Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Thoughts on Murray/Jarry situation, how this is a big week for the league, plus more!

Episode Date: May 6, 2020

The Murray/Jarry situation is back. Josh Yohe from The Athletic wrote a piece today after speaking to Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford and on today's show, Hunter gives his thoughts on what the Penguins should do going into that difficult situation. He then talks about the news around the league this week as we could have an early June NHL draft, plus how we could see the NHL going to Phase 2 soon. He then wraps up the show with a "this day in Penguins history" moment courtesy of "nhlpens" from Penguins twitter! 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.

Hello, welcome to this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. Follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, follow the show's Twitter at L-O-U-U-U-Nesquare. Today's show is brought to you by BiltBar, one of our brand-new sponsors here at Locked-on across the whole network. Their protein bars are actually really, really good. I very much suggest that you try them, and if you do, you can get $10 off of one of your first orders at code locked-on at www. dot builtbar.com. So definitely be sure to do that.

Hope you all are doing well on this Cinco de Mayo. Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone. Also, may the fourth be with you. I absolutely love Star Wars. I'm a massive Star Wars fan, especially considering if you guys are following me on Twitter, I have probably been blowing up your feed with a bunch of Star Wars content

because the Clone Wars ended, and I've been very, very emotional because that has been my childhood show. I remember basically just going to the theater to watch the Clone Wars movie at 10 years old, and I was hooked, and then always asking for the TV, every Friday night when I was a little kid and just, you know, when they brought it back,

I was just so psyched. And now that it's over, it's, it's bittersweet because, you know, they, they did a hell of a job with it. But in any case, we have a lot to get to for this episode of Locked on Penguins. Well, there's some Penguins news we'll get to today. But before that, I do want to say, Mike Sullivan and to your wife, we love, we love both of you. They did just an outstanding job today by basically buying some senior citizens. groceries at a couple of Giant Eagle locations.

That's all the Penguins official Twitter account tweeted that out. Just what a gesture, especially during this time. I think it was during the senior citizens' hours. Apparently they went up to the register and they realized that they basically got free groceries because Mike Sullivan had paid for it. So, you know, kudos to Sullivan and his wife for doing that. That's absolutely outstanding. And then Sydney Crosby, I think, donated $100,000, $100,000 meals to the Pittsburgh Food Bank.

Yeah. So, yeah, kudos to all three of them, you know, just absolutely classic human. I'm just doing a mensch. That is a mensch. They're basically, yes, like I said, they are doing a mensch. If you guys don't know

what being a mensch is, it is a Jewish word for being a good person. And the fact that I just dropped that on this podcast, I should probably never talk about that again. Anyways, but yeah,

like I said, just absolutely outstanding. And now we'll get into some Penguins news, Josh O'Hof the Athletic, who, of course, has been on this podcast world. I'm going to try to get him on at some point.

I'm doing during this to see how he's doing. What a really good article today speaking to Jim Rutherford about the Matt Murray Tristan Jari situation that's coming up over the summer. I'm not going to spoil it because, you know, I want you guys to go read it. But, you know, Jim Rutherford basically said that, you know, it's going to be pretty tricky, especially with the cap situation. You know, he knows that the cap is not going to be going on.

I mean, that's an understatement considering how much revenue that the NHL has already lost this year and is projected to lose especially if they don't bring the season back. and, you know, with how inconsistent Matt Murray has been, you know, I mean, I've heard that he may ask for $6 to $7 million per season. That's a little ridiculous, I think, in my opinion. That just, that does not need to have, he just does not need to be asking of that kind of money. I know he's won two Stanley Cops, but that's just, that's ridiculous. So I saw a lot of takes going around on Penguin's Word today. We'll put a couple of them on this show just to share, but, you know, I wanted to share my opinion for you guys on this.

I think what they're going to do What they should do is that this is going to be exactly like the Mark Anderick-Hurie situation And what I mean by that is We all know Mark Andre Fleury made almost 6 million per season I think his cap hit was around 5.75 million And he was due up for another contract extension But, you know, it just, it was not going to happen

You know, his play was dipping a little bit Matt Murray came out And, you know, let the world on fire Especially those first couple years And you know what, Vegas needed a goalie Especially when they were coming into the league That was a perfect timing And you know what?

perfect time. You know, it sucks that Seattle is just a season later. They're not coming in during the 2020-2020 season. It will be 2021-2020. So it sucks that, you know, we can't get a free pass. Basically, for that, you know. So what I think they're going to do is they're actually going to try to trade him to a team that needs a goalie. I'm not really sure what team will need a goalie coming this offseason.

