Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Kris Letang's end-of-season injury revealed, two other Penguins also undergo surgery!

Episode Date: May 15, 2024

The Pittsburgh Penguins provided some clarity on some injuries that a few players went through during the 2023-24 season and that's where Hunter and Pat start Wednesday's show. They dive into how we now know what was limiting Kris Letang late in the season and why he was playing so bad. They also look at the future of Matt Nieto after he had to undergo another knee surgery a couple of weeks ago. Will he be on the team to start the season? They then give their thoughts on John Ludvig's surgery and what the outlook for him is before diving into how Brayden Yager continues to light up the WHL Playoffs. They look at how he's been able to make his mark and continue his stellar development before ending the show with their thoughts on the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Policygenius Check life insurance off your to do list in no time with Policygenius. Head to policygenius.com/lockedonnhl to get your free life insurance quotes and see how much you could save.eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning GUARANTEED That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires 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) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A few penguins recently underwent surgery for some injuries, and Pat and I are going to get into what those surgeries were for right after this. Your Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello, welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes.

Join on my host, Patrick Damp. You can follow him on Twitter. at Center for Wet, and you can follow the shows Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins, 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. And finally, today's episode is brought to you by Fandle, make every moment more. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $150 with any winning $5 bet. Visit fandul.com slash locked on to get started. And yes, my friends, I am back hosting today.

I'm happy to report that I feel so much better today compared to how I felt Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. A nasty cold has made its way through my household, but I think I'm mostly in the clear. The worst is behind me at this point. But getting to the big news of the day for the Pittsburgh Penguins, three players underwent surgery recently for some injuries. We'll start with a big one here in Chris Littang. he had to undergo surgery for a fractured finger on his left hand. That happened on May 10th, and the expected recovery time is eight weeks. So that kind of confirms what you and I were both thinking throughout the end of the season,

that he was definitely playing through something. I mean, Kyle Dubas basically said during his end-of-season press conference that Latang was playing through a whole bunch of injuries. And, yeah, I can't imagine playing through a broken finger when you're trying to move the puck up the ice, take shots, be a good playmaking defenseman, et cetera, et cetera. That had to have hurt quite a bit. And it obviously very much affected his play down the stretch. Definitely did.

And for a right-handed defenseman, that left hand is your top hand. It's your control hand. So he was very clearly hampered by that. I've said it on the show before. You could tell that he was trying to overcompensate for whatever the injury that we didn't know at the time was. we know it's a fractured finger. And you know, you can understand our concern that it was something worse,

not just because of the history that Chris LaTang has health-wise, but the way they spoke of it made it sound like something so much worse in that he's going to go get second opinions. We don't know how bad this is. And they were very vague and very non-committal to what the injury may or may not have been. And so you'll have to excuse us for being worried that it was something catastrophic. Now, that's not to say that when your top hand has a broken finger as a defenseman who's known for his puck moving abilities, his skating ability, and putting all of that together

in one package, that's certainly going to hamper his ability to play well. So we now know that he got that operated on May 10th is when he had the surgery. His recovery time is eight weeks, so he should be good to go by the time we get back to training camp and everything. So that's good news for Chris LaTang. Yeah, he should be fully good to go well before camp. We're looking at what mid-July for eight weeks if he had it performed on May 10th. So compared to what this could have been, I will take fractured finger surgery eight weeks compared to how, again, how Dubus was describing it during his end-of-season press conference, because it sounded way more severe than that. Getting to a couple of other surgeries,

let's dive into Matt Nietto. He had to have MCL. surgery a couple weeks ago. And to be fully transparent on the show, this is the second time he's had to have knee surgery just this year. His first surgery came in January. That was on his right knee. That kept him out for quite a bit. But this surgery, this was on his left knee. So this was a completely different injury. And he's going to be out for quite a long time. Man, this is looking like six to seven months for Nietto. So May 2nd. if that's all the way up to November to December, he could be out for the first month or two of the season.

