Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Talking both games against the New York Rangers with Jon Chik!

Episode Date: February 2, 2021

Hunter is joined by Jon Chik of Locked on New York Rangers for this special crossover episode, and the two hosts go into everything from these last couple of games. They touch on Pittsburgh's power play, and Hunter especially goes more in-depth as to why it's failing this season. Jon then gets into the Tony DeAngelo situation and asks Hunter if the Penguins would take a flier on him, despite what's happened with him throughout his career. They also get into the GM situation and what the latest update with that is, plus talk about how it's likely Sidney Crosby WILL score a lacrosse style goal this season for Pittsburgh.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order. 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.

Your Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day. All right, so welcome back, Ranger fans, Penguin fans. We got a special crossover edition for you guys today. This is John Chick with Lockdown New York Rangers. Joined by Hunter Hodes of Lockdown Pittsburgh Penguins.

Hunter, how are we doing today, buddy? Not too bad, man. These franchises have been in the news a lot. couple of, what, last couple of weeks, last couple of days for different reasons. So, you know, it's good that we're getting the other to do a cool crossover. Yeah, absolutely. And a little bit of drama, like you said, for both of these teams. But I wanted to first ask you about the situation with the general manager, Jim Rutherford.

He resigns for you guys about a week ago, give or take. How much of a surprise was this for you and was there any way to see this coming here? It was probably the most surprised that I had been with a penguin moving quite some time. Definitely didn't see it coming. I mean, it sounded like he had the job for life if you wanted it, but resigned out of the blue, I think, due to something philosophical, you know, that's the rumor going around right now, is that there's a disagreement with the higher-ups in the organization, and that you just said, you know what, screw it, and you left seven games into the season.

So they're actively looking for replacement. There's been some, their short list consists of candidates who are not Dale Tallinn, P.M. McGuire or Peter Shirelli, so that's a win in my book. I was always scared that they're going to hire someone like that. But, yeah, I mean, it was definitely something. I didn't see coming, and I think it not only shocked this fan base, but I think it shocked the hockey world in general. Yeah, I mean, what can you say about just the job that he's done, or that he did with the

Penguins rather? I mean, those last two championship teams, his fingerprints were all over them. So, I mean, what can you say about the job that he did there? Yeah, I mean, the banners will fly forever. That's what most people should remember from his time here. Though he did lose his way the last few years. Tom Wilson got inside his head, kind of made trades for the sake of making trades. I think overall for his tenure in Pittsburgh, man, he had.

made over 50 trades in 6 to 7 seasons that he was here. I think that's the most of any general manager in the league, if I'm not mistaken. He just kind of like went back, just trying to correct previous errors. And then just by doing another error and just went back and forth. You know, there's a couple of movies that he made this season that are looking good, I would say.

The cap and trade has looked better because he's looked, I thought he looked great against the Rangers in both those games. The Hornquist deal, not so much, but, you know, the P.O. Joseph for Phil Kessel, that trade looks even better now because just how great he's been in the small sample side that he's played in. So, I mean, I think the biggest thing, like I said, from his tenure, the Cups will live forever. He was great with those two years of just building the team and retooling. But after that, just lost his way.

To be honest, I don't know a lot of people were calling for his job after these last couple seasons. I understand it. And to be frank, I do think a fresh voice was needed. And I'm hoping they go for this new camera manager they'd bring in, someone who's more. younger, innovative, uses analytics more in their thinking, and this can be here for the longer term, especially after the window closes. Yeah, that makes sense. And you mentioned Casperi Capitan briefly there, and I actually have him written down in my notes.

I wanted to ask you a little bit about him because in the off season, you know, I remember the Rangers. I don't know how much steam this ever really picked up, but the Rangers were definitely interested, maybe looking into some kind of a way that they could strike a deal with the Leafs to bring back Capitan. And it's an interesting situation with the Penguins, because you guys actually drafted him. You dealt him to Toronto, and then you bring him back in another trade. So, I mean, what have you seen from him so far this season? I saw, you know, he got the Rangers for a goal and an assist in the first of these most recent two meetings. But, I mean, how has he played overall for the Penguins this season?

