Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Talking all things Penguins with Josh Yohe!

Episode Date: July 25, 2024

Happy Thursday! Hunter is back with special guest Josh Yohe while Pat is going to get cooked at the beach for the next few days. To start the show, Hunter and Josh discuss the moves that Kyle Dubas has made and what grade Josh would give him so far. He also gives his thoughts on what Dubas's best move has been before they look at Josh's travel guide for Penguins fans. He gives his recommendations for arenas that Penguins fans should go see before the two discuss Nick Pryor's exit. Was Josh surprised by this move? What's next in that department? Finally, Josh gives his thoughts on whether Dubas is done making moves this offseason and who will be on the TV and especially the radio broadcasts this season. 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 eBayMotors.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. As playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up ALL CUSTOMERS with a boost or a bonus, DAILY! That’s right, there’s something for everyone, every day, all summer long! Visit FANDUEL.COM 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.

Even though Pat is on vacation, the show must still go on. And today, I have a very special guest to help me for this episode. You're Locked-on Penguin, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your hosts, Hunts or Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Normally I would say I'm joined by Patrick Dam. You can follow him on Twitter at Cinder for Wet, but Pat is on vacation.

He's going to the beach. He's probably going to get a lot of sunburn over these next few days. But that's okay. The show must go on. And joining me today is Josh Yoey of the Athletic. Josh, last time you were on the show, I was getting cooked on a beach on vacation. So I feel like it's time to return the favor now that Pat is on vacation. He's about to get cooked on the beach.

I told your partner in crime last month that I would only come on in the future just with him and not if you were involved. But that was a joke, obviously, as we are pre-executive. improving today, Hunter. And also a new podcast policy. As long as the Pittsburgh Pirates are above 500, I will be wearing my Pittsburgh Pirates hat on the air. See, I'll blame you for that because this is the best I've seen the Pirates play. And they at least have a shot to make the playoffs this year,

considering how bad the National League is. But yes, yes. Wanted to get Josh on overall. Remember, friends, that this episode is brought to you by Fandall. Make every moment more. As the playoffs wind down, the sports, stop sporting like we want them to. but this summer, Fandul's hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily. That's right.

There is something for everyone every day all summer long. Visit fandul.com to get started. And of course, everyone, thank you so much for making this, your first listen slash watch of the day. So Josh, Kyle Dubas has been pretty busy yet again this offseason. He was pretty busy last off season as well. But when you compare the two off seasons, this is where I want to start with you, what grade would you give Dubis so far this off season? And do you think he's done a better job this year compared to last year?

Well, I will say this. At least there's a plan this year that's starting to form. Maybe it's not what everybody wants. But it's very clear to me that for the first time, Dubus is concerning himself much more with the future. You know, I've had people say to me, why is he trading for Hayes? This doesn't make sense. He wants to get younger and faster. And I said, well, he got a second round draft pick out of that trade.

That's why. That's what he is concerning himself with right now, whereas last summer, spending too much money on Ryan Graves, spending perhaps too much money on Tristan Jari, very aggressive, still trying to see if this team has a Stanley Cup run in it. And I think it became evident to Kyle

pretty early in the season that this was not a Stanley Cup team. And of course, ultimately it was not even a playoff team. And he realized that. And his tone now is much different than it was last summer. He's talking about the future a lot, and he knows the big guys don't like it because, you know, Crosby, Malkin, the thing, they want to win right now. But, you know, I just don't think Kyle believes that it's feasible.

So overall grade, I'd probably give him a C last off season because he did some good things last off season. Like, I'm not going to give him a hard time for getting Riley Smith for a third round pick. I like the trade at the time. He didn't work out. That doesn't mean it was a bad trade. I thought the Carlson trade was great then. I still do.

Obviously, the grave signing was a disaster. The LR. signing was really good. So it was a little all over the place. I don't want to ride on the fence again, but I'd probably give them a C again this year because it's nothing to get excited about. I don't think they're going to be particularly good next season. We were just talking about the National League not being very good.

Maybe the Eastern Conference won't be very good either. And who knows, maybe they'll still be one of those teams on the peripheral of the playoff race, I think that's certainly possible. So that will keep us interested throughout the season. I don't think he did anything to make them better, but he did compile a bunch of assets. They are starting to put together draft picks

and down the road that might make a difference. And even, you know, the Gensel trade didn't bother me at all. You got a bunch of prospects now. A couple of those guys become NHL players. You take that. You got bunting, which I think he played better than people expected him to. So they're finally starting to look toward the future. So from that standpoint, I give Dubus credit.

