Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins prospect Brayden Yager set to play for Memorial Cup!

Episode Date: May 16, 2024

Today is a very odd episode of the Locked On Penguins podcast as Hunter is in studio recording while Pat had to pre-record his takes since he's on the road. They start the show with Drew O'Connor's season in review as they continue their season review series. They discuss how DOC finally put it together for this season after it looked a bit dicey for him to start his career. Hunter dives into the data and how DOC played with Crosby compared to without him and where he fits into next year's lineup. Pat then gives his review for DOC and even gives him a grade before the two shout out Brayden Yager and Moose Jaw for advancing to their first-ever Memorial Cup. They go into how great Yager was during the playoffs (like Wednesday a little bit) and ponder whether he can up his game even more in the Memorial Cup. Finally, they discuss Sidney Crosby's OT winner against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers eight years later.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Policygenius Check life insurance off your to do list in no time with Policygenius. Head to policygenius.com/lockedonnhl to get your free life insurance quotes and see how much you could save.eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning GUARANTEED That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Is Drew O'Connor primed for an even bigger year in 2024, 2025? Well, Pat and I are going to discuss that right after this. Your Locked-on Penguin, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello, welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, and you can follow Pat on Twitter at Center for Wet.

and of course you can follow the show's Twitter at L.O underscore Penguins. Thank you all so much for making this your first listen slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. And finally, today's episode is brought to you by GameTime down the GameTime app, create an account and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase terms apply. So if you are watching on YouTube, you will notice that Pat is not next to me while we record this episode. Pat pre-recorded his takes for what we're going to discuss today just because he and his girlfriend had to leave a little earlier than expected for Philadelphia just because they have that wedding to go to this weekend. Remember,

I'll be coming to you all solo for Friday, but we'll still do a show together today, but Pat pre-recorded his takes for today. But getting right into the meat of the show, we got to discuss Drew O'Connor's season in review as we continue our season review series. O'Connor was flat out outstanding for the Penguins this year. And his development has been really fun to follow throughout the last few years. years. I remember when he first came up, it was during the 2020, 2020, 2021 season. He only played 10 games, but he looked very out of place in those games. Only had one point overall, but you could tell he really needed a lot of seasoning down in the HL, etc. Then even the year after 2021, 2021, 2022, he still looked like someone who was out of place at the NHL level. Then last season,

you saw him start to take strides to becoming a full-time NHL player. And from what I saw at the end of last season, that was what made me really bullish on him, was because I could see him working on his shot. I could see him working on his skating. I can see him working on his two-way game. And he went zero to 100 full on this year, 16 goals, 33 points in a big breakout year. Hamon Lars Eller, by far the two best options for the penguins in their bottom six. He played up top with Cindy Crosby.

He spent time with Hedgeny Malkin. spent time with virtually every line this year. And I'll dig into the data in just a second. But no matter what line he was on, he was helping driving play. And I'm really excited about him heading into next season. I know I predicted him to score 20 this past year. I came close. I knew he was going to break out. I just didn't get the 20 goals right for him. But digging into the data a little bit right now, he spent 336, 5 on 5 minutes with Cindy Crosby, 732 without. And his data with Crosby is better than his play without Crosby. But there is one number that I do want to highlight where I think it's more bad luck to anything.

18 goals for, 23 goals against with O'Connor and Crosby together. But when O'Connor is on a different line without Crosby, it's 31 goals for and 19 goals against. I'm just talking that up to him getting more ice time with other lines. I think if you up that ice time to maybe 600 minutes, 650 minutes, that goal share is above water. It's not minus five or anything like that. But his numbers with Sid together, 53% of the expected goals, 53% of the scoring chances for them, 54% of the high danger chances.

They were really good together overall. And it's nice that he is an option to play in the top six. I don't know if I want him there full time for all 82 games. I still think they should get another top six winger, someone like, again, Nikolite E. Dealers, if he's available or just maybe anyone out there in the free agent market. But he is still someone that if an injury comes up, or, for example, the Jake Gensel trade that happened, you can slot him up there and he can play for 10, 15, 20 games and you really won't lose a beat either way. And he provided great value. I still come back to that goal against Boston late in the season.

