Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Should Brian Boyle be brought back?

Episode Date: June 2, 2022

The player season reviews are continuing into Wednesday with the bottom six. Hunter starts the show by touching on Brian Boyle and how his season was. Did he outperform expectations? Was he supposed to play 60+ games during the season? How did he perform down the stretch and then in the playoffs? Hunter answers those questions and also gives his take on whether or not he should be brought back. Are there better and younger players in WBS ready to go? What about some potential free agents? After that, Hunter brings up a silly szn trade proposal that he thought of the day before and why it would make a lot of sense for the Penguins (and potentially the other team). Hint: It's one of the Penguins' restricted free agents :-). Finally, Hunter gives some defenseman targets that the team could go after via free agency if a trade is made and if they feel like POJ isn't ready to come up yet. All that, plus much more on this episode of Locked On Penguins.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.Athletic GreensAthletic Greens is going to give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit athleticgreens.com/NHLNETWORK. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Well, we have made it to June of, well, the offseason, which has been underway for a couple of weeks. Now, again, thank you all so much for making the month of May the most listened to month in the show's history, 30,000 downloads. I hope to crush that number at some point, sometime this year, it may not be in the month of June since it's the off season, but you all are the best listeners on the planet. I can't thank all of you enough to say, at least. action-pack show today. I'm going to get into the bottom six, starting with Brian Boyle's season review if the penguins should bring him back. Also get into a potential trade idea that the penguins could make that might benefit a team that's in the metropolitan division as well. I don't think this has been thrown around there by too many people so far, but it's one that

I came up with kind of last night when I was brainstorming a couple of things. We'll get into the numbers and stuff and why it could be good for two players who I think maybe need a change of scenery. And we'll also start looking at maybe some defensive options. If the penguins do make a defensive trade and they bring Crystal Tang back, do they sign someone because they think POJ is not ready? You know, who could that be? So that's all coming up right after this drop.

You're Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day. Oops. Hello. Welcome back to another episode. of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.

I am your host, Hunter Hodes. You're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can also follow the shows, Twitter, at L.O. underscore Penguins. I was watching the Rangers' Bolts game. It's 4-2 going into the third period. Again, I said this on my Tuesday episode. That team just looks like the team of destiny right now.

When they win the cup, and they very well may, I'm not going to say, I told you show. They very much remind me of the 2017 Penguins. In the first period, it's what, one-to-one going into the second. Tampa Bay has 1.1, two expected goals for the Rangers have 0.2 expected goals for Igor Shisterkin. It just bailed them out, and now the Rangers are 4-2 because their kid line is absolutely

torturing Andre Vasselowski. It's not very rare. It's very rare, I should say, when Vasselowski gives up four goals, if not three, you know, this was the first time he's given up more than one, I think, since game six of the first round against Toronto. He's been that good. So I'm not going to be surprised The Rangers win the series,

even though I do have the bolts winning this in six games. So let's continue our player evaluations going into next season. We did most of the top six. Let's get now to the bottom six. And we start here with Brian Boyle, who is a pending UFA. I will say this. He definitely surprised me a lot.

This season, I ate a lot of crow. You know, I gave my opinion on it. I said it's probably not going to be that good. He ended up being a pretty serviceable depth piece, even though he's a bit older in his 30s now. And he proved me on a lot of people wrong. You know, my opinion is not fact here. I will never claim it. To be fact, I try to give the best analysis that I can with, you know, with what I watch and what I see and what the numbers tell me and what my eye test obviously tells me.

So, you know, when stuff doesn't work out for me, I shrug and move past. You know, I'll get some hits. I'll take some L's at the end of the day. I don't really lose sleep over it. I was actually really happy for him to remove me wrong because he really was. Excuse me, a great story for the Penguins this year. You know, comes in, scores over double-digit goals, made me playing on the fourth line, played in 66 games for the Penguins this year.

Ten of those goals were at 5E-5. 19 total points, I should say, at 5E-5 this year. Underline numbers-wise, better than they were from his 2019-20 stint with the Florida Panthers. When he was on ice, the penguins had close to 50% of the shot attempt. So he's close to breaking even there. Actual goals for percentage, 54.7%. Expected goals, 50.7% this year.

