Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins make a FASCINATING trade with Vegas!

Starting point is 00:00:00 Kyle Dubus has suddenly become active on the trade market this week, and it leaves us with some questions, including who will be playing defense for the Pittsburgh Penguins this upcoming season? Hunter and I try to answer that very question on this edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. You're Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. agency, Eve, everyone, and welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your hosts, Patrick Damp. You can find me across most social media platforms at Synonym 4Wet, joined as always by the one and only Hunter Hodes.

Starting point is 00:00:52 You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Today on the show, we are going to talk about some free agency targets that could be on the penguin's radar and the prospects have to send. upon Cranberry for development camp. But before we touch on any of that, we have to start with a couple of trades that the penguins and Kyle Dubus have made over the past couple of days that impact their defense. First, let's start with the small one. We're not going to spend really any time on it because it's pretty much a nothing move.

Starting point is 00:01:27 But here it goes. The penguins sent Jack St. Ivany to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for forward David Gustafson. then just before we were getting ready to record this show, the penguins made a bit of a puzzling trade with the Vegas Golden Knights. The penguins send Parker Watherspoon to the Golden Knights for defenseman, Caden Corsack, and as part of the deal, the penguins are retaining 50% of Parker Watherspoon's salary. Now, on the surface, that does sound like a bit,

Starting point is 00:02:04 unnecessary, but here's the thing to remember. Watherspoon only makes a million dollars through this upcoming season. So the penguins will just have a measly $500,000 on the books for this year as part of that retention. So who really gives a crap, it's $500,000. It's not going to impact anything one way or the other. But getting into the meat of it, Hunter, I'm, a little confused here because, yes, Corsack is younger. He's 25 years old. Watherspoon will be 29 years old when this season begins. Corsack, though, is more expensive. He is signed through the 2930 season, which coincidentally also makes him the longest signed penguin on their cap sheet right now. Nobody else is on the books for the 2930 season, except for

Starting point is 00:03:04 Corsac and he makes $3.25 million through that. Obviously, this is very early. This happened late Tuesday afternoon. We're all kind of figuring out what this means. I will say there has been a lot of discussion that Corsac is a pretty serviceable defenseman with some potential, but I don't quite understand what Kyle Dubus is going for here. It's interesting. I will admit, I am a bit confused, and you do look at Corsax's underlines, by the way, Pat, they're pretty strong.

Starting point is 00:03:44 You look at he's in the 93rd percentile for 5-on-5, even-strength defense, 82-percentile for primary assist. You look at his underlying metrics for this past season, played in 78 games for Vegas. So he was a regular for them on the right side, almost 1,200 minutes. When he was on the ice,

Starting point is 00:04:01 Vegas had 51.5% of the shot attempts, a plus 7 goal differential, 54% of the scoring chances, and just about 60% of the high danger chances. His metrics were really good, and he's been very strong in the defensive zone since coming into the league. I do like that he is younger.

Starting point is 00:04:21 Though it's interesting, Pat, you're trading your best left-handed defenseman for another player that can play, not on the left side, but on the right. So I think Korsak as a player, he's good. I'm excited to see what he can do as a penguin. My confusion is, what is your plan on the left side?

Starting point is 00:04:38 And this goes into what I'm about to say. I will fully judge this trade depending on what the next move is, because something else is going to drop here, whether it's a small move. Maybe they sign someone cheap and free agency, even though Kyle Dubas is like the market, or he makes a trade. for someone. There's plenty of defensemen that are on the trade market right now because you look at

Starting point is 00:05:03 the left side. Now that Parker Watherspoon is gone. Your top pairing defenseman right now on the left side, everyone is Sam Gerard. And I know that probably scares the ever-living crap out of everyone. It sure scares us. I don't think that's going to be the case for next season, though. You have Ryan Graves and Ilya Solov. And if you want to throw Owen Pickering in there, you can as well. There has to be another shoe that drops. So again, I am definitely confused right now because you're adding another right-handed defenseman. You're also trading Eric Carlson's primary partner from last season away. But I will fully judge this trade when we see what happens next.