I know the Penguins lost that game and, you know, they didn't get the two points there. one of the reasons, one, like, there are a lot of reasons why this team missed the playoffs, but not getting two points there, I would say is at least one of them. But that goal that he scored in the third period, excuse me, to bring the Penguins within one, was a work of art. He made Linus Allmark and the entire Bruins players that were on the ice look really foolish. And at 925K for next season, he is a flat out steel. I'm expecting big things for him next year.

I will say it on the podcast right now. He is scoring 22 to 24 goals next season. I think he tops 20 and I think he goes a little higher than that. But that's my season review on O'Connor. Now let's get to Pat's thoughts on Drew O'Connor. Hey, everyone, I'm sure Hunter has already told you, but yes, today is a very weird episode since I am on the road traveling to Philadelphia for a wedding.

So shout out to Katie and John. John, I can't wait to see you guys this weekend for your wedding. I know it's going to be beautiful. I don't even know if you listen to the show, but if you do, there's your shout out. It's not our only wedding gift, I promise. So let's get into Drew O'Connor. I loved the way he played this season. And I really don't want to oversell it.

You know, it's really hard to say magnificent, spectacular, great, etc., etc. Because at the end of the day, we are talking about a depth forward. But you talk about Drew O'Connor. He is 25 years old. He plays a great, straightforward game. He does a lot of the little things right. He goes to the dirty areas of the ice. He's not afraid to get physical.

But he showed a lot of offensive upside this season. I know Hunter will probably get more into the analytics of it and the advanced numbers for DOC this year. but you look at his counting stats this year, and it was a very solid season for DOC, 16 goals, 17 assists, 33 points, and in 79 games played. And this is the kind of development and step

we were hoping he would take, because last three years, you know, 2020, 21, the shortened year, and then 21, 22, and 22, 23, he showed flashes. He had moments where he looked like he was going to blossom into a very good middle six forward, but we never saw it consistently. He would go up and down in those times, both literally and figuratively. He'd be up and down from Wokesbury Scranton or he would just be up and down in his play.

In this year, I think we saw a lot of consistency from him overall. You know, you look at the way he played especially at the end of the year. He fills in really well with Sidney Crosby. He doesn't seem out of place. He's doing the right things that you need to do to play with a talent like Sidney Crosby. However, I will say this about Drew O'Connor. If it gets to the point where he has to be in the top six, the penguins are going to have a lot of problems.

He is talented. I think he's got a lot of upside. I've often compared him to a lesser version. version, and I don't mean that as an insult, a lesser version of Brian Rust. He's a guy who plays a very straightforward game. He plays a very honest game. He can fill in just about anywhere you need him to. In a pinch, he's a good option in the top six.

But ideally, you would want him to be on your third line. You want him to be a depth option that can contribute in the bottom six as this team looks to get back to the postseason. He also is a guy who I think would be valuable on the penalty. kill just for the straightforward hard-nosed game he plays. But you can also see a spot for him on a second power play unit. Obviously, with all the talent and putting aside the power play woes of this past season, you know, should this top power play get back to where it needs to be next season,

you can see a world where Drew O'Connor plays on your second unit and comes out when the first unit struggles or just takes a 60, 90-second shift, and then you're at the back end and you want to have some more responsible players out there, but still an offensive threat because he does have a good shot. He's not afraid to go to the front of the net. And those are two things when you're putting together a second power play unit really could be valuable. So overall, I really liked Drew O'Connor's development this season. I'd probably give his season overall a B plus.

You only look at 16 goals, 33 points. Even though he is a depth forward, that's not. earth-shattering, but for where you ultimately want him to end up in your lineup and on your roster, that's a good season for him. Finally, he's the kind of player that Kyle Dubus has been talking about since the midpoint of the season, basically. He's only 25 years old once next season gets here. He'll be 26. Overall in his career, 157 games, 24 goals, 26 assists, 50 points. So that's a good depth option to have. And you hope as he hits that prime area of his career,

those 26, 27, 27, 28 years of age, he really starts to blossom into the kind of player that can get you 15 to 20 goals every season and continue to be a positive contributor up and down the lineup each night. So good season for Drew O'Connor. We really hope that he continues his development as well as he has from last season into next season.