But you almost have to give him an incomplete because that that's a long range job. And I know Penguins fans don't want to hear it because it's not what we're used to talking about the last 20 years, but that's where they are right now. Right. I mean, Pat and I both gave him around to see when we evaluated his moves right after July 1 for free agency. I think the best move he made, I've said it a lot on the show already, was Blake LaZott, because I think he's a legit fourth-line center, good defense. can kill penalties he'll give you some scoring he gave him only a little bit of term but i'm totally

fine with that considering how lazotte played in l a bavilliers he just hasn't been that good these last couple of years if he can get closer to that level that he was at a couple years ago i think that could be interesting and then grizzlick i mean i was all for him signing here a couple years ago but i just know he's kind of gone downhill a little bit these last couple of years as well Speaking of that, Josh, were you surprised they chose him over P.O. Joseph because I was figuring at the time they were going to bring Joseph back, but then they kind of had a change of heart there. I kind of was, Hunter. You will remember a game. It was late in the regular season when the penguins were on that incredible run that almost got them into the playoffs. They went down in early April to Washington, D.C. and just destroyed the capitals. It was like 4-1. It wasn't even that close. They played a great game. and I was talking with a couple of people in the front office and, you know, just around the press box.

And they wouldn't stop talking about P.O. Joseph and how great he was that night. Then I'm leaving the locker room after the game. And Kyle stayed in there like having a piece of pizza. I look at him. I said, hey, Kyle. And all he said, it was the only sentence he said to me. He looks at me and he goes, how about P.O. tonight? I was like, yeah.

Yeah, P.O. was really good. So when he said that, I'm thinking, man, they like the direction. his game is going. And he was really good down the stretch. When when Crystal Tang was struggling, I thought P.O. kind of carried that pairing a little bit. That was the best hockey we'd seen him play.

I don't think PEO is great. I think for a first round pick, he's disappointing. But given their situation on the blue line, I kind of did think they would bring it back. And I was surprised by it. And yes, that signing, if it were three years ago,

like, man, they just got a heck of a defenseman. Now, you know, he obviously has struggled the last couple of years. We will see. But yeah, I was a little bit surprised. I think that was on July 2nd when that all went down. I was like, wow, that wasn't what I was anticipating. Overall, Josh, with that in mind, what would you say your favorite signing or acquisition has been from Dubus this off season?

You know, I like Lazade a lot also. I don't know why there's some teams. I'm always up late after home game, so I'm always watching the Western teams play. I think he's a nice player. I really do. And I think he'll make their bottom six better. And the bottom six in general should be better now. They really have too many bottom six centers at this point.

It's kind of a, they have like three or four legit fourth line centers, which isn't a bad thing necessarily. But I don't know who the three C necessarily is. If Hayes gets the first crack at that, he certainly, when he's been at his best, he'd be really good in that role. I was talking with a couple of people who watched the blues play a lot. And I asked about him and how he looked last year. And the word I kept hearing was slow, slow, slow, like, oh, that's not great.

Of course, he's a big guy, so that helps. Yeah, Lazzaa guy, he's like a sneaky player who has, you know, pretty good puck skills for a bottom six guy. I think he could thrive in Pittsburgh. I like that pickup a lot. I can't say that I'm enamored with any of the pickups Kyle made, but I also will say he didn't make any terrible decisions. There are no financial problems with any of these moves down the road.

but if they don't work out, no big deal. You're still clearing salary next season. You don't have anybody long term. I think that's really important for the penguins. You can see what's going on here. They are looking to simply build assets, compile draft picks and prospects, and they hope in a couple of years,

Crosby is still playing close to this level, and then I bet they will go spend some money and make some maybe more long-term kind of commitment. So nothing sexy about the signings that they made. I like Lazot. But no risk either. It's not like you could just give Ryan Graves a six-year deal like last summer. Right.

And it's funny you say that because Pat's thinking on the show has been, they may kind of just quote unquote punt this season and then maybe sell off some of those assets that they signed up a deadline to go get more draft picks or prospects. And then his thinking is they're going to spend a lot of money next off season to go do at least one more. potential run with Crosby coming just because of the amount of cap space they have and how the free agent crop at least next year is better than this one. At least that's his thinking overall.

Curious to see if you kind of thought the same there too. Pat's a smart man, so he might be on to something. I don't know. It could be. I think there are a lot of variables in place. How many of the prospects in the organization now will be ready to play next year. Is Yeager ready next year to be an impactful player? And he might be. You watch the kid play, watch him in rookie camp. Like, man, I mean, he's impressive.

