Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - The Penguins are starting to separate the regulars from the prospects!

Episode Date: September 29, 2022

Happy Wednesday! The Penguins were back practicing and as always, there is lots to discuss. Hunter dives into a couple of expected roster cuts that were made on Wednesday before going into a couple of other player performances from Tuesday night. He first touches on Jeff Petry and why it wasn't the best debut for him. He looks at his struggles in the defensive zone, plus his $5K fine that he got from the NHL on Wednesday morning. Was it a play that he actually should've been fined for? After that, he goes a bit more positive with Radim Zohorna and why it feels like it's now or never for him at this point. The second segment then dives into some of the practice lines and how the Penguins are starting to split up the main roster from the WBS roster. Hunter looks at Josh Archibald and if it's right for him to clearly have a place in that group, even though some younger players have looked a bit better at camp (same with Zohorna in a way). He advocates for Drew O'Connor and Drake Caggiula to join that group since he likes their upside heading into the season. Finally, he breaks down the rest of the lines and how it's clear that Ty Smith is starting to become the favorite to win that No. 6 defenseman job. 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 “LOCKEDON15,” 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 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.

Hey everyone, happy Wednesday, September 28th. After today, there's only two full days of September left before we finally hit October, which means start of the season and, of course, Halloween, which is one of my favorite holidays. As always, lots to get into today when it comes to the Pittsburgh Penguins, some injury updates because, you know, even though it's training camp, the Penguins injury first, knows, no balance, a couple of other roster cuts today. Jeff Petrie got fined.

I'm going to also go over his performance from Tuesday. and I didn't really get to, I didn't really have a chance to get to him. Also touch on Redeems and Horn's performance because I thought he played particularly well. Also, get to get into some practice updates today and why I didn't like what the Penguins were doing with some of it, just because, you know, they were splitting, you know, team one and team two, but, you know, some of the players on, I guess, on the Wilkesbury Prospects team were not with the main group. I'm going to go into why that was just kind of weird to me, especially some of the top guys who I think should be practicing with the main guy. That's all coming up for today's episode 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. Hello, welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Honor Hodes. We're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can also follow the shows Twitter at Eleanor for Penguins.

And, of course, thank you so much for making this. your first listen of the day. For Thursday's episode, we're going to have a special guest on. I'm not going to give the name away, but it's definitely a guess that I've been trying to have come on for the last couple of weeks. I'm glad that he's going to be able to come on. I think, you know, either Friday or early next week, we're going to have Josh Yewie from the Athletic back on. Give his thoughts on training camp in the preseason what he's been seeing so far. Okay.

So let's get right on into it. So earlier to the Penguins, they released their training camp roster to 54 players. Two more roster cuts were made. A couple of goaltenders were reassigned to Wilkesbury Scranton. One of them was Tommy Napier. So, you know, they're going to be battling for minutes down there. You know, not really surprised at all that they were cut at this point. So roster's down to 54, I'm sure there'll be more cuts after Saturday's preseason game against the Buffalo Sabres.

going back into some of the game from Tuesday night, definitely not a good performance from Jeff Petrie, not a good debut. But again, I'm not really too concerned about it. It's preseason hockey at the end of the day. I know a lot of people saw some concerning things, especially on the special teams. You know, me and Doug Lackey talked about that at length on Tuesday show.

But another player that, again, I did not think play very well, was Petrie was on the ice for a few goals. One of them, he definitely should have been able to, you know, get the puck out of the zone because the past went right by his skates and it was an easy tap in for one of the Red Wings players. I think that was the goal that made it 3-1-4-1, something like that. That's a play he has to make. I don't care if it's preseason. I don't care if he's regular season and especially in the playoffs.

That's not good enough there. He also was fined $5,000 this morning if I can find it here. You know, just a nasty little punch to the head. I mean, it was really, I guess, a punch to the head. You know, kind of, I guess. He took a big hit from Soder Blonde from the Red Wings with his back turned, and then, you know, punched another player near the boards a few moments later. So, yeah, it was in the back of the head.