So Hunter, I will throw it back to you. Yeah, I can't agree with Pat anymore, to be honest. And he gave him a B. Maybe I'll kind of be a little bit of a hypocrite there. I agree with everything except that. I'll give O'Connor an A for this season, which is with the way he developed, the way he was a great option,

the bottom six, the way he played next to Cindy Crosby, easy A for me, and I expect big things from him next season. I think even if he's not on the top line at times for this upcoming season, I still think he's going to score 20 plus this season, and he'll get a pretty nice raise on that next contract. I mean, you look at it right now again, 925K for this upcoming season. He'll be a UFA after that, the Penguins. If he gets out to a pretty hot start,

they may want to think about locking him up during the season, because if he gets to the market and he breaks out the way that I think he will even more, there will be teams lining up to get him in free agency for next year. But that will do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, Brady-Degger and Mushaw are off to the Memorial Cup. Pat and I are going to look at how Brady-Degger played in the clinching game and how he can take his game to a new level in the Memorial Cup.

But before we get to that, we have to tell you about our first sponsor, and that is Fandall. It's winner-take-all-time in the NBA and NHL and Fandall's giving you a shot to bring home a big win of your own. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $150 to bet on spreads, money lines, player props, and so much more.

All you have to do is visit fandul.com slash lockdown to make every playoff shot count. That's Fandle, America's number one sports buck. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Lock on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, join by my co-host, Patrick Dam. So congratulations to Braden Yeager and Moosechard a sweepaway Portland on Wednesday night, and they will be going to the Memorial Cup. That is the first time in Moose Shaw's franchise history that they will be playing for the Memorial Cup and they won their first WHL championship.

They absolutely took it to Portland throughout this entire series. It really wasn't. even close to be honest. It was a lot of fun watching Yeager and Furkus do their thing. And heck, Yeager had the primary assist on one of the goals last night. And it came off a brilliant first pass from Furcus to get it to Yeager, who gets it to the front of the net. One of his teammates is there to clean up the garbage. But those two just worked so damn good together.

It's just going to be a shame again that Furcus is not in the penguin system so that they can't carry this over to the penguins and all that good. stuff. And Mushal, they'll be competing against Drummondville, who won the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, also the London Knights, and then the Saginaw Spirit, who is hosting the tournament. Muschal will get underway. May 24th against Saginaw, against Saginaw is hosting the tournament. And I really just want to see what Yeager can do in these games. Now the stakes get even higher. You're competing for the Memorial Cup. How does he raise his game to an even higher level? After what

he did during the WHL playoffs. I mean, you look at his numbers overall. He was third in the WHL and points during the playoffs with 27. Goals 11. That's tied for fourth. He also had 16 points. Just played at the level that me and I know a lot of other people were really hoping he was going to during these playoffs.

And now, again, he just got to get to new heights for the Memorial Cup. And to provide more details on Braden Yeager and Moosechon. I now hand it over to Pat once again. What an absolutely marvelous run for Braden Yeager and the Mooseg Warriors in the WHL playoffs. They finish off the sweep with a very solid 4-2 victory, as I'm sure Hunter has said, over the Portland Winter Hawks to complete the sweep. Jaeger adds another assist. And one thing I want to touch on when it comes to Yeager in this postseason,

I said it yesterday. You can tell that this moment was not too big for him. He's playing in very important games. He gets Moostra to the Memorial Cup, and he's a huge contributor with FECIS in their run, really showed a lot of solid chemistry with him throughout the season and this playoff run. And I'm sure you've seen it all over Twitter today

because a lot of the local reporters have retweeted it and shared it. He was one of the people interviewed after the victory when they were going through their celebrations, wearing their hats and having all the fun. But I know it's cliche. I know it's something that every single hockey player does and every single person who has played the sport loves to do after a championship in hockey. And they talk about, oh, you know, this was a great team effort and we're so close and we're so tight. but he said in my quote, we are all brothers, we want the best for each other,

and I think that played into how much we had each other's backs out there. I like this quote because I think it shows his commitment being part of something bigger than himself, because if you look at the Moose Jaw roster, a lot of these guys are the same age. They have been on Moose Jaw together for a handful of seasons. They built towards this. They have worked towards this for a handbook.