I thought he's honestly been one of their best players since he's come over from Finland. I mean, in their first game, in his first game against the Capitals, he was their best skater on the ice, and he wasn't even there for training camp or some of the games before that. That just goes to show how fresh he was. His feet is so evident every time he steps onto the ice. he's almost kind of been a breakaway specialist, too, and the goal against the Rangers on Saturday night, scored on a breakaway over Georgiev,

I think it was a great pass for Malkin to spring him. And he's just, he's flying out there. He sometimes has trouble taking some passes on his stick, but has a wicked shot. He's looked great next to Gino. I think he's honestly going to stay there for a lot of the season. I know he was handpicked to go play with Sidney Crosby and Jake Gensel, but I think right now that Zuckerer Malkin-Kaptainer line

has looked good, even though Gino's just kind of starting. He's trying to find his way, though I'm sure we're going to get to that later on in this episode. But I just really like what I've seen from him. And if he can continue this offensive production, a lot of people are that you're going to look at that trade differently, you know, just because, of course, they give up that top 15 pick. And, you know, all the questions myself included, you know, was that like a good price to pay for him? But right now, you know, I think that trade is looking better than expected for Pittsburgh. Yeah, for sure. Now, I got to ask you about this, too. If you've been following this

Tony DeAngelo dumpster fire of a situation with the Rangers here? I mean, are you up to date on what's going on there? I have, yeah. There were some people, some Penguin fans in the fan base that were wanting, excuse me, they were wanting the Penguins to go after him, and it was like, why? I mean, it was just like, it almost just reminds me of the Antonio Brown-Levy-on-Bell situation with the Steelers.

Well, mostly Antonio Brown, which is how toxic he was. You just, you know, I read a great tweet. I think it was from Adam Retz or something. You know, the Rangers need defense. I mean, you have Adam Fox, Countrey Miller, and then after that, there's not much. And the fact that they're cutting a guy who had a 50-point season last year because he's so toxic.

That just goes to show, like, how toxic he is on the team if you're not even going to keep someone who put up over 50 points just a season ago. So I don't know why Penguin fans would want that on their team. Yes, I understand any defense, but he'd be better off making a trade for someone like Ben's Dunn or Travis Dermott, which I've suggested on a Lockdowne Penguins podcast or some other defenders, some bottom feeder teams too. So, yeah, man, it's been a dumpster fire to see. What are your thoughts on it?

I mean, I've been talking about quite a bit over these last couple of days. You know, obviously all of yesterday's episode was spent about Tony DeAngelo, and then I actually did a spot with Lockdown Leaves, and I don't know, that might be a part of today's Lockdown NHL episode. I'm not sure how they're going to go there. But it's just a very sad situation, really. I mean, you've got a guy who you mentioned, who as a defenseman, puts up 58 points in I think just 70 games last season.

So you're almost getting a point per game from a defenseman. And now he's become so toxic or, you know, whatever you want to call it, whatever word you want to use. And it's looking like it's at least possible. I thought this is a possibility in yesterday's episode. I mean, I don't think this will happen. But it's possible that this could have been his last NHL game because think about it. I mean, this guy was a first round draft pick. He's only 25 years old.

