Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins prospect challenge WRAP UP: Whose stock rose this week?

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Pittsburgh Penguins prospects were unable to finish the job on Tuesday morning in a pretty scrappy game against the Dallas Stars. Hunter and I are going to wrap up the prospect tournament and talk about who stood out, who didn't, and a lot more 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 the Tuesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your hosts, Patrick Damp. You can find me on most social media platforms at Synonym 4. Joined as always by my good friend Hunter Hodes. You can find him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes.

Starting point is 00:00:53 You can follow our show's Twitter account at LO underscore Penguins. You can find us on Instagram at Lockedon underscore Penguins. TikTok at Locked on Penguins. Today's episode is brought to you by Fandul. Get $350 in bonus bets guaranteed when you're $5 bet. When you bet $5 every day for seven days, join all of the action at fandul.com. We have got a full prospects episode for you today on the Tuesday edition of the Locked on Penguins podcast.

Starting point is 00:01:28 We'll talk about who stood out, who had their stock ride, over the last few days who didn't and so much more. But let's begin, Hunter, with the championship game of the prospect challenge, which was Tuesday morning at 1030 at Little Caesar's Arena in Detroit, in their neat little practice facility that they got there. And boy, if you were looking for a throwback game for a bunch of prospects at 1030 in the morning on September 15th, that was the place to find it, because there were multiple fights, multiple penalties, lots of hitting.

Starting point is 00:02:06 I was not expecting that whatsoever. Yeah, Pat, especially Max Graham. He was just ready to fight everyone for the Penguins today. He had two fights himself. He was looking for other players to fight on the stars as well. Even though this game started, you know, mid-morning here on the East Coast, these players were all jacked up, ready to go. It might just be a little prospect tournament championship.

Starting point is 00:02:31 game, but it felt like to some of these guys, it was a bit more than that. And that's what you want to see from some of these players. How do you respond to stuff like this? And I thought the Penguins prospects did a pretty admirable job. I know they couldn't quote unquote win this championship, but I still felt there were some standout performances, which we are going to get into here in just a second, especially the Rock Twins, because I felt this was by far their best game of the tournament. But yeah, really scrab a game, even outside of the three fights that we saw. saw pat. A lot of scrums, a lot of post whistle stuff, a lot of penalties as well, especially throughout the storm and there was a ton of penalties.

Starting point is 00:03:09 It felt like it was almost like every other shift you'd seen in Fraction Call. These officials were calling virtually everything. A lot of power play opportunities. You got to see the Penguins Power Play get a lot of work. Hint, was not good, to say the least. But definitely even scrappier than I thought it was going to be. But made for three really fun games. Yeah, it was an intense game, especially on.

Starting point is 00:03:31 Tuesday morning. And let's go with what you were saying there about the Ruck twins. They score the first goal of the game to give the Penguins prospects a 1-0 lead. Liam Ruck scores off a feed from Marcus Ruck. Almost some telekinesis on that goal just knew where he was behind the back. Great little play. And Mikhail Ilyan was able to win a battle in the corner to make that happen. Yeah, he did a really nice job there. Got below the net, won that board battle, gets the puck to Marcus Rock, who he knows where his twin brother is going to be literally every time he is on the ice. So honestly, Pat, I'm not too surprised by that pass because they've been playing together for so many years. But it's just a really nice play overall by all

Starting point is 00:04:13 three of those players. And I do want to say McKell Leyen, good bounce back performance from him in general. You and I talked about him a little bit on Monday how we wanted to see a little bit more from him. Thought he was really good today. Noticed him quite a bit during the Tuesday game. He was obviously instrumental on getting that goal scored. And then he was just noticeable the rest of the game. He was involved in the play. Goat on the forecheck, a couple of chances for him and his linemates. So he had a nice little bounce back game.

Starting point is 00:04:44 Also, in net, we got our first look at Matt Vaynikonovich. And for the first two periods, wasn't really tested all that much. The Penguins prospects really carried the play. for the majority of the game in the first two periods. And then in the third period, the goal that ends up being the winner was an odd deflection. Not a whole lot he could have done about it. He did have a couple of nice breakaway saves

Starting point is 00:05:12 and some very calming saves as the stars started to mount an attack in the third period. As we talked about with him yesterday, it was interesting that this was the game that they were going to give Nikonovic going into this tournament. Now that we know it ultimately ends up being the championship game. And I thought overall, he had a very solid performance. It wasn't elite.

Starting point is 00:05:38 It wasn't the greatest goaltending performance of all time. But he can afforded himself pretty well, played a solid game, made the saves he needed to make. And despite the loss, you can't hang it on him. Yeah, there's no chance you can hang it on him, especially because the two goals that he allowed, not his fault at all, as you said, this game winner, weird deflection.