full of years now. And that, to me, gets into another thing I talked about yesterday, which is, you know he's more than likely going to end up back with Moose Jaw next year because he can't go to the American Hockey League in Wilkesbury. He's either going to have to make the NHL right out of camp where they're going to have to send him back. So I look at that and I see it as more than just the talent on the ice because he's got boatloads of it as we've seen.

great season from him, great playoff run from him. But what I said yesterday is his next step in development when he goes back to junior, should he go back to junior, is he's got to become a leader. He has to be, he's probably going to be the captain, he's probably going to, at this point now, try to lead Moose job back to Memorial Cup tournament next season when he returns. Again, should he return? And this will be the next part of his development.

is can you be a leader? Can you be somebody in those pressure-packed moments, in those high-skid situations that is able to keep a level head, it is able to be collector and put the team in front of you and lead them to that next level? Because we all know, juniors, everybody who comes out of juniors, one point in another from those part, was the big fish and the small pond.

and then the NFL, AHL, ECOHL, you're in the ocean. You're no longer the big fish. You're in the ocean with all the other big fish and you've got to find a way to stand out and you've got to find a way to eat. So rounding out that intangible, I know that's a dirt word in hockey talk these days,

but rounding out that intangible for him is going to be huge for his development. And I think we saw a lot of it in the WHL playoff in this past season as well. but we will keep following him in the Memorial Cup tournament as well as the Moose Jaw Warriors to see what they do as they look to capture the Memorial Cup. I can't agree anymore with Pat there. I think a lot of that we discussed during the Wednesday episode when it came to Yeager

and how Moose Jaw had a chance to sweep Portland in the WHL championship. But yeah, him becoming more of a leader. Him also maybe breaking the point total that he had this year, maybe breaking the goal total that he had this year, goes back to junior, that's going to be big for him as well if he goes back. But again, there's still a possibility, even though it's low, that he could be on this team for next season. I said it during Wednesday, I'll say it again here.

That would be an added bonus for the Penguins if he's able to do what he did in camp this past year, but maybe turn it up three to four to maybe even five notches overall. But that'll do it for the second segment coming up to end the show. So eight years ago today, Sydney Crosby checked off a pretty massive moment for his career. Pat and I are going to discuss what we remember from 2016 game to Penguins Lightning as Sidney Crosby got that massive overtime winner less than a minute into that game. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about our next sponsor. And that is game time.

Game time is an authorized ticket marketplace of the NBA, which makes getting playoff tickets even faster and easier. prices on the game time app actually go down, the closer it gets to tip off with killer last minute deals, all in prices, views from your seat in their lowest price guarantee. Game time takes the guesswork out of buying tickets. Last minute deals, you can save up to 60% off buying last minute deals for sports, concerts, comedy, theater, etc. You can also do flash deals, save even more with exclusive in-app deals on select seats ahead

of the game or event. There's also zone deals. Save even more when you choose a section and let GameTime choose the same. seats. There's also all in prices. Toggling this feature shows the total up front with no surprise fees. Check out. See these. You can get a full view from your seat in the app before you buy and the lowest price guarantee or game time will credit you 110% of the difference. Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with game time down the game time app, crane account and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and

Medine Code Lockdown NHL for $20 off. Download game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. All right here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast, I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined, of course, by my host Patrick Thamp. So eight years ago today, Penguins Lightning, game two goes to overtime.

And I tweeted this earlier in the day, and I still very much stand by it. But when I was watching that game, when I was only 18 years old, I was saying to myself, I feel like we could be playing all night just because the way these two teams were playing in regulations. Tide 2-2, there's not a lot of space out there, Tampa Bay is not giving the penguins much of anything.

Same in return, the penguins really aren't giving the lightning much of anything. And heck, I know Jonathan Duran was turning into a penguin's killer in that series. He was tremendous from lightning throughout that series. But you know who was also great in that series, especially that game, Andre Vasilevsky. I'll admit, I thought the penguins were easily going to have this in the bag when Ben Bishop went out, and I remember in game one when he got hurt, and you could hear him screaming through the TV.

That was a really scary sight. And I had no idea who Vasilevsky was at the time, but I sure found out pretty quickly how good this kid was, considering fast forward eight years later, he's arguably the best goaltender in the league. He's been fantastic ever since that series, but he was not giving the penguins an inch, and it took a perfect play for the penguins to win that game.