Man again boys out there during rookie camp. He was killing everyone. A couple of the prospects from the Gensel trade. Maybe they're ready by next year. Then all of a sudden that changes things. Maybe I know nobody wants to hear this because we all love him so much, myself included. But, you know, after

next season, you can trade Brian Rust if you want. What if you can trade Brian Russ for a first round pick and you go get a top 20 pick with Brian Russ and then all of a sudden you've got his you can take that $5 million and spend it in free agency if you want to we could see moves like that that's very much in play I think we're going to kind of wait and see in terms of how the team looks and also in terms of how the prospects progress but but yeah that that certainly is possible and I would emphasize I don't expect this to be like some five-year pitts Pittsburgh Pirates rebuild.

You saw what the Kings did a few years ago. You see what the capitals are doing now. I think it's going to be something along those lines. And Dubus has said it to me privately and publicly. He said, as long as Sid's on this team, it's not like we're going to be some bottom five team that's going to get the first pick in the draft. And that's just the way it is.

He's too good. He's not going to let his plummet to that level. Right. I know they're not going to potentially be that good next year, but they're not going to be, I think, a bottom five to 17. I think maybe bottom 10, potentially, but not bottom five. You're probably right, but you can look at it from a glass half full standpoint and say, you know, if the power play is like league average next year, they might still be a

playoff team. Yeah. And that's not like unthinkable. If the power play is considerably better and if Adelkevich plays as well as he did and if Jari is decent, they could still be a playoff team. I would not pick them right now on July 25th or whatever is to be a playoff team. But when you look at the teams that got into the playoffs last year, they're not very good.

Is Washington really a playoff team? No. Now I look at their division and I think the Rangers, Hurricanes and Devils are clearly better than them on paper. So, yeah, they're probably going to be in the wild card position, but anything can happen. But, you know, if Crosby gets hurt and the goal. old 10 instincts, they could be a bottom five team then.

They absolutely could be. It's in play. I don't think there's any question about that. Sure. Yeah. And right now I still kind of see them in that middling range, you know, right? Where, for example, you know, teams like the Red Wings were last year, Buffalo and other teams throughout there.

Buffalo has been there for 10 years, I think. I know. Yeah. They honestly have to make the playoff in someone. You know, Washington, at least where they were last year, though. I think when I look at Washington right now, I see them as one of the favorites to get a wild card spot, but we'll just have to see if that happens. But I think that'll do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, we're going to get into the question. I think everyone

wants to know it right now, what is happening with Cindy Frosby's contract extension, and we're going to get into the best road trip for Penguins fans for this upcoming season. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about our first sponsor, and that is a fan duel. I love sports. I love them so much that I never want them to stop. But as the playoffs wind down, we get fewer games. And the sports aren't sporting like I want them to, but Fandul lets me keep the sports going whenever I want. All I have to do is open the app and dream up bets anytime I'm in the mood. And this summer, Fandle is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily. That's right.

There is something for everyone every day all summer long. So head on over to Fandual.com and start making the most out of your summer. That's Fandle, the official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball. All right. We're back on here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Huntser Hodes. I'm joined today by special guest Josh Yewie. So as I hinted at, Josh, where are we at with this Sydney-Crosby extension?

Just because it is now late July. I know quite a few people out there thought this was going to be announced on July 1st. It was not. But as August 7th gets closer, it feels like they're going to announce this on Crosby's 37th birthday. Does it not? It does. That would, you were just talking about Fandol, which I too, I'm a big fan and a subscriber.

If I were placing odds on fan duel, I would certainly make August 7th of the most likely time for the news to break. It's funny, everybody in the Penguins organization and in Crosby's camp has been kind of quiet about it, but I have not sensed from either side that there's any particular concern here. And I don't think there is.

I think it will get announced. Is it conceivable that Sid would have preferred dubus be more aggressive in July. Yeah, maybe. I don't know. He hasn't told me that. I haven't heard of say that. I know that has been speculated by some, but the fact of the matter is Sid has never displayed any interest in wanting to play anywhere else. He never gets salty with reporters, but he almost got salty a couple of times this season when his contract came up. And he essentially said in as many words, like, hey, I've always said I wanted to be here forever. Like, nothing's changed. I just, I don't think there's any concern at all. A lot of people that I've talked with think it'll be a three-year contract, which will take him to his 40th birthday. Could that be his last contract?

It could. We'll see. I know what a hockey junkie, Junkie Sidney Crosby is. I could very easily see him playing into his 40s, and he could still be great. And Sid doesn't have that kind of ego where I think he needs to be one of the three or four best players in the league, whatever, you know,

as long as he's still effective and he loves. loves the game so much. I could see him play into his 40s, but I can also see him stop then, especially given the concussion issues that he's had over the years. God forbid if he ever got another one of those, yeah, there would be great concern about how much longer he would play. I think he takes it really seriously, but I expect him to sign a three-year deal. August 7th is a very good possibility for sure. But if there are Penguins fans out there who are nervous about him not signing a deal, I would not be concerned. Don't listen to our friends in Denver. I love Aves fans. They're great. I understand very well why they would want Sid to come to play his last few years with his buddy, the date dog, but I just don't see it happening.

