Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Locker cleanout day! Are the Penguins moving any closer with new contracts for Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin?

Episode Date: May 18, 2022

The Penguins had their annual locker room cleanout day after a season where the players speak to the media one more time before departing for the offseason. Hunter starts the show with comments from Evgeni Malkin and how he seems prepared to leave if he doesn't get a fair offer from the team. Hunter touches on how this shouldn't be difficult at all as Malkin has already said he's willing to take a discount. Hunter gives his perfect Geno contract proposal and ponders if he would take it after the comments he made. After that, Hunter dives into Kris Letang's comments and also what Elliotte Friedman reported on Tuesday with where it stands on his talks. The Penguins are close on term (it sounds like), but not AAV. What's the likely sweet spot for Letang? How much of a raise does he likely want? Hunter goes into that and again why he should be the team's top priority heading into the summer. After that, Hunter gives his two players who also need to be kept at all costs and gives his guesses on what those contracts could look like. He also gives some updates on some injuries and even has a small scoop about Jason Zucker's injury that he was dealing with. Hunter finishes the show with a thought about the new ownership group conducting a thorough review of the team and why it shouldn't be a shock if they make some front-office changes.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. 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, happy locker room clean out day for today's episode. We're going to go into what some of the players said to the media, especially Krista Tang, and I'm getting Monk, and we're going to get into some injuries that the Penguins had during the playoffs. I know Jason Zucker did not specify what his was, but I poked around a little bit, and I think I have enough intel to tell you all what he was doing with. And believe me, it was quite a lot to say at least if it was indeed true.

And of course, we can talk to you. I'll give my thoughts on what Mike Sullivan said in a couple of reports yesterday that seem to be, I guess, debunked a little bit right now. So very locker room clean out day-centric episode today. Let's get right into it. Your Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day.

Hello. Welcome to another episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes. I'm going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can also follow the shows, Twitter, at L.O. underscore Penguins. First, thank you all so much for making this year first. Listen of the day.

We are free and available on all the platform. So locker room clean out day for the Penguins. This is the final time that these players will be speaking to the media until next year. Well, at least the players that are going to be on the team, you know, just a lot of players. I mean, let's just start with the big ones. I've got him Malkin. And Chris Luton, I'll start here with Gino, you know, definitely gave off, excuse me, some weird vibes from what he was saying that, you know, he even said,

he's like, if they're not going to offer me a contract, I will gladly go elsewhere. And there's always some weirdos in my mentions that go, well, Hunter, you know, who's going to pay him, who's going to sign him just because he's not that good anymore? I'm like, guys, he was still a point per game player this year and had six points in seven games in the playoffs. Wow, he's not worth close to what he's been making a lot. last eight years, which is 9.5 million. Some team is still going to give him a three to four year deal worth well over six million per year.

It will probably be like seven to seven point five. I 100% think he could get that on the free agent market. And I'll give you teams out of the bat. Carolina with Vincent Trochec going to the market, Colorado with Nazan Kadri going to the market, Boston with Patrice Bergeron potentially retiring. I mean, there's three right there, called Jeru if he walks. There's four. There's plenty more teams.

that could 100% go after Seattle if they wanted to because their center depth is not that good. There's, again, five right there that I named off the top of my head that could realistically, I think, make a play for Gino. He did confirm that he wants to stay in Pittsburgh. This is his second home. He's loved of the 16 years here. But again, he is prepared to move his family if he has to, if he does not get the offer that he wants, or if the team wants to go in another direction and bring in fresh blood.

But again, you know, I tweeted this on my account, my Twitter account today. This should be a very easy negotiation for the penguins. Elliot Freeman talked about this in his 32 thoughts blog today. He said the teams, they agreed on the term. It sounds like which was three years. They were far apart on money. I don't know how far apart on money these two have to be. I mean, he's not going to make $9 million next year.