Starting point is 00:05:58 The first one was just a beautiful one-timer. Like, that's a nasty release that not many goalies there are making the save. And for someone who is still only 18 years old, I thought he handled himself really well. I thought his puck moving behind the net was also solid. I thought he came out when he needed to come out to get the puck away. I thought his agility was really strong. His side-to-side movement, really good.

Starting point is 00:06:22 his one of his best saves I felt was that mini one-on-one breakaway where he flashed the leather really nice save they believe that was a shorthanded chance if I have it correct here in my notes just a really good game from him in general so I'm glad we got to see him at least for one game again looks like he's going to the oh HL's very cults for this season which is a good landing spot for him but all and all really good performance someone else I thought pat who also played well jordan sharon penguin's draft pick from last last year had a really nice chance earlier in the game but the Stars Net Minder made that save. And by the way, we talked about Nikonovych.

Starting point is 00:06:56 That Stars Net Minder was just robbing them time after time. He was unbelievable in this game. But I did want to shout out Jordan Chiron. Also had a really nice defensive play getting back, breaking up an odd man rush. He was able to get his stick on the puck as it was going right near the net mouth. Almost looked like for a second he was going to deflect it in,

Starting point is 00:07:16 but he was able to deflect it wide, crawl the puck, and then sent it to the other way leading the breakout. So I thought he played well. defensively and I thought he had a couple really nice chances too. Right. And I don't want to dive too deep into the nuance of a prospects challenge game because it is what it is. But at the end of the day, if there is one thing that I think the Penguins prospects will have some regret about in the Tuesday championship match was they hit a lot of posts. They were robbed on a couple different saves. I'm not even going to attempt to say the

Starting point is 00:07:49 star's goalie's name. It was a very odd one. But he made a lot of 10 bell saves. The penguins hit multiple posts. This was in no way a bad loss for the prospects. There were a lot of chances. They carried the play for a lot of the game. And they just did not get the bounces they needed. And Sharon was among those.

Starting point is 00:08:13 He was one of the players that had a really good performance, hit the post a couple of times, got some looks. I mean, overall, to kind of put a cap on today's game, and then we'll talk more about some individuals in the second and third segments. I liked their performance overall today. I thought they played pretty well, just did not get the bounces. They did a lot of the things, Hunter, that you and I said on yesterday's show that they needed to do going into this game.

Starting point is 00:08:44 Yeah, I think just to keep it really simple, so we don't go over time too much for the segment. the process was there, they just didn't get the results. That's what it is at the end of the day. And yeah, oh well, they didn't win the game. They didn't win the prospect tournament here. Okay, whatever, but I still look way more about individual performances in these types of games. And I felt there's quite a few players who did stand out today.

Starting point is 00:09:08 And overall throughout the tournament, too. So no reason to get mad that they lost this prospect game to a bunch of unks as me and my buddy are talking about, because some of the players in the stars lineup were definitely a little bit older than a lot of the Penguins players. But process was there. Didn't get the results. Oh, well. Overall, a really, really encouraging few days for the Penguins prospects. They were in an area where they probably weren't going up against some of the most stout prospect pipelines in the league.

Starting point is 00:09:40 But for the most part, they did what they needed to do over these few days to show that, Some of these guys hopefully will have a bright future in the Penguins organization. But that is going to do it for this first segment discussing this morning's game, a three to one loss to the Dallas Stars prospects for the Penguins prospects. But we have still got plenty to talk about out of these few days. And we are going to do that when we come back right after this. The easiest dinner isn't always the one that comes through a drive-thru. Sometimes it's knowing you've already got incredible protein sitting in your freezer.

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Starting point is 00:11:07 Again, that's butcherbox.com slash Lockdown NHL. Be used to use our links so they know we sent you. Today edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast, Patrick Damp and Hunter Hodes here. with you we spoke a lot yesterday about tomash galvis who was a standout player for the penguins prospects this year he's a player that has now said publicly he has designs on trying to make the penguins roster out of camp though hunter and i remain skeptical on whether or not that will happen but it was a really good week for him another player who i thought really stood out this week and today, especially in this game as he got bumped up to the top line, was one of Hunter's

Starting point is 00:11:55 favorite prospects. Pierce Bowie. I thought he had a really solid game, a really solid few days. He was very noticeable throughout most of these games. Yeah, and he's not afraid to find those little soft areas in the offensive zone. We arrange himself to get off a better release that was on tape throughout his season last year for the Owen Sound Attack. So I really liked his game today, too.

