locked on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day. Hey 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. You can also follow all the shows, Twitter, at LernerSwell Penguins, and of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen of the day.

So officially right now, as I'm recording this about 1140 on a Tuesday night, 30 days away from Penguins regular season hockey. You all will be listening to this on Wednesday. Excuse me. So at that point, it'll be just. 29 days until Penguinsaki. So basically, guys, four weeks until the regular season starts. It's going to be in the peak of fall.

When that starts, I'm really looking forward to it. I am just sick and tired of the summer, I think, at this point. So big news happened on Monday as Evan Rodriguez signed with a Colorado average, one year, $2 million contract. That's a steal for the apps. I mean, just a really nice contract. for them. And honestly, I think Rodriguez is going to thrive there, you know, plays in a high,

high-paced, high-tempo offensive system can play on their second line, to play on their third line, can play on their fourth line. I think he has the potential to be, you know, what's going on with my cough. I think he's the potential to be even better for them than he was for the Penguins this past season. And, you know, I did have a tweet, if I can go find this here, where I said, you know, this was a huge deal for the avalanche and he can play multiple positions he's good offensively defensively and when it comes to the penguins depth you know i still will say this i think that's

going to be a big loss to their depth and i had people come in my mentions and say that you know big loss what are you talking about and it's just like okay sure he's a sneaky player but okay name me a depth player for the penguins who had over what 20 goals last year i know carter had 18 so maybe you can count him but i don't know people are going to count on and Carter, like, playing like that again last year. And I know, Dan and Hinen was close to 20, but is he going to score at that pace again this year? I'm definitely, I guess, not concerned about it,

but, you know, I'm tempering my expectations because, you know, I think he's going to be in that, you know, that 11 to 15 range, if you ask me, because you look at the rest of the depth right now, I don't think there's a lot of other depth players that are going to go out there and score 20 because very competent, probably not. Teddy Wugar, Brock McGahn, Drew O'Connor, none of those guys. You know, Hinen maybe has a chance because he's a 18 last year. Again, wouldn't count on it.

But, you know, you see what I'm saying here? I mean, you know, you still got to replace 20 plus goals. And I don't think the Penguins have done that with this offseason with regards to their depth. He is a very versatile player. His underlying numbers were very solid for the team last year. And when I did a season review, I'll go to natural statrick again, played in all 82 regular season games. I think he was the only member of the Penguins to do that. When he was on the ice, the penguins at 57% of the Sean attempts.

They also had 53% of the actual goals for. They had 51% of the expected goals for, 57% of the destroying chances, 56% of the high danger chances. So really elite underlines. Yes, I know he couldn't finish at times down the stretch, but this is a good player and a player that the penguins are going to miss. And, you know, I had someone of my mention to say, you know, it's time to let some Wilkesbury players fill that spot.

but okay who like and i'm not trying to sound like a total like clown here but who is going to fill that spot is real connor going to come up here and score 20 goals i liked his play last year you know especially towards Halloween you know early october heck even into november you know before he got i think banged up and he had be sent down but do do someone really think that he's going to come in here and put up like 15 to 20 goals in his first full NHL season i just don't see it like to be honest with you guys i just i don't see it like to be honest with you guys i just i don't see that. So it's just, it kind of boggues my mind where's people saying, like, let's time to let some Wilkesbury players come in when, like, in all honesty, I'm not trying,

again, I'm not trying to sound like a clown. The Penguins don't have a lot down there. Derrick Houston, okay, cool, had a really good year on Wilkesbury, but is he ready to make the full jump yet? I don't know. You know, redeems the horn out. Is he ready to make that full jump yet? I don't know. I mean, he's on a one-way contract this year, so you would hope that he he will try to make that jump. Drew O'Connor, I obviously just talked about. Alex Nealander, I think at this point he's probably nothing more than an AHL guy. I don't think he's going to be a major contributor to the team this year. You know, obviously could be. Maybe I'm wrong about that. But, you know, who knows? And as another one of my Twitter followers said this to me, you know,

when you sign someone like McGinn and Capitan for a combined six million, you know, those kind of moves, they catch up to you. And, you know, I definitely, if the penguins, you know, with begins money with 2.75 and cabin with 3.5, you know, I'm sure, you know, maybe some of them are thinking right now, like, man, we really could have used some of that money to go after Evan Rodriguez or maybe another player in free agency. It's just, you know, you have to get the depth moves right. And right now, I'm definitely questioning if the penguins got their depth moves right over the all season.

