Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Is there a path for Valtteri Puustinen to make the team out of training camp?

Episode Date: June 20, 2023

Kyle Dubas has officially made his first roster move as Penguins President of Hockey Operations and even though it's a small one, it still matters. He signed Valtteri Puustinen to a one-year deal on Tuesday as he was expected to be one of the team's RFAs. Hunter looks at how he's been the best player on a really bad WBS team and how he's at least going to be one of the first call-ups when the Penguins inevitably have their first swath of injuries. Hunter also analyzes what his chances are of making the team out of training camp considering there may not be a lot of spots up for grabs if Dubas fills out the forward depth like he intends to. Also: What is his ceiling? Hunter looks at that before moving on to another UFA d-man target in Shayne Gostisbehere. He dives into the numbers that he put up when he reached Carolina and how he got back to basics while playing in their system. He then analyzes what the Penguins would be getting from him before discussing what type of partner he needs to play with. Also: Do the Penguins need more offense from their backend? Hunter tackles that question before ending the show with a discussion about Oliver Ekman-Larsson and if the Penguins could take a cheap flier on him.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BirddogsGo to birddogs.com/lockedonnhl and they’ll throw in a free custom birddogs Yeti-style tumbler with every order.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase.eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit. eBay Motors dot com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit is only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go to FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable free bets that expire in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) 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.

Well, it's official Kyle Dubus has officially made his first official roster transaction as president of hockey operations. I'm going to go more in the detail on that coming up right after this. 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.

Remember to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, follow the show's Twitter at Ellen Rican's. And of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. So it was nice of Kyle Dubas to drop a little bit of a news dump on Tuesday afternoon with his first official roster move, and that was resigning forward Valteri Pustin into a one-year two-way deal.

He'll make $775,000 at the NHL level. Remember that this is a two-way deal. and what that means gets more money at the NHL level than he would at the age level. If one-way deal means that you get the same amount of money at the NHL level, then you would at the AHL level. So that's nothing to do with him potentially being more or less in line to make the NHL team out of training camp. It has nothing to do with that in the slightest. Good news is he has waivers exempt, so he wouldn't have to pass the waivers of the Penguins.

Do send him down if he does slash does not make the team out of camp later this year. I like this move. I think he is the best player down in Wilkesbury. And that's a team that really doesn't have a lot of talent. Go down there and look. You look at some of the defensemen that are playing there. Josh Manascallo, a couple others. I mean, Ty Smith played down there a bunch this past season.

Mark Freeman was there when the Penguins couldn't even carry him on the Ranchall roster. But forward-wise, he got Pustin, Alex Neelander, Sam Poo-in when he's healthy. and honestly there's not much else. But Pusin was this team's best player. 24 goals, second on the team, 59 points, first on the team, 59 points in 72 games, 35 assists. That was also first on the team.

Also, both were career highs for him this past season. He's always been seen as someone who is potentially ready to make the jump to the Penguins full-time. You saw that with you Roe O'Connor this past season, played a lot more games than he was accustomed to playing. You've seen that with other cases when Wilk there was a lot better, when Jake Gensel came up, when Connor Sherry came up, when Brian Russ came up.

But I just don't think Poussin is at the level of some of those players. He's already 24 at this point. He's probably not going to develop too much more. I think he is what he is. He would probably just be a bottom six contributor if he is on this team in a full-time capacity. And honestly, we don't fully know how much he would even contribute. You know, is this a player who can give you 25 to 30 points in a bottom six role?

Or is this a player who will give you maybe 10 to 15 points in his first season in the NHL? I kind of lean toward the ladder because I just don't really think there's that much there. I think the only way he comes up when it comes to Pustinan is, when the team has their usual swath of injuries. When, you know, half of the top six forwards are out, I'll even go down to the third one. Half of the top nine forwards are out. And you have to recall a bunch of guys from Wilkesbury.

I definitely think the kid is talented. You don't put up basically 60 points in the H.L for no reason. But there's a big difference between playing against players in the HAL versus playing against players in the NHL. and you would see his point total cut at least in half during it for a full season in the NHL and probably a bit more than that. I do think he is going to be given a fair shot

at making this team out of camp, but I think he might be blocked if Dubas does really add a lot to the forward depth. And what I mean by that is, you know, a few players to the bottom six, potentially a top six winger to play with Afghani Malkin or Sidney Crosby. I just don't really know how many roster spots forward-wise are going to be up for grabs.

