Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - The Penguins sign 3 PTOs: Who stays, who goes?

Episode Date: August 30, 2023

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been busy this week and Hunter and Pat are here to discuss all of the latest news. They first start out with the three players who were signed to PTO contracts late Tuesday night into Wednesday and analyze whether they have a shot of making the team. They start with Lubor Hajek and how his NHL sample has been ROUGH, to say the least before looking at both Mark Pysyk and Austin Wagner. Which of those two have the best odds of making the team? Can Pysyk push Ruhwedel for a job? Does Wagner fit the bill of the rest of the bottom six moves that were made this offseason? After that, they look at some of the FO moves that the Penguins made earlier this week, including hiring Cam Charron to add to their analytics team. Both Hunter and Pat praise this move a lot as FSG wants to keep building out the team's analytic staff. They also look at the scouts that were hired and have a discussion about how diverse this front office is. Finally, they end the show by discussing how FSG plans to buy AT&T Sportsnet and how this can only be a good thing for the Penguins.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Right now, NEW customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get TWO HUNDRED in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable free bets that expire 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)Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOPenguins?sid=YouTubeLocked On NHL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Prospects & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNHL#NHL #PittsburghPenguins #Penguins 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.

The Penguins had themselves a busy Tuesday night, making a few PTO signings. Hunter and I are going to talk about it right after this. Your Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your hosts, Patrick Damp.

with me as always is Hunter Hodes. You can follow the shows Twitter at LO underscore Penguins. You can follow me on Twitter at synonym for wet. And you can also follow Hunter at Hunter Hodes. We thank you for making this your first listen or watch of the day. And let's jump right into it, Hunter. The penguins were busy last night. They made three PTO signings, two defensemen, one forward.

And let's get the first one out of the way here in Libor Hayek, a defenseman, second round pick, 2016, 25 years old. You know what? Take it away. You got the numbers there. I don't get it. It seems like a guy who is a third pairing at best kind of guy. That's about his ceiling at best. So what are your thoughts on it? First off, I want to say you're doing a tremendous job hosting the show so far. This is the first time I've never had to host a episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast. So this has been awesome. Might as well have a crash course since, you know, I got to take the reins. Everybody shutters real quick later this week.

So why not do it with the experienced guy first rather than jumping right into the cold water? Hey, you know, you're doing a great job so far. But yeah, like, you know, getting back to Libor Hayek, I'm not really someone who gets upset about PTOs or just really anything, you know, a team I follow or cover does. I mean, maybe I'll get like a little upset, but I don't overreact, I think is the better word for it. But this move just makes no sense. He's not good offensively. He's not good defensively. He's not good in transition.

And he can't skate. I actually dove into a little bit of his film last night after I finished watching the latest episode of the So Good. And if you are not watching that show, you should be because that show is great. And also Star Wars is awesome. But it looks like when he's out there, despite him being around my age, he can't skate. It looks like he's just skating in mud.

I actually think Jack Johnson is a better skater than Leibor Hayek. And that's kind of sad to say because we all know how bad Johnson was as a skater when he was a member of the Penguins. I think they have to be doing this as like a courtesy to him or something like that. I just don't see the appeal to even signing him to a PTO. I would love to know the evaluation process that Kyle Dubas and the rest of the front office and Mike Sullivan used for this because it doesn't make that much sense. The defensemen that are on the roster right now are. all better than this guy. Heck, maybe he goes out there, has a great camp, earns himself a gig, but I would say that's on the very low end of probabilities right now. I just don't get it

considering the numbers and considering the tape. Yeah, I mean, that's kind of what I was thinking. I also look at it this way. It might just be another body for camp competition just to kind of send out that message of like, hey, listen, two more defensemen are coming to camp this year. So you're going to have to bring it if you want to make it especially considering four, if not five of the top spots on the Penguins' NHL Blue Line are locked up. You know who's getting those positions. So it's just another person to maybe increase competition, even if he's not great. If somebody doesn't live up to him, it tells us more about the person who doesn't live up

to them than Hayek. Yeah, and I mean, he'll get a bunch of reps in camp. He'll also get a bunch in the preseason, I assume, too, because a lot of the starters really don't play in many of the preseason games. It's mostly just used for what? A lot of the HL guys, a lot of those other guys, stuff like that. You're bubble guys, basically. Yes.