No, I don't either. And also, I've said this a couple of times already. Do we really think Crosby wants to get asked about his contract basically every day during this upcoming season? Josh, I think he'll start to get annoyed fairly quickly. Yeah, I could see that. And I also don't think he is the type to want to put the penguins in an odd situation. or to put Kyle Dubus in an awkward position. There's no reason for him not to sign if this is where he wants to be, and I think we all know that it is. So I fully expect that to be the case. I don't sense any particular drama like we had with Gino a couple of years ago. I don't think it's going to be that.

And remember this, too, if you're concerned about him leaving, he very much was pushing for then general manager Ron Hextall to keep of getting him all going to Chris LaTang. He's not going to leave them here after he fought to make sure that they would finish their careers here. So he is not going anywhere. I'm interested in the price. I know it has been speculated by some.

He might get $10 million a year. Some think he'll just stick at $8.7 because that's the number he likes. He's earned that race. He's always outplayed every contract. So if he wants $10 million a year, whatever, I don't think Kyle Dubus or anyone else in the organization will have a particular problem with that. He has earned it and then some. But I, boy, everybody I talk with seems to think it will be a three-year deal.

So that's what I would expect. He's been below market value for the last decade at this point. So yeah, if he wants to get a little bit of a raise on that contract, get to $10 million for three years. I don't think anyone's going to be mad about it. If you are somehow upset about that, then you know, you should probably rethink your priorities. of a wall. And remember, Hunter, the cap's going to really go up the next few years. Yes. Like it's going, it's probably going to, I don't know, skyrocket's the right term. But it's going to go up like $5 million a year probably the next couple of years here.

So he will not be committed in an injustice if he requests a slight raise. No, yeah, I agree 100%. And switching gears a little bit, Josh, you just posted your travel guide for Penguins fans for this upcoming season. And with that in mind, what would you say? is your number one road trip idea for Penguins fans listening or watching this or just out there in general, what cities would you recommend Penguins fans to go to to visit and also see a game there where the Penguins will be playing? Well, yeah, it's one of the perks of my job. I get to go to all these places.

So years ago, I started thinking, God, I should write an article about what it's like in different cities. And every single season now, I'll be in a random city. Like I was in San Jose a couple years ago, and this real sweet old couple came up to me. They were like 80 years old. and they said, you know, we've always wanted to come to California, and we read your article, and we thought, we're just going to go to the hotel where you sent us. That made me feel so good. Like, oh, geez, like somebody actually reads this and actually does this. This is great. There's no bad choices. Well, there's a couple. But, you know, don't go to Philadelphia unless you're a very large human being with a bulletproof vest.

You know, there's a couple I would avoid. I'm not a big fan of the New Jersey's and the Long Island to the world. I always tell people, if you ever have a chance to go to one road trip, and I realize everybody, his budget is different and everybody's life circumstance is different. And I certainly am understanding to that. But if you get a chance once in your life to go to Montreal, it's my favorite city. It's an unbelievable place to watch a hockey game. They just know the game so well there. And just to see the respect they have for Sidney Crosby there, they always applaud him when he's

announced in warmups. They applaud when he scores a goal. And he's one of the three stars. He gets a standing ovation there. He is such of a god in Montreal. It's just a cool thing to experience. And if you like restaurants, if you like the nightlife, you will not do better than Montreal, I promise you. So that's always the place I recommend for people.

But, you know, if you just want to have fun and have some beverages, go to Vegas or Nashville. You'll enjoy it. If you like to go hiking and if you enjoy the beauty of the outdoors, go to Vancouver or Denver. I think those are my top five. And Tampa, I'm a big Tampa fan as well. but yeah, there's so many cool road trips. Save a little bit of money. I'll put it on the side.

Go see the penguins on the road. I'm telling you, it's a fun experience. And Hunter, how many, I know you've been to D.C. because you're from that neck of the woods. How many road venues have you been to? Have you been to a few? TD Garden. That's actually in Boston.

That's right. Yeah, I went to Boston for that Penguins, that crazy back and forth, Penguins, Bruins game. I mean, with the game winner, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that was a heck of a game. And TD Garden, I feel like is a very underrated arena overall. I feel like it's a nice place to watch a game. Just obviously, you know, Boston sports fans, they get a little crazy. But in particular, they actually weren't that bad.