And honestly, I will say this for the entire roster. I don't really think you're going to see too many players from Wilkesbury come in and take spots from the big guns, or the big league guys, I should say, during training camp. Because again, there's really not a lot of roster spots that are going to be open. You know who probably the two goalies are going to be, assuming, even if Tristan Jarley doesn't come back, they're going to go out and get someone. And whether that person is paired with Casey to Smith or someone else, that's going to take up your goalie situation. Defensively, you know what you have with your defenseman. And even if you make changes, I don't think anyone from Wilkesbury is ready to come up and claim a spot.

And forward-wise, right now you have some open spots. But after free agency settles and the trade season settles, there's really not going to be that much room for players from Wilkesbury, including Pustin, to come up and challenge for a full-time spot. I think he could be a 13th forward, but what you're more than likely looking at is someone who can come up on an emergency basis, you know, numerous times of year. Someone like Alex Neelander who came up about 10,000 times this past season where, okay, maybe he scores a couple of goals for you, has a couple of points, but he's just going to go back

down when players come back from entry. I think that's what you're looking at right now when it comes to Pustin. I just don't really see a way that he's going to be contributing on a full-time basis this upcoming season. And again, I know Wilkesbury's talent level is not that good. And I also know that Pustinan is the best they have. But I also don't see a way that he develops even more than what he already is at this point. He's going to be 25 next.

by then you usually are what you are. So again, I like it. I think he can definitely be someone like a warm body that comes up in sports when players are hurt or if some players are struggling, you can come up here, give the team a jolt or something like that. But I don't see him being an every night contributor that other people, I think, in the fan base right now, see him as. I just think that's a little too, too.

forward right now if you're asking me. But still, $775,000 at NHL level. That's a no-brainer. He just had the best season of his young Wilkesbury career. All of his numbers from this past season were a jump from the last season. And I'm curious to see what else he does, you know, moving forward when it comes to his career. I do think most of this upcoming season will be spent down on the minors, but we'll have to see that's surely the case. Hey, maybe he does come in, have an other worldly training camp and plays his tail off and somehow secures a spot. I would be all four. I would love to be proven wrong with that.

But right now with the moves that I think Kyle wants to make and what he alluded to during his press conference on June 1st with how he wants to make a team a bit deeper, how he wants to make a splash also with the top six, I don't see a way how he's going to boost him. That is how he's going to come up and be an every night contributor this upcoming season. I don't see him playing, you know, 30, 40 plus games, something like that. I will say, I do think he will play in more than one game this upcoming season. He's only played in one game in his ancestral career that came in March of the 2021,

2022 season and not play in any games this past season. But I'm still a fan of it. Congratulations to Pustin. Really excited to see what he does in training camp and also excited to see, you know, just how he continues to play going forward. in the penguin system. But that wraps up this first segment for today's episode. Coming up in the second segment,

I have another free agent target that the penguins could consider going after, and that is Shane Dostis Bear, from the Carolina Hurricanes, played for the Arizona Coyotes as well, and started his career with the Philadelphia Flyers. Could the penguins add him to their back end? What would the fit look like? I'm going to get into that coming up right after this.

But before we get a lot of, to that. For our championship team, it's all about making sure every player is a perfect fit. It's the same when it comes to your vehicle. Every part needs to fit just right. So the next time you need parts and accessories, you can 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 will 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. You can get the right parts, the right fit, and the righty prices on eBay motors.com. Let's write. eBay guaranteed fit, only available to U.S. customers. Eligible items only exclusions apply. All right. I'm back in this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes.

I'm going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the show's Twitter, Ellen for Penguins. And, of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen of the day. we are free and available on all platforms. So another defensive free agent that I think of the Penguins could definitely consider this offseason is Shane Gossus Fair. I played a couple of seasons with the Arizona Coyotes before he was dealt to the Carolina Hurricanes at this passers' trade deadline. The hurricanes got him for pennies on a dollar before he was with Arizona. He was a high pick and played a few seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers.