Starting point is 00:05:41 So yes, can be used right now? Let's see what happens next because I know there's going to be something else. There definitely doesn't need to be an overreaction to this yet because it is June 30th. Tomorrow is July 1st. Yes. And thank you for saying that. We're not panicking over this move or anything like that. I don't think anyone else should really panic.

Starting point is 00:05:59 It's still June 30th. Let's just see what comes next. Because, yeah, I am confused, you are confused. I'm sure a lot of fans are confused as well. But I do feel like another shoe is about to drop here. Now I'm going to do something that I do sometimes on this show. I'm going to grab this thing here and boot up NHL 20, whatever, whichever one we're in and start playing via GM mode. And I'm going to read some tea leaves here.

Starting point is 00:06:24 One of them I'm going to save for the next segment. because we are going to talk free agency and who we think the penguins may target, and that might actually give us at least one of the players I have on my list an idea of what they might do tomorrow. But the other thing that I haven't told Hunter this yet, because it popped into my head while we were beginning the recording here. One thing I might be interested in finding out is what this means for Harrison Brunich. and if he is staying in the organization.

Starting point is 00:06:59 Because we know that while we have said on the show, for the penguins to get Jason Robertson is going to be a monumental lift for a multitude of reasons. One, they don't have a ton of premium assets, and that's what Dallas wants. And then the other is they have no guarantee that Jason Robertson would stay here long term. But one of the pieces that you could potentially use

Starting point is 00:07:24 to get Jason Robertson out of doubt, Dallas is Harrison Brunick. But then at the same time, that still leaves you with this conundrum on defense where you've got a left side right now. If you look at daily face off, as Hunter said, of Gerard, Soloviov, and Ryan Graves. And I don't like that left side whatsoever. I think Solov has some upside. I think Samuel Gerard is a prime bounceback candidate for this year because Well, we'll see. Come into a new system and had to kind of uproot his game in the middle of the season. So I think he might be better next year.

Starting point is 00:08:04 But at the same time, there is no two ways about this. Right now, the penguin's left side on defense is extremely weak. So this is something that Kyle Dubus is going to have to address at some point this offseason. Yeah, he will. And he made a point to say. during his pressers that he wasn't happy with the way they were defending last season now maybe he saw the writing on the wall with walthersman at the end of the year where his play regressed a bit he wasn't nearly as good as he was in the first half and he was like hey he's got a year left i'm gonna take this

Starting point is 00:08:41 opportunity to get a bit younger even though i'm making my left side weaker but again i still think he has more of a plan to this something else is going to happen just feeling a little bit confused as of right now. Now, with Gorsak, Pat, I wonder, does this maybe have him play second pairing minutes next year? Does this pave the way for Chris LaTang to move down to more of a third pairing role, which you and I have talked about a lot, where that's probably best case for scenario for him, even though he's been playing a lot of second pair of minutes these last couple of years, but as we all know, his game has really deteriorated.

Starting point is 00:09:18 So, you know, with Gorsak, play a lot for Vegas this year. really good metrics, really good in his own zone. Is he ready for even more of an opportunity here with the penguins where maybe he could get second pair minutes? When it comes to Harrison Brunich, you know, I've been very high on him. I was expecting him to make the team out of camp. Hey, he still might, but it's not going to be given to him. He's going to have to go out there, Pat, and earn that gig now. He really will, especially on the right side, because Eric Carlson, Krista Tang, Katie Korsak,

Starting point is 00:09:49 and now Harrison Brunich, just because Jack St. Ivan, he is. is traded. Connor Clifton's not coming back. Green's got to go out there and earn it unless someone else goes on that right side if they move Carlson in a trade. But again, I still think he's coming back as of right now. But I said that about Walthorisman and then he just got traded. So I guess with Kyle Dubas, we can kind of expect the unexpected a little bit at times. My thoughts are pretty jumbled. Just curious to see what's next, man. And I will add this piece as well to this discussion. I know that a lot of us are under the impression that Eric Carlson is going to be back next year.