That's a beautiful city too. If you're into history, you're not going to do much better than Boston. I will say also food-wise, Boston is awesome. That's probably one of the best cities for food in the country, in my opinion. I have been to the Wells Fargo Center for a Flyers game. No, thankfully, I did not wear any time. I enjoy the gear for that. One of the Flyers, I think. They played the Blackhawks back in like 2016, 2017 time frame somewhere around there. But that was quite a bit of fun overall. I do want to get up to Little Caesar's arena. I'm surprised you didn't say that, Josh, because I know you love that arena quite a bit.

And just seeing it live on television, it looks gorgeous. It's my favorite building in the league by far. And it's funny, Joe Lewis Arena was such of a dump. And I know there was a special history there for the Penguins in Joe Lewis Arena, of course. but it was not a nice place. And Detroit in general, like Detroit gets a bad rap. It has really gotten much nicer in the last decade. It is, you know, listen, it's a city.

There's crime in every city, but it's not nearly as bad as it used to be in that regard. It is a great building. It's only about a four, four and a half hour drive from Pittsburgh. I totally recommend it. The only problem with Detroit this year. Feel free to go. The Peg was playing there twice.

The first game there is the Red Wings Home Opener on October 10th, I think it is so heavy, tough to get tickets. And the other game in Detroit is, on New Year's Eve. So if you want to go to Detroit, on New Year's Eve, be my guest. I'll probably be there. I'll, you know,

maybe we'll find a party afterwards or something. I don't know. But it's worth it to see the building. I'm telling you, it's one of those buildings like the seats go straight up. So you're looking right down on the ice. The vantage point of the ice is great. The food's wonderful.

It's a spectacular place to see a game. It really is. Yeah, no, it definitely looks like it, at least on television. I've always wanted to go to the Bell Center. It has such a beautiful history. They sell out every game. I've always wanted to go there.

I also have always wanted to go to Toronto's arena. I know Leaves fans can get a little crazy, but that arena also looks fairly nice. And I also just want to go to Toronto as a city in general. Oh, you've never been there? Oh, you have to. It's a very simple trip. It's five-hour drive.

Traffic's terrible there. You've been warned. But once you're in the city, downtown Toronto is one of the great cities in North America. It's got like, it's not as big as New York City. It's not New York City, but it's a lot cleaner. It's a lot friendlier. And it is kind of a similar vibe. It's just so diverse, so many different restaurants, so many museums, things to see.

And if you're going for a hockey game, and the Penguins only play there once this season, it's the first Saturday of the year. It's October 12th, which is a beautiful time of the year to be in Toronto, by the way. You drive up Friday night. You spend all day Saturday at the Hockey Hall of Fame, which is five minutes away from the arena. if you like hockey, if you appreciate this sport, you will love that Hall of Fame. I go there almost every time I'm in Toronto. I just love walking around for a couple of hours.

You will love the Mario Lemieux exhibit is massive. It's Bernie Penguins fan, you're going to love it. And then you just make your way over to the game. And it will cost you because Leafs tickets are never cheap, and that's their home opener as well. But it's a great building. It's held up really nicely. It's like, I guess 30 years old now almost, I think. think. It's still in really great shape. Yeah, it's just, it's one of the bucket list trips for sure.

Toronto's a great town. It's definitely on mine. Another one for me, at least if the Jets make the playoffs again is a Winnipeg Whiteout game. I need to go up there for that, man. Oh, yeah. Seeing how those fans get so rowdy, I just, I loved watching that series against Colorado just because the Winnipeg whiteout was flat out awesome. When you're in that building, too, what you notice, like every building's different in this regard. The ceiling is like right on top of your head. You notice how low the ceiling is. That place is loud. The atmosphere is legit.

It's top five fielded in the league for sure. And the people of Winnipeg, it's one of those places. They are so friendly. Oh, my God. You will meet the nicest people. There's a few cities that always jump out of me. I call it the friendly factor. Like, Winnipeg fans are so nice.

Minnesota fans are so nice. Maybe it's a cold weather thing. I don't know. Those are probably the two that always jump out of me. You will meet the nicest people there. It will be a very pleasant experience. And as I wrote in my article, I wrote like a three-part article about that this week. I wrote, listen, Winnipeg's not the most exotic place.

But if you're a hockey fan, there's something cool about saying, hey, I'm sorry, I can't attend that birthday party this week. I'll be at a hockey game in Winnipeg. It just sounds different than like I'll be at the Penguins game in Pittsburgh. I'll be in Winnipeg. Any of the privilege of flying into Winnipeg's airport, which I have heard actually does exist, Josh. Can we confirm that? It's very small. It is.

In fact, you know what's funny. I was not on the trip to Winnipeg last season. And the Penguins Raiders who were, I forget, I know Dan Kngerski was one. I'm not sure who the others were. It was, they was Super Bowl Sunday. They got stuck in Winnipeg for like 12 hours at the airport. I was having all kinds of fun with them, just making fun of them for being stuck in the airport. Because there's not that many flights out of Winnipeg.