He's probably not going to make $8 million next year. You then have a pretty easy gap. If one side is offering, say, I don't know, six to six point five, say that's the team side. And again, Malkin won seven to seven point five, you should be able to meet in the middle or maybe closer to the player's side where you're able to get a deal done. Heck, this was a funny thought that crossed my mind today. Cindy Crosby makes $8.7 million, right? Obviously, very underpaid.

He's also very superstitious. What if the Penguins did a three-year deal, $7.1 million? I mean, I think, I honestly do think Gino would take that. Because sure, it's a $2.4 million, like, reducing in his pay. But I think that's perfectly fine for where he is now. I mean, at least you're not the capitals right now with Nicholas Baxter, with his 9.2 million, and we don't even know if he's going to be playing for his future. It sounds very much like, almost like a Shay Weber situation where his hip is just really bothering him.

I know no one that listens to this show as a Capitals fan, but it's just for a player who's so good in Baxter, no player should have to have his career potentially end that way, in that way. So I am hoping that he's able to get a good surgery and continue playing and get back to the Nicholas Bactrum that it used to be. That said, you know, Malkin is not going to get that kind of money on his next contract. I think three times 7.1 is totally fine.

For me, you know, my sweet spot, three times 6.5 to 7. I mean, if you can do three years, 18.5 million, three years 19 to 20 million, I really do think of Gunny Malkin would potentially take that deal just because he's still getting decent money. He's already said that money is really not everything when it comes to this contract. He still wants to support his family and be handsomely paid. But again, I am 100% certain he would take a pay cut to say here. Three times 6.5, 3 times 7, 3 times 7.1, which is just awesome, just because. it's you know it's exactly what sid did with his 12 year 8.7 million a aav when he signed that

a long time ago um i wouldn't 100% be on board for that again gino said he wants to play from another three to four years um freedman touched on his 32 thoughts blog today that it sounds like they want to tie that gno con that gno's contract if they signed him to cids because crosbie um his contract is up in three years so in a perfect world they would go out together retire you know do whatever they that, you know, they can work on one-year deals at that point. Crosby spoke to the media today. He said he's definitely going to finish out his contract here. And then after that, he will assess where he's at and he will make a decision on his playing future. Whether it's here, I mean, it'll probably be here. He's not going to, I don't think he's going to play anywhere else. Or, you know, it's potentially retirement or something like that. But, you know, definitely, I guess, a little scary comment just because Gino said, you know, he's prepared to move on from Pittsburgh.

If they want new blood in here and they don't want to pay him, um, again, I understand of getting Malkin. is hated by a weird section of fans because, you know, I guess he's not living up to the contract the last year or two. And I get that side because, sure, he is not the player he once was. He's on the opposite side of 30 now. He's closer to 40. But, you know, he's still been a really good player throughout his career. I mean, again, he was a point per game player this year. If he made 6.5 to 7 million this year, I don't think anyone bouts an eye. I truly don't think that. you know you don't see all this criticism and you know a lot of it some of it is there but some of it i think is a lot it's just xenophobic just because he's from russia and i'll throw

that word around you know lightly just there are a lot of people that trade up do not like him just because he's he's he's russian and not canadian again if he was probably from uh canada fagni like i don't know eugene mo i don't know some some canadian name that starts with an e or something like that, I feel like some people wouldn't criticize him as much. I mean, he was third in the league this year among centers and takeaways per 60 minutes. That's according to CK.4 response code. So, you know, he's still a really good player that can make great plays, and I would like him back on this team to finish out his career.

