Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Scouting some potential Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks with Taylor Haase!

Episode Date: June 26, 2024

The NHL Draft comes to The Sphere in Las Vegas and on this edition of Locked On Penguins, Taylor Haase joins Patrick Damp from Vegas to discuss some potential picks the Penguins could make! While the ...Penguins do not currently own a first-round pick, they do still have six picks to make this weekend. Patrick and Taylor discuss some of the prospects she interviewed at the NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo earlier this summer, what their upsides are, some of their downsides, and if there is a chance any of them could fall to the Penguins in the second round or deeper into the draft. Finally, Taylor gives her thoughts on what Kyle Dubas is thinking going into the summer after she had a one-on-one chat with the Penguins president earlier this year! Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!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.Ultimate Hockey GMEver dreamed of becoming an NHL GM and managing your hockey franchise? Ultimate Hockey GM is completely free and playable offline, play on the go, as you want and when you want to. Locked On listeners get a 100% free boost to their franchise when using the promo LOCKEDONNHL in the game store. To download the game just visit hockeygm.app or look it up on the app stores. Ultimate Hockey GM - Start your dynasty today!PolicygeniusCheck 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.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 TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET. That’s TWO HUNDRED BUCKS you can use to bet everything from the Finals MVP to who's going to hit one out of the park! Visit FANDUEL.COM/LOCKEDON and add a big win to your summer bucket list! 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.

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 As it stands right now, the penguins do not have a first round pick, but they do have six picks as of now in the NHL draft this weekend. And helping me break it all down today is the one and only Taylor Haas. Your Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello and welcome back to another edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Patrick. You can follow me on Twitter at Synonym 4Wet.
Starting point is 00:00:37 We thank you for making this your first listener watch of the day because we're your team every day. And before we get started, today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. As I said at the top, today I am joined by Taylor Haas of D.K. Pittsburgh Sports. You know her from just about everywhere else.
Starting point is 00:01:01 She does a tremendous job covering the Penguins. well as their minor league system. And if you haven't been following along, she has been doing a great series breaking down some prospects that she spoke with at the NHL scouting combine. And that's what I'm bringing her on for today. We're going to talk about a few of those people that she spoke with because while the penguins don't have a first round pick as of right now, that could change. We know that there could be some trades and some moves made to get them into the first
Starting point is 00:01:32 round but as it stands as we record still no first round picks so a lot of the players she interviewed at the combine were really interesting ones because they were ranked in and about the area the penguins have picks in the second round in taylor i'm really excited to have you on the show because been a fan of your work for a long time we met back when i was still working for the nailers and wheeling and you were coming down and covering us so welcome to the show excited to have you here yeah thanks for happen me. So I want to start off with one that got me very excited when I read about this one a few days ago. And that is forward Tanner Howe. He was one of your prospects that you interviewed at the Combine, 18 year old. He played with Connor Bedard in the WHL. And everybody originally,
Starting point is 00:02:22 as you wrote, thought, okay, this guy is just a product of Connor Bedard. He's got one of the most generational players on his, on his line. That's just he's not going to. He's knocking. He's not in points thanks to him. But then he kept it going this past season as Bedard graduated up to the NHL. And this is what stood out to me most. You described his play and he described his play as rat style. So tell me a little bit more about this guy because right now I'm all in. And if they don't take him in the second round or he doesn't make it to the second round, I'm going to be heartbroken. Yeah. Yeah, he's someone that could go around or the Penguins pick. He's just kind of a strong 200-foot player.
Starting point is 00:03:01 Having a good defensive game is really important to him. He used to look up to guys like Petrie Spurge around for that, but you mentioned the rat style of play. That's what he said he looks up to now rat-style hockey. And for that, he named Martin Gallagher and Matthew Kachuk. But, yeah, so coming from the W.HL the Regina Pats, like you said, played with BADAR. There are some questions about, you know, what I was going to do without BADAR this year.