That's the highest it's been since 2017-18 when he played a nice 69 games with the New Jersey Devils. Though the Penguins only had 47.4% of the scoring chances at 5V5. Excuse me when he was on the ice. It's still a bit step up from the previous two seasons when he was with Nashville. And Florida, high danger chances. The Penguins at 48.6% of those high danger goals, though, really good, 62.5%. And the best thing is, you know, he scored over double-digit goals this year.

And he only shot 7.5% at 5B5. Compared to where he was, last time he was in the NHL, almost 10% before that. 5%, 11% in 2018, 19 with New Jersey. You know, two of those last three seasons, you know, 10% are basically higher. on both those times. So the fact that he did that on a pretty low shooting percentage, I thought was pretty solid. But, you know, the big question is, you know,

should the penguins bring him back? And right now, I am kind of leaning towards no because they have players in-house either on the team right now or down in Wilkesbury or out there in free agency that you can sign pretty cheaply and are better offensively and I think he can contribute more on the PK. I thought down the stretch, you know, Boyle, he just, he was losing his step a little bit.

And the playoffs series against the Rangers, I just never really thought he fit against that team, was definitely one of their worst penalty killers. And, you know, you can look up the numbers and all that. Even just, I test-wise, was always a step slow when the Rangers were moving the puck in the defensive zone. The Penguins were down to man. His legs were definitely.

starting to show there. And, you know, going into the season, you know, I was like, yeah, no, maybe if it's a 13th Florida, it's okay. But, you know, if he's going to be playing a lot of games, I wasn't going to be too of a fan of it. Obviously, again, the offense was better than anyone expected. But, you know, you could definitely see him starting to, I guess, have some fatigue down the stretch and into the playoffs. You know, that's part, I mean, that's, he's almost 40 here, people. So, well, I mean, he's on the opposite side of, you know, 35 at this point. So, so. It wasn't too surprising that he was going to get a little bit fatigued. At the end of the day, I still don't think the Penguins should bring him back.

I mean, think about, you know, redeems the Hornah. He has a one-way contract with the team next year. You know, they're really going to want to see what do they have in this player, right? You know, that's going to be fairly interesting. You know, Drew O'Connor, he's going to be ready to come up. I already talked about about Terry Pustin when I talked about some of the kids in Wilkesbury a couple of episodes ago. you know, there's going to be plenty of, you know, debt forwards and free agency that are going to be there for the taking.

You know, maybe you don't have to pay, I don't know, 2.75 million for a Brockman again for four years, but, you know, you can maybe pay for a couple years for a debt player that makes $1.5 to $2 million that can do what he does, but a lot better. And I do think that's what the penguins need to do here during the offseason. Obviously, you know, I thank Boyle for everything he did this season. And, you know, I was God he was even able to come back and play hockey after everything he's been through. But I still think right now his services are best used on another team.

You know, again, I'll say it for the third or four time, really enjoyed him this season. He was obviously well liked in the locker. I think everyone on the team had the utmost respect for him. And, you know, rightfully so, you know, he came in on a professional tryout. Remember, you know, he had to make the team out of camp. in the preseason just to get a contract. And, you know, played well enough, did good in the regular season, shuggled in the playoffs, didn't make that much money,

so I'm not really too upset about that. And, you know, he's maybe hopefully going to be able to go out and maybe make a little more money and hopefully get a guaranteed contract from a different team in 2022, 2023. So right now, you know, I just, I don't think you will be in the penguin's best interest to sign them just because, you know, the salary cap is obviously very real. with this team, they have other bigger priorities than him right now. And when that time comes to potentially find a replacement,

you're really not going to have to look too far. This is going to sound a little mean, but I don't think it's too bad. He's the kind of player that's very easy to replace, whether you're looking down in Wilkesbury or whether you're looking via free agency or if you need to make a trade for a debt forward, you know, you can do that just fine too. So at the end of the day, I'm not really sweating it. am I thinking for everything he's done for the team?

But, you know, in my opinion, and yes, I stress this is my opinion. I don't think he should be on the team next year with how he played in the playoffs and just a little bit down the stretch. So that wraps up this first segment of the episode today. Coming up in the second segment, we're going to get to that potential trade idea slash proposal that I came up with in my head and, you know, why I think it makes sense for both teams. But before I get to that, you can save time and money when using Rock Auto.

