Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins re-sign two KEY depth pieces!

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Penguins are bringing back a couple of depth players on affordable deals. We'll tell you who it was and why this was a smart decision by Kyle Dubus coming up on the Thursday 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. Welcome in to the Thursday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your hosts Patrick Damp. You can follow me across all social media platforms at Synonym 4Wet. Joined as always, as I am by the man himself, Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes.

Starting point is 00:00:51 Hunter, Kyle Dubus has once again blessed us with content, and so have the Penguins. We'll start here despite my protest, my protestations. Bill Zonan is in fact heading to the baby penguins and two penguins are heading to the world championships. We'll get into all of that in a little bit. But first, two of the penguins pending UFAs have officially been re-signed. Connor Dewar, he gets a two-year deal and Ilya Seloviov gets a one-year deal. Hunter, give us the details on these contracts. Yeah, so the Pittsburgh Penguins at around 10.30 a.m. this morning put out the announcement that they have

Starting point is 00:01:36 resigned forward Conor-Dueher to a two-year contract and Ilius Solov to a one-year contract. Pat, earlier this week on the show, when we previewed all the free agents, you and I talked about both of these players, and you and I both said, we'd be fine if both of them came back, especially Connor Dewar. I thought that he was a great fit on the fourth line for this year. And by the way, people for Connor Dewar. He is going to make 2.25 million per season on this two-year extension. And for Ilya Solov, he will be making $850,000 against a salary cap for

Starting point is 00:02:10 this season. And yes, they still have plenty of cap space remaining for a whole bunch of other moves as we discussed on Wednesday. But getting back to Connor Dewar, Pat, just felt this is a slam dunk signing. The term is great. The money is great. He had a great season. Was awesome. in all three zones for the Penguins.

Starting point is 00:02:30 I'll continue to say that he was the straw that stirred the drink on the fourth line, great on the PK, great at five on five. I also thought that he was one of the Penguins' best forwards in the playoffs. A lot of the forwards just flat out no-showed for the Penguins in that six-game series against the Flyers, but I felt every game Connor Dewar was playing his absolute ass off. So very happy to see him come back. A lot of the UFAs, Pat, you and I were like, okay, see you later. you can be replaced by someone else.

Starting point is 00:02:59 Connor Dewar was one of the ones that you and I were like, hey, we'd like to see Kyle Dupus bringing him back because of the way he played this season. So really happy to get this news. And then for Ilya Solov, fine number seven, the defenseman, he's going to try to maybe win that number six job for the start of the 26, 27 season.

Starting point is 00:03:17 But at the very least, he provides cheap, quality depth, and he can step in in a pinch if a defenseman or two goes down with an injury. Small sample with the penguins, but I liked what I saw in some of those games. Solid puck mover. Defensively, I think he can still work on his game a bit there, but nothing to complain about at all with either of these signings. Oh, absolutely. And I think that at least for the Connor Dewar re-signing, this tells you you've got two thirds of your fourth line locked up for the foreseeable future. Blake Lazott and Connor Dewar are going to be staples on that fourth line.

Starting point is 00:03:56 They had a really good season. It was one of the brightest spots of this season when you really look back on it, that the fourth line was able to not just be solid, but they were a genuine contributing factor to the team's success this year. They weren't just eating minutes while the top six rested. They were good on the forecheck. They were really good defensively. They chipped in offensively every now and then, which is really all you can ask of your fourth line.

Starting point is 00:04:28 And I do think, and this is just getting a little bit ahead of ourselves, but I do think the next addition to that fourth line next year full time will be Avery Hayes. Noolachari had a great bounce back year. His best is a penguin. He's going to find work elsewhere in the NHL. but when you have Avery Hayes waiting with the way he plays the game, all gas, no breaks, he's fearless. He'll be a good addition to that fourth line moving forward. As for Slovia.

Starting point is 00:05:00 I agree with you, by the way, on that. I think that he is the most likely candidate to be on the fourth line next year with Blake Lazotte and Connor Dewar brings that offensive punch to the fourth line, solid defensively, plays like a rat. He's not afraid to get physical along the boards either. I think right now Pat, we're still all over four months away total until the next training camp. As of right now, I still think that he is the favorite to get that spot going into next season. It just makes sense, given the way he played and everything we just said.

