Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Kyle Dubas explains decision to move on from Mike Sullivan

Starting point is 00:00:00 Kyle Dubus had a lot to say about Mike Sullivan during his press conference on Monday, and Pat and I are going to give our thoughts on what he said, plus dive into Burkard Raquel's season and review 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 Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunters Hodes.

Starting point is 00:00:34 Join by my co-st, Patrick Gamp. You can follow him on all social media platforms at Cinder and Furwet. And you can follow these shows, Twitter, at L.O. underscore Penguins, 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. And finally, today's episode is brought to you by the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K. Turn any TV into your Xbox. No console needed.

Starting point is 00:00:58 Head to Amazon.com slash FireTV locked on. to learn more. And by the way, thank you to everyone who tuned in yesterday. We had a pretty big day across all our platforms, whether it's YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Roku, whatever it is. We gained a whole bunch of new subscribers on YouTube, a whole bunch of new followers on all the other platforms as well. So from the bottom of our hearts, thank you guys so much for making it a pretty big day on Monday. But we're going to hopefully continue to ride that momentum into Tuesday because Kyle Dubas had a lot to say about the Mike Sullivan situation on Monday, Pat. And I'll start with this.

Starting point is 00:01:34 Even though the team kind of coined it as, oh, this was a mutually parting of ways. That's not how Kyle Dubas kind of framed it during Monday. He initiated this. He fired him. They're not going to say that, Pat, but he 1 million percent fired him. There were a bunch of comments that he made that kind of alluded to that. He said that he still believes Mike Sullivan is one of the best coaches in the league, but he said that it was time for a change.

Starting point is 00:01:58 And it was a conclusion that he came to after the season. And he also confirmed that he was kind of thinking about it during the season. I didn't think he was going to admit that. But obviously there were a couple of times, well, more than a couple when this team was really going through the motions during the season. So, Pat, I really want to start with that. And that, again, they're going to say it's a mutual part of parting away. That's not how Kyle Dubis coined it here. Boy, history doesn't repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme, doesn't it?

Starting point is 00:02:27 because funny enough, in kind of a throwaway moment of that presser, Dubus was asked about potential compensation if Mike Sullivan gets snatched up. And I thought he answered it really well. And I also thought it was a very fair question because the NHL kind of quietly got rid of that. Because for a few years, there was this kind of you might get draft pick compensation if a recently dismissed front office staff member or coach gets snatched up before the end of their contract. But they quietly got rid of that. But the thing that was funny about it was in that moment, Dubus finally came out and said that he was fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Because if you

Starting point is 00:03:12 remember, before he came to Pittsburgh, all signs pointed to him returning as the Maple Leafs president or not president, general manager, that's Brendan Shanahan. And then, then you had that weird press conference where Shanahan suddenly pulls the offer and Dubus leaves to go to Pittsburgh. This is kind of the same deal with Mike Sullivan, where all signs pointed to this relationship was going to continue. And then you listened to the way Kyle Dubus spoke about it. And he kind of undercut the organization's press or press release that said that this was kind of a agreeing to part ways, but then you listened to what Dubas had to say, Mike Sullivan got fired. Yeah, 100%. No, I agree. Like the way that he was talking about how much he respects Sullivan,

Starting point is 00:04:04 the way that he worked with him, but then saying I felt like a change needed to be like done here, he let him go. This was Kyle Dubus's decision. And that kind of leads me to my next point here, Pat. You know, there's been some conjecture out there from some people saying like, oh, you know, Mike Sullivan has a lot of power. He might have even more power than Kyle Dubus. He's been here for a long time. The ownership loves him, all that stuff. And I have no doubt that Fenway Sports Group absolutely loves Mike Sullivan.

Starting point is 00:04:34 You know, I've been told that. Like, it kind of reminded me a little bit of Bill Belichick. But at the end of the day, Kyle Dubus makes the big bucks. He makes more money than Mike Sullivan. And I think he sent a message to everyone that is a fan of this team saying, this is my team. And I'm going to run it the way I say. fit. I think outside of the Denzel trade, this is his biggest decision yet.

Starting point is 00:04:57 You are letting go of a two-time cup champion, in our opinion, the best head coach in franchise history, and you're going out there and searching for the best replacement you can find. Well, we'll discuss that a little bit more in depth in a couple of minutes here. But again, he really wanted to put it out there that I run this team, I make the big bucks, and I am going to do what I think is best for the team. And I think he really wanted to convey that message across yesterday. This was a very declarative statement by Kyle Dubus in saying that this is his team now. This is now Kyle Dubus's team.