And, again, I said this on an episode, I think it was last week, you know, with, without and Hinen, this bottom six would honestly be one of the worst in the Sydney-Frasby of any Malpin era. Because at least from Hinen, you can definitely count on him to score, I think upwards of 15 goals, maybe even a bit more. Other than that, with everyone from last year, even Jeff Carter, who I know I had 18, is he going to do that again after what he showed in the second half? Casperi Capitan, Teddy Bluger, Brock McGinn?

Probably not, right? I mean, at least for a good chunk of those guys. So, you know, it's the depth. I still don't think it's as good as last year. You know, I'll throw Ryan Paling in there as well. But, you know, these are the kind of moves that a contender has to get right. And I do think the penguins are going to be kicking themselves, you know, that they didn't have this face to sign Rodriguez to only two million.

You know, I mean, that's, that's chump change for him. He played, or basically almost the league minimum last year, put up some million numbers and he got, I guess, a raise, but it really wasn't like that big of a raise, to be honest with you all. So at the end of the day, you know, he's still on a very nice contract. And if he plays well again for Colorado this year, I could definitely see him getting a much heftier contract next year, whether it's in Colorado or it's somewhere else. But, you know, I wish all the best of him. I think he is a player that was very misunderstood in the Penguins fandom.

I think a lot of people just, you know, they see what happened for some of the games down the trestons. It's like, oh, well, you can't, you can't sign him and all that. but then you look at what he did in the playoffs when he played like he did in the first half. And it's like, okay, like, you know, the talent has always been there. He just, you know, he went on his finishing just basically cratered. So, you know, look at the data, watch and play. He is a good, useful, effective player. And for the people that don't like him, I'm calling me an idiot about that, you know,

I disagree with you. The numbers back it up, at least for me. And, you know, I think the penguins, you know, they will be kicking themselves if they did not find a way to bring him back at some point. off season, even though they don't have a lot of camp space, you know, with some of the other moves that they've made over the last couple of years, even this year, you know, like Kisbury, so that's all I'm going to say on that. Coming up in the second segment, we're going to get into some training camp stuff is camp, believe it or not, ends, is a week away at this point.

It's crazy that it's just come up this quick. We're back to daily episodes next week for dot-com penguin, so we're going to get into that. And just, I guess, you know, just some battles that may take place, even though, again, I don't think it's going to be, you know, too hectic of a camp for the Penguins. But before I get to that, Benalline.net is your number one source for all of your pro-win college football betting needs and sports info this season.

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You can head to the website today or use your mobile device to enroll over trends in action, that has been online where the game starts. I'm back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hoddies. I want to follow on Twitter. Hunter Hoddies can also 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 get into some camp talk here again. Basically, it is a week away. I mean, well, when you all listen to this on Wednesday, it will officially be a week away from starting. And honestly, you know, when you look at the camp, roster and you look at some of the open spots, you know, there really is not too much intrigue when it comes to the camp this year. I mean, in terms of like rookies that have a chance, I would say the only two that really have one are have ones are P.OJ and Drew O'Connor.

You know, maybe Radeem Zahorna shows up in camp and preseason, but, you know, I think right now when you look at the foredepp, I think he's a little below O'Connor, Ryan Paling, even Josh Archibald and some of those guys, P.O.J. I think he's going to have a chance to make this team out of camp. He just signed to a new contract all one way. I believe he'll need waivers who need a clear waivers to be sent down to Wilkesbury. It almost feels like it's now or never for him and also feels like it's that way with Drew O'Connor. So those are really the only two rookies, at least from Wilkesbury, that I think have a shot at making it.

I think, you know, if POJ does not make it out of camp, I've been saying this for the last couple of weeks now, I do think that he's probably going to get dealt. just because, you know, Dumlin, I think if they were going to trade him, they would have done that by now. You're not going to be iraikistan, you're not getting rid of Jan Ruta, Jeff Petrie.

