Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins get a pleasant surprise with forward Kevin Hayes!

Episode Date: May 12, 2025

The Penguins had to take Kevin Hayes from the St. Louis Blues last summer to get a draft pick, but Hayes turned out to be a productive forward. Patrick and Hunter continue their season in review series by talking about Hayes's first season with the club, how he provided solid bottom-six production, and how holding onto him this season might not be a bad idea. Then they check in with Sidney Crosby and Team Canada at the IIHF World Championships, where, as expected, Crosby continues to do Crosby things. Finally, they talk about the Penguins' coaching search and who they could be targeting to take over as the next bench boss. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!IndeedNow, you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 Sponsored Job Credit. Just go to Indeed.com/LOCKEDON right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.Wonderful PistachiosGet snackin' and get crackin' with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more! GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new FanDuel customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins! Amazon Fire TV Stick 4kDid you know your Fire TV is also an Xbox? Turn any TV into your gaming and entertainment hub with Fire TV Stick 4K devices — no console required. Head to Amazon.com/firetvlockedon to get started. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription and compatible controller required.UpworkVisit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free. With Upwork, you can find specialized freelancers in marketing, development, design, and more—experts ready to help you take your business to the next level. 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.

Today on Locked-on Penguins, we look back at what was a pretty surprising season for forward Kevin Hayes. Give you an update on Sydney Crosby and Team Canada at the World Championships. And then a little bit of an update on the Penguins head coaching search. All of that coming up right after this. You're Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome in to a new week on Locked-on Penguins. I'm one of your host, Patrick Damp. You can follow me across all social media platforms at Synonym 4Wet, joined as always by the one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can give our show's Twitter account a follow at L0 underscore Penguins. And of course, as always, we appreciate you making us part of your daily routine. Don't forget that we are free and available wherever you get. your podcast as well as YouTube and the Roku channel. And if you're following us on YouTube, make sure that you've hit the notification button.

That way you can be among the first to know when we drop our daily Monday through Friday episodes. This episode, it's brought to you by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money and use code locked on NHL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. Hunter, we're going to continue our season and review series now that we are in the off season today. And we're going to continue it with a player who had a pretty surprising season in his first year as a Pittsburgh penguin.

And that is forward Kevin Hayes. 64 games played 13 goals, 10 assists for 23 points. And this is a player in my estimation that I've gotten some flack for it on social media, especially during the season when they were still playing. it reminded me a lot of when they had Brian Boyle because you look at the type of game he plays, the type of player that he is, and he's more of a slower playmaker,

not quite a power forward, so to speak, because that definition in the modern era has really changed. Power forwards now definitely are a lot more fleet of foot. They're a little bit more able to score, but they play a very, not very slow, but a slower, more methodical game. And even though Sullivan is no longer the head coach, he did play the full season under Mike Sullivan. And the connective tissue between the two of them was, you look at the way they play the game, it doesn't really fit into what Mike Sullivan would like to play.

And yet, they both found some solid success as penguins. Obviously, he's still got a year left on his deal. We'll see if he remains a penguin all the way through next year. But I will say his first season, I was very pleasantly surprised with the way he fit into the team. And as far as a 33-year-old bottom six forward goes, 13 goals, 23 points. I can't get too mad at that. I am totally good with the season that Kevin Hayes had. It's funny, you look back to his time in St. Louis, which a lot of blues fans were saying,

Oh, wasn't that good. We're glad that we got rid of him and all that stuff. You have 13 goals, 29 points in 79 games during the 23-24 season. This year plays in 15 less games, matches the goal total, Pat, has six less points in 15 less games. If he plays in the same amount of games, I think he gets closer. I don't think he hits 20 goals. He gets closer to 20 goals. And he potentially matches, if not breaks, that point production that he.

had in St. Louis. I thought he was totally fine for the penguins this year. They put him on the top power play unit at times. And was it a bit overboard at times? Yes, I do think Mike Sullivan probably did not need to put him on there for as much as he did during the regular season. But in the minutes that he succeeded, the power play was fairly effective. Like him and Sidney Crosby, at least both as playmakers on that unit, meshed fairly well together. Pat, there is the goal that remember when he went all the way around the world in the offensive zone sets up the goal. And it was just like, wow, look like Sidney Crosby, the school there of just protecting the puck in the offensive zone on the power play.