He'll get a lot of reps there, see what he can do in game action. Maybe a better system, you know, Mike Sullivan at least for his system, benefits him more. But based on what I've seen, I just don't see it considering his skating, because you have to skate really well to play in Mike Sullivan system. And with that and the numbers that I pulled up, I just don't think it's a good fit. And then meanwhile, on the other side, the other defensemen that they brought in, Mark Pissick, he's a 32-year-old defenseman. Numbers are okay, those baseline numbers, 104 points, 28 goals,

and a little over 520 games. And to me, you know, originally before we hit record, I, this was another one I was scratching my head on. And then you kind of broke down a little bit what numbers he's put up, his underlines. And this might be a sneaky good deal and competition for somebody, right? Yes. Mark Pissick, he's had really solid underlines throughout his career.

Actually, I think they've been underrated. He's been a player that's kind of been an analytics darling, I should say. Did not play it all this past season was battling a big injury. It's hard. I believe it was an Achilles that he's coming back from. Pat, and we all know that's really hard to come back from. Which unless you're Eric Carlson, that's really hard to come back from. But again, not to interrupt you, but again, like really good underlying numbers here.

So maybe he's six, seventh defenseman competition. What are you seeing from him? Yeah. I mean, this, you go back to the 2021, 2021, 2022 season. He ranked in the 80 second percentile for five on five even strength defense, 50 second percentile for five on five even strength offense, decent finisher, decent goals per 60 rate. Those are all courtesy of Jayfresh's charts,

which I think are really good. I think of a lot of the people in the analytics community, he's one of the best. But even outside that, he's always been pretty solid in his own zone when you pull up the tape. He is going to give Chad Rueel, I think, a good run for his money in camp.

I think Ruehle will still win it. But if he falters, Pisick is a guy right there. that can come in and play with someone like Pio Joseph, if need be Pizek. Again, good in his own zone. He'll give you a little bit of offense, but I think that's what they want P.O. to do on the third pairing,

because he, you know, between the two, he's the better offensive defenseman, let's be real. And I think they want him to continue building his offensive game while also getting a bit better in his own zone. But that kind of pairing would work because you have Pio, who's decent offensively, and you have Pissick who has good defensive underlines. And he has shown that on tape.

as well. I saw a couple instances when I was watching the film on Tuesday night when he was really using his stick to break up plays in the defensive zone. The biggest thing with him, though, health. Talked about it with the Achilles injury. This is also a player pat. He hasn't played a full 82 game season since 2017-18. After that, he played 70 games, so close enough, but since then, 58, 36, 68 took this season off. It's got to stay healthy. I think, he definitely of the three and we'll get to Wagner in a second, I think he has the best chance of making this team out of all the PTOs. Yeah, agreed.

And I think it also puts them in a good asset position, should he surprise and make the team? Because we all know Kyle Dubus loves to stack assets, especially draft capital. So should Pissick come in and take a spot from Chad Roo-Weedle, maybe you can offload Ruehiel for a couple of picks or a pick or two. And then you've got that to help you at the, deadline or just to rebuild your system.

So you brought him up. The last PTO signing they made, Austin Wagner, a left winger, who's been not a bad depth forward, all things considered. That's probably his ceiling. He's got 42 points over 178 National Hockey League games. Again, though, fits the mold of kind of what we've been talking about this offseason. Good bottom six player, solid defensive metrics, responsible in his own zone, but doesn't put the puck in the net a lot.

So it kind of continues on that trend for Kyle Dubus and the Penguins offseason when it comes to bottom six forwards. It's like a very mini version of Nollachari, Matt Nietto, and Lars Eller. Those three very good defensively. Wagner is good defensively. He's just not at their level. And I think you hit the nail on the head better pack. Just fits the mold of what Dubis has done with a lot of the bottom six, the soft season.

He's only played four seasons in his career, 171 games. Three of them came with the Kings. This past season played seven games with the Blackhawks. One goal, two points in those games. But does have a season, 2018, 19 with the Kings, 12 goals, 21 points in those 62 games. He's only 26. So the people that want younger players on this roster, they will be happy. He'll definitely have a shot at making this team.

I mean, if anything, man, that competition for the bottom six, that is going to be so much fun. I've probably said this 5,000 times on this show with you. And even before then, I can't wait for camp to see what goes down with the bottom six. Because Wagner, you know, this is no AHL dude. Like he has proven that he can play at the NHL level. Heck, just a few seasons ago, he ranked in the 87 percentile with the Kings, the 2019-20 season. That was the COVID year, ranked in the 87th percentile for five-on-five,

even-strike defense. Again, a few years ago, still, that's really soft. And if he can put together a really good camp, impressing the preseason, he will have a shot at making this roster. So honestly, that could change it a little bit. I think two of these guys at least have a shot at making the roster while the other one doesn't. If I had to pick one that has the best chance, though, I'm going to go with Pizek just because the forward competition is so, it's insane. Yeah. And we said it on the show before.