I don't think you're going to get rid of Marcus Pedersen. I think, honestly, it might just be too late. Right now, I think if anyone gets moved, you know, it's just going to be a deputy. So, and I know, you know, it's probably a bit weird with training camp one week away that there are still nine defensemen, but, you know, there's also still 30 days left

until opening night, the penguins, they do have, you know, about four weeks at this point to figure out, you know, if they do want to either send a defenseman down or potentially trade one before the roster cuts are available, well, are due, I guess I should say. You know, obviously, again, that 12th forward spot very much up for grabs, Ryan Paling, Drew Conner, redeems the Horn or Josh Archibald. Just going to be like, you know, a mix of those guys just competing for it, in my opinion. but do any of those guys, I guess, really wow you from like,

oh, I'm really excited to, you know, to see what he can do. You know, I guess outside of Doc, I mean, you know, Pailing hasn't been that good in Montreal. Maybe a fresh start helps him. But, you know, Archibald kind of know what he is, Zahornah. You know, guess he's okay. I mean, you can even throw Jake Cajula in there and that kind of stuff. And we basically just know who he is at this point.

But, you know, I guess that all just falls into the line of, you know, I guess there's not a lot of big intrigue coming into this game. The goalies, you know, they're set. You know, maybe the D pairs with how they shake out. And I agree with, you know, with K4 of her response code. If Mike Sullivan does decide to go with a Ty Smith-Yan Ruta pairing, which I am in favor of, I think that would be best for both, you know, Smith and just the penguins as a whole, you know, that I think could be a good indicator that the penguins are trying to trade POJ.

before the season starts because, you know, with Ty Smith, you know, he's still a project, I think, at this point anyway, but I just, it does him little good if he is sent down. Like, what is he going to learn down on Williams, right? Especially after he had a really good rookie season in New Jersey. I mean, you're just going to give him top Harry Minutes in Wilkesbury. I think, you know, you need to put him with a season veteran in Ruta, if that's the guy who has played with top players got his career, especially Victor Hedman, down in Tampa Bay, and you got to see how he does.

You don't have to give him, you know, 20 minutes a night, but you can shelter him a little bit like they did with Mathis, and you can give him, you know, 13, 14, maybe even upwards of 15 minutes a night. See how he does. See how he's handling those, you know, see how he's doing in the offensive zone, see how he's, you know, maybe not turning the puck over as much in the defense zone. And if he keeps doing that to, you know, on a very, you know, good degree, you know, they can maybe bump up his minutes.

a little bit. So, you know, I guess I'm a little intrigued about the defense. I mean, I feel like I know what most of the pairings are going to be. I do think Pedersen is going to start out with Petrie once camp starts. I know the Penguins have been, a lot of the Penguins players are back in until camp starts. I think one of the only players that's not back yet is Chris Tang. He's still doing some training in Montreal. He's probably going to come in like the day before. But Sid just came in a few days ago. Malkin's been in there for about a week. A lot of the other players have been, you know, they've been returning on their own. and all that stuff. But, you know, again, you know, when you look at camp and when you look at the open spots available with, you know, that third left-hand despise by and that told forward, you know, outside of that, you know, again, there's just, there's really not much else to look forward to during the practices and during the preseason games. Yeah, you always want, you know, your prospects and some of the other players in the Wilkesbury to look good.

And so, you know, the fans can be like, oh, yeah, you know, we actually may have someone that's, you know, not bad down there. I totally understand that. But, you know, are a lot of those guys going to be making, you know, pushes for an everyday job, you know, me personally, you know, I can't see that. So, you know, we'll have to see. But again, I'm so excited for camp.

I'm excited, you know, to follow the practices and see how everyone's doing. I just, you know, wanted to, you know, pump the brakes with some of the people that are just like, you know, really excited about it and just say, like, hey, you know, there's not a lot of open spots right now, basically only two competitions. There's just, you know, really not a lot of intrigue going into this camp, at least in my opinion. And maybe you all think differently. You know, you can let me know in the YouTube comments and all that stuff. But, you know, that's just at least my opinion going into this.

So a little more to get to you for this episode of the Locktime Penguins podcast. That's all coming up right after this commercial break. All right. I'm back here on this episode of the Walkton Penguins podcast. I am your host, Honour Hode. You're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can also follow the shows, Twitter at L.O.RournerSpo, Penguins. And, of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen of the day.