You could be looking at him starting the year on injured reserve if he is still on the team. And I feel like we might have to ask that question, Pat. Is Matt Nietto going to be on this team to start the year just because of how this whole last year has gone for him? I know he's only given the penguins such a small sample size, but that's two really serious knee surgeries for him. Is he going to be on this team to start the year? the year. That's a really, really good question. And I don't know the answer because you look at the surgery that he got on May 2nd. That's reconstructive MCL surgery. That's nothing minor. They had to go in

and fully repair that thing. And two knee surgeries in a year, that is really, really difficult to come back from. And I hope that he makes a full recovery and he's able to play again. But if you're the Penguins and Kyle Dubus, your goal here is to put a team on the ice that contends for a playoff spot next year that wants to get back to the Stanley Cup playoffs. And when you have a guy who is in your bottom six who makes less than a million dollars a year, you really have to wonder, is this juice worth the squeeze? And like I said, two knee surgeries in a year, that is not easy to come back from whatsoever. Agreed. And I was legitimately at least a bit excited about Nietta when he signed just because

I've seen what he can do on other teams of being a good penalty killer, a good depth score. But we just really didn't get to see what he could offer because he was banged up for almost the entire 20, 23, 2024 season. So I really wonder, I mean, you look at his cap hit. It's only 900K for this season. Do they kind of just cut their losses heading into the season, maybe include him in some sort of mega trade if they want to bring a big player in and he's part of the package that goes out? I'm really curious to see what the plan is for him to start the year.

Obviously, I wish him the best of luck in his recovery, but I'm still unsure about what they're going to do with this player. There's also the other side of it, too, of everything we're talking about. He's only making $900,000. It's only into next season. And if he does make a full recovery and you get classic Matt Nietto that you've seen, and I know that's funny to say about a guy like Matt Nietto, but you get the player that you've seen in years prior,

only making $900,000, a positive contributor in your bottom six. Maybe that has more value. But you have to be very cautious here because I hate giving the injury prone designation to people because injuries are so inherently random in a sport like hockey that, you know, this is, at this point, you can say he is injury prone after two knee surgeries, but this is a more difficult decision for Kyle Dubus than one would think. Agreed. And for the final player that had to have surgery, that is defenseman John Ludwig.

He had to have surgery on his left wrist. The expected recovery time is four to six months. So that was on April 24th. We're about three weeks past since then. So I'm doing my math right here. I don't know. Math is not my major here, but four to six months you had in April. That's either A, he comes back right before training camp.

B, he comes back during training camp in the preseason. Or C, he comes back right after the start of the season. So worst case, Pat, he comes back maybe game four, game five of the regular season. but it's still good that he got this out of the way now. I expect him to be the team's number seven, number eight defense men heading in the next season anyway, but your thoughts on John Ludwig getting this surgery. I like what they have in him.

I think we're seeing the pendulum swing back a little bit in the NHL to it being a little bit of a nastier game, a little bit more of a physical game. And John Ludwig brings that. I don't, I'm not as high on him as many others. I think you nailed where he sits on the roster. he's your seventh, eighth defenseman. You're not going to see him for all 82 games.

But maybe when you're playing some of those more physical, more nasty teams, you can draw him in to kind of be a weapon to have in the arsenal when you need it. So if he makes a recovery, I think he's got that ceiling. And I think he's worth keeping around just for that factor alone. Yeah, I have the same opinion of Ludwig now that I did during the season. and that is he brings an added physical element that this team really needs. But I still want to see what he can do with the puck on his stick. I still think he's lacking a little bit in that area.

He can defend, I think, okay in his own zone. But I still want to see if they can unlock a little bit more offense within him, just because, again, it's right that he brings that physicalness, but I want to see other tools of his game unlocked by this coaching staff. But that will do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, Braden Yeager and his WHL team are on the cusp of playing for the Memorial Cup. And Yeager has been on fire in the WHL championship series.

Pat and I are going to dive into just how good he's been in the second segment. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about our first sponsor. And that is Policy Genius. It is the country's leading online insurance marketplace. It saves you time and money so you can provide your family with a financial safety net starting today. And with Policy Genius, you can find life insurance policies that. start at just $292 per year for $1 million of coverage. Some options offer same-day approval and avoid unnecessary medical exams.

PolicyGenius helps you compare your options from top companies and their team of licensed experts is on hand to help you talk through it. You can talk to a team of award-winning agents who will walk you through the process step-by-step, and you can easily compare quotes from America's top insurers in just a few clicks to find your lowest price. It gives you unbiased advice from a licensed expert support team. They have no incentive to recommend one insurer over another so you can trust their guidance, thousands of five-star reviews on Google and trust pilot from customers who found the best fit for their needs.

Check life insurance off your to-do list in no time with PolicyGenius. Head to policygenius.com slash locked on NHL or click the link in the description box below to get your free life insurance quotes and see how much you could save. That's PolicyGenius.com slash locked on NHL. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Locktime Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes. Join on my post, Patrick Damp. So, Pat, my man, Moose Jaw is up three games to none on Portland in the WHL Championship Series. Game 4 is set for Wednesday night at Moose Shaw.