Starting point is 00:05:34 I don't believe that I think I said it on yesterday's show. It was such a whirlwind day. But I don't think there was any negativity or any bad blood between the two. I think that Dubis was being very honest that he has a tremendous. and a tremendous admiration for Mike Sullivan and that I think that they got to the point where timelines just no longer matched up. Yeah. Where Mike Sullivan is a top tier NHL coach.

Starting point is 00:06:05 You can have your opinions on the last few years. They are all valid. They are all fair. But he is still a top tier coach in the National Hockey League. This is not a top tier team anymore. No. And I do think Mike Sullivan is actually pretty good at player development. you can disagree with me, but his first two Stanley Cup championships tell you that when he has

Starting point is 00:06:26 actual valuable younger players, he will not hesitate to use them. He just has not had them over the past eight or so years. But the difference now is these players aren't ready made yet. When he brought those guys up, they were ready to take the next step into the National Hockey League. A lot of the players that the penguins have now or are going, to get are still going to be a handful of years away. They are going to need to go through the system.

Starting point is 00:06:56 They are going to need to develop. And while I do believe Mike Sullivan has the ability to do that, where he is in his career and everything that he has done, and this gets into what Dubis said, where you really don't often see those coaches who won championships in the past see a rebuild through in return to being champions, simply because. you're just in a different spot. And I know people will point to me saying Chicago's a dark horse for him, but in Chicago, you're starting from scratch essentially.

Starting point is 00:07:33 You've got your two pieces. Everything else is a blank slate right now. With the penguins, you still have a handful of players who are very good, even elite, and that can get a little bit frustrating if your timeline right now is to be in transition. The last thing that I want to say about this decision when it comes to the penguins and FSG, I think this summer there was more of a pool for Mike Sullivan. Now he can, he's going to have plenty of options of where he can go. Obviously, we think it's New York.

Starting point is 00:08:11 And I think last year, there weren't as many openings. And they were very worried that they might still be on the hook for at least a year to pay him not to coach. This summer, it's going to be very simple. It's going to be very quick and easy. He is going to find a job. So while I do think some teams may have pulled the trigger on a coach they like to get Sullivan, now there are just so many more opportunities.

Starting point is 00:08:39 So FSG looked at it and went, we can do this now. And he'll be behind a bench before training camps even begin. 100%. He'll probably be behind the bench before. draft starts in a couple of months at this rate. I think he's going to have a job fairly quickly. I think there is something to the theory that you had on the show yesterday, Pat, where he maybe potentially wanted the penguins to be more aggressive this summer.

Starting point is 00:09:03 And I think maybe, like, again, this is just pure speculation on our part here. Maybe Kyle Dubbus is like, hey, that's not lining up with where I want to take the team. Like, I want to take them to be a contender. It's not going to be this summer. Probably not going to make the playoffs this year. I'm sure there were some disagreements somewhere during their discussions that may not even than that, but it was just going off the theory that you had. It's definitely possible. I did want to also say Kyle Dubus very much through cold water on the Crowley report. We've mentioned

Starting point is 00:09:29 it briefly during yesterday's episode, Pat, that he put that out there saying that there was a list of demands or anything like that. We mentioned it for about 20 seconds. Caldubis very much deny that saying like, yeah, that's not true. You saw Rob Rossi, Josh O'ie report that as well. So just wanted to clear that up for everyone on the show as well. And then one more thing, Kyle Dubus did say that Tihannis, Andy Kyoto, and Michael Volucci's contracts are up, so they are free to go and explore other options and all that good stuff. And I think that's an underrated part that's not really being talked about. So Volucci, one of his big responsibilities was coaching the penalty kill. P.K. this year, you and I had a lot of complaints about it way too inconsistent

Starting point is 00:10:10 of a unit. I kind of felt like it was a bit inconsistent last year, but it felt like it was way more inconsistent this year. He gave him too many free zone entries. I think getting in a new assistant coach that can really help in that regard will help. And then also Andy Kyoto, for those that don't know, he has been the Penguins goaltending coach. And getting a new goalie coach is also a super underrated key of this off season that can really oversee the development of both YL Blumquist and Sorghengh because Kyoto's resume, it's not really that big.