You know, you always see goalie, just teams switching out goal. Some teams switching out goalies when free agency comes. a lot more on free agency as it comes closer. That's also one of my favorite times of the year. But, you know, it's just, like I said, Matt Murray, he just, I'm such a massive fan of him. I don't have criticisms of his globside or anything like that. I think a lot of people just like to harp on that and, you know, about what, half of all

goals go glove side on goalies. I'd actually have to do some research on that, but a lot of times when I watch games, unless I'm an idiot, a lot of goals go glove side. I really don't see why people like to harp on that so highly. But, you know, he is inconsistent. He has missed a lot of games with injuries. Those are two very, very big issues. And also, Trish and Jari has been very, very good.

And I know the sample size is not that big on Jari, but, you know, he was lighting the world on fire for a while. He was keeping the penguins afloat when Murray was struggling and when Murray was hurt. And, you know, I think that they're going to continue to do that. You know, maybe they go out and get a veteran backup for him. Maybe they promote Casey to see. Smith. I'm not really sure they're going to do that, but I think their best bet is to keep Tristan Jar, you know, the cheaper option. You cannot, when you're a cap crunch team like the penguins. You know, I say that about them. You know, the capitals also have this kind of scenario coming up. But, you know, I think they're much more in a better situation with Ilya Samsonov. You know, are they going to want to pay Braden Holby 8 to 9 million a season, considering that he's honestly not really been that good before the season went on hiatus? Nope. If you had to ask me, Nope, not at all.

They're probably, they're going to go right to Samsona because they've been grooming him a lot this season because he's been getting a lot of star tech. He started the first game against the Penguins on the Penguins won back in February and Super Bowl Sunday when Holpey was struggling. And I know Holpey had done better down the stretch, but still, like, for a lot of the season,

he just wasn't really that good. And, you know, there will always be teams that will want to pay goaltenders, you know, the Florida Panthers. They paid Sergey Barovsky 10 million per season. That's going to cap crunch them a lot in future years. The Montreal Canadians tried to pay what? Carrey Price 10 million per season. What have they done with that?

Absolutely nothing. You just, you cannot pay a goalie that kind of money, you know. I've heard a lot of people say, you know, the goaltenders are like the running backs of the, of the NHL. I 100% agree. You know, we all are Stewards fans. If you guys are Stewart's fan, the listeners, you know what happened with the Levy on Bell situation. He went to the Jets, of course, and he's turned out he stunk there because the Jets don't have a really good offensive line. And also I think Adam Gays is also a terrible head coach.

Anyways, I'm getting off track here. But, you know, you just, you can replace that production for pennies. You can just, it's just so much cheaper. And that's what I think the penguins are going to do. I do know Jim Rutherford did say as well that in a perfect world he would like to keep them. You know, he thinks that they could keep them if they really move the cap around, like Jack Johnson. I had to put a Jack Johnson one in there. Or, you know, Nick Bukstad.

I really don't think Nick Bukestead is going to be on the team next season, especially considering that he's just never healthy. I kind of feel really bad for the guy. But, you know, those are my thoughts on that situation. If you guys want to read more about that article, go to Theathletic.com. You know, subscribe to that website because it is a really, really good website

with some very, very quality sports series, not just for Pittsburgh, but in the sports world as a whole. And do you want to put on some tweets from Penguin's Twitter, just a tweet or two with their thoughts as well. Jason J underscore A-155. one of the greatest penguins Twitter follows out there. He is just absolutely outstanding.

If you guys don't follow him, you're doing it wrong. But, you know, he basically says, you know, if you only keeping one, it has to be Jari, the sample size is large enough on Murray that you can't devote a substantial coercion of the cap to him. Jari should be way cheaper than Sheldon Smith, who I also want to have on here at some point along with Jason. He says you can also get brand-name value on Murray.

You know, I think that depends on if a goalie is willing to give up a lot in return for two-time Stanley Cup champion goalie. The chances of potentially doing that are, you know, I'd say it's a little bit of 50-50. Sometimes the Goy Market is really good for getting a good value on them. Sometimes it's not. And then you just get trash value. So, you know, we're not going to know more about this for a few more months now.