Starting point is 00:03:27 But I mean his his scoring was fine Part of it is that Regina Regina is like really bad in the WL They went for it with Badaard But then now that he's gone they're in a real rebuild So he did kind of take a step back offensively But then when you take him to account that okay Bedard's gone it's really just him
Starting point is 00:03:45 Rebuilding team That was encouraging to me Something also That is encouraging for me is that he went to the WHL a year before a lot of junior age prospects do. And so the way the NHL-CHL-CHL transfer agreement was, players from those junior leagues, if they're eligible, they can't cover and play in the AHA full-time until they're 20,
Starting point is 00:04:13 or they have four seasons in junior hockey, and season in 25 games and more. So that's why Pickering was there this year. That's why Yeager's probably going to go back to next year. So Tanner Howell, I mean, most of these are 18, so that means most of them are going to have, and most of them have two years of experience.
Starting point is 00:04:32 So they're going to have for two years. Tanner Howe has three years of experience. So he's going to have to go back next year, but the year after that, he could be in the H.L, which I think is really appealing for a team like the Penguins, kind of either prospects fast. So, yeah, I like it, be in a rap style hockey. There aren't really many guys like that in this range, I don't think.
Starting point is 00:04:52 Yeah, and I've been saying it on this show forever now, like basically since I joined last summer, is that the one thing, and I said it to our good friend Josh Yohe yesterday when I had him on the show, the penguins just need some bastards. They need some guys who make it hard to play against. And this guy fits the bill. And I know that there's a little bit of a concern with him because he's 510, 184, but he's 18 years old. You know that the longer he plays, he's still got a little bit. of growing to do. He's going to get that kind of training in to put on some muscle, gain some
Starting point is 00:05:28 size, and really be able to fill out and play that style of hockey. But that's one guy who I am a big fan of after reading what you wrote about him, then going and watching some highlights. It's a guy that if he develops the way that he's supposed to would be a huge asset in the penguin system and could be here a little bit sooner than most. But also, I forgot to mention this for our listeners and our viewers here. Going to have to give a little bit of patience for Taylor here. She's out in Vegas for the draft, working on hotel Wi-Fi. So we might have a little bit of technical difficulty here, but stick with us.
Starting point is 00:06:05 We appreciate it. So moving right along here, another one switching and looking at defense, because we know how big of a need the penguins have, especially in the prospect pipeline for defense, is Jesse Polkinen. He's a 19-year-old, big, big guy. 6, 6, 219, and he was very good in under 20 play. And this is a guy who I think that you would expect him. And again, this is based off something you wrote and then watching his highlights.
Starting point is 00:06:36 You would expect a guy that size to be a bruiser, to be a big, big physical guy, great defensively. But he's got some offensive upside. He's got a little bit of scoring touch. Yeah, he's an offensive defense. Something, I think the most interesting thing about him is that he's in overager. This is his second year drafted. He went on
Starting point is 00:06:55 drafted last year. Kind of asked him, so first of all, Polka in India doesn't speak English. Like really, like a word of English. They get another Finnish prospect to translate for him, and the other Finnish prospect really didn't speak great English. So it's kind of a challenging interview. But
Starting point is 00:07:11 what we were able to gather from Combine, he asked him why he thinks he didn't get drafted last year? He's like, It just wasn't a good season. And you look at what he was doing. So like you said, he plays in the Finnish league,
Starting point is 00:07:30 played in the top league this year. Last year, he spent a lot of time in the U-20 league. But then you go back to two years ago, the year before his first draft, the scoring kind of disappeared. Like when he was playing in the same system, he was putting up a lot of points, and then he gets up to U-20, completely falls off.
Starting point is 00:07:51 And then this year, in the same U-20 league team, he's suddenly scoring again, and then he gets called up to the top league sticks around. And he's doing well. I mean, he made the world junior team for Finland playing. The Penguins had two other defense prospects there, P&Niami and Kali Kangas. Polkinen was on the top pairing. And so I asked Polkinen, like, what, then what changed from year one to year two with him? And then so the other finished kid transform, and he was like, it was the first summer that he worked hard.