Starting point is 00:05:33 Then with Solov, I liked his game in the playoffs. It wasn't great. It wasn't world breaking. We weren't sitting here saying bring him back for a long time. but a one-year deal for less than a million dollars, $850,000. For a guy who I think at 25, excuse me, has upside. His skating leaves a little bit to be desired, but for a sixth or seventh defenseman,

Starting point is 00:06:02 he's solid with the puck on his stick, he's physical, he's not going to be a liability on your back end. There's a lot of, I don't want to totally say upside because I don't see him becoming more than a bottom pair defenseman. But for what he's making and what he can bring to the table, I'm totally fine bringing him back for a year. You have him as an insurance policy when injuries arise. And even it could not to put too fine of a point on it,

Starting point is 00:06:34 but it could be another Ryan Shea situation where took him a few years to really get a foothold in the National Hockey League. if he plays well through camp in the preseason has a good run at the start of the year, it could be another affordable bottom pair defenseman that plays a little bit over what he's being paid. Yeah, potentially. Again, I still think he's going to be in contention for that number six spot or, you know, that third left shot, D spot on that side. But if he doesn't get that, I think he's at least your number seven defensemen heading into next season. I don't think they're going to bring back Connor Clifton for next year. We'll talk more about Clifton in the final

Starting point is 00:07:15 segment because he is going to the World Championships. But again, very cheap, quality depth. There is literally zero risk to this signing. There's really not any risk for Connor Dewar signing either. So a nice start to the offseason for Kyle Dubus. And he made that known on his Twitter as well. Every time the Penguins make a move, he likes to put out the penguin emoji on every single tweet, whether it's a resigning, someone going to Wilkesbury, anything. else penguin related he'll always just do a penguin emoji so kyle keep up the good work and also keep on doing the penguin emoji every time you go on twitter that's all he tweets nowadays he's doing the college football coach act when they get a big recruit to sign with the with the university so

Starting point is 00:08:00 nice little piece a piece of social media work from dubus there the other thing that i want to add to this and it's been kind of a running theme i think both with kyle dubus and just with the league is that we see where the league is trending. And while Duer had some solid offensive numbers this year, he is a player who plays with some with some sandpaper. He's not afraid to get physical. He's not afraid to go to those dirty areas. And the same is said for Solovov on the back end, where we see where the game is going. And the knock on Dubis, especially near the end of his tenure with the Maple Leafs is the Maple Leafs were kind of a soft team. They didn't have a lot of guys who played with that edge.

Starting point is 00:08:49 And Dubus has, at least lately, learned that lesson, but he hasn't overlearned it. He's not going out and getting bruisers or grinders who just are cardio merchants. He's getting guys who can contribute, but they are guys who are not afraid to muck it up. Yeah, I mean, it's kind of similar to the Panthers, a little bit with their couple of cup runs, Pat, where, yeah, they have the skill guys, but they also have total rats who are very good, but they can piss you off, and they're

Starting point is 00:09:20 really physical. Now, penguins aren't at that level where the panthers have been those last couple of years, Pat, but, you know, the type of players that they're bringing in, it's a copycat league. So I think you're going to see more teams try to kind of copy that model a little bit. I have no problem adding sandpaper physicality as long as those players are decent and, you know, they're good puck movers and they bring something to the offensive zone while also defending well, all that good stuff, just more good all around players. I think is what I'm trying to say.

Starting point is 00:09:52 So again, no problems with these two moves. Really nice start to the off season. And we will see what he now does next. We will obviously be keeping our ears to the ground to see what happens the rest of this offseason. make sure you're subscribed, following us on social media. That way, you're right here with us when we get this news throughout the off season. Because just because the penguins are out of the playoffs doesn't mean that locked on penguins is taking a break. We're still going to be here with you five days a week all the way through July.

