Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - It's Alexis Lafreniere season!

Episode Date: August 8, 2020

The Pittsburgh Penguins have lost their qualifying round series to the Montreal Canadiens in four games and Hunter is back to break some of it down, including some more ludicrous lineup decisions from Head Coach Mike Sullivan. Hunter talks about how this was his worst coached series of his Penguins tenure but also lets the listeners know that he still shouldn't be fired for this failure. He also goes into what's next for this team, including potentially a third line center target for the offseason and a third-pairing defensive target as well. All that, plus much more, on this episode of Locked On Penguins. 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.

Hello, welcome to this Friday evening episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. Follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, follow the show's Twitter at L-O- underscore Penguins. Well, happy off-season, everyone. The Penguin season has come to an end after a 2-0 defeat to the Montreal Canadiens today losing in the series three games to one. Just a really, really lackluster, garbage, just a really, really bad effort by the Penguins today. Honestly, when I was watching the game today, it looked like they just wanted to

just leave the bubble and just go get shit-faced with their friends at their house and their off-season homes. It literally just looked like that. They were just not getting to pucks like they normally do really, really slow in the offensive and in the defensive zone. Really bad power plays. I mean, Tristan Jari made his playoff debut today. He looked absolutely outstanding. He was probably the only penguin player that actually played really, really well today. He was playing the puck beautifully, making some really nicely timely saves. His save on Gallagher, I think, in the third period, flashing that glove. That was just absolutely beautiful. I think with this game with his start, I do think he is going to be the number one

go-tender next year, but we have a lot of obsies and stuff to get to later in this episode. But, yeah, just a really, really bad game by the Penguins today. I really just don't want to spend too much time talking about it since I talked about it a lot on Twitter. There was just no energy, there was no passion, just no loyalty, no spirit. I didn't see any of that today. And, you know, the lineup decisions again were very, very questionable. I get putting Tristan Jari in. You're trying give your team a start. I thought he played very well. Again, excuse me, Matt Murray was not, you know, the main culprit to why that penguins were down. They continued to address Jack Johnson and Justin Schultz in this game for reasons. I have no

idea. Yuso Rechla is in the doghouse for unknown reasons. Chad Ruehdle could even get in. They continued to address Patrick Marlowe when he was just awful. We're going to get to Mike Sullivan in a couple minutes, but still, a lot of very, very bad decisions I thought from Mike Sullivan today. This was just, it was just brutal all around for the team and the coaching staff. Some people have already started to say, oh, yeah, you know, this is the worst playoff loss in the Crosby-Malkan era.

I think you guys are pretty delusional. I think that's pretty hot takeery of you guys. I mean, considering especially the Montreal series from 2010 when the Penguins got halocked, that game seven, the final game ever at Mellon Arena. Mark Dundrae comes in there. Absolutely lays an egg. They take so many power.

Panalties in, like, the first period. Sidney Crosby hardly shows up that game. Penguins just looked terrible in all facets. that game. That was just an epic collapse on so many proportions. They were up three games to two in that series. They should have won that series. That one was terrible. I'll even put the 2012 Flyers one above this one. That series was just embarrassing on so many levels. The way Mark Andre Fleury played, the way the team just lost their way. That's so much higher than this. I mean, come on people. Especially in the best of five where it's a crab shoot. I mean, I am eating

a lot of crow right now. I said going into this on this podcast and on Twitter, I really didn't see a way Montreal could win this series unless Carrie Price went off. I was proven wrong. I've said it so many times. That will not be the first time I've been wrong. It will not be the last time I'm wrong about something. I'm usually wrong about a lot of things that I say. So it was just, you know, a lot of

Penguins' mistakes. Well, we'll call mistakes, you know, just a lack of like just making the proper adjustments to win this series. Because I honestly thought the Penguins played really, really well for a lot of this series. That's the thing I think, that's the thing that I think is getting lost in this, is that

that, you know, game one, I thought was their best game in the series. They played absolutely flawless, except the power play was just awful. Jack Johnson sucked. I thought Matt Murray was mostly pretty good. They should have won that game. You got a five on three in the third period of game one. You score there. You honestly probably win that game.

Who knows how the series goes. Game two, you also play really, really well. Montreal doesn't get anything. You win that game. Game three, you go up three to one, halfway through the game. The team is playing their ass off. And then from then on, from the 10-minute mark of the second period to the end of today's game, it was just a total meltdown by the Penguins and who knows why.