Starting point is 00:08:27 And then he ended up clarifying later. He never really saw himself being able to professional hockey thing long term. And then the 20 coach, he was playing the national team Q20 kind of sat him down. It was like, look, you have your real potential here? Like, you could actually maybe make it to the NHL. just that mindset completely hurt his game around. He was putting up great points and like a, yeah, top pairing on the world junior team.
Starting point is 00:09:00 That's huge, especially that he was playing above like P&E. they got the third round. Callie Kangas was on the third pairing. So he's really interesting. He didn't meet with the Penguins. He only met with 24 teams. That's not necessarily an indication of,
Starting point is 00:09:14 like the Penguins, when they took Pianney and Yamie last year, they didn't meet with him in the combine. Yeah, I know a lot of people, they see that and think, oh, they didn't meet with this guy at the combine, but there are so many prospects that show up to the combine and there's only so many hours in the day. And obviously, there's teams have their preferences. There's guys that they have more interest in. And then there's guys that they have less interest in. And then we know that the NHL draft outside of, depending on the year, the top five, top 10, it is a total crapshoot. There, you, you, you,
Starting point is 00:09:51 think, okay, we're picking at 24. I know the penguins still don't have a first round pick, but they think, okay, at 24, we want this guy. And then all of a sudden that guy goes at 18. So they may not have met with them, but they have interest. I will say this, though, while it doesn't totally raise a red flag for me, I did get a little squeamish at the, oh, this was the first summer I worked hard, even though it was more of a, hey, a coach finally got to him and said, listen, you got some skill here. You can play. if you work at it, you might make an NHL career out of it. So I think it's fair to say this guy is a interesting prospect,
Starting point is 00:10:28 but it could be a project. Yeah, I mean, it was hard to gauge, like, his attitude, just given me he didn't speak English and he was speaking through a prospect who really didn't also speak English. So I think some of that also might have been, like, lost in translation. Like, it was the first summer he word. But then, yeah, he did kind of clarify that, like, this mindset put in him by the coach.
Starting point is 00:10:52 So obviously made, you know, great impact on him, given that, you know, he didn't. And his first draft year, he had like, for this. He's like popping last year. So, yeah. Yeah. So we still got plenty more of prospects to go through here because Taylor has written
Starting point is 00:11:15 so many of these. I think it's up to 15, you said. So still a few more I want to touch on, but we do have to take a quick break. But when we come back, we will keep the conversation going about Taylor's prospect interviews and maybe get you excited about a few more people that you can see getting their name called by Kyle Dubus in the Pittsburgh Penguins this weekend. But before we do that, we have to tell you about our first sponsor. And that is eBay Motors. Passion driving patience, the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your rider die alive. eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to peak performance. Superchargers, roof racks, exhaust kits, LED headlights, and more,
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Starting point is 00:12:21 Eligible items only, exclusions apply. eBay guaranteed fit only available to U.S. customers. All right, we're back here on the Wednesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Patrick Damp, joined today by Taylor Haas of D.K. Pittsburgh Sports. And we're going to keep our conversation going here about Taylor's prospect interview series that she did at the NHL Draft Combine in Buffalo. And one guy that stood out to me here that I do think it might be a little bit of a reach
Starting point is 00:12:50 because he has been as of late shooting up some draft boards. And that's, I'm going to butcher this name, but it is Steen Stahlberg. He is a physical defenseman. And he's not very good offensively, but he chips in enough that you look at his counting stats. and they're fine enough for a defenseman. And just to maybe turn some penguins fans off from this, his biggest comparison is Jacob Truva. So what did you get interviewing this guy
Starting point is 00:13:24 and how do you feel about him as a defensive prospect? Like you said, he really shot up the rankings. He might have shot up too far. If any of these guys that I did profiles and shoot into the first round, I think it's Stolberg. And I remember I read, I think several reports that the Leafs put him out. So after the Combine teams can do their own little like back home that's legal.