Russ comes in with Crosby, delivers a beautiful pass, and then Crosby just fires it, block her side on Vasselowski. I know I've seen people saying, look at the curve that Cid has right there, and you can definitely see it when he released, is the puck there. But Vasilevsky had no shot. I remember just going crazy and my basement going to school the next day, of course, running it in the faces of the caps people there just because I was so excited that the penguins are going on this deep run. But that was such an amazing

moment, especially for Crosby because he had not done that in his career yet. He had not had an overtime winner for the Penguins. If you go back and look at the playoff history for the Penguins with Crosby there, you know, 2007, 08, 09, et cetera, et cetera. He had never had an overtime winner. But he finally was able to check that off here. It was a legendary moment for a legendary player and easily one of the biggest goals for the Penguins in their run to winning the 2016 Stanley Cup. Now, here's Pat's thoughts on that goal eight years later.

Really, really hard to believe that. The 2016 Stanley Cup run is nearly a decade old, and that eight years ago today, Sidney Crosby scored that incredible overtime goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning in game two to keep them from completely surrendering home ice advantage to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference final. But the one thing I could not stop thinking of today, and I said it on Twitter this afternoon or this morning, whenever that was, I'm always the guy who kind of talks about hockey night in Canada, despite being from Pittsburgh, living in Pittsburgh, or the surrounding areas

pretty much all of my life. The best part of that goal to me, and this is no disrespect to the great Doc Emmerich, who we all miss and we all love, and is one of the Titans of the sport, is him saying, or on the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast, excuse me, on the Hockey Night and Canada broadcast, all intermission after the third period, they were going on and on about how Sidney Crosby's done all this amazing stuff in the National Hockey League.

But one of the things he's never done is scored an overtime winner in the Stanley Cup playoffs. And, I mean, this was a topic of discussion for an entire segment, you know, talking about this guy on the Penguins in their history, has scored an overtime goal, that guy, all this stuff. And Crosby wins this game with only less than a minute played in that overtime period.

And whoever was on the call for Hockey Night in Canada just says, well, he's got an overtime goal now. And really, it was such a great goal because great shot from Sid going down to one knee, putting the puck in the net, a great pass from Brian Russ to set it up. an even better outlet pass from Brian Dumlin in the neutral zone to get the play going. And great awareness, as always, from Sidney Crosby to see that it was a bit of a broken play with a Tampa Bay defender trapped so he gets to a soft spot so he can score. But, you know, that's a huge goal for them in that run because Tampa Bay was one shot away from going up to nothing and essentially burying this team in the Eastern Conference final. And Tampa was looking to avenge a Stanley Cup loss.

the prior year when they lost the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup final. So huge goal, great moment. I could go on and on for hours about that cup run. That is probably my favorite Penguins team because I always say that 2009 felt like it was the start and we were going to get so many more. And yes, I know all of seven years is not that long to wait for another Stanley Cup in the grand scheme of things. but with all the playoff disappointments that happened between then and then,

it just felt like, yes, finally, they got the weight off their back, they got their other Stanley Cup. We can stop all this nonsense about them being a one-hit wonder and so on and so forth. But great goal. And before I sign off and send it back to Hunter, thank you to all of you guys listening and tuning into today's episode. I know it's a very bizarre episode since I'm on the road. and hunters running the show today. So big shouts to him too for putting this all together.

It's why he is the leader of locked on penguins. It's why he's the MVP. It's why I call him the illustrious Hunter Hodes. So thank you guys, as always for listening. I will be back next week. Treat Hunter fairly and enjoy whatever he brings your way on Friday. And I will talk to you guys next week. that's the nicest thing Pat's ever said about me overall. But that's a perfect way to end the Thursday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this episode. Yes, people, I understand.

This is a very weird, very bizarre episode, probably one that will never have to do again. But hey, that's what happens when Pat has to go to a wedding. But I'm just glad that he was able to put his takes out there about the topics that we had for today's show. But again, that will do it for today's episode. I'll be back with another show for you all on Friday. Maybe I'll bring on a guest to discuss another penguin season review and all other things relating to the Pittsburgh Penguins. For Patrick Dam, I am Hunter Hodes.

Thank you all so much for tuning in. We really appreciate it. And I'll be back on Friday.