Starting point is 00:10:37 The goaltending has been going downhill, especially these last few seasons. Getting a new goalie coach in is also very paramount. So I wanted to discuss that a little bit too. Well, this is where I want to take that. And obviously we're not going to continue this conversation for too much longer. But this is Kyle Dubus's team now. I wrote about this yesterday. And I said, it's a good thing because now he gets to make the organization in his image.

Starting point is 00:11:04 He's not still dealing with some holdovers. Obviously, you've got the big three, but their legacies are solidified. Their first ballot, Hall of Famers, they've won three championships. There's nothing to worry about for them. But now they're in the I know this is going to come off as a negative, but I don't mean it in that way. There is nowhere to hide for Kyle Dubus now. This plan is entirely on him now. The coaching staff has been cleaned out.

Starting point is 00:11:34 The front office has been cleaned out. He's got his people in place now. So the success or the failure of this plan, of this transitional period that he keeps referring to is entirely on shoulders. And I still, I am very optimistic about it because he has made a lot of really, really good moves the last 16 or so months. I think he's done a really good job after his first free agency. I think he's taken the right bets on one to two year free agent deals to where he can get good value for them. As I've always said about Kyle Dubus, he may not always win trades, but he never loses a trade. So now this is entirely on him. He gets this guy behind the bench.

Starting point is 00:12:22 He's going to get he has his people in the front office. And now the plan is fully on his shoulders. 100% man. Like this is now on him and the successor failure of this team. We have to see if this whole thing works out. It's still very early in the process. But I've liked his work for the last calendar year ish. Let's see if you can keep it up. And last thing, I did not get the vibe during the press conference that they're going to go after a retread like Peter Lobulet, John Torrelle, or anything like that. I think they're going to go after a younger coach who potentially could be a first-time

Starting point is 00:12:59 NHL head coach. I'll throw another name out there. I know we talked about David Carl yesterday, talked about Jay Woodcroft. I think Todd Nelson also makes a lot of sense for this role. I think he could get an interview. I know Josh Yale also brought him up as well in his article, but I did want to mention him too because I had a couple people throw him my way and I know how good of a job he's been doing in Hershey. So I also think he could be a candidate as well. But I think that I'll do it for this

Starting point is 00:13:23 first segment. Coming up in the second segment, Pat and I are going to look at Ricard Raquel's season in review and just how good he was. I think everyone knows how great he was, but hey, we're going to wax poetic about him because he was absolutely fantastic this year. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about our first sponsor and that is game time. The Stanley Cup playoffs are here. And if you've never, been to a live NHL playoff game, it is unlike anything else. The intensity, the speed, the energy in the building, it's next level. And thanks to game time, getting in the door is easier and more affordable than ever.

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Starting point is 00:14:40 We're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodeys, joined by my co-host, Patrick Camp. So, Pat, we've already done some of the core pieces for our season reviews. And by the way, Brian Russ was referred to as a core piece during that press release yesterday about Mike Sullivan. I think that should tell everyone what their plans are for him this summer and going for. But Ricard Raquel, he was involved in a lot of trade discussions around the trade deadline, wasn't traded.

Starting point is 00:15:05 Cowdubus decided to hold on to him. And we'll have to see if he decided to do that again this summer because I think you're going to see quite a few teams call. I was listening to one of the GM shows. It was right after the deadline. He kind of hinted that he knows that teams are going to come calling. He kind of knows what the market is going to be. And I think you're going to see some teams call him that maybe miss out on some of the bigger free agents or some of the other bigger trade targets. You know, look at what Ricard Raquel did this season, the best year of his career.

Starting point is 00:15:32 35 goals, 70 points in 81 games. His 35 goals are a career high. His 35 assists that ties a career high for him. And this was so awesome. last year only 15 goals, 37 points. He was a bit banged up, but also was inconsistent. I was a little bit concerned about him going into the season because it's just the contract, the age, but he threw all of that into the ocean and said, hey, I'm back,

Starting point is 00:15:58 and he was absolutely fantastic. A plus grade for me this season, you know, you look at some of these underlines with Sidney Crosby this year. They played 79 games together, 938 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time. when they were together on the top line, those two had, were on the ice for 53% of the shot attempts. They're also on the ice for 53% of the expected goals, 50% of the scoring chances and 54% of the high danger chances. If you really take it down to just Raquel, 81 games, almost 1,300 minutes of 5 on 5 ice time. When he was on the ice, Penguins had about 52% of the shot attempts, also at 52% expected goals rate,