Starting point is 00:12:22 Definitely one of the standouts. I'm glad that you brought him up once again, especially after the way he played against Columbus, his shootout goal, which was also great. So glad you brought him up. Also, Pat, Bill Zonan, I thought was once again really good today in all three zones had a couple of really good quality chances. So no surprise that he was one of the standouts,

Starting point is 00:12:42 considering that he played really well down the stretch in Wilkesbury and into the playoffs. And then once he got healthy for his junior team, was over a point per game down the stretch for them and was also really good in the playoffs. I brought up Jordan Sharan. I brought up the Rock Twins, who I felt were really good,

Starting point is 00:12:57 McHale Aalian. Brandon Edwards, I also felt had another, just a good tournament in general. So I thought, I know we're probably getting a little ahead of ourselves because we're going to talk about who rose their stock a little bit this week, but I do feel like he is one of those players

Starting point is 00:13:11 that their stocks did rise a little bit. I think for Galvis, the first two games is definitely very good, good today a little bit of a step back but i'm not going to come on here and crucify him or anything like that he still overall had a really good tournament he just didn't play at the level that he played at the first two games today which again that's fine yeah today was less noticeable for galvis but in no world was it bad he wasn't making mistakes he wasn't playing behind the play or anything that you would criticize him for overly he just was not as dominant as

Starting point is 00:13:48 he had been in the first two games. So it's less disappointment and more just, okay, we got to remember this is a younger guy who's adapting to North America, the North American style of play. But when he was as good as he was in two of the three games, you certainly do not have any complaints. I do want to flip this a little bit because we talked about him yesterday. and this is kind of a theory I have had about this player for a while now. And that's Harrison Brunich.

Starting point is 00:14:27 Didn't really stand out a ton this week. He wasn't bad. He just wasn't as dominant as we would have liked him to see. One thing I noticed today, it was either in the second or third period, I can't quite remember. He had a really good scoring opportunity. and the Stars Netminder made a big save. I think a lot of Harrison Brunick's game, regardless of the area of the game,

Starting point is 00:14:55 is really predicated upon confidence and momentum. He's the kind of player who, when he gets those opportunities when they go in for him, when he finds some momentum and gets a stride going, he gets better. This feels like a guy who going into camp is going to be knocking at the door because he did get strong.

Starting point is 00:15:14 stronger as these games went on. I feel like though if he could have gotten a goal or an assist or made a big play, we would have seen him go to another level. And he seemed like he was pushing for that today. And it just didn't go in for him. Yeah, I felt he was a bit better today. But I also felt like just in general in these two games combined, he was trying to do what I like to call hero puck,

Starting point is 00:15:37 where he's trying to do everything himself and just trying to be like, hey, I got this. I think I'm better. a lot of these players, it just wasn't really working out too much for him. I thought he was caught out of position a little too often at times as well. And again, we're not going to come on here and crucify him for a small two-game sample in a tournament that, you know, he may not take as seriously as some of these other younger prospects just because he's played NHL games.

Starting point is 00:16:06 He's had really good back-to-back training camps, really good back-to-back pre-season was so great down the stretch for Wilkesbury. you know, I just think he may not take it as serious as some of these other guys, but I still expect him to come to camp ready to go. He'll still have confidence. He'll be, I think, in a group with a solid amount of NHLers, and I think he'll be able to shine a bit more in that setting, and I think a pre-season setting as well.

Starting point is 00:16:36 So not concerned whatsoever. I just felt in these two games he was just trying to do a little too much Hero Pucket. and was kind of costing him a little bit. Just didn't look comfortable out there. I would completely agree on the hero puck because there were moments where he was a little bit careless, taking a little too many risks. And I do think it gets back to what we discussed on Monday.

Starting point is 00:16:58 He knows where his standing is. He knows what his goals are for this year. And it's not winning the prospects challenge in Detroit. It's making the NHL roster again after training camp. And he's got a pretty big mountain. ahead of him to climb. So I don't think he was too worried about anything that was going to happen in Detroit. And as you said, in no world was he bad.

Starting point is 00:17:24 In no world was he disappointing. He just did not stand out as much as we would like him to, but I don't think it suddenly turns him into no longer one of the better prospects. Last one I want to talk about before we head to break. And it's less a player, but he is kind of the central. part of it. This was a oddly physical tournament for the Penguins prospects. And the thing I want to ask you, just to get your feel on it, because I know where I am on this, is this a shift in the organization's philosophy and the type of player they're going for?