It's still one of my favorite moments of the season for Kevin Hayes. I think for a grade, I would probably give him a solid B. I don't think it was an A or anything like that. I'd still give him a B. I said heading into this season, I thought he could be a fairly competent bottom six forward. And that's exactly what he was. He fit the role to a T. And they got a second round. pick with him in that trade. They got him for future considerations. Like, he met expectations. That's really what it comes down to.

I think he exceeded them a little bit. I'm not going to sit here and say he blew all of us away. But at the very least, he met expectations heading into this season. I said that he was going to be a fairly decent playmaker in a bottom six role. I felt like he was. He also provided some depth scoring, which the Penguins really needed this season. Yes, I know. They didn't make the playoffs, but they still needed more.

depth scoring heading into this last season, and I felt like Kevin Hayes accomplished that goal fairly well. Underline numbers-wise played a little over 600 minutes of five-on-five ice time this year when he was on the ice. The Penguins had roughly 53% of the shot attempts. They also had 52% of the expected goals, 54% of the scoring chances, and 57% of the high danger chances. His underlying numbers this year, very solid on a bad Penguins team. But as you said, we have to see if they bring him back. Pat, he has one year left on his contract right now at 3.5 million. He'll be a UFA for the 26, 27 offseason. Heck, there's going to be a lot of UFA is that offseason, by the way. Gennie Malk and Connor Dewar, Blake Lazzaw. Well, Conard Dewitt is an RFA, but if he signs

a one-year deal, Pat, he'll be a UFA next offseason. But, you know, Blake Lazzat, Noah Chari, Dan Hinen. There's a lot of UFAs coming up in the 26, 27 off season. That's why they're going to have more than double the amount of cap space that they'll have this off season. But still, time will tell if the penguins decide to keep him for next season. If they do, though, not the worst thing in a world if you want him in a bottom six capacity, excuse me, maybe eating up some fourth line minutes. I still think you probably want a better third line center at this rate compared to Kevin Hayes.

And hey, Tommy Novak is coming back. I think right now he's probably the favorite for that role for third line center. but if you bring Hayes back and he plays fourth line minutes, gives you these types of numbers, it'd be hard to complain about back to you. So I thought he was fairly competent, and I would give him a B, right around a B grade for this past year. That's where I am.

I think you go with a solid B. He, again, you kind of put it perfectly. It's not that he greatly exceeded expectations. He met them and went maybe one step further, because you get 13 goals out of a guy like Kevin Hayes, that is definitely more than you expect, especially given the way his production dropped a little bit in St. Louis. So you were kind of worried that that trend was going to continue

into his time as a penguin. One of the last things I want to kind of bring up about Kevin Hayes when we talk about his role with the penguins and just his game in general was You brought up the around the world goal that he had in the last couple months of the season. Very underrated part of his game that I noticed this season is that the man has the patience of a saint. And you would not expect that from a bottom six player. Most of the time you expect a bottom six player to be total go mode. Just everything is full throttle.