If Moose Jaw can complete the sweep, they go on to play for the Memorial Cup later on. And that's going to be awesome to see if Brady and Yeager can win that cup. and Yeager has been on fire in this series against Portland. One goal, five points in three games. And I have a trivia question for you. Do you know what he ranks for points in terms of all WHL players in the playoffs? Third. Yes, correct.

I'm good job. I was trying to see if I could stump you with that one. But yes, he is third. You're trying to imply that I don't do my research for this show. How dare you? How actually dare you? I know Pat has a massive Google Doc of notes for the show, as do I, of course.

But yes, Pat is correct, my friends. He ranks third with 26 points. Him and Furcus together are a nasty combination. They have been killing Portland in these three games. They've been killing everyone in the WHL playoffs. I only wish the Penguins also had Furcus in their prospect system as well. But seeing the way Yator continues to play in the WHL playoffs, it's awesome that they have a legitimate number-reiber.

one prospect in their system. We talked on him a little bit last week. Just the way that he has played, getting back to basics with using his shot, the way that he is played as a playmaker, he's fully developed throughout this year. And he continues to get a little bit closer to being NHEL ready. Again, I don't think he'll be ready for next year, but he continues to go very much in the right direction. This is a moment where you really, really hate the NHM. CHL-CHL agreement as how players can't jump over to pros yet because I've said it before. You look at the way Yeager's playing. I don't think there's a whole heck of a lot left for him to do at junior level,

but it's probably going to end up where next season he goes back to Moose Jaw with the Warriors for another season just because he's not going to be able to go to the HL. He's not quite NHL ready, but one goal, four assists for five points in the WHL championship. Like you said, he's third in points in the playoffs in the WHL with 26. He also is tied for third in goals in the WHL playoffs with 11. And like you said, you watch the way he's playing. He's actually not doing anything spectacular. He's not taking over games and dominating that way. He is playing a complete game. He's taking the chances when they come to him and he's finishing them as evidenced by 11 goals in the WHL

playoffs. And his running buddy, like you said, Perkis is just feasting in these playoffs and writing shotgun with him is Yeager who is making those passes to him, setting up those opportunities. And this is what you want to see from a top prospect. You want to see them rise to the occasion at the level that they're playing. And at this point, with an opportunity to not only go to the Memorial Cup playoffs, but win the WHL and sweep the WHL championship, he's a huge part of it. And the moment does not at all look too big for him.

It definitely does not. And a player like that learns so much from these types of games. We were talking about Wilkesbury and Wheeling, just a couple weeks ago and how these players really need those types of games to further their development. You can say the same about Jaeger, especially in this one. Yes, my German Shepherd obviously agrees downstairs with that, but you can very much say the same with Jaeger and how he is showing why he is a big game player in these games. And I really think that can carry over to the HL when he's eligible to go there and the NHL when he eventually gets up to the

penguins. And I will amend what I said a little bit about him kind of doing everything that he needs to do in juniors. Next year, the challenge is to be a leader, is to become the guy for Moose Jaw in his last season. You know, he's already an alternate captain. You imagine next year when he goes back, he'll probably wear the sea. I admit, I don't have full knowledge of what goes on with the Moose Shaw Warriors. but you figure if nothing else, he's going to be looked upon to lead that team next year in the WHL

and hopefully, assuming they close this out and get themselves to the Memorial Cup playoffs, you assume that he's going to be the guy who draws upon that experience and helps them get back to that same spot next year. And yeah, you do want to see his production go up ever so slightly. He did fantastic this season, put up great numbers. But you want to see him slightly improve upon it, continue to show that he's a dominant force at the junior level, and that he's ready to take that next step come next year when all this ends for them, assuming that they're not right in the thick of it now as they are.

And maybe next year you look at it as, okay, maybe they get out early. Maybe they don't go as deep in the WHL playoffs. And he's ready to join Wokes Bear for the end of the season or a Calder Cup playoff. Yeah, I agree with you, especially when it comes to him, becoming more of a leader for Moosecha. And I will say if he goes out there with the Penguins and training camp and absolutely blows everyone away, then, hey, that's an added bonus for the team heading in the next season because he'll have proven to everyone that he belongs at the NH level.