Starting point is 00:16:34 50% of the scoring chances and 53% of the high danger chances. he was great on the power play, great at five on five. Whenever they needed a big goal in a game, he was usually always there to provide it. So a plus grade for me, but we both know that the future for him is a bit murky right now. We don't know if he's going to be on this seam come October. For our YouTube and Roku watchers here,

Starting point is 00:16:59 I'm going to do one of these here. It's a little pat on the back from myself because I said at the end of last season that I, I thought it was a blip on the radar for Ricard Raquel. I was under the impression that he got hurt early. He came back from that injury too early, and it was just a snowball effect for Ricard Raquel. He was unable to get out of the starting blocks,

Starting point is 00:17:25 and it just continued to snowball on him throughout the year, between the injury and the inconsistencies. It was just the kind season that you have when those things compound on one another. bounces back tremendously this year. He was arguably outside of Sidney Crosby and Brian Rust, the most consistent player on the roster throughout the entire season, missed all of one game playing 81 this year and sets career highs.

Starting point is 00:17:54 As for the trade stuff, I think I've said it on the show. I don't think there's a wrong answer here. I think either one works out just fine. for the Penguins organization. They've done really well in the trades they have made over the past year, getting assets, getting younger players, restocking the talent pool and the prospect pool. You can obviously get a haul for him, but kind of what Dubus has brought up,

Starting point is 00:18:26 you don't want to make the trade just to make the trade because you're in this situation where you're in a transitional period. You're trying to stockpile young assets, draft picks and other young talent. And you have a guy who has played really well with your best player. Ricard Raquel has meshed incredibly well with Crosby. And Crosby doesn't show any signs of seriously slowing down. And after a career year, it's not the worst idea to keep them together.

Starting point is 00:18:54 Now, on the other hand, you also have a good asset that can net you a good return. But you're in the driver's seat with this. you're not desperate to move him. You don't have to call everybody and see what the market is. You know what the market is. If there's a player that they're probably more desperate to move, it's Carlson of the two, I would say. I would agree with that.

Starting point is 00:19:18 So at this point, until you get what you're looking for, you have a productive player who does really well with your best player. And again, I keep bringing this up because it reaches back to my anti-tanking rant, is that it's another player who can provide value away from the stat sheet and away from the ice because he's not that big superstar. He's the guy who has worked hard, who has been around the league and been to a couple different franchises and can be a valuable asset to help bring forward some of these younger players because he's not that superstar with the massive aura.

Starting point is 00:19:59 He's a guy who will be approachable in a guy that you can learn from. And until a team matches your request or your stated whatever you want to get back in a trade, there's no harm in holding on to him because he's under control. So at the end of the day, great season by him. He really showed exactly what we had come to expect from Ricard Raquel, considering he has been near 30 goals for the penguins in the past. and I don't see him slowing down any sort of massive, in any sort of massive way over the next year.

Starting point is 00:20:38 Will he hit 70 points again? A little doubtful on that, but 25 to 30 goals, a couple 30-ish assists gets in that 55, 60 point range. Definitely can see it. So A plus season for me for Ricard Raquel. Yeah, that's probably the range. You're probably looking at a 50 to 60 point range for him going into next season. 70 was obviously fantastic again career high.

Starting point is 00:21:01 I just don't think he's going to do that again next season. And I think anyone like fully banking on that, like you're probably more often than not, you're going to be disappointed again. He can do it. But when you look at his career overall, he's probably not going to hit 70 again, probably somewhere in that 50 to 60-ish point range.

Starting point is 00:21:22 But yeah, the thing with Raquel and the rumors, they don't have to rush this. They can wait until they can wait until they, get a really good package that they can't refuse. I don't think you're going to see anything about this until, you know, the draft, July, all that good stuff. So if there's a range for him to be traded, Pat, it's probably somewhere in there, around the draft, during free agency, a bit after free agency.

Starting point is 00:21:45 Heck, some trades obviously happened even in August, for example. So sometime during those summer months is the range. And again, I do think you will see teams come calling and offer up good packages because they're going to miss some players either on the trade market, or on the free agent market. So Caldobos, he's in a good spot for a player like that. Coming off a career year, I think you can get a GM or two to potentially overpay for a player like that.