So, you know, you're starting to see, you know, some more and more moves being made, some PTOs are being signed and all that stuff. Again, in my opinion, I don't expect the Penguins to really do anything when it comes to those. I think they're pretty comfortable with the group that they have going into camp. think, you know, they like what they have in Wilkesbury. They like that they have what they have overall on the main team and the gap behind them and especially, you know, in goal as well. So I don't think you're going to see as a similar situation to what we saw last year with Brian Boyle where, you know, it was just, you know, he kind of signed it last minute and it was like,

okay, maybe there is an opening there for that 13th forward. So I think right now the penguins, at least from how they're probably feeling, I think they're comfortable with their depth. and all that stuff. I'm definitely really looking forward to everything with regards to this team I think this is a team that is potentially going to surprise some people this year. I definitely think they're a surefire playout team. You are probably going to see people pick the penguins to miss the playoffs. Do not give them the time of day.

I really don't know what they're looking at. I know the Atlantic got maybe a little bit tougher over the Aussies, but I've still not really sold on some of those teams like the Red Wings or the Senators, I think they're maybe still a year or two away from really competing for a playoffs while you look at the Metro again, Carolina, New York right there, Pittsburgh, Washington, the other four teams, I just, I don't think they're at the Penguins level. And I think the Penguins, they should easily finish top four in the Metropolitan Division, if not top three.

I currently have them as the third place team in this division. I think that, you know, that could be upwards of number one or number two, especially if, you know, the Rangers take a step back that your egoschus irkens is not as good or potentially if um you know they're carloan harkins with you know they're being out with you know patcher ready gone and um trochag is gone and new writer and all that stuff you know could they take a little bit a step back could their goal tending potentially um not be as you i think that's going to be something um really big to watch this season but you know i'm still pretty bullish on this team you know i think again they upgrade on defense the four

group it's okay it's not as he was last year it's fine you know i think again one of the biggest questions i have is you know this the goaltiny tan you know can both of them stay healthy you know can kacy de smith put up the numbers that he had um in the second half last year can he do that for a full season can tristan jari stay healthy through a full season can he continue um doing what he did during the regular season last year into this year and you know show the penguins that um you know he he deserves um a contract extension because you know i think the penguins are playing the car pretty close to the best right now. I think they're doing the right thing

by not really accepting him just yet. They think they probably want to see how he does this season before really committing to him for the next, you know, three to four to maybe even five years. I think three to four is probably that sweet spot. You don't want to give too much term to a goldener just because the position is so volatile and all that stuff. So, you know, I think, you know,

Hextall, he probably just wants to see how he does. He puts up good numbers. You know, obviously about asking prices going to go up. makes about $3.5 million, I think, right now. So, you know, we'll just have to see when it comes to that. So it's going to be, you know, a little bit of a shorter episode today, only about 20 minutes from what I have right now. But, you know, these are going to be ramped up a lot more, especially next week as

camp gets underway. Again, you know, the fact that we're returning to dailies on Monday. Crazy enough, guys, Monday is the return of dailies with, you know, and at that point, there will only be, I believe, three and a half weeks to go until the season. That gets me fired up. I'm ready for the fall. I'm ready for the temperatures start changing. One thing's for sure, for me at least.

Once I get to the end of summer, I can't say that I hate the bugs outside. One thing about me, I always hate them. That's just a little fun fact about me. Before you know, we're going to have preseason Penguins hockey. It's going to be coming in the next couple of weeks. So, you know, get ready for that schedule. And, you know, we're going to, you know, fans are going to be allowed back to practices and all that.

And before long, y'all will be back at games. again, I'll be coming up for at least one game this year, November 15th, against the Toronto Maple Leafs. I can't wait. I'll potentially be a member of the Pittsburgh community after that. Really excited for that. So a lot of big things hopefully come in for the show. I said this on Twitter on Monday. I'll say it again.

Season four of this podcast is going to be the best one yet. I fully stand by that. The content that I have planned for you all is going to blow your minds away, especially if I can potentially get, if I do move to Pittsburgh. I potentially get some game credentials. It would be a lot of fun, potentially talk to some of the players after the game, maybe even Mike Sullivan gets some good quotes for you all and all that stuff.

So that's just a tease of what I might potentially have to offer for you all this season. Again, I do think this is going to be the best season yet. But that'll do it for this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I really appreciate all of you listening to this one. I'll have another episode for you all on Thursday and another episode for you all on Friday before we hit Dailies starting next week. So again, thank you so much for listening. and I will talk with you all soon.