I have always liked Gostis Fair. I think he is elite at breaking the puck. out of the defensive zone. Just look at the film. He is so good at coming up the ice with control of the buck. He makes it look so freaking easy. It's a one-man breakout, honestly. It reminds me a little bit of Mike Matheson when he was in Pittsburgh.

Just how he does it is absolutely flawless. He will work great on the second powerplay. You know Chris Lutang is going to get the top powerpoint minutes But with Gossus Bear, you have a guy who can truly quarterback your second unit and can even quarterback your first unit if Lettang does miss some games. This upcoming season is definitely a much better option compared to Jeff Petrie, who has never really been that good at quarterbacking the power play during his career when you look at some of the underlying numbers for Gossus Bear, ranked in the 69th percentile, nice, by the way, in terms of power play percentage.

So, you know, in terms of his peers quarterback in the power play, he ranks in the 69th percentile, almost 70 percent better than his peers when it comes to that. 68th percentile and wins above replacement. 74th percentile in five-on-five offense. So basically better than three-quarters of all the NHLs defensemen at five-on-five offense. Gives it back a little bit in the defensive zone, though, 11th percentile when it comes to that. But you know what you're getting when you get Gostis Fair. You're not going to be getting someone who can, you know, play extremely well in the defensive zone.

You're going to be getting someone who can really drive your offense zone. You'll just have to put someone next to him who can, you know, maybe clean up for his mistakes at times in the defensive zone. You know, whether that's, you know, John Rude if he stays on the team, whether that's someone else they bring in. Jeff Petrie, I don't know. But, Gospair, you would be getting him for his offense. And his underlying is also shot straight up. when he joined the Carolina Hurricanes after the trade deadline. And just how good?

Well, all of his numbers before he got to Carolina were below 50%, whether that shot attempts, scoring chances, high danger chances, expected goal share, all of that. But that went up in a huge way. When he joined the hurricanes, when he was on the ice, the hurricanes had 65% of the shot attempts. 52% of the actual goals, 62% of the scoring chances,

65% of the expected goals share and 61% of the high danger chances. Carolina solved the talent that he had, even though he was playing on a really crappy Arizona team, and they pulled the trigger, and they were better off for. He helped them get to the Eastern Conference final. He was awesome from them

in those 20 to 25 games after the trade deadline, and also in the playoffs as well. Capade-wise, made 4. million for this season. I don't think he's going to be getting that much in his next deal. I think it's maybe going to be somewhere between 3.75 on the low end to 4, 4.1 million per season. Somewhere around there, if you can get him for a two to three year deal at a cap hit like that, I would be very down for that. I would have him on my second pairing if I were the Penguins. Again, he would help their offense in a big, big way.

I've said this on my show before. I'll say it again. when I like to build out a back end, I like having a nice mix of offensive defensemen and defensive defensemen. For this past season, I don't think the Penguins had enough players on their back end who can contribute in the offensive zone. You always got a crystal tang.

He is elite at it. What he does. No problems there. Jeff Petrie, at times he contributed in the offensive zone, but it wasn't enough to my liking, especially not enough when he's made. making 6.25 million per season. You have Brian Dumlin.

He actually had the best offensive season of his career, but he's never really been an offensive guy. He's going to be walking a free agency. We'll have to replace him, but you want to replace someone who can do what he did defensively in his prime. Marcus Pedersen, great defensively. He's not really known for his offense. Jan Ruda, same thing.

Fine defensively, not really known for his offense. P.O. Joseph. Okay. he brought a lot more to the table offensively this past season, gave it a little back in the defensive zone. But still, I like POJ for the offense that he provides from the back end. So from those players that I listed, got two, maybe three that can bring you offense.