It just doesn't feel right if he's not here for the foreseeable future. Chris Letang, so he said he's not really going to discuss the contract negotiations in public. He said he has a deal with Ron Hextall with that. So, you know, there was a report. I think it was from Rossi from the Athletic, and of course he's come on the show, really nice guy. He said that the Penguins have offered three years, $15 million. I don't really buy that because Elliot Friedman kind of put a wrench in that in his blog today

and said the last he heard, the Penguins offered Latang four years a little under $7.25 million. So if I had to guess four years, six point nine, nice number, four years seven million, four years seven point one in Latang obviously said no, rightfully so he deserves to get paid. You know, he should, you know, seek out more money just because I believe, and I know he believes that he's outplayed that contract. Excuse me. So the question comes down to what number works for both the team and him. It's good that they already have, I think, the term down. 40 years, that's a sweet spot. Lettang said he was able to.

play at least four to five more years. If you have to add a fifth year, I'm not really opposed to it. My plan, and I've said this throughout the season, my dream contract for him four times eight. I think that's fine. He gets a nice raise. He gets into that $8 million figure. You give him the four years. That takes him to when he's about 38 years old. I mean, 38, 39 years old, excuse me. And from there, he can decide if he wants to retire or if he maybe wants to sign a one or two year deal to finish his career in Pittsburgh. You know, he still has a lot of really good hockey left. Excuse me.

Had to cough there for a second. I'm not going to do a full one on the episode here. But, you know, it's just, again, it really should not be this hard. You bump Latang's A-V up a little bit. You bump Gino's down a little bit, and voila. The two players obviously, one, to be here. Sydney Crosby, talk to the media today and said, yeah, I want my boys back. I played with them for 16 years. I've loved every second of it. He even laughed. I think it was

West Crosby from NHL.com brought up the fact that Gino considers them his two brothers and brought up one's Canadian, one's French Canadian. You know, there's a special bond between these three that, you know, I just, I would love to see them finish their careers together. Again, I will see this for the 1400 time in this episode so far. These negotiations should really not be difficult. Like, what are we doing here? It's not like we're trying to sign them to six to seven to eight year terms or just try, they're trying to sign them to a three to four year contracts and get the number right. Alex Ovechka, Nicholas Baxter, they literally just had contract negotiations and the Washington Capitals did it relatively with ease. The Penguins should be able to do the same here.

I'm not going to sit, live here in a world where this regime with Ryan Burke and Ron Hextall, they're going to lowball two of the best players to ever play for this franchise. At the end of the day, that's unacceptable to me. I'm not going to live here and just have them be cheap towards two franchise out cornerstones. So those are my thoughts on the Genni Malkins and Crystal Tang's comments and what I would do with their contracts moving forward. Obviously, the contracts are, the negotiations are going to heat up. I mean, they have until July plenty of time.

We'll see when there's news on that front for right now, you know, still a bit quiet. to say the least coming up in the next segment, we're going to get into some of the other quotes from some of the other players, say with locker room clean out, some of the injuries they dealt with and all that jazz. But before I get to that, imagine dipping your finger into that plastic tub of birthday cake frosting and then opening your eyes and realizing there was only 150 calendaries and 16 grams of protein. That is what is like to eat a birthday cake buff from built. I just received mine from built, and I've never had anything like this before.

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that. Use promo code lock 15 for 15% off at built.com. All right, we're back here in this episode of the locked on penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes, nor to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow this series of Twitter, L.O.M.R.Square Penguins. Of course, thank you so much for making Locked on Penguins podcast your first listen. Now, let's get into some of the other quotes that we saw today. Brian Dune one, so we got his injury status, a grade 3 MCL tear. At first thought, it looked like it happened with a hit with Ryan Reeves. Dumlin said that was not the case.

It happened on the disallowed he'd-old goal. I was able to go back and watch the replay. His knee slammed into the post. I didn't really notice him getting up gingerly after that. He was able to finish the game, took part in the morning skate. But once he wasn't playing, I'm like, okay, this has to be a significant injury. I mean, Sullivan said, yeah, he's progressing off the ice. But if he's not skating, he's not skating.