Starting point is 00:10:24 So again, make sure you're subscribed, following us everywhere because we are your home for those updates. But that is going to do it for the opening segment. When we come back, Bill Zonan is in fact going to the baby penguins who have a big opportunity in front of them tonight. In Hershey, we will talk about all of that when we come back right after this. But we've got a couple of sponsors to get to before we do that, starting with our friends at game time. There is nothing like seeing the Stanley Cup playoffs live and in person, the intensity, the rivalries, the crowds. it's just different when you're in the building. The playoffs are unquestionably the best time in sports,

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Starting point is 00:13:29 it's time for you to make it official. join the Locked-on Every Day or Club and get access to add free audio, our members-only Discord, and so much more. It's all built for you, our most loyal fans. Head to Lockdown Podcast.com slash Everydayer Club to learn more. Let's keep it moving here, Hunter. Despite this idiot who's talking to you right now saying that Penguin's first round pick Bill Zonan, after an injury-plagued year,

Starting point is 00:13:57 should probably just head into his off-season to recover, get a little bit stronger, training all that good stuff. Kyle Dubis looked at me and said, Pat, you're a dummy. He's going to Wilkes Bear. Now, I still stand by what I said, but I'll add this. If the baby penguins can close it out tonight in Hershey, no better first pro experience than jumping into a pretty intense playoff run. Yeah, I'm curious to see how much he plays throughout this playoff run for Wilkesbury,

Starting point is 00:14:28 considering Thomas back, Pat, he's over a point per game in the regular season. He then has two goals and 15 points and 17 games for the Armada in the playoffs before they get eliminated on Tuesday. So Wilkesbury is already so deep, especially at forward. How many games do they get him in during the playoffs, assuming they do advance tonight? Because as Pat said, Wilkesbury wins tonight. They are going to round three, aka the Atlantic Division finals, where they will await the winner of Springfield versus Providence. Springfield is up 2 to 1 in that series right now. But I am excited that Zonan is joining Wilkesbury.

Starting point is 00:15:03 If he does get at least a game or two in, I think this will be really good for his development. Even if Pat, it's such a small sample size like that, because they're more high stakes games. Like, yeah, he just played in 17 playoff games for his junior team. Now you're playing in a playoff game or two for the HL Club, and you're growing up against even better players than you were just playing against in the QMJ.

Starting point is 00:15:26 JhL. And I think that could do him wonders overall. I still think next season he's going to spend most, if not the entire season in Wilkesbury, because he is turning pro after four seasons in junior. But this will still be a really good experience for him if he does play either in this series or potentially in the next series, assuming Wilkesbury does advance. I figured this was coming. That's why I wanted to bring it up. But you discussed yesterday, well, you could potentially see him just going into the all season. Again, Kyle Dubus was like, no, Pat. you are a fool. Joking aside, of course.

Starting point is 00:16:01 Still, really nice move. And let's see, Pat, can Wilkesbury close out Hershey tonight in Hershey to advance to round three of the Calder Cup playoffs? Definitely watch it tonight, everyone, 7 o'clock start time. Yeah, that's going to be huge. But before we dive into that real quick, boy, did this guy ever play in the QMJHL? And if you know anything about the QMJHL, defense. defense and goal tending is extremely optional.

Starting point is 00:16:31 He played 35 of the games for his junior team, 14 goals, 32 assists, 46 points, despite the injuries, despite being in and out because of that, still manages to put up 46 points. And having those 32 assists sounds like a lot, right? But third on his team. So again, defense and goaltending in the queue is, optional. So take his numbers with a little bit of a grain of salt, but at the end of the day,

Starting point is 00:17:02 he continues to look like a solid prospect for the penguins. Might be a little bit more of a project, but it's one that if he blooms the way he does, especially with the game he plays, I've said it about him before. He really fits into the mold of where the NHL is going. He's big. He's got some skill. He's physical. It's the kind of player you want in your middle six in the NHL. Again, should he develop? Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. That part still very much is in progress, but we will see.