You know, I'm fine with them, you know, talking 5K from that, you know, get those kind of plays out of the game. I don't want to, you know, see Jeff Petrie be making those kind of plays through regular season. Because if that happens in the regular season or something like that, it could be a bigger fine or a potential lead to a suspension. and, you know, they don't need to be without him for any point in the regular season, especially if Crystal Tang is, God forbid, banged up, knock on wood, that he is not, because he's been really healthy for the last five years.

So definitely not good from him, but I think he's probably going to rebound either for the next preseason game or one of the next preseason games after that. Also, redeem Zohorna. I actually thought last night, you know, Zohorna looked pretty good. you know, if you look at the, if I can find this here, you know, the hockey stat cards. You know, Zohrano was actually fifth overall among all penguin players for the game score when you look at that. For defense, he was close to, you know, 0.5 in the positive range.

For offense, you know, a little bit, I think it was close to about 0.8. And then overall, I think it was about plus 0.9 for his game score. He was only behind McGinn, Rust, Zilker, and Henderson. And, you know, that earned him a spot with the big boys today at camp. You know, he was, I think, really one of the only Wilkesbury players who was with the Penguins on, for, I guess, the group one for the practice, the other players, you know, kind of like the Wilkesbury Scranton slash the prospects were with the other group. You know, it's good to see them giving him a chance. You know, he's on a one-way deal. It's really kind of sink or swim time.

Furson Horna has that big frame, really nice shot, responsible defensively. good skater. You know, I'm really excited for him coming into this year. Again, I don't really know if he's going to make the team out of camp, but, you know, I was definitely impressed with his performance onto tonight, and it looks like the Penguins coaching staff was as well, because he was with Team One today. I think part of that does have to do with some of the injuries. Teddy Bluger, he's day to day with an injury. Presby Capon, he's still sick, and then Jeff Carter, apparently is making progress. He is still day to day with an injury again. Penguins injury course, excuse me, it knows,

no bounds. You know, we are so freaking back because this team is already dealing with injuries even two weeks before the regular season begins. I think he was like on the fourth line. There's only like two players on the fourth line. And then he was with Cajula, if I'm not mistaken. So, you know, he was good. Petrie wasn't as good as, you know, really wanted to get into those two players.

And, you know, I had a couple of people asking about the goaltending in my DMs today. You know, Jarnie, not the best night. but again, you know, it's fine. You know, I thought he also made some 10-bell saves before he was really getting run out of the building. You know, a couple of them, the Penguins were actually on the main advantage. And Jari had a couple Ottoman rush saves where he came right out, looked aggressive like he did last year, and made some nice path saves. And I think another one, he had to slide across, get his pad right to the post and was able to make a nice sliding,

or not a nice diving save, I should say. So I thought he was all right, but, you know, obviously gave up some goals that I didn't really care for. Casey DeSmith was fine. Didn't really give up too many bad goals or anything like that. You know, just because it's preseason, I don't really, you know, go so in depth about the goals that some, you know, goaltenders, you know, give up and stuff like that just because they're going to figure their stuff out. It's not a big deal to me at all. So, again, you know, I'm glad I was hopefully able to calm everyone down. down when it comes to that preseason loss.

I know 0 for 8, 0 for 9 of the power play is not good. Special penalty kill was also not looking that sharp either. But again, people were at 15 days until the season at this point. A lot of work to be done. Mike Sullivan even said it after the game. You know, we still have a long way to go. You know, we haven't had a lot of reps with the special teams yet. We're going to start to get those down.

So, you know, excuse me, I'm totally okay with it. You know, we'll see how they play on Saturday. against Buffalo, I think you're probably going to see a better performance overall. I don't think you're going to see all those regulars play in that game. I think you're going to see a mix of prospects and regulars and that one. But, you know, we'll have to see with that. But that wraps up this first segment of today's episode. Coming up in the second segment, we're going to get into something I noticed today with the practice groups in YA,

which is still, you know, a little bit weird to me, I guess, is the way to say it. But before I get to that, bedline.net is your number one source for football betting info this season. You can find all the latest sports developments, team matchups, news, podcasts, and in-depth articles, and analysis on every game you can find. And as always, bet on line remains your continued source for all of your sports version of information with live betting and up-to-the-minute scores for every sport out there. It's the fastest, easiest way to check out on all your favorite games and events, including MLB, MLB, MNA, boxing, and golf.