And at the end of the day, he was probably not going to be available for this series. And honestly, he may not have been available for the rest of this playoff run. I hope Brian Dumlin is okay for the rest of the offseason. There's going to be a lot of questions surrounding him in his future with the team. Are they going to move him in his salary out just because of how bad he was down the stretch? It's a tough call. You know, there's going to be days. There's going to be plenty of days for me to touch on that topic for the all season.

just because there's still so many more episodes until free agency. I have plenty of time to dissect that and go deep into it. But right now, I will definitely say there is a chance that he is not on this team next year. That said, I wish him the best in his recovery from that surgery. Other players, Jason Zulker, so he said he's not really going to dive into the injury. I poked around a little bit. I have been told it was a torn groin. apparently from what I can gather it happened it really happened during the late

the game against Edmonton towards the late stage of the regular season had to miss I think part of that game and then came back for the playoffs played a little bit down the stretch and obviously he was sitting on a freaking stool he wouldn't even sell on the bench because how bad the injury was the fact that he was sitting on that stool definitely I think lines up with that injury so torn groin is definitely not to be trifle with. I think he said today he might be getting surgery. He hasn't fully consulted with the Penguins doctors yet.

Maybe they're going to let it heal. Maybe they won't. But that's a pretty serious injury. Props to Zulker for gutting that out. If it is indeed that injury, that's just from what I've been able to gather. I thought he played his tail off in this series. Just absolutely ridiculous shift to shift. I know he wasn't rewarded with a goal,

but I thought his score checking, his defense, defensive play was through the roof. And if there's anyone that didn't score, that deserved to score, he was one of those players, to say the least. Casey DeSmith, he spoke to the media today. So apparently he said that he had been dealing with a groin injury for the last six weeks going into game one. And that timeline, right around the trade deadline.

Obviously, I did see a lot of people question. Like, why didn't run Hexdog, why don't you get a goalie? My question is, did Casey DeSmith tell the team about this injury? He didn't really say that at the press conference. I don't really think anyone asked, but that is the big question I have about that. Did he say anything to the Penguins doctors? Yeah, I've been battling something on the trade deadline. Maybe if they want to go out and get a goalie here, I can maybe get the surgery and all that.

But, no, he played down the stretch. Looks pretty good in a lot of the games. He did not even look banged up, at least to me, looked pretty good in game one. And then DeSmith said he made a movement in the tournament. double overtime and he said he felt his whole hip and his groin go at once. He said it was a very easy decision to pull himself out of the game. I knew my season was done at that point. You could definitely see him limping off the ice in that regard.

At first I thought, again, I think we all thought it was a cramp, you know, just because the game had been going on for so long. But once we saw, you know, once Sullivan said it was an injury, I was like, oh, it was day to day. And then it came out. He had to have hernia surgery. or core muscle surgery, just a really brutal injury for DeSmith, obviously came at the worst time.

And again, I was surprised that he did say, excuse me, that he had been battling it for six weeks. Because again, if he did tell the Penguins management, and they didn't go out and get a goalie, that is a big failure. I will 100% stand by that. That's not good enough. There were goleys out there on the market that they could have had. If they knew about that and they decided to roll with Louis Deming in that case,

that's not good enough. at least for me. You know, that's just, that's my opinion, though, at least. Kaspari Kappen, he talked to the media today. He said, you know, I need to get my confidence back. Get the swagger I used to have. I don't think it was there this year. Yeah, Kaspari, I don't think anything with your game is this year.

I don't think you're probably going to get your confidence back with the Penguins. I mean, I see a one to five percent chance he's back. I do not see whoever this regime is. If Brian Burke and Ron Hextall are back, of course, the Penguins ownership, I think they're really, excuse me, diving really deep into the team here, you know, if they are back. And, you know, right now, all signs point to them back.

I just can't see them bringing Capitan back. And, you know, they didn't even really acquire him in the first place. They really have no loyalty to him. This is a player that needs to go, I think, to another team to really get his confidence back. That's, in my opinion. Brock began, he said today he took full responsibility for the place that's a tough break.

I'm going to have to live with it. I have to get the puck deep and not turn it over. That's 100% my bad. Great that he owned up to it. Up to it. And again, just a really stupid. I'm not going to say a fully selfish play. I guess in a way it was a little selfish,

but just a dumb play by him in that situation. Brian Rust, he spoke to the media today. He said, I would love to return. I love it in Pittsburgh. It holds a special place in my heart. He said he's not going to try to rob anyone in contract talks. Again, in my opinion, I personally think, Ross is gone.