And he now just burned bridges with his. third team. I mean, I do think he'll get at least one more chance, but if you're the Rangers, I don't know how you handle this because they've said that he's played his last game with the Rangers. Obviously, he went unclaimed on waivers, which is to the surprise of no one. So, I mean, do you try to trade him? I mean, I'm sure they'll try, but I don't know how you're going to get a deal done without either eating half the contract or and or tossing in a draft pick to go along with him, you know, kind of the way that they trade Mark Stahl in the offseason. Now, Mark Stahl wasn't a headache the way Tony DeAngelo was, but with Mark Stahl, they trade him to

Detroit along with a second round traffic, basically saying, here, you guys pay Mark Stahl this year and you can have this second round traffic. I don't know, maybe they can do something similar with Tony DeAngelo, but that would be unfortunate too. You got a rebuilding team and to have to give away, you know, a second rounder or a first rounder or whatever it might be. It's just not a good situation. And, you know, the fact that the Rangers actually won the game last night, just a complete

sigh of relief, I think, for myself and probably every Ranger fan. Yeah, you want to know in the post Tony Gianjillo era. And honestly, man, I agree. I wonder if any teams are actually going to take a chance on him. I mean, it is the NHL, John, so I'm sure maybe a bottom feeder will be like, hey, you know, we'll just give him some minutes and try to rebrand him, I guess, is one word for it, or just kind of just talk to him, I guess. But, yeah, man, I mean, I honestly forgot that he was drafted by the Lightning.

I always thought that he was drafted by Arizona because, of course, he was traded from Arizona to New York. So I actually completely forgot that he was the 19th pick from Tampa. I thought that was from Arizona. So my mistake on that. But, yeah, man, it's just. I don't know if he's going to play again this season, but it's something to monitor. I wonder what they're going to get in return for him. I'm guessing, like you said, it might be like a Marksahl situation.

Hey, we'll give you a draft pick just to take him, like, a second round pick. I mean, I don't think they're going to, the teams are going to force you to give up your first round pick or something like that in a year. But I think like a second or third round pick at some point, or like a roster player or something that could be like, hey, you know, just give us this and we'll take him off your hands. Because I think he makes, like, what, $4.48 million per or something like that. Before we get back to some of the Tony DeAngelo talk for today's episode, it is time to talk about rockado.com.

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I mean, the Rangers are now nine games into this season, but DiAngelo has only played in six of them. He was a healthy scratch for two games early in the season. But, yeah, I mean, he played only six games and six games into this new contract that's going to pay him $9.6 million dollars over two years. You know, the Rangers are bailing out. So not so good for them either.

I mean, if you were going to give up on him, just six games into the season. and I realized he can be a headache, but, you know, I mean, maybe you shouldn't have signed him to that contract in the first place. Maybe you should have tried to sell high in the off season, which there were rumors that they did try to do that, and they didn't find a taker, they didn't find a deal if they liked. But you can't tell me Tony DiAngelo coming off of the season that he had putting up 58 points. There's 30 other teams in the league. I mean, somebody had to have been willing to make a decent offer to the Rangers if they felt like, you know what, this guy's too much of a wild card, we're better off selling high here. And unfortunately, nothing came to fruition.

The Rangers hang on to him. and now they've got quite the mess on their hands. Yeah, they're basically paying the price with that right now pretty efficiently. I saw with that report, you know, apparently he fought, Yorgia basically punched him or something like that. Then I saw that, I think there was a report from Blue Shirt Banner or something, Adam Herman that was debunked that, um, that Kreider got involved or something like that, but I think John Davidson said that was, like, not true.

I yesterday at the media conference. I think that was what I read. Yeah, you know, the narrative's kind of been changing, and, you know, the story's kind of been evolving in a lot of different ways. I know that one theory that was 100% debunked was that Tony DeAngelo, you know, Kandre Miller scored his first goal a couple games ago. And, you know, you could see DeAngelo was on the ice

and you could see him fishing the puck out of the net, and he picked it up. There was a rumor that DeAngelo was actually keeping that puck away from Kandre Miller, which even... Yeah, and even Miller's camp said that that's not true as far as Kandre knows the puck is in the possession of the training staff. So I don't really know where that one came from. And then, you know, even some of the things that Blue Shirts banter website, there were some unnamed sources. Apparently, this guy had three, Adam Herman had three separate unnamed sources that said that Tony DeAngel was mistreating to Andrew Miller.