Starting point is 00:10:25 But keep in mind, we have seen how big of contracts are getting handed out and are expected to get handed out this off season. With Eric Carlson in the final year of his deal, making 10 million, that is not as hard to move as it once was. and if you work with Eric Carlson to get him somewhere he would want to go, then that could free up some space. It could free up some log jams and maybe get you to bring someone in that could help with this whole thing. But again, like we said, it's June 30th. This roster is still extremely under construction. This is not what we are going to see when they get to Cranberry for training camp

Starting point is 00:11:11 this year. So we're going to see what drops next. We're going to see what the other trades and signings are as they develop. So make sure you're subscribed, following us everywhere. So you can be here with us when we talk about those. But with that in mind, tomorrow is July 1. So we do have to talk a little bit about free agency. And we will do that when we come back right after this.

Starting point is 00:11:43 But before we do that, we have to tell you about our first. sponsor and that is Decagon. As companies grow, customer support gets a lot more complicated. More customers means more questions, more channels to manage, and higher expectations for fast personalized service. That's usually when businesses start taking a look at AI, but most solutions either feel too generic or they take forever to implement. That is where Decagon comes in. Decagon helps companies create personalized, concierge style customer service experience. with AI agents across chat, email, voice, and SMS. Their agents are available 24-7, they feel natural to talk to,

Starting point is 00:12:26 and can resolve customer requests on their own, helping businesses scale support without losing that personal touch. The best customer experiences, they don't happen by accident. Whether it's in business or sports, people remember the organizations who respond quickly, understand context, and make every interaction feel. personal. We've all had those situations where something went wrong, but what you remember is how the company handled it. The organizations that respond quickly and solve problems efficiently.

Starting point is 00:12:59 Decagon is helping businesses create more of those moments by giving customers fast, personalized support whenever they need it. If you're ready to transform your customer support, go to Decagon.a.i slash locked on NHL to get a personalized demo and see what Decagon can do for your team. One more time, that is Decagon.a.ai slash locked on NHL. Welcome back to the Tuesday edition of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I am Patrick Damp right alongside Hunter Hodes. And now we continue the show discussing what everybody's looking forward to this week. And that is July 1st free agency. While Hunter, we do know that Dubus has basically said we shouldn't expect him to be very active tomorrow on

Starting point is 00:13:50 free agency market. There are a few players I do think I could see them targeting throughout the free agency window. And here's one that I want to begin with. And it actually fits into our first segment that we just discussed. We know the penguins need help on the left side. Ryan Graves, he's been relegated to AHL and Healthy Scratch Duty. Sam Gerard. That's a question mark on the left side. Now with Watherspoon out of the mix, in the cap space that the penguins have, a name I could see the penguins going after is Mario Ferraro, a defenseman out of San Jose. The athletic, they report and project he's looking for a four-year deal around $5 million. He's got familiarity with Eric Carlson. Should Carlson remain on the penguins? Ferraro was Carlson's partner when he

Starting point is 00:14:41 won the Norris and had that massive season in San Jose. That in turn gives you some flexibility with your defense. And it's at this point, I think a solid replacement for Watherspoon out of the mix. For me, that could be a solid under the radar target that the penguins are looking at. I do like him as a potential candidate. The only thing is, though, Pat, coming off a four-year contract, 3.25 million, 27, solid age. Like, that's the type of player that Kyle Dubas wants to acquire. my thing is though are you prepared to potentially get into a bidding war for this

Starting point is 00:15:17 where because as we know pad the defensive market and free agency it's very weak like ryan shay i think it's going to have a pretty good market unlikely for him to return of course they really doesn't sound like they've had really any discussions with him but with ferraro he might potentially get a raise and he might be looking for some more term is cow dube is prepared to do that after basically just dumping all over this class over the weekend that's where i may be a little bit But again, a left shot. He has been pretty solid throughout this last deal. I just don't know if you're really ready to go to a bidding more for his services at this juncture.