I probably lean more towards two because I don't think Petrie did enough offensively this past season. And the rest were mostly known for their defense. With Gossus Bear, he will definitely. bring you the offense, the goal scoring ability, the passing ability, the way he can move the puck seamlessly up the ice like it's nothing, the way he can work on the power play. Will he give it a little bit back in the defensive zone? Yes. But again, if you put him with a defensively minded partner, there's no reason to think a pairing of Gossus Bear and whoever else he decided to put him with

wouldn't work. Heck, people like to harp on Latang all the time for some bad plays in the defensive zone and not, and let's be real, he has made mistakes in the defensive zone, but Duman was there to clean it up because he was a perfect partner for him. He knew how to clean some stuff up in the defensive zone if Lettang did make mistakes. And knowing that Gossus Bear will make mistakes in the defensive zone, it will be great having someone back there who is a bit better at that part of the game than Gossus Bear. Now, he's not as physical of a defenseman as others who are hitting the market. He's actually one of the least physical defensemen in the NHL.

So I know some people will not like that. But again, you're not getting Gospair for him to be physical and for him to lay the body. You are getting him so that he can drive offense for you so that you can get more from the back end. Because again, I think honestly for the last, not just this past season, but before that, I don't think the Penguins have gotten enough offense from their back end during the Ron Hextal era. And I want to see that change going forward under the Kyle Nubis era.

So I would be a big fan of them going out and getting Gassas Bear. He has the numbers to back it up that he played well in Carolina. He's a lot better than what he showed in Arizona. He may not be as good as he once was in Philadelphia, where people were saying that he was going to be a top five, the top 10 defenseman. But as a second pairing guy, I'm fine with it. I mean, this would be a total Kyle Dubis move.

I think he would fit Mike Sullivan's system to a T with the way he drives offensive. And with the way that Sullivan loves his. defensemen to be activated in the offensive zone. I do think they need to be scaled off a little bit when it comes to the pinching because that can lean to a lot of odd man rushes the other way. We saw that happen a lot. Best passies, which led to a lot of goals on Ottoman rushes against the penguins.

But I think if you haven't pinched at times, maybe not as much as Sullivan has with his other defensemen, that can also be a good attribute added to the back end. I would be in big favor of this move being made. Again, my contract that I would look like, you know, two to three years. If you want to go a little more than that, that's fine. Maybe four, at most, 3.75 million per season and maybe four to four to four point one million per season. I don't think he's going to get $4.5 million on this next deal.

But that's an option that when I was scoring cap friendly over the weekend, trying to prepare my show for this week, he was on that really piqued my interest. and I would definitely want Dubis to go after him on the free agent market. I know the defensive market is not that good. You probably are going to have to go for trades to really go after defensemen, but I think Gossis Fair is one, at least one on the market that you could get, I wouldn't say relatively cheap, but more so inexpensive than, you know,

paying someone like a Demetri or Lobb or maybe even Ryan Graves, because I think Ryan Graves could also get a decent, amount of money. That's why I do think Gossilers can have a lot of suitors on the market for him that could drive his price range out of what the penguins want to pay him. But at least right now, I would go after him. He would be one of the few options that I would go after on the free agent market. But let me know what you think about that. Down the comments for YouTube, you can also send me a DM on social media if you are on there. Do you think Shane Gossisbeer would be a good fit in the penguin system? What would you sign him to if you do? And if you don't think so, who would

you go after for, you know, that second pairing role or maybe even a first pairing role. Again, I don't think DOSFIR could play with Letang. I think that's a bit wishful thinking. I also don't think their styles with mesh. But in the second pairing role, sign me up every day of the week. That wraps up the second segment coming up to end the show. We saw a big buyout over the weekend when it comes to Oliver Ekman-Larson the Vancouver Canucks.

Should the Penguins take a cheap flyer on him? I'm going to give you all my thoughts on that coming up right after this. break. All right, I'm back 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 shows Twitter at Eleanor Ser Penguins. And of course, thank you all so much for making this your first lesson slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. So as I teased going into this last commercial break, we saw a huge buyout over the weekend as the Vancouver Canucks bought out defenseman, Oliver Ekman-Larson, who was 32 years.

old. And this is literally one of the biggest buyouts I have ever seen, if not the biggest. They will be paying him almost 20 million over the next several years to go away. That is what Patrick Alvin and Jim Rutherford think about all of Reckman-Larsen. They're willing to pay him almost 20 million to not play for him for the next several years. Nice job, Jim Benning. That is a beautiful parting gift that he left Alvin and Rutherford before they got hired. just a total disaster of a move by Benning to get Ekman-Larsen from Arizona. And right when this came out, you know, you saw some people in different fanbase to say,

oh, I would maybe take a flyer on him, see what he can do on a better team. When you ask me, though, I just don't see it. He's already 32 now. You'll be getting a bit older on the back end. You'd also be getting a bit slower. I dove into some of the film over the weekend and into. this week, looking at how Echman Larsson played with Vancouver.