I know. To me, it's a bit unlikely to you. It's a bit unlikely. But it's still a possibility we do have to put out there overall just because, I mean, he had a great camp this past year, Pat. And we knew he wasn't ready, but he still showed that he has the tools to one day play in the NHL. I was really impressed with what I saw at camp.

And if he can do that times three times four, the Penguins might have a pretty difficult decision to make for this upcoming season. Well, and again, too, you still do have that option. As far as I know, I could be wrong on this because I'm not a lawyer. I don't understand contract law all that well. But you could have another situation where you can hold on to him. him for four, five, six, seven games and see really where he is with the big dogs and see if he's ready to hang.

You know, I think way, way, way back to when the penguins first had Jordan Stahl. You remember, everybody pretty much said, okay, this guy's going to come in. They're going to give him a look in camp and then they're going to send him right back to junior. And he just rocketed onto the scene and forced them to keep him at the NHL level. and now we see what a great career Jordan Stahl has had. He's gone on to do great things with the Carolina Hurricanes as their captain. But, you know, that's getting a little away from the point. But yeah, if he comes in, has a good camp and forces them to give him a four, five, six game look,

like you said, added bonus for this team going into next season. I agree with you. And he's, to me, easily the most exciting prospect they've had in quite some time. And I'm really stoked about his future development. with this organization. But that would do it for this segment. Coming up in the second segment, Pat and I are going to discuss the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs and give our thoughts on the four series as they stand right now.

But before we do that, we got to tell you all about our next sponsor. And that is Fandall. It's winner take all time in the NBA and NHL. And Fandall is giving you a shot to bring home a big win of your own. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $150 to bet on spreads. money lines, player props, and so much more. visit fandul.com slash locked on and make every playoff shot count.

That's Fandle, America's number one sports book. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodeys. Join my mic host, Patrick Dam. So these four second round series are all really good. I think they're quite a bit better than a lot of the series that we saw in the first round. And slowly but surely, Carolina has made this a series against New York.

And I think Rangers fans are starting to get a bit nervous with how Carolina has played these last couple of games. It felt like if Carolina was going to get swept, I was maybe going to have some copium be like, not sure if they fully deserve to get swept because they've been in all of these games. And frankly, I don't know if they fully deserved to be down 3-0 just because of the way they've been playing. But now it's 3-2.

They go back to Raleigh. They have a chance to send it back to, MSG for game seven, all of the pressure is on New York. And I'm really excited to see how game six goes. I love this series, man. This has been one of the best series in recent memory. And I know that at one point it was three nothing Rangers. But again, like you kind of beat me to it.

Three nothing for the Rangers didn't tell the whole story. I mean, that was a cavalcade of one goal games, a lot of coin flips. and you look at that series and think, man, Carolina is not a team that deserves to be down three to nothing. And now they have put, like you said, all the pressure back on the Rangers because we haven't seen a team come back from down 30 for a decade. It has not happened since 2014.

And you don't want to be the team that writes their name in the history book as one of the teams that blew that lead. I asked a couple of my friends this. and I think you're going to have the same answer as them. What's worse? Getting swept or getting reverse swept, it has to be the latter, right? Because that's what I think is.

Reverse swept the whole way because you had multiple chances to close out your opponent and if you get swept. I mean, you look at the Washington Capitals against the Rangers. That almost felt like a mercy kill where it was like, yeah, this team doesn't belong here. Let's just dispatch them quickly. Like you said the other day, the capitals basically made the playoffs against their own will.

So they were just happy to be there. Meanwhile, if you're a team that goes up 3-0 and you have opportunity after opportunity to close out your opponent, that's just not the history you want to be a part of. Agreed. And I had that take as well, but I also saw some people saying getting swept is worse. But I was like, I feel like that's the more hot take compared to thinking reverse swept is worse because I think getting reverse swept is also a lot worse. And that game six in Raleigh on Thursday.

asked for the other series in the Eastern Conference, Boston, Florida. That's been a lot of fun to watch too. I mean, Jim Montgomery with the diving stuff on the bench was hilarious. I'm sorry. I'm trying. I can't. That was probably one of the funniest things I've seen during an NHL game in quite some time. The way he was imitating, I think it was what, Sam Bennett for the call and how he did it

multiple times to the officiating crew on the bench. bench, he's a good villain, I think, in this series. I mean, Paul Maurice is also being quite funny to the media, but this is a nice little coaching war between these two. And it's quickly turning into also a great rivalry in the NHL. This is a fun series. And what a great line from Paul Maurice to when he was asked about when he flipped out on the Panthers.