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auto dot com all right we're back in this episode of the locked on penguins podcast i am your host hunter hoodies and not follow me on twitter at hunter hoodies follow the shows twitter at l oren squirrel penguins and i am just loading up everything that's the stuff i need right here on natural statrix so this is what i am potentially thinking and it would i think make sense for both teams though would these teams trade with each other i'm not sure what would you all think and just this might be silly season here what would you all think of potentially dealing kisbury capmanin for martin hs of the carolina hurricanes both are basically rfas i know i mean obviously i know caponin is and i know

NCHS is too, and he really struggled this season. This was, he was not himself, which is really, really working. Yes, I did have to. I just wanted to double check. He was an RFA. You know, this year, 10 goals, 32, 5E5 points. But it just, he wasn't that same player that we saw last year with the Hurricanes where he was just everywhere on the ice.

And the same goes for Kaspari Kappanit. He basically lost all of his confidence this year for the Penguins would always just come into the offensive zone, curl back and just pass it off and he's not able to shoot it. You know, defensively, sure he made shines, but whether it was his release, his playmaking ability, just his lack of forechecking. It wasn't there. And I don't think he should be back next year, even though he'll probably get a qualifying offer.

I still would not sign him to a contract unless it's probably like, you know, a million or something like that. But overall, this season for NHS, you know, 40 points in 78 games last year, 41 points in 53 games, which is obviously a lot better production-wise. I mean, he was probably on pace to have 55 to 60 points last year. This year, he gets 40 points in an 82-game season. And so it was a little bit of that stack back. You know, you go in his underlying numbers, 55% of the shot attempts this year for the hurricanes when he was on the ice,

53% of the actual goals for expected goals right around 50%, 50% of the scoring chances do not break even in high danger, 48.1% high danger goals, though, 51.1% for the hurricanes when he was on the ice. I wouldn't be in favor for the penguins to make this trade. And same for Carolina because I would love for Capon who get his confidence back on a team, just the hurricanes.

No, they'll ask him to shoot the puck a lot. I think Rod Rindamore will, you know, go to bat for him. He always goes to bat for his players. He is the textbook players coach, as some like to call him. And I think it's definitely like a move that Carolina would maybe make just because, you know, they kind of go bargain hunting for their moves. So they don't really like to pay, you know, a lot of their players to say at least. I mean, their biggest contracts right now, Shattschakov, Aho and Tara Vine,

and I think Aho and Satchakov make over eight, Terravine and makes, I can just double check that here real quick. I just had that, actually, on my account friendly. Well, I'll take a look at it here real quick when I get a chance, but, you know, they balked it offering Dougie Hamilton a long-term contract. They took a flyer on Tonya DiAngelo. That worked out really well. they uplifted their goaltending.

They brought in two players who, you know, and Auntie Ronson, for a bit cheap to say at least, they didn't really want to pay to Delkevich, even $4 million. So, you know, this is a team, you know, they don't often spend it a cap. And capinen, he's not really going to get a lot on his next contract.

I could definitely see the hurricanes, you know, for an analytically inclined team as they are saying, hey, you know what, maybe this was a really off year for him. He's had a couple of really good years in the NHL. Let's see what he can do. obviously on an offense base first team. You can put him with maybe Svetnikov and Ahio.

You can put him with Tara Vinen or something like that. You know, he was good defensively this year. And then for Nitchas, you know, he had a little bit of an off here too. And, you know, maybe a change of scenery is what he needs. On the Penguins, I don't really think he's going to be getting a lot on his contract either. I think they'll be able to afford him. And he should be good to give them, you know, 15, maybe upwards of 20 goals next year. you can play him on the third line with Jeff Carter or something like that.

Heck, you maybe play him on Afghani, on Afghani Malkins line, potentially two if Tanton Hining comes back and if Chino comes back. It's an idea that I do think makes sense. Though would Ron Hextall do it, I'm not sure. Would Don Waddell do it? No, I'm also not sure. This is silly season for a reason. But in terms of two players that struggled this year that could use a change,

this is as good as you're going to get. To be honest. And yes, there's the factor of, well, you know, there are two teams in the same division, though they're not really division rivals to say, I mean, I don't think these two teams have made a trade. Obviously, I know they did make the Jordan Stahl trade. But I actually can't even remember the last time the Penguins and the Hurricanes made a trade. I actually am going to double-check that here real quick,

just to see when he did. make a trade. Yeah. Everything that pulls up on Google, yeah, I actually think that I might think that is the last time they made a trade. I legitimately cannot remember the last time those two teams made a deal. So is it unlikely, sure, but would it be a good trade, especially for the penguins? Yes.