Starting point is 00:17:37 So this is a huge opportunity for both him and the baby penguins because they not to steal the NHL team's marketing campaign, but Wilkes-Bair did flip the script on the Hershey Bears after surrendering home ice. they now have a chance to close them out tonight. And I don't want to put undue pressure on them, but it would probably be wise of them to finish this one up tonight rather than have to go back to Wilkes Bear for a definitive final game. Right. I agree with you on that.

Starting point is 00:18:14 And these are a games you dream of playing for these young players down there. And it's only going to help their experiences, help their development as a lot of these guys try to push to make, the main team for next season, especially someone like Rockhamregority, Avery Hayes, Ville Coivinen, Tristan Brose, Harrison Brunich, Sergey Murashov.

Starting point is 00:18:35 I can keep going down the list, if you want me to. You know, I'm excited to see how Mikhail Ilien plays tonight after scoring his first AHL goal in game three to put Wilkesbury up to nothing before they're able to win in overtime, thanks to Rucker Morghawati.

Starting point is 00:18:49 How do these big-name prospects in the system, how do they perform, when the stakes rise even more for some of these other prospects who maybe aren't as well known how do they play as well i'm excited to watch this i really am i think maurishaw has had a really nice series so far we've talked about harrison brunuch the way that he has been very physical around the net front he's added that to his game a lot since coming back over from his junior team of camloops joining joining wilkesbury of course i liked his game discuss McCall Ilyan.

Starting point is 00:19:23 I think Aiden McDonough had a nice series. Avery Hayes had that nice tie-in-goal. Rock and McGority with that tip went in so fast you didn't even know that it went in. I want to see in Ville Coyvin could potentially have a big moment tonight just because I think a little bit as well. Petty's been a tad quieter than some of the other top prospects so far in this series. So we'll see if that changes tonight in game four. But let's see if they have that killer instinct to advance to round three, where again, they would await the winner of Springfield or Providence.

Starting point is 00:19:54 I'm excited. This is going to be a lot of fun. In Rucker McGority's game winner from game three, kind of has to be how the baby penguins got to win and close out this series, because while we're heaping a lot of praise rightfully on Sergey Murashav for his performance in the Calder Cup playoffs, Clay Stevenson on the other end has matched him for Hershey. He has been really, really good for the Bears.

Starting point is 00:20:19 So this is the kind of game where you've got to get to the front of the net. You've got to pepper him with shots because you let him get into a groove like they did in game two. You have that kind of same outcome where you're not playing poorly. You're actually, you look at the way game two went. Wilkes-Bair was head and shoulders, the better team. Stevenson just had himself a night, got into a groove, and was not going to be beat. So you've got to get to him early. You've got to take his eyes away.

Starting point is 00:20:51 You've got to play very aggressive hockey against him. If you want to close this series out, get yourself a couple of days rest while you await the winner of the other series and extend this Calder Cup potential Calder Cup run that they are putting together in Wilkes Bear Scranton. So that game is tonight. Hunter and I are going to keep an eye on it. We will update you with what happens on Friday, on our Friday show.

Starting point is 00:21:17 And of course, Fan Take Friday will return on Friday's show. So make sure you're staying tuned for that. That'll do it for our middle segment. When we come back, we close the show out with even more Penguins News as two players are heading to the World Championships. We'll get into that when we come back.

Starting point is 00:21:37 So stay tuned. We'll be right back. Hello, I'm JD Young of Locked on Sharks. And as a father, I want to make sure that my kids will be to protect in case the unimaginable happens. When my wife and I sat down and discussed life insurance, we found that ethos was our best option.

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Starting point is 00:22:39 We're back here closing out the Thursday edition of Locked on Penguins. And if you thought the boys on the big club were done playing hockey until September. Wrong. Tommy Novak and Connor Clifton will both be joining Team USA for the I-DUHF World Championships. I'll say this, considering that a lot of the, let's say, elite American talent are either still in the Stanley Cup playoffs

Starting point is 00:23:07 or they're recovering from injury. This is a nice little honor for these two. They both turned in solid enough seasons that go into the world championships. that's a nice little nod for them to get on to the team USA roster. Yeah, Tommy Novak, especially during the regular season, I thought he got too much crap from some people in the fan base, but he was always a consistent top nine player for this team. There were times, of course, where he was a little inconsistent,

Starting point is 00:23:36 but I felt for the most part he had a season that I expected him to have. Now, did he struggle in the playoffs? Yes, he absolutely did. He was not very good in the playoffs. But I felt during the regular season, he was most, as advertised. Connor Clifton, I expect him to, you know, potentially play third pair of minutes for this team.