Competition brings out the best in everyone, especially a franchise like this. you want your role players to always be battling to keep their spots because that's going to force them to up their game. So bringing a guy in like Wagner to add some competition is only a positive. He either becomes a part of the roster and makes the team or he's going to force the guys who are already here to up their games as we go into camp. Well, that's going to do it for this segment. But that's not all the penguins have done this week. We're going to talk about some front office moves they made earlier this week, and that's coming up right after this. But first, we've got to tell you about our sponsor, Fandle.

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Fandle, the official partner of the National Football League. We're back here on the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am one of the hosts Patrick Damp joined again. by Hunter Hodes. Thank you again for making this your first listener watch of the day. As we said before, we went to break. The penguins have made a couple of front office moves as well. Forgive me, Kyle Dubus and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

I'm probably going to butcher a couple of these names, but I'm going to give it a shot. They've hired Mark Oseki, Matt Laredo as professional scouts, Robbie Sandlin and Brandon DeFasio as amateur scouts, and the name that everybody's going to be talking about, especially if you are on Twitter or X, if you're so inclined. Cam Sharon as a hockey research and development analyst. I got to tell you, Hunter, I saw the name Cam Sharon,

and I thought I was going to hit the ceiling. For those of you who know me, I'm not a tall man, so that's a pretty big achievement. But Cam Sharon's work at this point speaks for itself. I maintain, I have it bookmarked, believe it or not, on my computer. When he returned to the athletic in October of 2022 and wrote his opening column about everything he learned working as an analyst for the Maple Leafs in a front office as a hockey analyst, this dude is smart. And this is a brilliant move for Dubus to bring him back. I'm excited.

The more analytics people you can bring into your front office, the better. that is the way this game is trending and if you're not hiring at least a couple of analytics based people into your front office you are going to be left behind cam is awesome spent the last eight years with the maple leafs he was i think one of the original you know hashtag fancy stats people from hockey twitter back when i was you know late middle school into early high school he's been doing this for a very long time and i do think kyle dubus is going to rely on him when he's making roster moves, when he wants to make trades, call-ups, all that good stuff. They also have a couple of other analytics-based people in their front office so that he's going to use as well.

This is a great move for the Penguins. Remember, when the family sports group let go of Ron Hexton and Brian Burke, one of the things that they wanted to do was build out their analytics department. They thought it was lacking with the Penguins, bringing Kyle Dubus, who has obviously the scouting background, and he has the numbers background. Well, you're seeing him do both with these moves. You bring in some scouts and you bring in an analytic space person, excuse me, in Cam, who has been really good throughout his career.

And I think this is not the last of these moves. You are going to see more people who have the background in analytics come into this organization because that's how Fenway Sports Group likes their organizations run. They love the data people in their sports. teams look at the Boston Red Sox you look at Liverpool right go around go on to those websites look who is in their front offices and all that good stuff you'll see quite a few people from analytics based backgrounds and this is just the start for the penguins and you took the you took the

words right out of my mouth for those of you who may not want to do the reading uh jump on i think it's HBO max and watch money ball that's been very much Way Sports Group. Now, the movie's going to focus on the Oakland Athletics, but when nobody in baseball would touch Bill James, guess who touched Bill James? The Boston Red Sox and Fenway Sports Group, and what did they do just one season later? They broke their curse and won a world series. But for the rest of the moves, I'm not going to read the whole release from the Penguins. You guys can go ahead and do that. But it again strikes what we've talked about with what Kyle Dubus has been doing. doing with this front office. There are experienced people that he's hiring, but they're not just people who have been in the NHL. You run down the experience of the people they made this hire from, guys who have coached at every level of hockey, AHA, USHL, college, juniors.

The scouts have scouted everywhere from amateur hockey, minor league hockey, junior hockey, in North America to over in Europe. These are people who have a diverse set of experiences. And we talked about it on this show before. The biggest thing you need to be successful, whether it be business, life, sports, whatever, is being able to get a diverse group of people in the room from diverse experiences and backgrounds and find the best idea. So this isn't the same recycled five or six guys who get scouting jobs and

coaching jobs and I did my three years here. So I'm going to go do my three years here. And then I'm going to just keep cycling in and out. So he is going to have a lot of voices in the room. And so long as they can either find some kind of consensus or build toward one, that's only going to lead to better outcomes for this organization. Because as we've talked about, they're going to be in a weird spot in the next five, six years where a handful of generational talents are going to be out the door and they're going to

have to find a way to get this team back to contention. So using analytics, using experience, and leveraging the salary cap are all going to be necessary tools to getting this team from a rebuild back to contention in six, seven, eight years. Right. And I think diverse is the best way you can describe the front office right now. You have Kyle Dubis. You have Vuki Mapofu, who he hired away from the Kings. You have Jason Spetzow he brought over from Toronto. You have now Cam Shoron. You have these new scouts.