Starting point is 00:13:51 So the Leafs brought out like potential first round picks and Stolberg was one of those they brought out. If he's available 44, 40, absolutely. Just a well-rounded defenseman. and he so he can score he also has only been playing defense for a couple years he had one of my favorite personality to the guys we talked to uh seemed very cool talking to media he was very funny but then uh so someone asked um you know why did he switch to d because he's only been a defenseman for maybe the past three three four years uh and he is well so he's norwegian He was like, our team, we were in a tournament in Sweden.
Starting point is 00:14:35 My teammate peed in the bathtub. And then he kind of paused, like, that was a story. And we're like, okay. So basically what had happened was it was like the hotel bathtub and this other, this Norwegian kid playing defense on their team, like pee in the bathtub, not like during the shower, just like just to do it. And then the coach was doing, I guess, room checks and discover this and got angry.
Starting point is 00:15:06 He said, you can't do that. You're out. Steam. You're playing D tonight. And then he never went back. So a crazy story with him. But yeah, just a very nasty agitator. He said Truba is a pretty apt comparison.
Starting point is 00:15:21 That was. Yeah. Yeah, that was kind of, and then along with reading your report on him, I did some other digging on him and you listen to interviews with him and this guy goes to a real professional league overseas like he's not playing in developmental or some kind of U20 league and when he gets interviewed like you said great personality he tells that story like I only ended up playing defense because a teammate peed in the tub which is hilarious but when he gets talked about playing physical like he lights up and he talks about like oh yeah I played against this guy
Starting point is 00:15:58 who's like 31 years old and I put him through the boards. So, you know, as much as I don't like the players that are just physical to be physical, I think you need to do a lot more. He still has that edge to him. But from watching him some highlights, he's got some, he's got a little bit of speed. His footwork is solid. What else did you see from him when you looked into him? I mean, you mentioned the fan footage played like hockey against men.
Starting point is 00:16:27 that's huge, especially for a team like the penguins who really need their prospects to be ready sooner or after than later. The fact that he's been playing in a top league against men, like you said, like 30s, that's, I mean, huge for him getting comfortable. Maybe he should make that transition to the HL easier whenever he does come over. I mean, he also played for Norway at the World Championship, like a top pairing defenseman. This is not the World Junior. It's like a world championship. He is going to Sweden, so that's nice to see because the Norwegian leader is not really that strong. He's moving to the SHL. So that, I think, a great step in his development.
Starting point is 00:17:07 He has signed for two years not coming over. He's at least in Sweden for the next two seasons. Just a really well-rounded defenseman has that kind of edge. And I think a lot of these defense prospects in this range really don't have one, at least not to that level. Yeah, he was, he was very impressive and it would be very surprising to me if he fell out of the first round just because, like, we've both said at this point, he's really shot up a lot of draft boards. Obviously, the Maple Leafs brought him in. They've still got their first round pick. So I don't see, I really would be genuinely stunned if he fell out of the first round.
Starting point is 00:17:45 But speaking of D-Man, here's one that I haven't really seen any updates on him, at least not for rankings. But it was one when I'm reading everything you wrote about him. I'm surprised that he's kind of ranked in the second round. And that's Cole Hudson of the U.S. development team. This guy set a record for defensive scoring with the developmental team. And while he may not be the biggest guy, I mean, everybody's looking for that, right? So what did you see with him? And are you surprised or at the very least, have you seen him shoot up draft boards?
Starting point is 00:18:20 because I'd love to get this guy as a penguin, but I just, I don't see that being a thing. Yeah, a lot of rankings do have him like right around 44, 46. And Bobicans, the FC hockey at him 41, elite prospects, $47, dollar prospects, 51. So all your ranking services. He is right around there. I don't think he's going to go up that high. And I think the concern is, he is smaller. He's small.