I have no idea why the team transformed into this version that we saw for the last four and a half periods. That is not the Penguins team that we saw throughout most of the season. But you know what? We also were on a four-month layoff. I mean, they honestly probably were not going to pick up where they left off from that and how they were playing. So those are my thoughts on that. I saw a couple tweets, some very stupid tweets. Oh, you know, so many people told me, you know, they would under-esternest,

to meet the Canadians, oh my God, the penguins weren't taking them seriously. I mean, cut the shit on those kind of tweets. I mean, you look at the Canadians team, they have one pretty good line, and that could literally is the penguin, that could be the penguin's third line. But I mean, did anyone really seeing Kerry Price going 945, 950 for this series, considering that he has just not been that good since 2015? I mean, it was a possibility, but did you see it coming? No, you really didn't. Did anyone see the Penguins play coming for the last four and a half? periods coming where they were just absolutely awful. No, I really don't think anyone saw that coming. The fact of the matter is, I don't think Montreal just played that well. The penguins just made

mistakes, especially with their roster management like Mike Sullivan. He just had an awful series. We're going to get to him very, very shortly. And those were their biggest shortcomings. There was no thing of, oh my God, you know, the Penguins underestimated the Canadians. It's not that. Of course, they're going to respect how they play. There are a different kind of opponent, but that's just not it. So I really don't need to see those. kind of takes on Twitter.com or whatever the hell you're stealing on those takes because that's just not accurate. But anywho, I just, I had to get that off my chest because that was just very, very annoying. Anywho, let's bring up Mike Sullivan. Absolutely his worst coach series of his, of his

Penguins tenure as head coach. I'm absolutely embarrassed at the way he managed this roster with his in-game decisions. I mean, even today, you know, there's two minutes left. The Penguins are down to goal. They're putting Patrick Marlow out there in a regular shift as, as well as Jack Johnson and Justin Shultz. I mean, it's just like, I mean, what are we doing here, Mike? That's just, that's not right. I mean, that just does not sit well with me. You lose me when you do stuff like that.

I mean, I'm glad you inserted Jared McCann back in the lineup. I thought he deserved a chance to basically, you know, make it right. But, you know, not taking out Patrick Marlow after the Dreadful series that he had had going into this game. I think that's a little bit at the head scratcher. He was just really bad for most of the series. And again, Jack Johnson and Justin Shultz, the fact that they didn't take both of them out is just That's idiocy. It's ludicrous.

It's incompetence, ignorance. It's whatever you want to call it. I know I talked about a lot about that on my episode with Chad yesterday, but still, just a really, really badly coached series by Mike Sullivan. I know we've already seen some takes out there on Twitter.com. Oh, yeah, time for a change at head coach. It's time to fire Mike Sullivan. I'm not there yet. I know some people are there.

I'm not there yet. People are saying, oh, you could hire Bruce Boudreau. What on earth has Bruce Boudreau won in this league that makes you be like? like, you know what, that's the coach we need behind the fetch. That guy is a regular season winner. He doesn't know how to coach in the playoffs. That's a hard pass on me. That's just comedy right there.

So please stop. Peter Lavillette, it's the same way. I know he's taking the flyers and the Predators to Assembly Cup final. He would honestly be a better choice than Bruce Boudreau. Gerard Garland, I'd listen. I think Garald Goulon is probably the best of those three because I think he's easily the best coach of those three. But, I mean, it's just not time yet to fire Mike Sullivan.

This is my take on this right now in case you didn't see it on my Twitter. I think he deserves an offseason to, you know, go over what he did wrong, especially if the Penguins are going to get a new defensive third parry, because we're going to be talking a lot about the offseason stuff in the next couple of segments. And if this team struggles really, really badly next year, that's when you make the coaching change. That's when you do it. You don't need to do it right now, especially after, you know, they had a four-month layoff. You know, I didn't really buy into this a lot.