So if one gets canceled, you're screwed. You're stuck there, especially at the weather's bad. And that's one good thing. If you want to just go all in and just say, screw it, I'm going to Winnipeg this year. Again, all the Penguins Canadian games almost are in October. So the weather won't be bad. I think it's October 20th, they play in Winnipeg. And the hockey gods have done us a favor hunter for that game.

Penguins' Jets on a Sunday afternoon is at 3 o'clock. The Steelers play on Sunday night football against the Jets. Jets versus Jets or two Jets games for the Steelers and Penguins on the same day. So you get to go to the game in Winnipeg and still get back to your hotel and watch the Steelers game. So everything works out great. Yeah, that's perfect. And I know you could probably talk about the arena stuff for quite a while,

but we don't have that type of time on the show. If you want to go read Josh's Travel Guide, you can go do the athletic and check that out overall. But that would do it for this second segment. Coming up to end the show, we're going to get into Nick Pryor leaving the Penguins for the Colorado Avalanche. Josh was first to report that on Wednesday.

Plus get into what else Kyle Dubus could do at some point this offseason, especially for Crosby's left wing. but that's all coming up right after this. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Huntsor Hodes, joined by special guest Josh Yewe. So, Josh, as I said, you were the first to report that Nick Pryor was leaving the Penguins organization to run Colorado's amateur scouting. He kind of had the same role here, but going to Colorado where he just has to report to

Chris McFarland and Joe Sackett, I think that probably works better for him as to having to report to West Clark and not Kyle Dubus. I said on Wednesday's show, I figured this was going to happen last year because I thought they were going to bring in West Clark last year. It happened a year later. But I'm guessing you weren't too surprised by this move. No, not particularly. You know what I found interesting about the prior situation in general?

When his dad was dismissed, along with Ron Hextall, more than a year ago now, I didn't really expect Nick to stay in the organization. I thought either he'd be part of the firings or, you know, Kyle would just want to go with all new people. And I actually really respect Kyle Dubus for keeping Nick Pryor this first season. And, you know, by all accounts, everyone I've talked with in the organization, they have really nice things to say about the guy. I thought he did a solid job underdubis overall. And it's tough. I mean, it's like the Penguins over the years he's been here, I've had a ton of draft picks, you know, a ton of prospects to work with.

you know, it's hard to gauge these guys when, oh, well, there's no first round pick this year, and we got, you know, five picks in the whole draft. So we won't know really what kind of a job he did for a couple of more years. But I can tell you that he was highly regarded in the organization, a really good guy. And I really respected Kyle for keeping him in that position. But, yeah, with Wes Clark here, you know, that's somebody who's worked closely with Kyle in the past. He's a highly regarded guy. he's going to have a lot of power in the organization.

So I think Nick probably saw the writing on the wall. And listen, Colorado is a great organization. Like if you have to pick a place now, they will be in the same position as the Penguins probably moving forward, whether in win now mode, which can make it tougher when you're in charge of the draft and things of that nature, because you're not always going to have the picks that you want,

then you can't really strike out when you do have a pick. But it's a great organization to work for. And I have a lot of respect for everybody involved. in this situation. It had to be awkward with the situation with his dad and Hextall being so close. But he's made a career for himself and good for him. But Wes is clearly going to be calling the shots now.

So I think it probably works out best for everybody. And Wes was also doing a fairly solid job running the draft for Toronto. It's very well known that he was the guy calling the shots at the draft table and running that draft in general. So to bring that expertise over to the pay. penguins, especially with where they're at right now. I mean, that's just a slam dunk move for me. It is.

And I think it was a contractual thing. I know West was still under contract with the Leafs last season. I suspect he would have been happy to come to Pittsburgh last year with Kyle. I don't think the Leafs were going to let that happen. And so when Kyle was hired, I heard from numerous people in Toronto that day. And they all said, trust me, West Clark's going to end up in Pittsburgh at some point you watch. Like he and Kyle were really close. the guy's good.

People like working for Kyle. And I know for a fact in Toronto, maybe not everybody liked working with Kyle. Maybe Brennan-Shannahan didn't. Maybe there's a couple of people that didn't. But I know for the most part people did like working for him. And you're starting to see that influx of people from Toronto now, starting to make their way to Pittsburgh.