Starting point is 00:22:07 I'm not trying to sound like a homer, sound biased or anything like that. I know how GMs operate just because I've seen them overpay for players so many times over the years. And I think for a player like this, I think you can get a team, especially one that needs more scoring. I think you can get a team to overpay a little bit. again, I keep circling back to Carolina for Raquel. It feels like they were potentially trying to make this work around the deadline. They couldn't make it work because they had a whole bunch of other stuff going on.

Starting point is 00:22:35 But he kind of fits the player that would really work in Brendan Moore's system, a really good score that can play top six minutes. So I think that's one of the types of players that Carolina has been missing for a little bit now. But hey, that's a discussion for a completely different day. But go ahead. Well, I will say this. The biggest thing that they have in. Ricard Raquel when it comes to trade value is the contract.

Starting point is 00:22:59 Yeah. I don't, like I said, I don't see another career 70 point season on the horizon for him. But if you stay in that 50 to 60 point range or even just a little bit above, if you've got three years of control for a guy only making $5 million with where the salary cap is headed over the next few years, guys like Ricard Raquel are going to start to make seven, eight, maybe even nine million. Agreed. Just because of how high the salary cap is going.

Starting point is 00:23:31 So his contract is kind of a bargain, at least when you look at it right now, now that the cap is really going up. It's going to look a lot better. And I know that people will, because we are so stuck in the mentality of a flat cap era that you'll hear that number and cringe, you go, oh my God, you're going to pay a 70 point guy, $8 million. That's $5 million now because the salary caps go. going up. So to what you said kind of at the beginning about a bunch of teams maybe going after

Starting point is 00:24:01 him after the free agency market cools off, if you miss out on one of those guys and you see, hey, there's a 50, 60, maybe even 70 point player available under team control for a couple more years, only making $5 million. Would you rather let go of a few assets, like say a few draft picks, maybe a young prospect, depending on how you want to structure the package. And you only have $5 million up against your cap rather than $7, $8, $9 million. Because we all know, even with a rising cap, salary cap space is an asset in the NHL. It doesn't get talked about in that way, but it should because it limits your ability to build a championship roster. And if you can get a guy who right now can play on your top line depending on roster construction or at the very worst can be in your middle six for $5 million and brings you 55, 60 points, that's definitely worth a call to Kyle Dubus.

Starting point is 00:25:07 100%. And with that, I think that will do it for the second segment. Coming up to end the show, Philip Hollander, an old friend is coming back to the penguins from Europe. We're going to discuss that and whether or not he can make the roster out of training camp in the preseason to, and the show. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about our final sponsor, and that is Fandul. The NBA playoffs are almost here, and Fandul is giving new customers an incredible way to get in on the action. Right now, when you join Fandall and place your first $5 bet, you will get $250 in bonus bets if your bet wins. I love how Fandul makes betting so easy,

Starting point is 00:25:41 whether it's picking my favorite team or diving into player props, from three-pointers to steals to assist. Fandle has so many ways to bet your favorite player props. Plus, after the game tips off, you can even combine live prop-ups into a same game parlay for a chance to win big. Don't miss out, head to fandul.com and claim your $250 in bonus bets today. All right, we're back during this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-os, Patrick Jam. So Penguins are getting back an old friend that Penguins announced on Tuesday morning that they have signed forward Philip Hollander to a two-year contract.

Starting point is 00:26:18 And this is really good news, man. Of course, for people that remember, he was with the Penguins organization for a while. He then went overseas starting in the 23-24 season, played in the SHL, Swedish Hockey League, had 14 goals, 36 points in 51 games last season, plays for the same team again this year, Pat, and he was even better. 26 goals, 53 points in 51 games, and his 26 goals in 53 points, they rank second in the entire SHL and his 27 assists per the Penguins, tied for 10th most in the league. Remember people, he's a former second round pick in the 2018

Starting point is 00:26:56 NHL draft by the Penguins 58th overall. Spent a lot of his time with Wilkesbury during the 21, 22 season, 14 goals, 28 points in 61 games for the baby penguins that year. And then the next season, Wilkesbury, 11 goals, 33 points in 43 games. He has also played in three games with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but no points, no goals, no assist, not a bad stuff. But he's been a completely different player since going overseas. And he'll look to bring that momentum back to the Pittsburgh Penguins in training camp in the preseason. And camp's going to be even more interesting now.