Might skate through the boards if you give them half a chance. is going to make the easy high percentage play, which is just putting the puck deep, or making a high percentage pass, or just putting the puck on the net. And that really wasn't part of Kevin Hayes' game. And I think that really led to some of the success he had, because if you're an opposing team,

now obviously they're not going to greatly game plan for Kevin Hayes. That's probably not going to be on their game sheet. But when you think of it, traditional strategy getting ready to play an opponent when the bottom six is on the ice you're not expecting them to take the puck into the zone to be patient to look for the play to develop and i was greatly impressed with how kevin hayes would do that because you would expect a player of his caliber to do the opposite so you figure that probably threw a lot of teams for a loop for the fact that, hey, you got this, this 6-5-215, bottom-6 player, and he's holding on to the puck,

like he's a 5-11, 180 player who's looking to make a play. And that probably helped him quite a bit in getting to the 13 goal mark and the 23-point mark. Yeah, it was like a very mini version of like, again, the Sydney Crosby School of puck control on a stick where the way that he was able to protect it, especially in the offensive zone, at times on the power play when Mike Sullivan put him up there was very good. And again, I had to do a double take. I'm like, wait, this is Kevin Hayes, right? This isn't, we're not watching Cindy Crosby here with how great his puck control is on

his stick, especially when he's in the offensive zone on the power play. But again, man, very competent this year. If they want to bring him back, sure, why not? I mean, again, Pat, they're probably not going to make the playoffs next year anyway. So why not? If he has this type of year again, he's a pending UFA. them at the deadline. Very, very low risk, very high reward to bring him back where this team is. But for both of us, we land on giving him a B for the season, thought it was a very solid season for

Kevin Hayes with the Pittsburgh Penguins. That'll do it for our opening segment. When we come back, little quick update on the IHF World Championships and how, who knew, Sidney Crosby, just continuing to do Sydney Crosby things. We will talk about that when we get back. But first, we got to tell you about today's sponsor, and that is Monarch Money. Have you ever checked your bank account and wondered, where did all my money go? Between dining out, online shopping and entertainment, it's really easy to lose track. That is where Monarch Money comes in, your personal CFO, giving you full visibility and control over your finances. Monarch money, it's not just a budgeting app.

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and plan those long-term goals. So take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code locked on NHL at MonarchMoney.com for 50% off your first year. That's monarchmoney.com code locked on NHL for half off that first year. Welcome back in to the Monday edition of Locked on Penguins. I'm Patrick Damp right alongside Hunter Hodes and Sidney Crosby, man, big, big game recently against Latvia puts up a three assist game, gives him three points. He was held off the score sheet in the first matchup, but here is the funniest part to me about this game for Team Canada, which they beat Latvia 7 to 1, which

it was expected. But Hunter, would you believe me when I say, it was a comeback win? Latvia scores first to make it won nothing. And then Canada remembers, oh, that's right. We're team Canada. And they hang seven on Latvia. Crosby assists in a first period tying goal. from Travis Kineckney.

Then he gets on the score sheet again in the second period when Kent Johnson makes it four to one. And then in the third period, talk about a little bit of a, here's a throwback reference for our Penguins fans, a bit of a passing of the baton. He assists on a Macklin-Cellibrini goal in the third period. So that is who he is playing with right now

at the World Championships. But as expected, Captain Canada, delivers when they need him to. And he is still one of the best players on the ice. He was fantastic for Team Canada once again. And did you see what I sent you by the way on Instagram this morning? He's wearing the same neck guard at the worlds that he did over 20 years ago in juniors. Again, this is who Cindy Crosby is, people, a creature of habit, someone who is one of the most superstitious people I've ever seen. And he's still wearing the same neck guard that he did 20 years ago.

It's insane. And there was another play that also stood out to me during that game. Crosby's getting into a little bit of a scuffle. He's punching a Latvia player a little bit. He actually knocked the helmet off of this player, Pat. And guess who comes to his aid to help him out? None other than Philadelphia Flyers forward, Travis Kineckney. I'm sorry, man.