I suspect that will continue over the years. Yeah, I mean, I don't know West personally, but I do know that he is a highly regarded guy. And, yeah, Toronto did draft pretty much. well under him. And again, it's harder when you are a good team. You're picking in the 20s most year in the draft. That that's not always an easy situation to find yourself in. It's, you know, it's not that hard to draft if you got a top five pick every year. You know, that's, you're usually not going to screw that one up sometimes, but usually not. But now that this is going to be

interesting to see how things go under Wes. But I can't criticize any of the move the Penguins made in that regard. I agree. And just a couple more things left for you before I let you go here. Josh, one of the biggest needs I still think the Penguins have is a left winger for Cindy Crosby. I very much like Drew Connor. I think he has the ability to score 20 goals in the league next season. But, man, wouldn't he be great on the third line overall considering how he played this past year? What else do you think Dubis has up his sleeve potentially this off season? And do you think he goes out and gets a winger for Crosby either via free agency,

even though there's really not much left overall or via trade? That's the problem. I know for a fact they offered Teresenko a deal on July 1st. I think with the thought in mind that he might play with Sid, even though stylistically, I don't know how that would have worked. Sid loves playing with fast guys. And for all of Tarasenko's gifts, he's not really that fast. But he's also a really good player.

So they tried then. They didn't really make much of an offer to anyone else than I'm aware of for a top six kind of role. It is funny, though, that I was told a couple of days before, July 1st that Kyle's primary concern with his team was finding Sid a left wing. And he hasn't been able to do it yet. I like Drew O'Connor, too. He finally came into his own. He was really good down the stretch playing on Crosby's line.

Yeah, he could score 20 playing with Sid. I don't think there's any question about that. But wouldn't you love Drew O'Connor as like the guy on a third line? Like, isn't that probably who he is? That's what I think, and that's my concern for the Penguins. I don't know who else you put there. Bunting would be fine there, but he and Gino were so good together. I don't think you split that up.

So if the roster remains as it is right now, I suspect that you're going to see Drew O'Connor there. The only, this is a long shot, I admit, what if Yeager comes into camp and just like puts on a show and you have to play him? And you can play, he's a natural center, but he can play right wing. I know it's a long shot, but what if he's so good that you can't keep him off the roster? You're not going to play them in your bottom six. And then maybe things get wild. Raquel could play left wing. Russ can play left wing if he has to.

Then maybe you get a little creative. I guess that's possible. But my best bet for opening night would be Crosby's centered, centering Brian Russ and Drew O'Connor. I think that's probably what we are going to see. And it's not the end of the world of O'Connor's there. But you'd like to see somebody with perhaps, you know, a higher ceiling in terms of finishing.

And it's not a knock on Drew. I would just love Drew to be kind of the centerpiece on the third line. I think he's that good that he can play that role. I don't know if throughout the course of the season, if he's going to be so effective on the top line that you just wouldn't want to move him at some point. Having a couple of natural finishers next to Kevin Hayes on the third line, so on like an O'Connor, saw him like a Pustin, especially with his release, Josh. It just makes so much sense as a third line heading in the next season,

while acquiring someone via trade to come play with Crosby. That's, I guess, my ideal world for this scene. And then having Bunting with Malkin and Raquel, I know Raquel's been popped up in trade rumors at times. I've even said numerous times that I feel like I would not mind if they moved on from him. But I think as of right now, he's going to have a shot to bounce back next year. But before that, just looking at the third line in that scenario and then the first line, that would be my best case scenario.

No, I agree with you. Pustin is kind of a wild card. I've never made up my mind on him entirely. He's okay. He doesn't hurt you when he's in the lineup. You can see, he's one of those guys. When he scores goals, like, it's always like, man, what a shot. Like you see the tell and it jumps out at you.

You just want to see more of that. Now, I will say, you know, Brian Russ's first couple of years, he didn't score a lot, but you just always noticed him. He always had the puck. He was always doing good things. And eventually that finishing touch, finally started to show up for him. I don't know if Pustin is that kind of a guy.

Brian Russ is a hell of a hockey player. I'm not going to compare him to him. But maybe he is the kind of guy, the more he plays, he will learn how to score goals at the NHL level. You certainly see the talent. It'd be nice if he could make some kind of a rise. It'd be nice for the Penguins of just one of these guys who's like a low round draft pick,

who just kind of exceeded expectations and became a 25 goal score. They could really use a couple of those. You see other teams luck into that sometimes. The Penguins historically, do not, it seems like. That would be great. But no, I agree with you. And I, you know, the top six is fine. It's okay. I feel like it could use one more piece, though. But now Kyle's in a situation, they don't have much cap space. There's not much available. He doesn't

have many players he can trade because of all the no movement clauses. And he doesn't want to trade any of the prospects of draft picks that he has. So I, I'd be surprised if they bring in somebody at this point to be SIDS left wing. Yeah, I mean, I hear you, I just wish that they would do that just because I feel like it would make the team deeper overall. One last thing I got here for you, Josh. What's the plan for the Penguins TV and radio broadcast this year? Is Phil Bork going to be with Josh Getsoff full time on television? What's the plan now with radio now that Steve Mears is in Columbus?