Starting point is 00:27:28 You look at this roster, there's going to be even more younger players vying for spots on the opening night roster. We've obviously discussed ad nauseum about the equally coiff and Rutgers and Rucker Magority and how we think they're going to have opening night rosters considering the way they play down the stretch. Tristan Rose is going to have a good chance to make this team. Vasily Ponomerov is going to have a chance to make the team. We've discussed Harrison Roonick a little bit as well.

Starting point is 00:27:51 Obviously, Yow L. Blumquist, outside shot of Sergey Murashov, and now Pat, Philip Hollander. He will have a very good shot of making this team out of camp with the way that he has played these last couple of years. He's been fantastic. Well, it tells you how highly they think of this kid giving him a one-way deal for two years. And obviously, that really only just means salary. But you don't hand out a one-way contract to a player. you don't have a lot of confidence. And you look at that as a player that if you give him a two-way deal,

Starting point is 00:28:21 you think that there's a good shot that he's going to spend some time in the minor leagues. But like you said, huge year in the SHL with 53 points and 51 games, 26 goals to go along with that. And he's only all of 24. And obviously, once we get to training camp, he'll be 25. But still, this is right in the wheel. of what they're looking for for the next couple of seasons. They're looking for, I will continue to beat this drum.

Starting point is 00:28:54 Kyle Dubus very clearly, and it's funny that FSG just got rid of Mike Sullivan, who they consider to be their Bill Belichick, he very clearly went to the Belichick School of Asset Management because he fully believes that if you have a lot of talent to pull from, there's a better chance that one or two of them will pan out and become productive NHL players rather than, hey, we made our five picks in the NHL draft and hopefully one of them pans out. No, they're going to take chances everywhere. And I think this is exactly what Hollander needed.

Starting point is 00:29:31 He kind of was a victim of circumstance when he got drafted. He fit into the type of player that I have constantly talked about where probably not quite NHL ready yet, but probably a little too good for the minor leagues. But with that added pressure of being in an organization like the Penguins where the fans, the media, goofballs like us were so starved for young prospects that we put these gigantic expectations upon them that they were never going to meet. So he goes back to, he goes back to Sweden, does really well. and I think he's got a very good shot if he has a good camp to at least make the team out of camp and get an early look.

Starting point is 00:30:19 And then we'll see if he's able to parlay that into being a full-time NHL or going into next year. Right. And this goes with Dubos's strategy of just again, finding younger players to try and put them in the lineup to see if they succeed. This is only part one of probably part 1,000 of that during the all season. He's really going to be going after more younger players that are ready to. play in the NHL or if not are already experienced in the NHL that can really help this new wave of Penguins hockey. You're going to see that be in the trade market more than free agency. Again, I don't think they're going to be that active in free agency, but you're really going to see

Starting point is 00:30:56 him go after those types of players. And he scouted obviously Hollander over in Europe because he went over to play in the Swedish Hockey League. So he's going to be looking all over to find these types of young players that he thinks can be ready to play for this iteration of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Obviously, we have to see who the new head coach is going to be. Sounds like it's going to be a very thorough process, by the way, Pat, doesn't sound like there's going to be a new hire until early June.

Starting point is 00:31:21 Like they're going to take the next month really figuring out who the coach is going to be. He also kind of hinted during the press or that there are some coaches that are still coaching right now. So if you look at the HL playoffs, there's some guys coaching down there that are doing a really good job. So again, just hinting that out there. But congratulations to Philip Hollander. It's really nice seeing him back in. It's really nice seeing him find an extra gear to his game. Like he was doing fairly good with Wilkesbury Pat.

Starting point is 00:31:45 He's up that a couple of notches since going over to Sweden. And I really hope he brings that confidence over back to the Penguins. Because I think if he does, he's going to have a really good shot to make this team and carve out a full-time bottom six roll going forward. But unless you have anything else to add for this episode, I think that I'll do it for the Tuesday edition of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this one. Pat and I will be back with another episode of you all on Wednesday to discuss everything

Starting point is 00:32:13 relating to the Pittsburgh Penguins and how crazy of an offseason this is going to be. What was originally an interesting off season just got even more interesting now with a head coaching search. So Kyle Dubas is going to be very busy this summer, but don't worry, we got you guys updated here every day during the week until early July. But for Patrick Damp, I'm Hunter Hodes. Thank you all so much for tuning in. We appreciate it. We'll be back on Wednesday.

Starting point is 00:32:38 You know,

Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Kyle Dubas explains decision to move on from Mike Sullivan

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