And then John Davidson in his press conference said that that wasn't true. There wasn't any friction between the two of them. So, I mean, who knows? I, you know, I've seen Adam Herman on, I've read some of his articles. I've seen him on social media. I don't think he's the kind of guy that just makes things up. But, you know, when you have an article like that and all of times, you know, free sources, you know, there's no quotes.

They, you know, they're unnamed sources. Are they players? Who are these people? You know what I mean? So it does make you scratch your head a little bit. But, yeah, I mean, the whole situation is a mess. I don't even know what else to say about it. Yeah, I really don't think there is anything much to say about it.

On that game last night, though, man, you know, just the Penguin Power Play continues to just kill. I think me and every other Penguin fan has died just because of how bad it is. I think, I think scored one or two power play goals on those six opportunities. they probably win that game three to one. Yeah, I agree. And especially when you look at how the first period went last night, it's funny because I feel like that game last night

kind of went the opposite of the way a lot of Ranger Penguins' schemes have been going this season, in that the penguins got off to the hot start. You know, usually what's been happening is the Rangers would get like an early lead, and then the Penguins seem to find their games somewhere in the second period. And obviously the Penguins have been an outstanding third period team this season, and it's almost like, man, we got these guys right where they want them. But, you know, I agree. I mean, if the Penguins' power play could have stepped up.

And, you know, it's not just that they were over six. They just didn't look dangerous on many of their chances. I didn't think. And now, granted, the Ranger penalty kill has been very good lately. They do get a lot of practice because they take a lot of penalties. But I think it was kind of just the perfect storm last night, man. You know, the Penguins have obviously been scuffling on the power play. The Rangers have been very good on the penalty kill.

And it certainly looked that way, watching all the penguin power play opportunities last night. Yeah, it's been like that the whole season, man. I mean, they gained the zone almost every time, you know, the puck is. cleared and then they just stop and then it'll just pass the puck back and forth and then they just won't fire the puck to the net and you know i said this on my episode last late last night i am never a guy that's going to shoot uh to shout from level 200 something shoot it shoot it like those those weirdos that you hear at hockey games and whatnot but i mean for god's sake you got to take a shot at some point you can't just be looking for the perfect path it seems to be all they're doing

i've read a staff of adam regrets that i had on the podcast on monday i think they're averaging 67 shot attempts per 60 on the power play this year. That is dead last in the league. I think the next closest team is 72. With the talent that this team has on their top power play unit, that's unacceptable. I don't know. It's coaching. It's players. It's everyone. No one is absolved from blame here. They got to do something, maybe taking Evgeny Malkin off the top part play unit, because every time it seems the puck touches a stick, the play dies, he forces the pass when there's three Rangers players there or something like that. It's just a bad unit right now. You just got to get pucks to the net. I mean, they're obviously missing partial hornquist right now.

I have five goals, three powerplay goals this year, three of them, three of the five are powerplay. So it's just, it's not a good unit right now. And it is like that, if it continues to be like that, I mean, that's going to sink their season. All right, so before we do get back to this episode, it is time to talk about betonline.ag. There's only one place that has you covered, one place we trust that is betonline. You can sign up today for a free account at betonline. and use that promo code locked on for your 50% off. Welcome bonus. Don't just sit on the sidelines anymore, guys.

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I might be off by one or two there. But, you know, I think something that can happen, and you can speak to this better than I can, having watched the penguins every single game. But maybe it gets to a point where you're not scoring and you're looking for that perfect scoring opportunity instead of just putting the puck on the net like you mentioned. You know, going for that extra pass, those extra two passes. I mean, are you seeing that overall through these games? Yeah, that's mainly what they're doing.

They're just, they're going for that extra pass. They're trying to put it in a passing lane that's not there. And then whether it's the Rangers, Washington, Boston, they get the puck and they just cleared. And it's like, what's the point of all the zone time if you're not going to fire the puck on net? I think in their six power plays last night, John, they had six shots overall. I mean, if you get six power plates, you should have like 13, 15 shots or something like that. That's just, that's kind of pathetic, if you ask me.