Starting point is 00:15:54 A couple people for me, Pat, that I at least could see them kicking the tires on. We've discussed Patrick Linae. The Wild did not qualify Bobby Brink. He is in his mid-20s. He has been a double-digit goal score for the past few seasons. Now, this does go on the little chalkboard of another middle six player that Kyle Duvus acquires because he's been collecting them like Infinity Stones these last couple of years. So if you want another one, Bobby Brink is right there.

Starting point is 00:16:24 I would also throw in Paul Codder, 26 years old. This past season of the Devils, nine goals, 15 points in 79 games. He's been a double-digit score before. His career high is 16 back in the 24-25 season. another middle six to bottom six player that Kyle Dubas can collect as well. So at least forward wise, Pat, not defensively, because again, that market is really bad. I like that you brought up Mario Ferraro. I just think that market might be a little too rich for Dubus.

Starting point is 00:16:51 Just want to throw out a couple other forward options that I could maybe see him being on. But again, they're not really going to be aggressive on July 1st. It's going to be very short-term contracts. No, for sure. I mean, as long as he continues to go for one to three and depending upon the player in the position, maybe four year deals, I'm not going to get too upset about him making a move or two, just because we have to, in a way, expand our thinking a little bit to the point where a lot of the guys that are going to get signed on this July 1, I don't think you're going to see on the Penguins in 3 to 4. years. They're either going to have their contracts run out, obviously, because it's going to be one to two year deals, or when this team hopefully gets itself closer to contention, they can

Starting point is 00:17:42 be chips used in a move to get something bigger depending upon where the team is. So I do think, kind of like we were saying in the first segment about the trade, when inevitably, if there are some contracts signed tomorrow that have a little bit more term than you're comfortable with, Keep in mind that they're probably not going to play out all of those years in a penguin's uniform, just because what this team wants to do, where it's going, they're not signing people, expecting them to play out the entire length of the deal. Now, let's bring up one that I think just about everybody has linked to the penguins, even if you and I are a little uncomfortable on it.

Starting point is 00:18:27 and that's Mason Marchman. Eight forward, who most recently, a left winger with the Columbus Blue Jackets. This one, it kind of feels like it's going to happen because Dubas has said out loud on video. It's a player he regrets letting go when he was with the Toronto Maple Leafs, had 15 goals in 39 games with the Blue Jackets following a trade over to them. He's big. He's got offensive upside. but the downside, he's 31, he's looking for term and he's looking for a raise.

Starting point is 00:19:04 So I could see this similarly to what you were kind of saying about the other few players, including Ferraro. I can see Dubus inquiring. I can see Dubus making an offer, but I don't see him getting into a bidding war to get him because he's not really in the window, but if you can get him in conventional, Vince him, hey, three to four years, fill your boots while you're here, score a pile of points, and then in two or three years, we'll flip you to a contender because we know people will be frothing at the mouth for a player like that. I can see it working, but I don't see it get into that point.

Starting point is 00:19:45 I see those teams saying, hey, Mason, Marchman, here's a bag of cash, come play for us. Yeah, I think with this, I disagree with you a bit. I don't really think this is going to happen. And yes, I know he was on the pod saying that he regrets letting Mason Martin get away. But he's looking for players in their 20s. Marchman is already past the age of 30. He's looking for a term. There's really no reason to take on his age is 31 to 35 to 36 years. I just really don't think that fits Penguins right now.

Starting point is 00:20:16 And also, they already have a surplus of forwards. Like, they have plenty going into next season. There might be one or two that is still traded potentially the solid season. And yeah, I know they're losing Anthony Mantha. They're losing Noel Chari. There's really not been any talks with either of those two players. But, you know, you have Elmer Silverblum coming back. You just traded for Hendricks LaPierre.