Starting point is 00:18:48 I mean, he can score, but I think there's concerns back. every other part of his game. But for a defenseman, 5'10, 165 pounds, that's, that's a significant. And he's doing, he's putting up these points at the junior level, but there's concern about, okay, when he goes through, it's going to get harder, and especially the fact that he's small, what else does he have? So I think that's what, you know, the record sounds nice.
Starting point is 00:19:15 So it's the national development team programs, all-time record, defensemen. There have been a lot of good defensemen that come through the program, but the way the program works is, like, they do play in the USHL, but then they also schedule these other games. So year to year, the number of games they play is not always consistent. So a lot of the defensemen who lost soon as outscoring didn't play like anywhere near as many games heeded.
Starting point is 00:19:41 And also, do you know whose record he broke, like who had the record before? Yeah, it was the former Wolksbury head coach. Yeah, Jady Forrest, who, did not have a professional career himself. He was also small. He was in the late, a defenseman. I think he bounced around the minors a couple of years and the one over Finland, Germany.
Starting point is 00:20:04 So I wouldn't look at that record. He's like the next Eric Carlson or anything. But I mean, it's nice to see. I just think that he's maybe not as a ball wrap some of the other defense prospects. And that's why he's kind of low. Yeah, I mean, I could definitely see the size being a concern. It's definitely a little jarring when I find out a guy who's maybe about a foot taller
Starting point is 00:20:32 than I am in ways the same. It is playing high-level hockey. That's probably a concern, especially defense. But I also look at it this way. We have seen so many elite players come out of the U.S. development program over the past decade or so. And you figure they're doing something right. But like you said, you look at it. at that size, you look at that, all that in general, it feels like a very boom or bust prospect.
Starting point is 00:20:59 Like he's either going to hit and he's going to be great or he's going to follow that same route as Forrest did where maybe he bounces around the miners for a while, then goes overseas. But would you, if you see this guy available in the second round, maybe with their second pick, because right now they have 44 and 46, would you want to? to take a flyer on this guy? I don't know. I mean, a lot of it would depend on who else is available. Just, you know, so I have my draft preview coming out, and that's where I link to all
Starting point is 00:21:33 these profiles and I have them ranked. I do have, like, the lower. And even, like, within the defense prospects, there, I have several defense prospects above him, Polkinen, like we talked about. The Stolberg, could we talk about, even though, like, it's hard to say whether or not he'll either. But I mean, he's on top defenseman out of the program that I had that I've in my list. I don't know if you wanted to talk about him, but E.J. Emery, that's who I like. Yeah, no. Let's leave it there for now because we got to throw to a break here real quick.
Starting point is 00:22:09 But when we come back, let's talk about him real quick. And then one other thing, I wanted to get a couple quick thoughts from you on. Hunter and I talked about it on the show when it came out. you had also at the Combine a great interview with Penguins president of hockey operations, Kyle Dubus. So with the offseason here, want to see what you think after talking to him and some of the corresponding moves. So stick with us. We will be right back after this break.
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Starting point is 00:24:17 That's Taylor Haas. and you started giving us a little bit of a teaser there for one of your prospects that you've got your eye on. So as I have for the entirety of this show, Taylor, the floor is yours. Tell us some more, would you? Yeah, E.J. Emery, he's, our Stolberg. I'm not even really careful because I would be shocked if he's around at 44, 46, but E. Emery is maybe the top defense prospect I'd be looking at. U.S. National Team Development Program.
Starting point is 00:24:47 him. Like I said, he's, and he's right-handed, which that's huge, because depending on whether you're considering St. Iveny a prospect, how many, how many right-handed defense prospects do they have? Like, Pickering, obviously, their top defense prospect, he's a lefty after that. Delivo, he's a lefty. They really don't have any defense press in general, but then the right side after St. Ivaney, it's nothing. He's more of a shutdown defenseman. That doesn't mean he really puts up, that doesn't mean he's held off his scorching. I mean, I mean, I don't mean. He had 16 points. All the systems, 61 games with a program this year.