I should have. You know, anything can happen in a five-year-old. game series, especially with the layoff. But still, you know, the penguins are not going to fire Mike Sullivan after this. I think right now is a little too early. I think that's a bit too knee jerk for me. But if the team does struggle next season, I think that will be the point where, you know, you could look Mike Sullivan in the eye and be like, you know what, man, this just isn't really working out for me. It's just not happening. We need to let you go. And I don't think the fan base would care that much. You would thank him for what he did and you would hire someone

else. But I think that's the appropriate time to do it, you know, especially some of these people that are asking for it right now, I just don't need this organization turning into the Cleveland Browns where you always look for a coach a couple years after and you know, you always have to be afraid. You know, if you fire someone like Mike Sullivan, who are you replacing him with? That's the biggest question I want to know for these people. Who are you replacing them with? Who is your candidate that you would say, you know what? That's the guy I want above Mike Sullivan. And you know what right now? I don't really see that candidate. That's just my take on it. If you guys have a different take, please let me know, but that's just my opinion on that. But, you know, who's ready

to talk some offseason stuff? Coming up after this commercial break, we're going to dive into a lot of questions surrounding the team, going into the offseason, and what could be next for this team. All right, so we're back here on this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. So yeah, definitely a lot of questions to be, I need to be answered going into this off-season. I think the biggest one, the biggest problem that needs to be addressed, I should say, is the third pairing on defense. I mean, Justin Schultz, thank God he's a UFA. he is going to walk. I pity the team that is going to sign him. This is just, this is not the 2016, 2017, Justin Schultz. He was just absolutely terrible this series. I know there are some people

going into the series that were talking about. You know what? This layoff could be good for Justin Schultz. Maybe we could see a little bit of like a reclamation project for him, like a reincarnation, I guess you could say, for Justin Schultz. Yeah, it was anything but that. He was just absolutely awful on both ends of the ice was really bad in his defensive zone. Even offensively, like during this game, he was just like firing pucks way wide of the net, throwing passes where no one was there in Montreal, was just taking the puck and just getting it out with ease.

And it was just like, yeah, he just doesn't have it anymore. That's, I think, 5.5 million off the cap right there. That's pretty big. You cannot have a third pairing that makes almost $9 million per season. That's just, that's not the way you're going to win in the NHL.

Thank God he's going to walk. Also, of course, Jack Johnson, the Penguins need to figure out a way to get him off this team. I don't think anyone wants to watch him play another shift for this team. And this was only year two of that five-year deal. He just cannot be on this team next season. He was just such a liability in both ends of the ice.

Could not even make a breakout pass. Was just awful in his defensive zone. He got schooled so badly by almost every Montreal Canadiens player that was on the ice when he was on the ice. It was just a very, very bad series for Jack Johnson. And as I've said so many times, the fact that he was not

benched at all during the series was just pretty pathetic. But they need to remake this third pairing as a whole. I think Dylan DeMello would be a great upgrade for this pairing. He's a UFA again. I know Jeff from Penn's blog has been screaming into the void for a couple seasons now that the penguins should sign him. I think that would be a very, you know, a low cost, high reward kind of signing for the penguins. He would come pretty cheap. He can move the puck, and he's also pretty good defensively in his own zone. I would definitely try to sign Dylan DeMello. And then if you want to maybe go

put Chabarito in there, you know, or put Yuseligla in there, who knows what. But overall, I would like two upgrades over those players in a perfect role. Dylan DeMello would be one of them. We're going to have to look at some more UFA defensemen there going on the market, going into this offseason. But that's a big one right now that I would really like the Penguins of Sinai. I am 100% with Jeff from Peds Blong on that one. Where else do we go from here?

They still need to figure out the goaltending situation. My take on that, I think they're going to go to Tristan Jari. I think they will trade Matt Murray, or they just won't sign him because he is a restricted tree agent. After the season, I do think they're going to choose Tristan Jari. I think the start today honestly kind of proved that to me, especially because Matt Murray was just not bad in this series. I mean, he was around 9.15 was not one of the five reasons the penguins were losing in this series.

I thought he was really, really good. Of course, Kerry Price was elite, but still, thought Matt Murray was really, really good. And I say yesterday it's a disappointing end to his penguin's tenure, but I just don't see him being back. It's going to open up some more cap room. Not really sure, though, what teams could use Matt Murray right now. You know, it would be awesome if you could send him to someone like Florida, but you know, Sergei Babrovsky is just going to be there for six more years on that.

Albatross of a contract, that is just going to be brutally bad. You know, I mean, kind of splitting hairs here, you know, maybe a team like the Devils. I know it's in the Metropolitan Division, but I don't really see them as having a starting goaltender right now when I look at their roster, so that's an option. But still, don't really think Matt Murray is going to be here going in the next season. I think there's an outside, a little bit of a small outside chance that they could keep both goaltenders, but I don't think it's going to happen. and I do think that they will keep Tristan Jarry,

and I think that's the right choice as well. You always go with the cheaper guy. You never want to overpay for goaltending people. That position, I will always say this, it's like running backs in football. You don't want to overpay for it. You just don't mean. You look at Levi-on-Dell with the Jets.