That felt weird. Considering how much of a rat Kinectney is as a flyer, it just felt a little bit weird seeing him come to Krosby's defense but hey everyone here appreciates that we don't need sending crosbie getting pushed around god forbid getting hurt at the world championships any of that stuff but once again he was fantastic it was awesome seeing him and macklin celeini hook up for a goal because celebrini he just had one heck of a rookie season for the sharks and hey cannes probably again here the team to beat especially with crosbie mccan celebrini etc mark andrew flurry i felt like also had a fairly good start he made some

Pretty fun saves during that game, man. Flashing the leather a few times. You see him and Crosby have their usual ritual celebration after a win. I was nice seeing that come back a little bit too. So the vibes were pretty good for Team Canada after that game. Yeah, you brought that up. And I was waiting to bring it up as well. I mean, it's kind of hard to believe just both with time because of how fast time has

passed that Mark Andre Fleury is retiring. But also, you look at the way he made a lot of those sales. against Latvia, it was vintage Mark Andre Fleury, just incredible athleticism. He's going post to post. He's making these these kind of saves and moves that make you shake your head because a human being is not supposed to move like that, let alone a 40 year old who's got all these years on him as an NHL goaltender and one of the best NHO goaltenders of the modern era. So really cool to see that.

I'm really interested to see what happens with Mark Andre Fleury specifically, because you can kind of feel that this is his finale. And I know that's obvious to say because he's retired. He is retiring from the NHL. He won't be back next season. But we're not, it's not like this will be it for Team Canada, obviously. They're still going to go to the Olympics. They're going to go to the world champions.

They'll have their teams at World Juniors. The world is going to keep spinning for Team Canada. So I'm very curious to see what they do with Mark Andre Fleury. Do they let him take the reins? Do they let him be the guy for this tournament? Or do they go to somebody else? Because if he does falter, which we'll see what happens in later games when they're starting to play better competition, because it's all fun in games when you play a team like Latvia,

who good for them on putting up a fight and working hard, but we know the deal when it comes to teams like that. So when they start playing better competition, do they keep riding with Mark Andre Fleury or do they go to someone else? That's a fair question, considering that obviously he's now done with the NHL, but I feel like at this point, after the start that he just had against Latvia,

keep riding him as the number one until he gives you a reason not to. it would be such a great story for him to kind of have his final hurrah here and win the world championships as the starting goaltender for Team Canada. And then he can just do whatever he wants to do in retirement, whether he is in an NHL teams for an office or if he's just taking time away from the game and spending time with his family and his friends. But right now, man, why not just keep giving him the net? He was great against Latvia, flashed leather a few times looked like the Mark Andre Fleury of

I would just keep giving him the net until he gives them a reason not to at this rate. Yeah, it would be a really cool story if he does help lead Canada to gold in the World Championship. So we'll just have to have to see how it goes over the next couple of weeks. But this will be the last time we see him play hockey. And I hope that everyone tries to cherish it as much as possible. He's done in the NHL, but this is going to be truly it for him when it comes to playing. and then after that we just have to see does he get hired by an NHL teams run office.

Again, I know there's a few people out there that wonder if the Penguins will hire him as the next goaltending coach or goaltender development coach, all that stuff. But that's still a discussion for a bit later in the off season. Let's just focus on what he's doing right now for Team Canada. And that was a really nice start against that. Yeah. And the other thing that's really cool about it is I'm going to probably butcher this name. But the other goaltender for Team Canada is Dylan Garand, who, is a prospect for the New York Rangers,

spent the season with the Hartford-Boltz pack, played 39 games, record a 2010-in-9, 9-13 save percentage. So this is clearly a young 22-year-old up-and-coming goaltender, and then you look at the other side, and you've got the Wiley Vet in Mark Andre Fleury. So I think it's also very cool that he can kind of shepherd in that kind of next generation. Obviously, there's a myriad of other goalies that are still active in the Stanley Cup

playoffs. I will also say Jordan Bennington has been added to Team Canada's roster. So Florey does falter, Pat. He's right there. So at the time before Bennington joins the roster, which we kind of figured was going to happen if St. Louis, which ultimately St. Louis did lose. But you look at he's shepherding in. hopefully the next generation of goaltender.