Starting point is 00:25:22 Lead with a plus 3-4 rating. The thing about him is athleticism. I mean, he's got size. He's 6'3, 183 pounds, but the actual fitness testing, it's not like NFL where, like, they're doing a whole lot of things that translate directly onto the, like NFL they run, right? There's nothing on the ice. It's a lot of, like, jumps and, like, riding bikes and stuff like that.
Starting point is 00:25:47 finished first in a lot of the jumping and like the agility type things that really measures. And he is a really good skater. So that makes sense. He had the third best wingspan. So for a defense to have that reach. And I mean, third best wingspan, that's, that's impressive given that he's not, there are definitely some guys a lot taller than him. There's several guys that are like six, five, six six six. So there, I don't know, there's a lot to like about him. The activism, so the jumps they do, it's just the horizontal jump. It's like a board, it jumps for, they measure how far they jumped. He nearly cleared the board.
Starting point is 00:26:26 Like, he was this close to going over the hand of the board. And then afterwards, you know, he did his media availability. He almost jump off the board. He's like, that was my best jump that I've ever done. He credited the best national team development programs trainer with kind of getting them. Where he is, but then he's also the son of a. football player. His dad, Eric Emery, played in the CFL for a couple of years. Not like a major football player. Yeah, we don't count the NFL around here. Well, that, but he even like, he wasn't
Starting point is 00:26:57 even like a CFL star. Like it was, it was like, but he did have his son, EJ, playing football growing up. I asked him, you know, when he stopped playing football. He only stopped at 14. He played a bunch of different positions, but he said he thinks all his football experience helps him now. being able to run for his. He said, I think he was like a wide receiver. He's like, you're getting hit like that. He thinks it prepares him well for hockey. Personality, too.
Starting point is 00:27:28 But I just like what he brings. They really don't have great shutdown type defensemen. They don't really have defensemen in general. He just checks a lot of boxes that they need all in one. So I let about him. I just think he would be a good pick. being in the fence. Yeah, if he falls down to the second round, I hope Dubus sprints up to whatever stage they have at the sphere calls his name and they bring him into the system. That would be a great pick. But real quick here before we close out the episode, obviously some of this is now pretty dated with things like the resigning of Alex Ndilkevich, the hiring of David Quinn. We now know the Wilkesbury coach. But you had a really good interview with Kyle. Dubus at the combine. And the one thing I wanted to focus on since we're talking about defense is he had a
Starting point is 00:28:20 lot of glowing things that seemed to say about people like P.O. Joseph, they brought in Philip Krall and obviously Jack St. Ivan, he is back in the fold. Do you get the sense that he's maybe more worried about defense than he is offense going into this off season? Because I started to get that vibe a little bit, but you obviously, it's a lot easier to figure. out the vibe when you're face to face speaking in person, then reading the written words. So what kind of, what did you glean from him about what he's thinking to do this offseason? Yeah, I didn't get a lot of, I feel either way about what he feels. The guys he talked about were because I asked about them specifically, just because PL really
Starting point is 00:29:06 is their big RFA left, St. Ivaney just resigned for three years, which is a little uncommon for a guy like him in his position with that limited experience. And then Crowell just because him and Larson, we haven't had the opportunity to talk to do this about them. Larson being the Swedish goalie. So that's why he talked a lot about the defensemen, because I was asking specifically about the defenseman. For those that didn't read, P.O.
Starting point is 00:29:32 I just kind of asked, like, where things stand at them. And he said they have had talks with P.O. side. I did end up talking a little bit later to P.O. the side who said that everything is smooth with talks, but there's still like a ways to go with that. There's really no rush. He's not. They qualify and they have those rights.