You know, after declining all that money from the Steelers, he went to the Jets. He sucked it up last year. He's probably going to do it again. The running backs, they're just not worth that kind of money. It's the same as goaltending. Sergei Brabowski, sign that monster contract with its Florida Panthers.

he will never live up to that deal. That is going to be a very, very bad contract for the Panthers down the line. I mean, it already is right now, but it's just going to get a lot, lot worse. So I'll be curious to see where Tristan Jari's cap number comes in, though. I'll probably say maybe around the $3 to $4 million range. It's not going to be super, super high, but still played really, really well this year. Had a great playoff debut. I'm excited for him to be the hopeful starting goaltender on this team for next season.

And the next biggest question, of course, is what are you going to do with the third line? Patrick Marlowe, I mean, it was fun man acquiring you, but you were just so bad in this playoff series. He's going to walk. You have Patrick Hornquist there on the right wing, but you know what? What do you do at center and at the other left wing? That's the biggest question for me right now. Is Jared McCann your long-term answer there? If you're speaking from January onward, it would be no.

But before that, he also had a very, very hot start to the season. It's just, that's, I just don't know what they're going to do with him. It really is a weird situation there because he really hasn't. scored or produced anything since NOM. He was really, really bad in this series against the Canadians, and I really don't think he's going to get what he's looking for

from the Penguins. He's probably honestly going to have to take a discount if he does get a contract extension for the Penguins. And also, do they prefer him at Wing on that line? Because if they do, if they prefer him at Wing, they're going to have to go out and trade for a third line center most likely. And one of the options that I've looked at already, we're going to have more

options as we get into the offseason. Craig Smith from Nashville. I've always liked Craig Smith's game. He's 30 years old. He had an 18-goal, 31-point season, and 69 games. He's been a 20-goal score in a lot of seasons in Nashville. I'd have to double-check how many, but it's quite a few. That way, he would be a perfect third-line center for this team.

And I think it makes a lot of sense because Nashville just lost Arizona. They have been going backwards ever since they went to the Stanley Cup final against the Penguins. He would be a very good trade target for Pittsburgh. And hell, maybe the Penguins could dumb Jack Johnson's contract onto David Boyle because I do think the Predator is going to make a lot of big changes this off season. I don't really see how they keep that whole core intact. If you want to go bigger, you can look at another one of their centers on that team. Maybe a Ryan Johansson, if you're feeling a little ballsy. But that's definitely a team. If I were Jim Rutherford and the Penguins

that I would look to trade with during this all season, as David Boyle is probably going to be very frustrated with how his team is just going backwards. And like I said, Craig Smith would be a perfect third line center with this team. He's really good defense. can produce a lot of offense. He would be the third line center that this team has been missing since Nick Benito left and before that, after they traded Jordan Stahl. So that would be pretty good, at least in my opinion. But if they do want to keep McCann at the third line center,

they are going to have to go out and probably get a winger. I'm not really sure who they can afford at this point. You know, the cap is the cap situation is going to be flat, so it's going to be the same as last season. A player that I've looked at, you know, a couple times. I do like someone like Vladislav and Amistikov. He can play any position center, right wing, left wing. he shoots left.

I think at a 17 goal, 31 point season. He's always been, I think, a bit underrated for, you know, Tampa Bay. And then, of course, he went to Ottawa. And he was also with New York, I think, for a little bit. He would be someone that I would potentially be interested in bringing in. Hell, I love someone like Mike Hoffman, but he's going to be getting that money. He is going to be getting that cash, especially after he tried to carry the Panthers to the next round against the New York Islanders.

But, of course, the Panthers ultimately lost in four games to them. But, you know, those are a couple names that I'm just throwing out there, just for shits and giggles. When free agency gets closer, I'm going to have a whole list of names that I think the penguins should go after. Cap permitting, of course, since it's going to be around 81.5 million,

but still, I just wanted to give you guys a couple names that I am pretty interested in for this team next season. Hopefully, you know, someone like Nemesdikovir, you know, or Craig Smith could come cheaper than, you know, some other options for this team if they have to go that route. All right, so we're back here on this episode for Locked on Penguins, you know, just the final, segment here, just a little one.