But like you said, with Binnington added to the roster, they have an option behind him should he falter. So we'll obviously keep an eye on this, keep you updated and bring you any fun updates from the world championships as they develop. But that'll do it for our middle segment. When we return, Elliot Friedman had some thoughts on 32 thoughts about the,

Penguins coaching search. We will dive into that real quickly to end the show, and we will do that when we come back right after this. All right, we're back here on the Monday edition of Locked-on Penguins. I'm Patrick Damp, right alongside Hunter Hodes. And before we went to break, the man just kept pointing at his shirt. So I might as well say it. Rumors about the Penguins coaching search.

Now, I'll see this out right out of the gate to temper some expectations. no real names have been dropped. There obviously haven't been any kind of interviews, but Friedman did a little bit of digging on what the penguins' philosophy or what they're looking for when it comes to who will be the next head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. And Hunter, since I missed this episode, you did not. I want to give you the floor that way you can kind of put in context

what Fridge had to say about the Penguins coaching service. Yeah, so first off, Pat is right. I have my Fleetwood Mac Rumors shirt on, amazing band, and I'm lucky I got to see them live, by the way, when they were still touring. But they did have a small little update on the Penguins Coaching Search. No, there were no names that were thrown around. But he did say this quote, and I found this interesting, and Pat and I can really discuss this more in depth.

Elliot said, I have heard that there are some younger coaches or maybe first-time coaches that have a serious shot at this job. And again, this goes with the line of thinking that you and I kind of had when this search started, that this was not going to be a retread type of hire. A lot of teams make those types of hires when they feel like they're close or they feel like they're in win now. Penguins are in neither of those circumstances right now. They're not close to contending, and they are not in win now right now.

They are very much rebuilding on the fly and they want a coach to come in that can oversee the development of some of these younger pieces, especially Rucker McGority and Billy Coivdin, maybe a Harrison Brunick, maybe a Tristan Brose, Basilip Honamerev, players who they're going to draft in this year's draft, all that good stuff. They want a coach that can do that and also kind of see the end of the big three era here. Obviously, you don't want to hire a coach that's just going to piss off those three Hall of Famers. I mean, Evgeny Malkin, he's going into the last year of his contract. Chris Lattang still has three years left on his, and then Sidney Crosby, we all know his contract situation. He has two years left on his contract before they have to discuss whether he's going to sign another one-year deal or all that stuff. But that's what they're looking for. It feels like in a new head coach.

And going for someone younger has made the most sense. We dropped a couple of names who we feel like could be on their list. Todd Nelson, he's doing a great job with Herschel. She, they also just advanced in the HAL playoffs, by the way. Pat, Pat, they beat Lehigh Valley, and that was a great series. He's going to get scooped up sooner rather than later. I think he could be on

the Penguins list. I also think Mitch Love from the Capitals could be on the list. Capitals have had a great season. They're down to 1 and in their series right now in the Carolina Hurricanes. Spencer Carberry has done a great job as head coach, but Mitch Love, he's an assistant on that staff. I think the time

could be coming for him to be an NHL head coach. And I do I think Kyle Dubus could potentially consider him as well. I've discussed Jay Woodcroft a little bit. I don't really think he's a retread. Sure, he's been an NHL head coach before, but he's still a pretty young coach, Pat. Like, I think he could easily take this job and run with it for the next few years,

especially to help develop some of these younger pieces. I have heard a couple of rumblings about Jessica Campbell from the Seattle Cracken. That could she could be on the list. Again, I'm not saying that she's going to get the gig, people, But I've heard from a couple of people that she could very well be on Dubus's list and that she could get an interview during this cycle. Just want to put that out there to everyone. But again, those are just some of the names. Again, I've heard a little bit about Jessica Campbell, but for the few others, those are some of the names that I feel like could really be on Kyle Dubus's list.