You can head to bed online or to use your mobile device to know more. That is better online where the game starts. All right. I'm back in this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes. We're going to follow me on Twitter. Hunter Hodes. Can also have all the shows, Twitter at L. Lawrenceville, Paul, St. Penguins. And, of course, thank you all so much for making this your first list in the day. Money enough as I'm recording this, Aaron Judge, made history. Finally had a 61st home run, Ty Roger Maris. The reason I bring that up is just because my granddaddy passed away about a month ago.

Biggest New York Yankee fan that you'd ever meet and his senior player is Roger Maris. So, you know, I know he's up there, you know, smiling. a little bit, but he's also kind of probably a little upset that his favorite player's record was tied and it's probably about to be broken in the next few days. But wanted to, you know, shout him out there for that. It's just a really cool moment. I know it didn't happen in Yankee Stadium, but still kind of cool. Anyways, getting back to some Penguins talk here.

So, as I said in the first segment, the Penguins, they kind of split up the duties today with regards to, you know, team one versus Team 2, you know, team one. had basically a lot of the regulars and the other team really did not. And, you know, the lines and pairings in the Wilkesbury's Grattan prospect practice, as Taylor Hoss treated out, Drake Cajula was with Real Connor and Valchrey Pusson on the top line, Philip Hollander, Sam Poulan, and Alex Neeler in the second line, also on the third line. You know, Andanowski on the fourth line, Schofsky down there, Glover, defenseman were rotating Xavier Olet, Taylor Fadune, Jackson Ivy, Josh Miniskalo,

So Lazot, Yac Collins, Ortiz, Owen Pickering is starting to practice a little bit more, but he's still kind of day-to-day at this point. But what was really weird to me was why was Cajula and O'Connor at that practice and not with the main one? Because Zohorna was at the main one. And honestly, you know, in my opinion, I think Cajula and O'Connor should probably be closer to making the team than he should be at this point. Just really weird. And then another part of that, everyone that listens to this podcast knows I was not big on the Josh Archibald signing.

I still think it really made no sense just because it was, especially because it was a day one signing. Like, that's the guy you're going after on day one for 900K when there were so many other better players out there. I was just kind of like, okay, that's kind of a weird process to have with the front office. But, you know, he's basically being treated as a roster lock,

even though he only makes 900K, but you're not treated. you know someone like drew o'connor who i know has not played as many in-ch-ch-l-ch-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-harmes same with the hornah and you know could you know he's probably played just as many as archibald has but you know they're not with the main group but someone like him is you know i just i question i guess the i don't i shouldn't say like roster construction but i just i question um that you know the organization's view as him as like oh my god he's this good no-doubt roster player who's obviously going to make the team and all that stuff. And I just, you know,

my biggest question is what do they see in him? That's my thing. You know, I, you know, when I look at him, I see a player who, you know, doesn't really contribute too much offensively. I mean, you know, yeah, he's had a couple of seasons where, you know, he's had, you know, close if not, you know, 10 plus goals. But, you know, he also hasn't hit that. And, you know, the last, got me a couple of years, especially this past year, you know, he didn't really play if I can just, you know, double-check that real quick. So if I can, I mean, get this. Yeah, I mean, so, you know, 2018, 19, 20, 19, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20,

decent years with Arizona Cuttero and others had 12 goals in 2019. Next year after that, had 12 goals, you know, with Edmonton, 52 games. After that, seven goals. But, you know, those were only the two best season of his career. And they look like kind of outliers right now because, you know, otherwise, he had a season with three goals, five goals. seven goals. Last year again, he only played eight games.