Starting point is 00:18:02 Or was this more a bunch of younger guys who are hyped up trying to make an impression in playing physical to try to impress the front office? or are we suddenly looking at Penguins suddenly got some rats? A bit of both. They definitely have some rats. You saw Tanner Howl around the net front quite a bit today as well, getting physical along the boards too. And that's just the type of player that he is. He's always going to be that ratty player that pisses you off.

Starting point is 00:18:31 And he was just doing that, not even just today, but throughout the tournament when he was in games as well. So that was just one example. I could give you a few others if you want. But I think it's a bit of both. you know, they're targeting that type of player, but I think also at the same time, they are, they are trying, excuse me, to stand out to the front office, make some big hits, get physical. You saw Max Graham, obviously, get into a couple of fights.

Starting point is 00:18:55 So I think it's a bit of both. It's kind of like a hybrid situation. That's kind of where I am as well. I mean, I, we have talked about this on the show with a lot of the draft picks and prospects that you can tell that the penguins have seen the tide turning in the NHL that they're not going to abandon speed skill and hockey sense, but they also know that they're going to need players who have an edge, players who are willing to get dirty, for lack of a better term. And a lot of the prospects we saw the last couple days, they were going for it. And like you said, like I'm agreeing with, some of it is you're hyped up, you're trying to make an impression on your team in your front office.

Starting point is 00:19:42 That way you can hopefully make a team out of camp or raise your stock or however you want to put it. But I was a huge fan this week of how aggressive some of these players were because we see where the league's going. We see where the sports going. It's not going to suddenly be the 70s again. It's not going to be slap shot. But it's going to be a league where there are going to be killers.

Starting point is 00:20:09 There are going to be guys who are going to be willing to fight and willing to hit. And you can either poo-poo it or you can get on board with it. And it seems like some of these prospects are. But that is going to do it for this middle segment. When we come back, we're getting ever closer to training camp. And after a few days of a prospect challenge, maybe some of these guys have raised their stock. We will get into that when we come back right after this. But we've got one more sponsor to get to before we do that.

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Starting point is 00:22:07 We're closing out the Tuesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm Patrick Damp, that handsome guy over there type. is Hunter Hodes, if you're watching us on YouTube. And hey, you know what? We're getting ever closer to camp. We're just a couple days away. We're doing a sports show.

Starting point is 00:22:27 Let's go straight up cliche for the final segment, shall we? Whose stock is on the rise going into trading camp after a three-day scrimmage tournament in Detroit? There are a handful, I think, at the end of the day, we waxed poetically yesterday about Galvis and how surprising he was. The Ruck Twins, I think, had a solid little camp, but we're all pumping the brakes on that one. I'm going to go with, though, Hunter, someone who I don't think had his stock rise, but I think the front office more confirmed their priors about this guy.

Starting point is 00:23:06 And it's bills on it. I mean, just plays such a mature, responsible pro game. Again, I think that it is wildly unlikely he's going to make the team out of camp, but he did not hurt himself whatsoever with these few days and everything he did for the baby penguins during the playoff run. Yeah, I mean, I'd still say his stock went up. Considering that he was really good in all three zones, you see how smart of a player

Starting point is 00:23:34 he is when he's obvious he can read plays before they even happen. His skating continues to get better. plays well in his own zone, got quality scoring chances all throughout this tournament. As I said on Monday, he just plays such a strong pro-style game, and I think it's going to translate really well to the NHL once he's ready full-time.

Starting point is 00:23:54 We've talked about Pierce Bowie. I felt his stock went up this week. Braden Edwards, I felt his stock went up a little bit this week after the year that he had for the Wheeling Nailers in the ECHL. Last season, we talked about the Rock Twins. we talked about Tommy Galvis, just to discuss Bill's on.

Starting point is 00:24:14 I thought, Atley Calvert, especially in the second game, I thought he was pretty solid as well. You know, those are the main ones, at least for me, Pan. I thought Jordan Sharant, his stock, I guess it went up a little bit. It definitely didn't go down, but I think it went up maybe a little bit as well. So, again, those are like my main big ones that I felt in terms of stock up. If you want to say stock down, I feel like Jake Livenovic did not really play well in this tournament. Again, I don't expect him to make the team out of camp. He only has one game of NHL experience and has not really played in the HAL.

Starting point is 00:24:47 I expect him to start down there. But I also felt like Brunich he was trying to do a little too much out there, and it just wasn't really working. Curious to see how he does it camp in the preseason, but I do think his stock went down a little bit. I'm not going to say stock down for Brunich. I just don't really think he played very well. And I think the stock in the organization is what it is.