He did keep Nick Pryor. And yes, that's probably going to make quite a few people mad. I am also a bit confused by considering that that was a hexile hire. But it's obvious, I think, that Kyle really likes him. And that he respects him. He would not still be on the staff if he didn't like his work and all that other stuff. And then you have-

Well, you know they probably talked, too. It wasn't like Dubus just. came in with a flamethrower and said, he's a fair guy. He probably came in and, like, sat down and talked to people and said, all right, give me your philosophy. Give me your thoughts. Let's, let's have a discussion and figure out if you're going to fit in this front office.

Buckstock stops with him, but he probably saw something in prior and angry as that may make us. He's only a couple years older than me, and he's the president of hockey operations of a huge NHL team. So who am I to criticize? Right. And then you have the three Analyx base hires in there with Cam. You have Catarina Wu who was carried over

from the Hextal era. And you have also Caleb Pena who is also there too. So there's three. And I think, again, that's only going to expand as these next few months. And I think a few years go by as long as Kyle Dubas is the president and the GM of this franchise. So that's about all we got for this segment. When we return, watching the Penguins on TV next year, well, we've got some updates for you.

And we're back on the locked on penguins podcast. I'm Patrick Damp. That's Hunter Hodes. Thank you again one last time for making this your first listener watch of the day. As we talked about just before we went to break there, big breaking news in the TV rights world of the Pittsburgh Penguins and the city of Pittsburgh for the pirates and penguins as well. Fenway Sports Group has agreed to purchase AT&T Sportsnet.

So what does this mean? Well, if you understand who FSG is, you understand that they're also the owners of the regional sports network that hosts Boston Red Sox and the Boston Bruins and ESN, Nesson for shorthand. So it kind of looks like this is what they're on track to do here in Pittsburgh. They're going to take the regional TV rights away from AT&T Sportsnet and they're going to package them up the most. themselves. And by the sound of it, Hunter, it doesn't seem like a whole lot is going to change right away at least. At least that's what it sounds like when it comes to the penguins. What are you thinking about this? I think you're right. The only main question I have, and I put this out on Twitter a couple days ago, my biggest question, it's not even a really

concern, it's just a question. Is Steve Meeters, Bob Erie, and Dan Pochas still going to call games for the penguins, or are they going to get a brand new team in there to call games? I know people have their opinions on mirrors, they have their opinions on ARI, and Potash. But I still, if I had to lean one way or the other, I think they're going to continue to call games for the penguins, even if it's on, I guess, a different channel, quote-unquote. The money thing from this article, and this is from John Orand of Sports Business Journal, great reporter, by the way, for this website. Agreed. I mean, he even said that it's going to be like a direct-to-consumer service surrounding the penguins. That is great news, especially because I think there are a lot of people in this area that don't get this channel, especially because, hey, they don't have cable. Heck, for me, at my place, I have YouTube TV.

It is annoying to me that AT&T Sportsnet does not go on YouTube TV. So if Fenway Sports Group, and I know I'm probably sounding like a selfish idiot here, if they can, I guess, develop a direct-to-consumer service that goes on a platform like YouTube TV and some of these other platforms that people use that don't have cable, that's only going to grow, I guess, you know, more fans for the team. I guess that's what I'm trying to say. This is a good move. They've done a really good job with NESN in Boston,

and I think they're going to do a good job with this, whatever, you know, deal they come to. But again, my biggest question overall is who is going to be calling the games? Because again, I know people have their opinions, but I'm still, I guess, I'm confused about that part. The thing that kind of stood out to me was the way this was worded was that FSG appears to have purchased AT&T Sportsnet away from Warner Brothers. So to me, that kind of signals that at least in the immediate, we're not going to see a ton of changes, partially because we got two days left in August, day and a half, basically, when we're recording this. So they're not going to be able to make full scale changes with the season this close.

So they're probably going to basically do status quo, maybe a couple tinkers here and there on the margins. And then maybe next summer you look at expanding it or adding original programming or even bringing in a new crew. who knows what FSG wants to do. Now, I'm with you on this. I'm a YouTube TV subscriber, so I can't watch Penguins games. I can't watch Pirates games because it's not carried on YouTube TV.