I don't see any way in hell the Penguins bring him back. This is a player that is going to get a lot of term. It's going to get a lot of money. And rightfully so. He deserves it. He's outperformed that contract that Jim Ruthergave him after the couple of cups. You know, this is a player that, you know, he's a 20 plus goals for in the league. He's almost been close to a point per game player the last couple of years.

This is a very good player. And, you know, again, I can see one team especially, the Detroit Red Wings ponying up a lot of money to get him. Damn, again, every time I do this podcast, I just, the cough just comes back. But, you know, it's just, I'm going to wish him the best of luck. I'm operating under the assumption that he is not going to be back. Make sure to say the least.

That wraps up this segment. Coming up in the final segment, we're going to get into a couple of other players, of the last couple of players that I really want to hit home with Exit Day interviews. And just a couple of thoughts on, you know, Fenway Sports Group, you know, what they could be doing right now when it comes to decisions and all that. But before I do get to that, our partners at BetelMind continue to be the number one source of your betting needs and sports info. You can find all the latest odds, news and sports developments,

including this year's basketball playoffs and Major League Baseball scores, fights, and even next season's NFL futures. Ben of mine is you continue to source for all your sports-wasting information, from live betting to playoffs, e-sports, and more. You can head to the website today or use your phone to live. and remember more about the trends in action that has been online from where the game starts. All right, I'm back here on this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Honour Hodes.

We're going to follow me on Twitter, Hunter Hodes, follow the shows to order Eleanor Swore Penguins. So the final two players I want to get to Evan Rodriguez and Ricard Raquel. And at this point, I think they're in my must-re-sign categories. Raquel, if Brian Rust walks and there's a very high likelihood that he will, you have to replace his production. The Penguins, I don't know how much salary cap space they're going to have when this agency opens. They can create some by moving a couple players out. Obviously, in the perfect will you want, Crystal Tang and Afghani-Malkin signed, and they will

have the cap room to do it. If they have the cap room right now, if they've had the cap room these last several years with 9.5 for Malkin and 7.25 million for Lattang, they will have the cap room for whatever those two players want. At the end of the day, that's how I see it. And teams, they can work around the salary cap as they wish. You know, it's a myth. You know, teams, they figure out ways to fit all their players under their cap.

I don't want to hear that the cap is an excuse and all that. You can figure it out. That is why the general managers make the big bucks. That is why they have salary cap wizard people telling them what to do and all this stuff. And that's how I see it. But Raquel, he even said, you know, he wants to return to Pittsburgh. He thought he played some of the best hockey of his life here. I would love to bring him back.

What I would do personally, three to four. year deal. If you can get close to what maybe Brandon Saad gets, which I think is what, 4.5 million per, you know, anywhere in that 4 to 4.5 million range, I say do it. I wouldn't do. I don't think 5 to 6 million. I also don't think Raquel is going to ask for that. I would

definitely bring him back. Outside of Chris LaTang and Evgeny Malkin, he is my number one priority. After those two, it's him. You know, the Gensel-Crosby, Raquel line, was absolutely sensational. once when it was together.

I mean, they're underlying numbers. They're expected goals for. It's ridiculous. Shot 10s per 60, scoring chances, high danger chances. Everything about that line

was just truly awesome. So I would love to have him back. He was a seamless fit on that line. Just a seamless fit on the team, too. He seemed to really enjoy being here. I would 100% bring him back. I hope that's not for just a rental.