And again, and I do think it makes sense for the hurricanes because, you know, it would be so penguins for cap and to actually turn around. Carolina and play like he did that last year in Toronto. And, you know, especially during that 2020-21 season for the Penguins, where he had 10 goals and 30 points and 40 games. You know, his early numbers this year, they weren't bad defensively. He made a lot of strides. It was just his play in the offensive zone with the puck.

His shot was not fair for checking. He just really lacked in that regard. And, you know, I just think Mike Sullivan ran out of ideas with him this season. I'm going to get to his season review. I'm a little bit later on during the off-season, probably in the next couple of days to a week. But in terms of a trade, you know, that could, it may be surprised some fans.

It wouldn't surprise me. Again, I think this would make a lot of sense for the penguins. So, you know, tell me what you all think. You know, would you all do this trade? Would you like Martin Nitchas with the penguins? Did you like my explanation for why? It could make sense from both teams perspective. Let me know on the YouTube comments.

You can DM me on Twitter. you can find me on any of my social media. I've had people, you know, find my Instagram and stuff like that. And honestly, you know, I don't really, you know, care if people follow me on Instagram, to be honest. I don't really post anything on there anyway. But that wraps up the second segment of the show. Coming up with the final segment, we'll get to some defensive free agents that could

make sense if the payments do make a trade along their left-handed, among one of their left-handed defensemen. And if they decide that POJ is not ready to come up, yet. But before I get to that, our partners at Ben-on-Line continue to be the number one source for all your betting needs and sports info. You can find all the latest odds, news, and sports developments, including this year's basketball playoffs, major league baseball scores, fights, and even next season's NFL futures. Then, as you continue to source for all your sports wagering information from live betting to playoffs, e-sports, and more. You can head to the website today or use your phone

to learn more about the trends in action. That is Ben-on-line where the game starts. All right. We're back here on this episode of the Locked On Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes. You're going to follow me on Twitter. Hunter Hodes. Follow the shows, Twitter, L.O. N.Square Penguins. Of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen of the day. So, you know, doing a little bit of research on cat friendly here. And, you know, some of the best left-handed D out there, I saw Nick Letty. And, you know, I don't make a lot of plus minus.

And that's one of the last stats I use. But it does jump out of me that he was a minus 30 this year. That is very bad. that's not a number you want to be at. He's also just too old, I think, at this point. Well, he's 31, but he plays like he's kind of 35 or 36. He's washed at this point. I don't think he makes too much sense. Danny DeKaiser is a UFA.

I'll pass. He had 11 points in 59 games. Calvin Don at 31. He was a player that I used to really like, but, you know, he's really falling off as of late. You know, Nikita Zedora. I think I touched on him about a couple weeks ago. I would love if the Penguins brought him in.

You know, I don't think I touched on his underlying numbers too much on this podcast. I can write here if you all, well, if you all just let me here, if I can just do this, look at these numbers from the regular season and the playoffs. So, queer high stuff. 74 games, 59% of the shot attempts for the flames when he was on the ice, 54% of the actual goals for them

when he was on the ice, 55% of the expected goals for the flames, 57% of the scoring chances for them when he was on the ice, 54% of the high danger chances, the actual high danger goals for 57.8%. He was, he's never, he's been above 50% once in high danger.

He's been above 50% once in scoring chances, once in expected goals and once for shot attempts. This was a breakout year for this player. He's only 27 years old, had 22 points. If I look up how much money he made here, just to see how much of a raise he could potentially be getting.

Let me take. So, well, I can't really just being like ridiculous here. Let me just make sure. So he was making, okay, his AAV was 3.75 this year. It was a one-year deal when he signed it back in August. He might ask for a race. You know, his counting stats weren't that good. But if teams really do look at those underlying numbers,

he's going to be getting a decent raise. I would not be surprised if someone throws 4.5. to 4.6 million out of. I mean, if I were the penguins and I have the cap space, he would be someone I would target right away. I mean, you know, I'm just kind of imagining him on this team and not Ryan Yumelin for next year who was way worse than Zadourov. I mean, Zadourov brought a lot of offensively, was solid defensively, has a nice first pass, his own entries, his own exits. His numbers there were also really good. I would move heaven and hell for the penguins

to go after him if they needed defensive replacement for one of the three left-handed guys if they feel like POJ is not ready. He makes a lot of sense in that regard. Will Butcher in Buffalo, he's only 27, still young enough where I think he could maybe use a little bit of a turnaround. I mean, remember, Mike Matheson was kind of in a gutter when he was in Florida comes here, plays the best hockey of his life with Tar Reader and coaching him. I think Will Butcher on a cheap deal, that would make sense.