The other thing is, I work in television, so I hear about this stuff all the time. One of the biggest issues that RSNs and sports leagues are very close to facing is the fact that a lot of people don't have cable anymore. If I recall correctly, I'd have to look it up real quick, but I can't remember where I saw it. But I remember seeing a study that this was the first year in the history

of television in the advent of cable TV, that less people had cable TV than had streaming. So this is going to be a huge question mark for a lot of teams, a lot of networks, a lot of media companies because not only are people cutting the cord, basically every major league team has in-house media. So eventually they're going to be able to broadcast these games directly to consumers rather than having to sell the rights to their games to a media company. So it's going to be incumbent on these RSNs, these networks, these media companies to find some kind of resolution or they're going to be locked out of sports. And if there's one thing that

keep people coming back to cable, it is live sports. Yes, 100%. I think that's the main reason why so many people, I guess, still have cable, the ones that do are live sports. I mean, some people still watch the news, something like that, you know, NBC Nightly News, CNN, all that other stuff. But I think for the people that still have cable, it's because Pat of these sports events. especially on those local RSNs. You said it, you have YouTube TV like me. How many people out there have to illegally stream games online on those weird websites because you're blacked out and all this other stuff, you don't have it on your cable?

Millions of people. I mean, heck, ESPN Plus, I was subscribed to ESPN Plus for this past season. Even though I lived in Pittsburgh, it was still giving me the games until late in the year before I finally called on like, oh, you live in Pittsburgh. now we're going to black you out. So it was annoying to deal with that. And if FSG can come up with a solution to not have that situation with the blackouts and all that stuff,

because I think the local blackout, I mean, that's a whole other issue, Pat. I think blackout is super stupid, by the way. I think it's a really dumb thing to do in local markets or whatever. That's basically a early cable, early satellite TV rule that has just continued into the modern day because, you know,

that was pre or not pre internet but you know pre readily accessible 24-7 internet that was right hey i got the nchel center back when it was called the nchel center ice package through direct tv and they didn't want for they just didn't want you watching right say it's penguins flyers on a friday night they didn't want you watching the flyers feed in pittsburgh they wanted you watching the local network. Right. And I get that. I just think it's probably time to get with the times a bit now and just get rid of blackouts. But again, we can have that discussion a whole other day.

But you're right. It's incumbent on FSG to come up with a director of consumer service here that benefits everyone. You know, the people with cable, the people that have cut the cord, everyone. And if you want to make fans, I guess, pay for it a little bit. Sure. Heck, I will pay for it. I know you will pay for it. I know plenty of fans out there, especially the ones not even in Pittsburgh, will pay for it.

It's just, I think there needs to be a better solution than the one we have right now with AT&T Sportsnet, only being on, you know, a few cable services and not to people who have these other things like YouTube TV. I know it's on Fubo TV, I believe. It actually is broadcasted on there. But some of these other ones like YouTube TV and a few others, it's not there. And that's a problem for people that don't have cable. Right. And my last point on this is one thing that I think FSG has a huge opportunity in front of them for with this development.

There is absolutely a market and a demand in the city of Pittsburgh and the greater Pittsburgh area for a dedicated Pittsburgh sports channel. Does it have to be 24-7? No. But it can be better than what AT&T Sports Network was. It can be from new. until 11 at night or midnight, where it's just all penguins, all penguins, pirates and Steelers talk, live Pirates games, live penguins games, pre and post game shows. And in a city like this, you know, the joke I always make it work is in Pittsburgh, man, a Steeler farts,

and we talk about it for three days. So there's a market for it. There is. I mean, heck, if we can get to that point with the penguins where a penguin player farts or something like that, even more funnier. But I don't think we'll ever get there considering how popular the Steelers are in this city. Football will always be number one, I think in Pittsburgh, though hockey is directly behind. But yeah, I think I've hit all on all the points I wanted to make. I think you have too. If you have anything else you want to add before we call it here. No, is there anything that you would like to say to our audience before you jet set on vacation and leave the kids at home to have a house party. Yeah. Pat's going to be doing this solo for Friday, Monday, and I believe Wednesday as well,

we'll have a discussion on that. I fly back a little late on Wednesday. Yeah, I'm going on my final summer vacation here with my lady. We're celebrating our anniversary, so really excited about that. Yeah, after this, I'm not going on vacation for a while. We'll be in full training camp mode coming out of this vacation. Camp will only be about a couple weeks away when we come back. So I'm really excited about that. You got the Steelers season coming, but I know one thing. Pat has a lot of fun things coming on these next two to three episodes. And yes, that's going to do it for us. But before we go, I'll give you guys a tease on Friday.

We're jumping back into the multiverse. And I've got a great guest to take the trip with me. So that's going to do it for us for this edition of the Locked on Penguins podcast. Thank you so much for listening. And we will talk to you on Friday.