Just wanted to address also another thing, you know, for where do we go from here? Of course, you know, you're going to see a lot of trade rumors takes, guys, you know, trade of Guinea-Malk and trade Chris LaTang, is this the final hurrah in the Crosby-Malkan era? Don't listen to that crap. I know Jim Rutherford talks a lot of big talk, you know. Oger is going to be a lot of changes, but I mean, if he trades a core player, I mean, might as well just fire him at that point. That's just very, very unlikely to happen, especially after they were only playing

for one week, basically, after being off for four months. I really just can't see Jim Rutherford going that crazy and trading a big core player. The pieces are in place for this team to contend next season. The top six is filthy. You can have Jake Gensel next to Sidney Crosby. If you want to reshine Connor Sherry, you can definitely do that. He could probably come back cheap.

You have Jason Zucker with Evgeny Malkin and Brian Russ. Brian Russ was your team's leading goal score with almost 30. It was 27. You have your checking line with Zach Aspenry's, Teddy Bluger, and Brandon Tanna. Brandon Tana proved so many people wrong during the season, including myself, I will always eat crow on that contract. You have a great top pairing in Brian Dumont and Chris LaTang.

You have a really good second pairing with Marcus Pedersen and John Marino. John Marino is blossoming into the next franchise defenseman for this team. I will die on that hill until it looks like he's not. He was absolutely sensational for the Penguins in this play-end round. Honestly, besides Tristan Jari, Jason Zucker, and maybe Brian Rust, he was, yeah, he was one of their top five best players, I will say that. You know, not really sure what's going to happen with Marcus Peders. His play was just so weird.

I know he's going to be here for the long term, but I'll be curious to see how he bounces back next season. You know what the holes are in this team. We talked about them earlier. Just get a better third pairing that's cheap. You cannot have a third pairing that takes up almost $9, $10 million in salary cap money when you are a cap team that spends almost all your money. That's just not a thing. Jim Rutherford bungled that very, very badly. He has to make better decisions at that end of the roster.

And like I said, we just talked about, the third line has to be changed. But I think the Penguins will be contenders next season. This window is still open. Please do not have people tell you that the Crosby-Malkan era is shut. They've had three cups already. If they get one more, that would be absolutely amazing. Just do not fall for that kind of talk that, you know, the window's over, guys.

It's done. But, you know, we are setting ourselves up for also a big chance on Monday. The Penguins have a 12.5% chance to get the number one overall pick and draft Alexis Lafranier. If they get it, I'm sure Twitter will be very, very good. The takes would be through the roof, the conspiracies. Oh, my God, the Penguins, the NHL, they rigged it for them because they lost. Also, as I'm finishing recording this, the Edmonton Oilers have also lost their playing series to the Chicago Blackhawks. So both 12 seats upset at the five seeds.

So with that, there is a 25% chance, so a 1 in 4 chance that Alexis Lafranier will be with either Cindy Crosby next season or with Connor McDavid. So inject that right into my veins. It's also looking at the Maple Leafs will be eliminated tonight. So by the end of this, guys, we could be seeing Austin Matthews, Connor McDavid, Leon Drysidal, Sydney Crosia, and againie Malka, not even really making the official Stanley Cup playoffs for this season. So, yeah, save to say this little 24-team format kind of backfired in the NHL's face. considering a lot of the league's biggest stars will not even be in the Stanley Cup playoffs,

but you know what? They got what they wanted with the chaos, I guess, in the end. But I think this will do it for this episode of Locked-on Penguins. Thank you guys so much for following along during this crazy, crazy season. It really does mean a lot that you guys listen to me blabber about this team and just spew out nonsense and just listen to me wrong about so many things when it comes to sport. Nah, I'm just playing. Well, for the most part, I'm just kind of playing.

But still, it really does warm my heart. and I appreciate each and every one of you that continue to listen to this podcast, just every episode I put out. You know, this is not the end. There's going to be plenty of off-season content coming. A lot of good stuff that I'm planning for this podcast in the future. So stay tuned for that. No, it was a fun ride, everyone.

You know, hopefully the Penguins will get back at it next year, and the quest to get Sydney Crawsview and Gennie Malkin, that fourth Stanley Cup will be in high year. So thank you guys so much for listening. Remember do follow my Twitter, which is at Hunter, Cody, follow the show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins, and we will be back with more episodes next week. Talk to you all then.