It's just, there's a lot of issues with it. I mean, I could spend an hour talking about the power play and just dumping on it, but we don't have that kind of time. If this team is going to go anywhere, the powerplay, they need an average power play. I mean, that's really all you need. If your power play is two for six last night, like I said, they win that game. Yeah, absolutely. And I wanted to ask you about this as well.

So obviously, you know, it's a tight game last night, very different than the game that we saw them play on Saturday, where, you know, both teams had a couple of defensive breakdowns and there were just scoring opportunities going back and forth. But this game is 1-1, and then Chris Kreider scores on a deflection. He really needed a goal there. That was big for him. He scores on a deflection, gives the Rangers a 2-1 lead with about 10 minutes left. I think it was just less than 10 minutes. But the way the penguins have been playing in the third period this season, not just against the Rangers, but really against everybody.

I mean, as a penguin fan, are you almost thinking like, all right, check mate, we got these guys right where we want them. We're going to come back. We're going to win this game. I mean, does it get to that point where you start to feel that good about the penguins in the third period there? It seems like it, doesn't it? With the way they just come back in every game, I felt like it a little bit. But with the way they were playing in that third period, that was the time I was like, okay, I don't think they made you this tonight. Just because, you know, they had a good 40 minutes before that.

That was probably their two best periods in a row, I would say. And I was like, wow, they're actually pretty close to playing a full 60 here for their first time. Nope, didn't happen. But even after a cryder got that goal, I mean, you could just feel that goal coming, though, because Riedel took that stupid penalty. And the Rangers were also getting odd man rushes that entire period. And I didn't expect that to change after the quieter goal. I mean, also, why is he in front of the net with no one around it?

That's just, that's a bold strategy to leave one of the best net front presences in the league, just wide open in front of her goalie. so that was odd. But in all honesty, I just, I knew kind of right then they lost. I was going to be pretty surprised if they came back again, especially when they got the power play. I'm like, well, you know, the Rangers took another penalty, so the game is over.

You might as well just decline the power play at this point. And, you know, it's killed their momentum. They had the six-on-five opportunity at the end. And, you know, they just, they sunk at that too. So that was, I think, the only time this season where I was like, okay, with the way that they're playing in a third period, I don't think they're going to come back. Yeah, you mentioned, you know, declining the penalty, which obviously you can't do in hockey,

but I've been there as a Ranger fan. There was one year in the playoffs, I don't remember what year it was. They all kind of blend together after a while, but the Rangers were really, really struggling on the power play to the point where they would be having the better of play, 5 v.5, and they would have all the momentum, and then they would draw a power play. And I'm like, you know what, just decline it. Just keep going five on five. You're playing great. The power play is just going to screw everything up, which is crazy to think about. But it can get to that point at times when your power play is scuffling.

as bad as, you know, the penguins power play is right now. Yeah, that's basically what happened last night, I thought. I thought the penguins were about playing the Rangers at 5B5 for most of the game. And then they would get a power play, and then the momentum would go away. And it would just be like, and then they would get the momentum back kind of playing at 5 to 5.5, and then they'll get another power play. And then it was just, it was a cycle back and forth. And it was just like, okay, can we just stop getting power plays here so they can just keep the game at 5B5?

I'm with you, man. And how about on the faceoff circle? the penguins, you know, they dominate over both these games. It's an area where the Rangers really struggles. So I'm wondering, are the Penguins a good face-off team or are the Rangers a team that just really struggles and the penguins took advantage of it? Because if you look at the game on Saturday, and obviously the Penguins won that game five to four in overtime, but two penguin goals in that game came as the result of clean face-off wins in the Rangers zone. So I'm just wondering, man, are the penguins that good in the face-off circle or were they taking advantage of an area where the Rangers are struggling quite a bit?