And I saw a defenseman who was a lot slower now. Not as good at carrying the puck out of the defensive zone. Not as good defending in his defensive zone. He always looked a step slower when he was battling four checkers along the boards or just offensive players who have the puck on their stick in the defensive zone. Offensively, he had the lowest point output

since his rookie season. this past year. Yeah, it was, it was not good. No, I mean, 22 points in 54 games. Maybe that's okay for a bottom pair and role on some teams, but for the Penguins, I want more than that for the bottom pair. He also ranked in the 24th percentile, when you look at some data from J. Fresh hockey,

five-on-five defense. So three-quarters of his peers were better at defending than he was 56 percentile for 5-on-5 offense. So a little above water when it comes to that. I will say it doesn't help. He was playing with Tyler Myers for a lot of last season. Tyler Myers is one of the worst defensemen in the NHL and has been for the last couple of years.

But my big thing is, if the Penguins were to add him, where would he play? In my humble opinion, he's not better than Marcus Patterson. and he's not better than P.O. Joseph. Ty Smith, okay, you got to wait and see how he does. I mean, I think he's going to make the team out of camp, but we'll have to see what he does there in the preseason. But if you're getting him to play on the third pairing,

why? I would rather have someone a bit younger down there who has more room to grow than someone like in Ekman-Larsen, who is way past his prime and is already looking a step slower. He's not going to defending anymore. Offensively, his numbers tanked a little, bit this season. I think on definitely on a little bit of a better team, he could maybe rebound, but when you're the penguins and you're at the end of your championship window here,

do you really want to take a risk on a maybe option rather than a, oh yeah, he's definitely going to help us option? No, he definitely get him for cheap, but I just think he's shot at this point in his grid. This is not the bona fide top 10 defense. that he was back during his prime or peak heaters in Arizona before he trained it down a little bit, especially when he got to Vancouver. I will say he played a bit better than I thought he would during his first year in Vancouver, but after that, his number is really tanked, and you got to see that in full form this past season. I know the Canucks stunk.

I get it. But he's already 32 now. You don't want to make this team any older than it already is. and I will die on the hill when I say this. I don't mind adding, you know, another 30 plus old player or two to this team, but they have to actually be good 30 plus old players. Oliver Ekman-Larsen is not that. You will be getting older.

You will be getting slower. You will be getting someone whose game has just deteriorated over the last year, year and a half, someone who really, his best days are behind him. So if I'm looking to upgrade the defense, he is not it. And An Ackman Larsson slash Ruta

Roodle-Fleedman third pairing because I think P.O.J and Marcus Pedersen are better than him would really not do it for me. Penguins are better off, going after players who are a bit younger, who have a bit more room to grow, and who are better both offensively and defensively for their back end. So I wanted to take a few minutes for our final segment here discussing,

discussing Ekman Larson and what I saw on film from him and what the numbers were telling me when I really dove into those after a small film session over the weekend and into next week again. I just saw someone who has truly lost if his skating is not what it once was either. He looked a massive step slow when trying to keep up with some of the facts. Faster players. Miss League and how this game is trending towards a speedier league, you know, getting more 30 plus old defensemen, especially him.

It's not it, in my opinion. But that would do it for this episode, the Lockdown Penguins podcast. Really appreciate all of you listening slash watching of another episode for you all on Wednesday. I have just finally finished up my Penguins draft specific board. I almost said that wrong for some reason, but my Penguins draft board is officially done, and I'm going to be going into detail on that a little bit on Wednesday, and then also later this week and into next week as well,

with potential options for the Penguins with the number 14 overall pick if Kyle Dubison company decided to keep it. But again, thank you all so much for listening slash watching this one. I very much appreciate it. I'll be back with another episode for you all on Wednesday.