Starting point is 00:29:52 They have a while to figure it out. But he is arbitration eligible, so you figure if nothing's signed by the time that deadline comes around, he will file and it will come to an head eventually. Normally that just puts pressure on the team to come to an agreement because no one wants to go to
Starting point is 00:30:07 arbitration. Like the team doesn't want it in front of them, you know, whoever decides they isn't rip PO a session. But he did say a lot of things about St. Ivenny. I just kind of asked what the thinking was that led to them putting giving him three. He just talked to, he spoke to Ohio and how he earned it. Like I don't know that St. Ivan he starts in the HL after the way he did this talks about him. The only thing that like kind of gave you a little feel about what he's thinking. Well, one, I asked if the doors close on Gensel and he said the doors and that closed from Gensel. But the way he said it was like the player knows the situation
Starting point is 00:30:47 if he's interested. So basically putting all the on Gensel. I took that as Gensel knowing this cat situation. So if he wants to come back, he knows how much he has to ask for. But the, as far as, you know, moves, I, so the pens, before research, signing Ned. Oh, so a roster of 12th, six defensemen that includes St. Ivany and Pustin and these like cap-friendly Placquedia weren't including those guys, but 12-4, six defensemen and Jari, no, Ned. They had like 11 million in cap space.
Starting point is 00:31:29 Right now, they're down to, like, nap-ish. So I started out asking him, like, you don't have a ton of cap space, basically asking like, do you, I was going to ask, do you have plans to, I don't know, make any moves? Shet, to give you more to play with him free. It kind of, like, cut me off. And he's like, well, no, actually, I think we have a whole lot more than, he's like, I think we have more than the public fields that we do. And I mean, he's right, nine million is money.
Starting point is 00:31:59 Given that they don't have, he said he's like, it's not like we have spots to fill. This is before they re-sign that, then they resigned that. After that, the only free agents are really losing. Jeff Carter, I'm assuming Janice of Harkins. At Forward, you figure, I don't know, you replace them with, you know, someone internally, Sam Poulin, probably ready, Vili Coivinen, Vasily, Panamara, probably they can make pushes. Matt Nietto is only going to be out a little bit, but while he's on long term, I already bring someone like that.
Starting point is 00:32:32 But, I mean, you can have the money out there and bring in a rail forward and free agency if they wanted to. And maybe that's the top six. Dei reported in his Friday and silent weeks ago that really are talking about potentially moving milk into wing. Next season, if you do that, you center. So there's not really great top six center options out there in free agency. So maybe that's where a trade come in. And that's where you would move, for you use that cap space and trade. So I don't know, I just think a lot's on the table because they do have a lot of money to play with. Yeah, Hunter and I have been saying it pretty much since the season ended that this is going to be,
Starting point is 00:33:16 at least in our guessing game, a hectic off season because while they're still a good team, they are not a contender. They're a team that can make the playoffs, maybe went around. But if they have actual aspirations of getting back to going on deep runs, they've got a lot of moves to make. But that is probably going to do it for this edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. But before we go, Taylor, thank you for coming on. Let everybody know where they can find you, what you got coming up.
Starting point is 00:33:47 And how much fun you're going to have in Vegas for the draft? Might go out the last day in Vegas. That's kind of what have these draft things that tend to go. They're super busy. Then you go at the last nights. I'm going to have a lot of fun here in Vegas. All my stuff is on DK Pittsburgh story. We have a penguin feed that we kind of treat like a social media feed where we put
Starting point is 00:34:08 that to kind of like updates. But I'm on Twitter, Taylor Haas, PGA, I mean, it's listed in the lobby. That's why I post all my articles and stuff like that. So I'll have a lot of stuff. Vegas Development Camp Free Agency. Busy Times coming up. So that's good you can find out. Yeah, we'll certainly be looking forward to it in following all the work.
Starting point is 00:34:27 Because as I've said, you have been doing a tremendous job covering this team from the NHL all the way down to the ECHL as well as with the prospects. But for Taylor Hoss and Hunter Hodes, who is still on vacation and myself, thank you so much for tuning in. I will be back with another guest and we're going to talk some more prospects tomorrow with the one and only Jesse Marshall. But for now, thank you as always for tuning in. And we will be back with a new episode on Thursday.

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