I mean, I think it's a mix of both. Cindy Crosby is one of the best faceoff players in the league. Gino kind of struggles with it, but I mean, Jankowski was even winning them last night, Teddy Bluger. And I don't really think Jankowski's been that good at faceoffs this year. I have to double check. Blugger is usually not bad. But I think it's definitely a mix.

I mean, with the Rangers struggling, and the Penguins just took advantage of it. And that could have been a turning point in the game. I think it was at one point, John, it was like, what, 32 to 14 in favor of Pittsburgh in the third period? That's like, that's something you really don't see every day with. teams winning faceoffs that often. So, yeah, I guess I think it was a mix of both.

Yeah, I hear you, man. And it's one of those things like with the Rangers, you know, they struggled in this department last season. They didn't really do anything to address it coming into this season. Now, granted, it wasn't the deepest free agent class ever. I don't think there were that many great centers available. But don't tell me you can't find like a bottom six center who just happens to be good at faceoffs that you can bring in.

And, you know, I just want to have one guy on this team that can win 50% of his faceoffs. And, you know, if you're. trying to protect a one goal lead late in the game that you can throw him out there and feel pretty good about his chances of, you know, winning a face off. Yeah, exactly. And I'll be curious to see which players like that are available this coming off season. I haven't really checked the cap-friendly yet, but I'm sure there's a couple under-the-radar players

that will be available that, you know, you guys could probably add at a decent cap-hap. Gotcha. Yeah, and talking, just getting back to Tony DeAngelo for a quick second here, because this is something that we touched on a little bit, and you mentioned that, you know, you don't think you would want him on the penguins. Just to clarify, is this somebody that you're not touching if you're the penguin GM? You don't want him coming anywhere near the penguin locker room?

Yeah, I really don't. That's a hard pass for me, hard note, however you want to say it. And the captain just makes no sense, too. He makes, you said, 4.8 million. I don't even think the penguins can absorb that right now. I know they have some players on no long term I are, but, you know, what about when all these defense in return? I mean, you already have enough decisions to make as it is a P.

Joseph really coming into his own these last three to four games, are you going to make a trade when all these guys come back? Is Pedersen going to go on the block? Are you going to trade Matheson who you just acquired for when the new GM comes in? They have a lot more questions when all these guys come back. And I think adding Tony G. Angelo, it just makes no sense for this team. I hear you, man. That makes sense to me. And, you know, well, Hunter, this is a ton of fun like it always is.

We got four down. We got four to go. And that's not even taking into account when the Rangers and Penguins obviously meet each other in the playoffs this season. Yeah, I'm sure, you know, especially as they've met so many times in the playoffs in recent years. It could happen again. But, yeah, man, these two games are a lot of fun. I think if Sidney Crosby would have had that lacrosse, we all would have melted. And then that was that. Yeah, that was nuts, yeah.

He tried it on his backhand, too, which I don't think I've seen a player try yet in the league. I know especially Cove did it twice on his forehand. So the fact that Sid was that close on his backhand was pretty interesting. But, yeah, I mean, these two games are fun, and we'll definitely do this again when they play. too again, whether it's in New York or Pittsburgh. Yeah, and for the record, when Crosby was attempting that, I was like, oh, my God, he's going to score. Like, I thought for sure. Like, I mean, I've seen too much Sidney Crosby magic over the years, especially against the Rangers.

And I'm thinking, like, you know, he just has to top himself here. You know, we haven't seen him do this. I don't think. I don't think he's scored with the lacrosse goal. Maybe he has. I don't think he's at least done it against the Rangers. But, man, to do it on your backhand there. And in a tight game, that would have been nuts to see him pull that off.

Yeah, I don't think he's done it yet at the NHL level. that's one of the only awesome goals that I think we've yet to see him score throughout his career. But I definitely think he's going to try it again, though. You have to. You have to. Yeah, absolutely. All right. So, yeah, Hunter, a ton of fun man, as always.

And, yeah, we'll do this again in the future. Yeah, for sure, man.