And he said, uh, I just figured they needed a little profanity in their lives. So I gave it to him. And yeah, I mean, no shortage of drama in Boston, Florida. We had the whole Bennett-Marshon thing, and then the Bruins GM goes out and talks about how something I agree with completely, don't make me like the Bruins,

but he comes out and says, yeah, officials should have to answer questions about the way the game was officiated, the way we have to answer questions about how the game was played. And the way officiating has been, and we're not going to go into a rant on NHL officiating, you probably know where we stand. But he's right. You know, the way the game's been officiated, especially in these playoffs, eventually whether it's player safety, the officiating coordinator of each series, or the refs themselves, somebody eventually has to answer for the way these games are being called.

And that extends to NFL, NBA, major league baseball, et cetera. All officials should have to answer to calls they made after the game. And I will stand by that. The NBA has it. They have the two minute report at the end of every game. They come out and explain to you what was called and why. what they missed, what they saw. And yeah, it's not directly microphone in face,

but you get an explanation every game from NBA officials that tell you this is what happened. Agreed. I mean, the NBA in a lot of ways is further ahead than a lot of the other leagues in this country. But I, again, I'll keep saying it for, this goes for all major sports. They should have the officials answer to the calls they made after a game.

As for the Western Conference, I mean, this Edmonton's hand, Edmonton, Vancouver series. This is cinema. It really is. You saw the Canucks make that awesome push in the third period of game four. But then the Oilers win it in the final minute. It's tied two two now.

Best of three series. If we don't get seven games of this, just fire me to the sun, I think, at this point. This has been a joy to watch. I love this series. And as for Colorado Dallas, I mean, Dallas has just taken Colorado to the Woodshed. I do really feel for Colorado.

I mean, Devon Taves had a miss game for and no for a Natchewishan. I really do hope that he gets the help that he needs overall. But Colorado, McKinnon and McCar are being shut down and their other debt players aren't able to step up. Dallas is just having its way with the abs. And at this point, I would kind of be surprised if Dallas lost the series. Me too. And this is what we've talked about with Dallas for so long now, how good of a defensive team they are. They're not to lock it down, play boring hockey team.

They just play very great team defense and counterattack so very well. And then they get possession in their own end. So it's not just one and duns. And the way they've been able to shut down McKinnon and McCar proves what a great defensive team Dallas is. Because we talked about it, you and I, that it felt like McKinnon and McCar were just going to be the best players in the playoffs by a mile. and nobody was going to be able to stop them. And Dallas was like, hold on a minute there, fellas. We're going to shut these guys down.

If Dallas wins the Stanley Cup this year, they will have fully earned it. I mean, going through Vegas, then Colorado, one of Edmondson or Vancouver, and then whoever comes out of the east, whether it's New York, Florida, just to name a couple of teams. That'll have been one of the hardest roads to win a Stanley Cup in quite some time. But the stars are peaking at the right time. They're playing excellent hockey. and just these West Series in general have been awesome to watch.

But do you have anything else to add about the playoffs before we wrap up here? Yeah, this is a great playoff. It's one of the best in memory. But before we go, I do want to give one quick shout out. And that is to PWH Boston, who punched their ticket to the Walter Cup finals in the PWHL playoffs by sweeping Montreal. And then you've got the other series with Toronto who suffered a huge loss, as we found out today. Natalie Spooner has a knee injury, will not return to the playoffs for them, but they can actually close out Minnesota tonight when they play each other at 8 o'clock.

I've been saying it all year, if you have not been tuning into the PWHL, you are missing out. It's great hockey. It's very fun to watch and miss me with the, oh, you can't hit women's hockey. You can hit in this game because they do not call it. and it is a really, really exciting brand of hockey. It's very much worth your time. The players are a lot of fun to watch.

The buildings are sold out every single night. And as we've said on this show quite often, it's only a matter of time before the league is expanded to Pittsburgh. Bring us to Pittsburgh and pennies. Bring them back. I do think the PWHL would very much work here in this city. But I think that would do it for today's episode. Thank you all so much for taking the time

to listen to slash watch this one. Pat and I will be back with another show for you all on Thursday and then Friday. It'll be just me because Pat is going to Philadelphia for a wedding this weekend. I know, shame on Pat for going to Philadelphia and missing a show for a wedding. But you know what? That's what happens this time of year. People get married. That stuff happens. But we'll still have a couple more episodes for you all to end this week. Again, thank you all so much for tuning in. We really appreciate it. We'll be back on Thursday.