And again, congratulations to Steve on getting that role. Is Michelle Pekyllo Yolo going to do more radio work? What's going on with that department? These are all great questions. I wish I had more answers. I can tell you this. There was a rumor for a while that the penguins were going to consider doing a simulcast, which would just be same two broadcasters for TV and radio.

I'm dating myself. This is long before you were born, Hunter, but back in the 80s and 90s, Mike Lang and Paul Sagarroll was a simulcast. What you heard on the radio was what you were listening to on TV. But I've been told the penguins are not going to do that, that's not going to happen. So we know Gets Off is the TV play-by-play guy. That's set in stone. there's been nothing made official about what they're doing.

It might be Bork and Armstrong and Rupp again doing a series of games, which is fine. They're all good. That's conceivable. I would not be surprised if at some point Phil Bork has just given the reins to go be with Josh. They're so good together. That's probably what I would do. And I love Colby and Mike,

but I just think gets off and the two-niner are so good together. I'd love to hear them just every game on TV. But I think it'll be similar to last season. You might have all three of them, or it will just be Phil and Josh. As for the radio, boy, that's the really interesting situation. I know the penguins are kind of conducting a search right now. I think it's internal and external. So I don't know who it will be.

I would expect an announcement at some point. I'm sure before Labor Day we're going to know something, if not before then. So I don't know. But I do know there will still be separate TV and radio broadcast, which is good. And if works out on TV all the time, I'm sure he will be in the radio booth doing color commentary where he is so very good. So to be determined, we shall see. Hey, you know, they announced it, you know, right around Labor Day weekend last year,

what their full TV and radio plans would be. So I would not be surprised if they did it for a second year in a row this year. If you're asking me, I do think Bork should be with Getsal full time. They just mesh so well together. I always learn something new when I listen to Bork call games. And he does not shy away from crushing the team where they deserve it. No. He goes off on the radio.

He was going off during some games on TV. I think the perfect world. Him with Getsoff and Armstrong, I think that's a slam dunk broadcast in my opinion. Borke's the best because he just says it how it is. And I know fans appreciate that. Like, you know, Borke wants the Penguins to win. The guy bleeds black and gold. But you can still be objective, even if you want them to win, right?

And I think he's a perfect example of that he is not afraid to call people. people out. He says it like it is. I love that about him. And I always say he's so handsome. He needs to be on television. He's being wasted on radio. But I, you know, I don't, I don't call the shots. So I don't know what to tell you on that one. But I'm sure he'll be on TV some, if not all the time. And yeah, I think the real question now is who are they going to bring in to be the radio play by play guy? That certainly will be interesting. And we took for granted for so long, you know, with the same people who were fixtures in the booth forever, Mike lying cheap among them, of course.

So these are uncharted waters a little bit. Yeah. And same thing for color commentary on the radio. I'm curious to see who they decide to do that. If it's Michelle Crackiolo, if they bring someone outside of your organization, it's going to be fascinating, I think overall.

But I think that would do it for this episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast. Josh, where can everyone find you on social media? And what do you have coming up on the athletic? Well, yes, it's late July, so I will not be writing much in the next couple of weeks. I always read a big article on Sid's birthday.

Now, if there's a contract article, I bet have two articles to write on his birthday. So that will certainly be worth watching. But I don't even know. What is my Twitter name? I don't even know. Is it Josh Yoey something? Just Google me.

I don't know. But come to The Athletic.com. I always tell people, come to the, oh, it's right there in front of my face. Josh YoA. Or PGH. I said to look at the screen. But yeah, I always tell people,

and I'm not saying this because I'm such of a company, man. Like, The Athletic has so many things to read. I don't care what your sportive choice is. If it's hockey, football, soccer, baseball, basketball, and especially with the Olympics coming up in a few days, there will be all kinds of great stuff to read. So great things to read. So come to Theathletic.com.

You will not be disappointed. Yes, and Josh, thank you once again for coming on the show. I know it's late July right now, but I just really appreciate you coming on overall. But again, that will do it for this one. Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this one. I'll be back with another show for you all on Friday before the show, officially goes down to three episodes a week starting next week. Pat, we'll be back on Tuesday

next week. That'll be the next episode next week. We'll do Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday next week. And then after that, until about mid-September, we'll be doing Monday, Wednesday, Friday. But until then, I'll be back with another episode for you all on Friday. Thank you so much for tuning in. We really appreciate it. Again, I'll be back on Friday.