Evan Rodriguez. He is also a player. I would love to have back. I'm wondering if you can get him for $3 to $3.5 million per, Just because I know he started out the regular season, I'm hot. And then faded away at the halfway point, found his mojo again towards the late stage of the regular season,

played really well in the playoffs, looked like first half Evan Rodriguez. The biggest thing is, though, you know, what version are you going to get him for a fully-a-two games? Is this how it's going to be if he signs a multi-year contract here? That I think is the big question. What I would do, maybe a two-to-three-year deal for Rodriguez, is three to three point five for him i'm not playing paying for um i will say that i think three to

three point five you know three point two five is maybe the sweet spot three if he can um that that's first what i would i mean he did not make a lot of money this i almost think he was below a million if i'm not mistaken so obviously he's going to get a raise rightfully so he had a ridiculous year but you know again i would maybe do three years nine million three years ten million something like that for rodriguez i think that could get done if he again if he's asking for four, even 3.75, I don't really know if I'm going to pay that. I'm in my opinion. But again, he is also another player outside of the big two. You know, Raquel and Rodriguez, I would 100% want back.

I think those are the four players the Penguins should prioritize going into free agency. Number one should be Latang, number two should be Malkin, number three, Raquel, number four of Rodriguez. That is how I see it. Let me know if you disagree. Let me know down in the comments on YouTube. You know, you can DM me on Twitter. Tell me what you think you would do for the team this summer. You know, that's my take on that. Finally, I was going to talk about Mike Matheson and how he basically said Todd Reardon was the best coach he's ever had for his career because he basically instilled confidence in him. You know, that made me really happy because, you know, I think we all could see the improvement in his game this year. It was very evident, to say the least. Finally. So I was

I was listening to DK's Daily Shot of Penguins this morning. Even though I do a daily shot, even though I do a daily episode of the Penguins, and I'll always listen to other podcasts around the 4-1-2, DK's Daily Shot, you know, 32 thoughts, all these other podcasts. And he made a great point. You know, just, you know, Fenway Sports Group, they're going to fully evaluate this team. They've only been here a few months.

Now that they just, you know, the team blew a 3-1 lead and they've lost two years in a row. What do they want to do in the future? Elliot Friedman wrote in this 32 thoughts today and said, you know, the ownership group, they are heavily big on data and analytics. That's where they base a lot of their decisions off of and they want the best of the best people, you know, running the team. It sounds like there could be a team president potentially coming soon. I'm not sure it may not be from someone that's worked in the NHL before.

You know, they want the best of the best and they want their decisions based on data, which again you know that's fine with me you know it's a very progressive movement it's that that's where the game and i think in all their decisions are going in and maybe they want a mini kyle dubus as a general manager i'm not sure but you know again i wouldn't be surprised if ron hextall and brian berk are back i also would not be surprised if john henry um you know we'll have to see you know he him him and all his other people that work with him at the top they're going to do through review and they're going to decide where they want to take this organization in the future. And, you know, if they don't believe that Burke and Hextall can lead them where they want this

team to go at a very pivotal point in this franchise's history, I'm sure they will have no problem dismissing them because, again, you know, they were here when David Morehouse and Marya Lemieux and Ron Berko hired them after Jim Rutherford abruptly quit on the franchise. So we'll have to see. definitely an interesting thought to think about. Ron Hekstone and Brian Burke, they did not speak to the media today. Last year, Hextall took a few days to really, I think, I guess, compose himself and then gave his thoughts. I believe it was four days after the season ended. We'll see if there's immediate availability tomorrow. It's probably not going to be in so later this week if I had to guess, you know, when he does make comments, you all be the first to know

what he said. So very pivotal point here in the Penguins franchise history. And we'll We'll see what the Fenway Sports Group decides to do. If they make changes, I'm sure they're going to try to do it sooner or rather than later, especially with Free Agency coming up. And, oh, yeah, the big decisions with Hibgeny Malkin and Crystal Tang. So that'll do it for this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for listening. Obviously, we're still in offseason mode.

We're going to start the player review soon. I'm going to review, I think, the offensive players first, then maybe do some of the defensive players, then I think you're the goaltending. Now, we're still five days a week until a free agency. So I'll have another one of these on Wednesday. Thank you all so much for listening. And I will talk to you all then. Have a wonderful evening.