I'm sure I'm missing 10 more at the least. But I feel like they're going to go for someone who was a lot younger. And again, that makes the most sense. You don't need to hire a retread. I don't think hiring David Quinn makes much sense at all unless you are really, and I mean really going to tank this year. So hiring a younger coach who can come in here and I guess maybe learn a little bit, at least this upcoming season, makes a lot of sense to me.

Yeah, one of the biggest things, because I did fast forward through and listen to that part. of the show that they kind of discussed was it can be a little bit experimental because this is a very unique situation. One of the things they said was that, you know, originally a lot of the talk was they're looking for their Spencer Carberry. And I don't think they are. It'll be similar in the sense that it might be somebody who's young and upcoming that you've heard the name of when the simple,

oh, when is this guy going to get a shot kind of guy? But Spencer Carberry was the kind of guy you get in the same mold as in obviously different situations, different franchises, all that. He very much is in the mold of your Dan Bilesmas, of your Mike Sullivan's, where it's a guy who you know that you're ready to take another step and he can be the guy to unlock that next. step. The Capitals knew that they still had Alex Ovechkin as the greatest goal score of all time in a young group that was ready to take that next step. So you're not looking at that situation

right now for the Penguins. It was the same way with Bilesma and Sullivan where Bilesma comes in, young group ready to take that next step. They need somebody to unlock it. He does so. Mike Sullivan, you've got a veteran group that is kind of stuck in neutral. He can push them into drive. And now when you're the penguins at this juncture, you want a younger coach who's going to bring in a fresh perspective that'll help the last days of the big three, use them in a different capacity,

challenge them in a different way, while also building a relationship with the younger players who are going to come in and be the next era of the penguins. And that means that there could and should be a lot of meshing of both, where they can't be afraid to tell maybe you tell Gino next year if one of these younger players or you go out and acquire someone that can step in and play second line center, they can go, hey, Gino, play the right wing.

Just try it out for a few games. Let's see what you do. With Sid, hey, we know you like playing. in with Rust, but we want to see what this kid can do. Or you want to play with Raquel, but we want to see what this young speedster can do. And like I said, it can present that kind of a unique challenge to where this coach is learning what he's going to have in the years to come while pushing the older players to get ready to shepherd in that next generation.

So like I said, I know a lot of people say, hey, they're looking for their Spencer Carberry. I think it's going to be slightly different than that. A little bit. I still think, again, they're going to hire a young coach that I don't think we'll just be here for the next couple of seasons, but I think could be here for the next potentially three to even four seasons. We've seen Kyle Dubis be pretty patient for a lot of his tenure so far in Pittsburgh. I mean, he was very patient with Mike Sullivan. until after this past season when he decided to let him go.

So I don't think this is going to be someone that is strictly here for the development of someone like Covenant and McGority. They could see him being like, okay, if you can guide us through these next one to two years of maybe them not being as good, okay, now ready to kick this into overdrive, make our moves, be aggressive, really aggressive, I mean, in the trade market, maybe the free agency market next year. okay, we want you to maybe usher in at least the first year or two of this team trying to get back to the playoffs.

Again, that's just my thinking about this. So we'll have to see once some names start coming out. I did see a couple articles last week about former Blues head coach Drew Bannister. No thanks. I'll pass. He did not do a good job with the Blues. We all saw how much of a good team that was, Pat, once Jim Montgomery took over. And that is a legitimately good coach.

I have no interest to something like a Drew Bannister. No, thanks. No, all good on that one. But obviously, we will keep our ears to the ground on anything that might happen with the Penguins coaching search and keep you up to date on that as we learn more. But that is going to do it for the Monday edition of Locked on Penguins. Thank you, as always, for tuning in. Hunter and I will be back with a brand new episode for you on Tuesday.

But for now, for Hunter Hodes, I'm Patrick Damp. Thank you, as always for tuning in. And we will be back on Tuesday.