Starting point is 00:25:07 He's one of the top prospects. But again, for Jake Levinovic, just didn't play as well as I wanted him to. I'm glad you brought those two up to end it because we obviously talked a little bit about Brunich there at the end. I will say, I agree in the sense that his stock didn't go down. But I do think he may have made his life a little bit more difficult this week just because they're not going to punish him for it. I don't think because he didn't have a good couple days in Detroit. but I do think there will be a little bit of an expectation from the front office and coaches to say, okay, show us that we don't need to worry about what happened in Detroit.

Starting point is 00:25:47 Come in and be the guy we expect you to be because, again, it's a three-day, three-game five-ish-day tournament. Nobody's putting an insane amount of emphasis on it. But when you have a guy like Brunich who doesn't dominate the way you would hope to, it doesn't worry you, but it does make you go, this might be a warning light, but hopefully not. So I think that makes his life a little bit, a tad more difficult going into camp.

Starting point is 00:26:15 And then for Livonovage, the thing I would go with, and it's not a lot, but I would say disappointing, because they put him in a lot of high leverage situations. He played a lot of top pair minutes for the prospect challenge. and I know that he is not going to make the team out of camp. I know that he is a project in their system. But you figure you can take a lot of hints from where Kirk McDonald, the coaching staff and the organization put these players,

Starting point is 00:26:48 whether it's the lines, the pairings, the games themselves. And you can tell that they looked at Livin Ovage and went, this is a guy who we've got high hopes for. we want to see what he does with an increased role. And he didn't totally disappoint, but he didn't stand out either. So I think they're looking at this now as, okay, this is a guy that's going to get high leverage minutes in Wilkes Bear. We're going to see how he can handle them.

Starting point is 00:27:17 And kind of similar Brunich, you look at the way he played this week and you're like, well, it wasn't totally disappointing, but I'll use one of my favorite phrases I use on locked on penguins. It just left you wanting a little bit more. Yeah, that's the best way to describe it. I just felt he didn't look super comfortable out there, kind of a bit more than Brunuch, in my opinion. Like, everything he was doing out there just didn't look cohesive, didn't look right, felt like he was making the wrong reads, et cetera, et cetera. So we'll see how he does at camp and during the preseason. I am with you. I don't expect him to make the team. I expect him to spend most of this upcoming season with Wilkesbury.

Starting point is 00:28:00 But that is fine for someone who literally has not played any HL games yet. The last thing, the last thing I'll say, the last thing I'll say that I don't know if you would go stock up or if it's just another nice little feather in the cap. I liked all the goaltending this week. Yes. I, you know, I know that we're, the organization is pretty well set on goalies, especially at the pro level right now when you look.

Starting point is 00:28:28 at who they got in the NHL, the AHL, and the ECHL. But once again, it was a solid week for all three goaltenders. There were no real wince moments where they gave up a goal and you went, I want that one back. And they made a lot of big saves as well. So again, the Penguins, Penguins Golletting Factory go Burr again, because they just keep seem to finding gems. Yeah, they were all pretty solid.

Starting point is 00:28:55 I really liked all three of their games. in the action that they had. One last one for me, Carter Sanderson. I thought his stock up, excuse me, I thought his stock went up in these three games, scored a couple of really nice goals. And as I said, and that kind of goes with our physicality talk a little bit earlier,

Starting point is 00:29:14 he can be really physical. And he was laying the boom throughout this tournament. Had a really nice summer at the Royal Junior Summer Showcase. Excited to see what he'll do in the WHL this year before he goes to the NCAA the year after. So pretty nice torment for Carter Sanderson as well. That's my final thought. Well, the bread has been brought to the table.

Starting point is 00:29:34 We enjoyed the bread. And guess what, folks? The appetizers coming next. Because training camp begins this week. Just a quick scheduling note. If you have made it this far into the episode, you should have because you're a good listener. But we are going to have a very early episode for you on Wednesday. after this one comes out. We're going to record it here shortly after we do this one.

Starting point is 00:30:01 Obviously, if there's any breaking news, we will get to that as well. My work schedule got thrown into a blender this week. So we're going to have an odd schedule, both with my work schedule, Hunter being at the Lemieux Complex for training camp. Keep an eye on our socials. Make sure you're subscribed everywhere. That way, you don't have to worry and keep hitting refresh. It'll pop up in your feeds. you'll get your notifications, and we are going to be your place to learn everything you need to know about Penguins training camp. But for now, that is going to do it for the Tuesday edition. For Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp.

Starting point is 00:30:39 Thank you, as always, for tuning in. We'll be back bright and early on Wednesday.

Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins prospect challenge WRAP UP: Whose stock rose this week?

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