Starting point is 00:23:55 You look up and down this roster, Pat. It's very interesting to say the least. You have some veterans there like Tommy Novak. Matthew Kachukh is also there, which I did not expect to see, by the way. I didn't think Matthew Kuchuk was going to be on this team. But you also have some young players on here. Ryan Leonard, Riker Lee, Oliver Moore.

Starting point is 00:24:14 James Higgins is also there. Isaac Howard. So again, there's a lot of very young players on this team. Even for some veterans, Ryan Lindgren is on this team, Justin Falk, Connor Clifton, Will Borgon, of course. So it's a nice mix. This is just the preliminary roster, by the way. I'm sure this could change as more teams potentially get eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs. And if some of those players want to join their respective countries at the World Championships for this spring.

Starting point is 00:24:46 But again, congratulations to Tommy and Connor. It's great that they're going over there. Those are my main thoughts on that. I think for Tommy, he'll probably play in that, you know, middle six top nine spot for Team USA and then for Clifton Pat. If I had to just make guess, if he plays, it'll be in a third pair spot, I think. That's kind of where I would put both of them as well.

Starting point is 00:25:07 I will, I don't want to say push back totally on the Novak stuff. I thought he was good. I agree, but I just felt there was a little too much inconsistency. He'd go a little bit too long without producing. But I mean, you have a 42 point year, 16 goals, 26 assists. You play in all 82 games. There's going to be peaks and valleys. I don't expect him to be a 30 goal score or anything like that.

Starting point is 00:25:37 But you would just go for me a little bit too long without putting together enough production, but you could see it with a player like him. He plays the same game pretty much anytime he takes the ice. It's just a matter of when the points start to come. So it's a well-deserved on for him. It also helps that both of them do have some history with the national program. Novak, he was with the team at the Halinka tournament in 2015, had 11 points in five games. He also spent time with the development.

Starting point is 00:26:15 development program as well. Same thing for Clifton. He was on the U-18 team in 2013. Also spend some time with the development program. So helps that they have the familiarity. But at the end of the day, world championships, Olympics, four nations, whatever, it's always cool to get the call from the national program to represent your country. I agree. And Team USA will also, Pat, try to go back to back. They won the world championships in 2025, they won the gold medal. Now they'll try to do it again in 2026 to try and, you know, kind of keep up the momentum with USA hockey in general after the U.S. won gold at the Olympics earlier this year. So we'll see if they can do it again here at the World Championships.

Starting point is 00:27:00 That's very true. Team USA has been putting together quite a winning resume as of the last few years, which is nice to see for us two goofballs here in the U.S. of A. But this all gets going on May 15th for team USA, they'll take on Sweden at 2, or Switzerland, excuse me, at 220. The full schedule, you can find it on the Penguins website. Games will be on NHL Network and ESPN Plus. USA will take on such powerhouses as Great Britain, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Hungary, and Austria. So some familiar names that you see in the world tournaments and some that you don't, but again, you can find it on NHL Network as well as ESPN.

Starting point is 00:27:44 plus in between all of your Stanley Cup playoff watching. But that is going to do it for us here on the Thursday edition of Locked-on Penguins. Hunter and I will be back with a brand new episode for you to close out the week on Friday. We'll give you the recap of the Baby Penguins game tonight against the Hershey Bears. Hopefully we're talking about the baby penguins moving on in the Calder Cup playoffs. And keep an eye on our social media channels, especially YouTube, because we are going to have yet another fan take Friday to close out the week. But for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp.

Starting point is 00:28:21 Thank you as always for tuning in. And we will talk to you again on Friday.

Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins re-sign two KEY depth pieces!

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