Starting point is 00:20:39 You have a lot of your other forwards coming back. And still, you could still see a Raquel trade. Maybe Brian Russ, but still, I don't know. There's the whole Jason Roberts and stuff going on. But right now, Mason-Marchman doesn't really fit with the Penguins. So I'm going to push back a little on that. I think he goes somewhere else where he's guaranteed to, you know, at least get maybe second, third line minutes because right now I don't think he's really guaranteed to get that here in

Starting point is 00:21:03 Pittsburgh. And I just don't think he's the type of player that Caldubus wants to go after in free agency because he even said, you know, you'd be making an expensive mistake. I can see that being the case with March. And even though the Penguins, they're not contending next season, but you don't need to sign him to do a contract. I just don't really see the need for it. That's me. I agree. with you for the most part. I just, I get a little worried because for as good as Kyle Dubus has been the last 20 or so months with everything he's done for this team, he is still human. We know the meme. He loves his guys. Marchman is one of his guys. And I could see him being a tad emotional

Starting point is 00:21:46 about that in wanting to bring him back. But again, I do think at the end of the day, his logic is going to win out and he's not going to get into a bidding war for a 31 year old left winger that he likes when he doesn't have a lot of room for said left winger. That said, speaking of another forward that I could see being this year's Mantha, because I don't see him getting a lot of term, maybe some more money, but not term. That's Victor Arvinson. I could see the penguins taking a flyer on them. You give them a year or two. You let them score a bunch of goals. And if you have the opportunity come the trade deadline, it's a player that I think this year, given the fact that there are going to be a lot of forwards who are ready

Starting point is 00:22:33 to take, hopefully take the leap from the HL. It could be what you expected with Manta last year where he can have himself a big year in the lead up to the trade deadline. And then you can move him for more assets and it won't hurt you too much. Yeah, I mean, if he has a similar year to what he did this year in Boston, 25 goals, 54 points during that time, maybe. That has to be a short-term contract if you even consider it. He's already 33 years old. So if you're even thinking about it, trying to gauge his interest, that's a one-year contract with bonuses that he can hit. So maybe something like the Manta, but my thing is, Pat, he might be looking for a bit more stability, a little bit more term, even though he's,

Starting point is 00:23:20 He's 33 right now. Not sure really how he's interested. He's going to be in just a one-year term. But I'd at least maybe look at it. But at the end of the day, he's still a bit older. They want to get younger. I think he's probably going to go somewhere else. But again, we'll just see what happens.

Starting point is 00:23:38 I don't really expect much tomorrow free agency-wise from them. I think if there's a big move to be made, it's via trade. So we'll see what happens. That's where I am too. I do think at the end of the day, unless we suddenly have a crop of RFAs or UFAs that find themselves on July 1 for the next few years, don't expect a lot of activity out of the Pittsburgh Penguins. But, hey, we got to talk about it. It's happening.

Starting point is 00:24:08 We know they're going to make some moves. So we got to at least try to forecast what we think they are going to do. But that is going to do it for this middle segment when we come back. The prospects are in town. And you know who else was in town? Hunter Hodes. We are going to talk about prospect development camp when we come back right after this. We're closing out the Tuesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.

Starting point is 00:24:43 I'm Patrick Damp right alongside my pal Hunter Hodes. And we are very much in the hurry up and wait portion of the off season. The draft is behind us. Free agency is tomorrow. And all the while, the prospects are in cranberry. And in cranberry along with them was our boy Hunter Hodes. Hunter, I'm going to start with exactly what the rundown says. The penguins are already putting their first and second round picks from this draft

Starting point is 00:25:12 through a stress test because guess what? The Ruck twins, they are not on the same team at development camp. They're making them separate. I know, I know it's glorified practice. But it is interesting that they did do this because we know that one of the selling points on the Rock Twins was they work really well together. They've got that great twin telepathy. But they were like, you know what? We want to get an idea of the individual.

Starting point is 00:25:41 So we're going to split them up going into camp. Yes. There's nothing to be mad about when it comes to this. They're still having a ball out there. They do everything together outside of those groups. So there is one difference, Pat, between them. We all learned this on Monday. One of them likes ketchup.