He was battling some injuries and stuff. It's just, again, it's just weird to me that they see him as this player who, oh my God, he should easily make the Opeonite roster when there are younger players down there who I think have more of a skill ceiling than him, but they're not being treated like that. And maybe the penguins are hoping that they're just going to blow them away so that, you know, they have to, you know, wave him or something like that. you know, maybe it's a similar situation to what happened with, like, John Marino a few years ago when he basically forced Jim Arthur's hand into trading Eric Cabran.

So remember that, you know, Marino was someone who no one really expected to make the team coming into camp. And then he just comes in there, wows everyone, plays great in the preseason. And then, you know, he's playing third pair of minutes. And he's playing second pair of minutes. That whole season, he's had a great rookie season. And, you know, honestly, he was a caller trophy candidate until he got her. hurt towards the late stages of that year. So I think the penguins have kind of been hoping that maybe an O'Connor, a Cajula,

Zahorna, you know, are going to do something like that. But I guess they, you know, they haven't done that yet in camp and in preseason. But again, it's definitely still a little bit weird to me. What do you think about that? Just because, you know, I just, you know, again, it's just like, like, what went into the evaluation that prompted at signing where the penguins are like, oh, yeah, we definitely have to sign this guy on day one or free agency, even though there are so many other players out there who are better offensively and I think and better defensively.

Because, you know, even like underlying numbers-wise, you look at like natural statuary, never really been good with that at both ends of the ice. You know, the last five seasons, he's been 44, 45% possession numbers. same time he's been below 50% of the actual goals for when he's on the ice. Same with the expected goals. Scoring chances, exact same thing. High danger chances has been negative every year except one that came in 2017, 18 with the Penguins. And same for the actual high danger goals for.

So I definitely don't think they were using analytics to have had to do that move. I think they were just going based on vibes. I've seen people say that like there's a history with him in the organization. And, you know, sure, that definitely makes sense. just because he was drafted by the Penguins. But the regime that drafted him is way gone. So just a little bit weird to me. Again, I'm someone who was never really that high on the signing when it started.

And maybe he will blow me away and wow me. You know, that would not be the first time I was wrong. That's for sure. But my main point is, I'm trying to bring home here, is that I think there are better options than him right now in the organization, in a Drew O'Connor, in a Drake Cajula, in our deems of Horna in a Sampool, and even in a Valtrei Pusin,

that should be getting, you know, ice time over him just because, you know, the large majority of his sample size, it's, it's not that go. You know, his impacts at both ends of the ice, generally replacement level, if you ask me. So I'm like, I'm just kind of like, okay, you know, hasn't really done much in camp and preseason,

but, you know, he's already been grouped with the regulars. I mean, I guess just because, you know, they made an investment with him in day one or three, agency, but, you know, honestly, I don't think anything should be, you know, given to him on a civil player. I think he should have to earn it just as much as some of those younger players have been or trying to at least. But, you know, again, that's just my opinion on the matter. You know, let me know what you all think about that. Do you think some of the younger players should have a shot over him or, you know, what do you think with that situation?

You know, also, what do you think about Jeff Petrie's performance, redeems the Hornah, and all that stuff. You can leave a comment on the YouTube page. or you can DM me and all that stuff. So still a little more to get to for today's episode of the podcast. We're going to go into some of the lines that we saw during practice today and a couple of other topics that I've also been thinking about too. So that's all coming up right after this commercial break. All right.

I'm back in this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am your host, Honore Hodes. You're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can also follow the shows, Twitter at LR School Penguins. And of course, thank you all so much for making this your first. listen of the day. So getting into the regular Penguins lines and pairings and practice with No Carter Caputin and Belugur was leaving early.

Same thing with Gensel, Raquel, Zulker, Malk, and Rust. They're not just going to give up on those lines just because, oh, my God, they had one bad preseason game and all that stuff. I mean, it's just, you know, it's not going to happen. Third line, Brockman game with Ryan Pailing and Josh Archibald. And then Hyden and So Hornow were working as just a pair on the fourth line. in case anyone, you know, didn't think Ryan Paling was going to make this team. He is going to be on this 23-man roster.