Don't sue me. you know, I think his numbers are fine for maybe a bottom hearing guy. Again, that's if they don't think POJ is ready. I do think he would make sense as well. Alex Settler, I will pass, Ben Chirot, no thanks. Ian Cole is an interesting case, but the only reason I would say no to that is because him and Mike Sullivan, I don't think, really saw eye to eye when he was there.

I mean, remember, I think it was a healthy scratch at times during his last, season he was there you know he ended up being traded um well he ended up being in the big trade package when they got gyrs and you know again i would love to make that trade again you know just he no one saw him stinking that bad um i remember people saying that that that was going to that trade would come back to regret would come back um and haunt the penguins and you know i like dean at the time i think he was a very defensively responsible player i still think he was i still think he is that um but you know he is a little bit older right now um are you all you comfortable signing him to play on the left side again because right now you know I think

all three of their left-handed D are better than Cole but if one does go you know is he the worst option to bring in no is he the best option you know probably not either he would make sense but I still think you can probably go for someone a bit younger and someone a bit cheaper to and again obviously the coaching aspect with Mike Sullivan I just did he him and, you know, them two never saw eye to eye. A couple others here. Tom, I mean, Thomas Hickey played two games this year. No, Michael Kempney, no.

Mark Stahl's really bad now. Ethan Bear would be really intriguing, but he is an RFA, though. Do the Hurricanes trade his rights to another team? That's another trade that the Penguins, you know, they could be, you know, interested in that player, especially if Chris Lange walks in. And I'm not saying Ethan Bear is going to be the next Chris is saying he's not, to say the least. But I could see them be interested in him, you know, to bring him in and hopefully, I guess, you know, help out the right-handed. Just help out the right side a little bit if, God forbid, La Tang is not here next year.

You know, Bear was a healthy scratch-all playoff long for the hurricanes. I don't think that's going to sit well with him. and, you know, he could potentially ask out. You know, I think he deserved to play in the playoffs for the Hurricanes. He had a good regular season for them. I think it was almost 20 points this season. Underwriting numbers have always been strong. He is another player I would look at for at least for the right side if Crystal Tang does not come back.

Otherwise, you know, the market here, you know, kind of a little baron. I mean, you know, I'llio Lubushkin. and he's a UFA, you know, that wouldn't be, I don't think, the worst idea. Andre Seckerub with the Dallas Stars, he's a bit too old. Robert Haig, no thank you. Troy Stetcher with the Kings is a UFA. Probably not. Justin Braun, we all see him get absolutely walked by the Crosby line in that series.

Brett Kulak. He's a UFA as a left-handed option. He's done really well with the Edmonton Oilers right now. I think he would make a lot of sense to bring a heat win for very cheap at the trade deadline, to say the least, when he was traded from Montreal to Edmonton, and I think he could come in on a pretty cheap contract for the Penguins. So those are most of the targets that I am looking at.

I'm probably going to do a big, deep breakdown of some of these players as free agency yet to do. But that's just a little tease of who I think the Penguins could go after if they want to make some changes on the back end at both the left side if their trade is made and potentially the right side. if Crystal Tang has not come back. But that'll do it for this episode of the Locktown Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for listening.

Of course, I understand the team's not making a lot of moves right now. It's very, very quiet. But at the end of the day, there's still always things to talk about with this team. And I appreciate every single one of you listening to the show. I'm listening to give my analysis, my opinions on, you know, what the team should do with some moves off season and, you know, just what I thought of some players from this past season and what they should do with them moving forward.

So have another episode coming for you all on Thursday. You can check that up. Hopefully, I'm hoping for that in the afternoon. I think in Friday, I'm going to hope for morning to afternoon for that one. So again, thank you all so much for listening. Hope you all for great rest of your night. And I'll talk to you all on Thursday.