Starting point is 00:26:00 The other one does not. Marcus Ruck likes ketchup. We are team Marcus on this podcast. William does not. Sicko behavior right there. Ketchup is a great condiment. I will not hear otherwise. I'm sure we might get some funny comments about it.

Starting point is 00:26:15 ketchup's great. But we finally understand that there is a little bit of a difference between the two. But you also said it. This is glorified practice. You're seeing skating drills. You're seeing little stretches of the arms a little bit. You're seeing a little 1V1 to the two drills around the net. They're just getting to know the players. Now, I'm still excited to watch the tournament on Friday. The players, will they be trying? No, not really. But it's at least cool to get your fix of summer hockey a little bit, especially before the holiday on Saturday. But a lot of these days, Pat, it's players doing different drills. It's the organization

Starting point is 00:26:53 getting to know them. And it's these players listening to what everyone on the ice is telling them to do. You see Jim Ews up there taking notes. Todd Nelson's been there taking notes. You see Kyle Devis and Jason Spezza there as well, Rich Clune has been a big part of it too. Nick Beninos, of course, has been up there. A lot of the development staff is running these drills on the ice. So, you know, it's still cool to see. you know, Pierce Buoy, no, seems like a really, when you watch like his interview, seems like a really cool kid. I wrote about him for the hockey news on Monday. He's going back to the OHL for one more season before going to Penn State.

Starting point is 00:27:27 I was confused about that because it looked like he was heading to Penn State next season, but he confirmed that he's going to go back to his junior team for one more year than heading to Penn State. That's going to be exciting. But overall, those are my main thoughts on development camp for these first two days. This is going to continue Wednesday into Thursday, and then Friday, you'll see the tournament We did get an update on Will Horcough today, said that he had shoulder surgery a little over two months ago. And so he's kind of rehabbing that.

Starting point is 00:27:55 That's why he's not on the ice right now. And then, of course, Max Swanson and Melvin Furnstrom, they are a bit banged up right now as well. No need to risk them for the sake of risking them. Pat, it's development camp for God's sake. No, and those are also prospects that they know more about. So that leads into what I was going to say about this is this is less for the prospects themselves than it is for the organization. This is for the organization, the coaches, and the development staff to see these guys on the ice and to get a feel for what they're good at, what they struggle with, what they need to work on, what they're already good at. That way, when this week of glorified practice and then a scrimmage breaks, they can sit down with them throughout the summer and say, this is what we need you to work on.

Starting point is 00:28:43 This is what we see as a strength in your game. This is what we see as a weakness in your game. So these are the things we want you to work on when you go back to junior or you go back to college. Or if next year you're turning pro and we put you in the ECHL or the AHL, these are the things that we are going to tell you throughout the year that we need you to work on if you want to take the next step. And it's also the experience that the prospects will get from being in a professional hockey environment, being at the Lemieux complex, being out in the community because they will do their usual ball hockey clinic that they do every summer with local communities. And then to go through the process of being in a professional facility, having all of those resources there, it's a bit of a appetizer for their professional. hockey career of, hey, if you do the right things, if you develop the way we want you to develop, this is what your future could look like.

Starting point is 00:29:48 So Hunter is going to be there all week. We are going to get his observations from development camp. And of course, tomorrow is July 1st. We are not going to have any live shows. We're not going to have instant reactions to everything. Unless the penguins swing a big move, whether it's a trade, or they make a signing that is bigger than we expected. We're just going to have our normal Wednesday episode.

Starting point is 00:30:16 We'll react to any signings that happened throughout the day. We will also do that throughout the rest of the week. And as a reminder, this is our last week of daily episodes for the season. Starting next week, we go down to three shows a week. And then when we get closer to training camp and the regular season, we will resume our daily episodes. So if you have been hanging with us all this time through all of this, we appreciate you so, so much. But that is going to do it for the Tuesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.

Starting point is 00:30:53 For Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp. Thank you as always for tuning in. And we will be back with a free agency episode for you on Wednesday.

Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins make a FASCINATING trade with Vegas!

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.