I don't think they would have traded for him in the Petrie Matheson trade if he was just going to be put on waivers or something like that. I think they definitely see something there. I think they're hoping to unlock some new potential with him just because he is a formal first-round pick. And he has shown signs, you know, he's shown flashes of being that, you know, of living up to that pedigree in Montreal, all even though it hasn't really been there that often. But, you know, I think they're definitely high on him. But, you know, at least, you know, for me, though,

I only really see him as kind of like a fourth-line winger, to be honest. Maybe someone that you can put on the wing on the third line. But if he's like your third-line center or something like that, no, definitely not my cup of tea to say at least. You know, definitely a bit weird to see Hinen on the fourth line, but, you know, it's injury. So I'm not really going to reach him much into it. Dumman-Latang, Pedersen, Petrie,

Ty Smith, and Yanruta, and then POJ, with Chowarito and Mark Friedman. I really do think you're starting to see Smith start to separate himself from POJ. And I don't really know what that means for the rest of the defense support here. You know the Penguins. Again, they got two weeks to figure this out, especially with their salary cap situation. I really don't know what the injuries are going to look like in a couple of weeks. I would assume that, I mean, obviously, captain's going to be back.

He won't be sick anymore. I would assume that Carter will be back in two weeks. Same thing with Bluger. I'm sure they're just minor. that are keeping them out right now. But, you know, in terms of who has the inside track to get that number six job, I got to think it's Ty Smith. And again, he's looked really well and really good in a couple of preseason games.

He looks steady throughout camp. I'll say this for the 1,000th time. They're going to take him to school, put him in the video room and, you know, really just shelter him like they did with Matheson. And I know a lot of you're going to ask him, you know, what does this mean for POJ? What's going to happen? I don't really know. You know, I think in a perfect world, they would want him to take that spot just because he's been down in the AHL for the last couple of years.

You know, he really should not be getting those minutes, I think, at this point. I think it's time, you know, for him to show the penguins that he does have what it takes to play at the initial level. You can get like maybe a 15, 20 game sample size to really see. But, you know, so far, I don't think he's wowed them enough to get an everyday spot. And I think that's why you're seeing Ty Smith right now. now have that spot. And, you know, Jan Ruta, he's not going to come out. They just signed him in free agency.

It's going to be interesting to what happens with Chad Ruehdle. Mark Freeman, obviously, will be on the bench for most nights. I do kind of feel bad for Chad. Rubido, of course, that is, because he was pretty steady for most of the last season. He wins that number six job after Cody C. Walks to Evan to Norther's and I've got the Penguins, obviously did not pay him because that would have been a contract they would have really regretted. But, you know, I, I don't know.

I feel bad for him just because, again, he's been steady throughout his whole penguin's tenure. He's taken less money to probably come back, plays well in his first full season in the lineup, and then is hoping to have his place in the lineup going into the next season, but then they signed Jan Ruta. So I definitely kind of feel bad for him. I think he's definitely an outside candidate to be traded still,

but I think in a perfect role, they would want to keep him as extra-doubt. Because, again, we all know there's going to be some sort of injuries during the season for the penguins. So, you know, I'm fine with that. To be honest, not really, you know, too many other updates from the penguins for their training camp practice today. You know, again, I think they got a couple more days of practice before they have their

next preseason game against the Buffalo Sabres. Overall, I think that's all I have for you for. today's episode, I'm glad I was able to at least talk for, you know, to 22 to 23 minutes. That is usually the average, I think, um, at this point. Um, you know, I'm definitely extremely excited to be back, you know, doing this every day, you know, even though we're still talking about training camp practices and who's playing well and who's practicing well versus who's not, you know,

it still passes the time. And, you know, I like giving those updates because, you know, it is a lot of fun, um, to say that we. But that'll do it for this episode of Locked on Penguins podcast. Let me know what you all think about this episode down in the comments. Do you agree with some of my takes? Do you disagree with them? All that stuff.

And I'll be back with another episode with a special guest on Thursday evening. You all definitely don't want to miss that one. And then I'll have another episode for you all on Friday. So I hope you all for great rest of your Wednesday. We're squarely into fall now. I'm so hyped for the start of October and the start of the season. And I will talk with you all on Thursday. Thursday.