You know, just wanted to share my thoughts on that situation. But before we get to our next segment, I do want to talk about Bilt Bar. Have you guys ever had Bilt Bar? They're very, very tasty. They're a protein bar. You know, they taste like, I think, like a candy bar. 16 amazing flavors. They have eight chocolate nut flavors, eight chocolate nut-free flavors.

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So you guys, definitely check out that. And, you know, buy Bilt Bar because they really are really, really good. All right. So for this segment, you know, we're kind of going and go around the NHL news a bit. This is a very, very big week for the NHEL. It's been teased a lot. There's been stuff about the draft, which we'll get to right now. Then, of course, the return to play committee meets tomorrow afternoon with the NHL and the NHLPA.

But first of all, we're going to talk about the draft. You know, there's been a lot of smoke and rumors lately that the draft may be held in early June. My thoughts on that, I think that's a mistake. Well, why do you say that, Hunter? because I just, it's weird that it's just going to happen before they make an official announcement that the season is going to come back or if it's going to be canceled. And I'm sorry, but like, are there a lot of people honestly going to watch the initial draft? And I'm being dead serious here, people, you know.

I think most hockey fans would say, if you were to poll them and say, why do you watch the national draft? It is because of trades, you know? I honestly, you know, me personally, guys, this is in the mind of me here. I probably watch the only first 10 to 15 picks in the first round. I usually then turn it off. I go on Twitter. I look for trades because, you know, like I said,

that's the number one thing I think that people look for when watching the NHL draft. I think the NHL is kidding themselves if they think a lot of people are going to watch this. Guys, they are not the NFL draft. You know, it's just so much different too because the NFL draft for the first round on the first day and then the next day for the rounds two and three, All those players, for the most part, are ready to play that day. You know, rounds four through seven, a lot of those guys are going to need a year to sit,

a year to just basically develop more. And that's what a lot of the NHL draft is. A lot of the players in the initial draft outside the top 10 need at least a year or two to develop in the minors or potentially three to four years before they come up. Not just the reality of the situation. And, you know, I just, like I said, I think they're kidding themselves if they really, really think that there's a lot of people

that are going to watch it just like the NFL draft NFL draft is a ratings monster it's the NFL, it's the number one sport in this country the financial is not bad even though it is one of the four major sports in this country it's just not even going to be close as well as watched and you know

I also read that a lot of general managers hate it. It's just a weird I don't know it's just weird that it happens like before everything comes back or if it will come back because, you know, what happens with trades? You know, you have the conditional trades that play into these picks. What happens?

How do you move around that? And, you know, there's just a lot more questions and answers. And, I mean, I know Gary Bettman has the authority to rule over a lot of these GMs who I've read that do not like it. I don't know the names because I've just read from Elliot Freeman and Pure LeBron that a lot of GMs just are, you know, they're really, really not happy about this and they wish they would be in like September after the season or something like that. and then have like a free agency like the next few days after that.

That's what I would do as well. But, you know, now if you cancel the season, you can have the draft whenever the hell you want. But I just, it's weird that it would be at the beginning of June. And then televising it, which of course, you know, it's always the right call to televise it. I just, you know, I don't think a lot of people are going to watch. I know it sounds like a broken record.

But, in my opinion, it just, it's just not really going to happen, guys. Now, moving away from the draft talk is the return to play committee. like I said, that is going to be meeting tomorrow. There was a report today on Insider Training from Darren Dregor, and he basically says that the NHL is they're cautiously optimistic. They hope to begin phase two later in May, but they won't allow players to begin practicing a team. Facilities until a large majority teams can do it.

And of course, that means, you know, like a lot of this depends on the state governments, the local governments. You know, I know a lot of states, some states are, they're starting to move into the next phase of opening up. their state is back up opening up the country, of course, for Virginia, for where I live. The governor here is, he's going to move to the next phase, I think, next Friday, where, you know, you can go get a haircut. You can go out to dinner, but, you know, you have to, like, maintain social distancing. So, you know, basically, I think the NHL, they want this to happen, you know, mid to late May.

It's probably not late May, I think, at the earliest, you know. Some might say it's too soon, but, you know, like I said, a lot of this is just going to be dependent on the government. and what the governors say for the states, if you know whether they can go back in practice and whether they can go back in small groups and whatnot. And also, Pierre LeBron, just going back to the draft a little bit, he said on insider training that the NHL will take the rest of this week or even potentially next week to make and announce a decision on a potential June draft.

So yes, this is a massive, massive week for the NHL. There's a lot at stake, you know. I said, we're into May now. I already said just a few seconds ago, a lot of states are starting to begin phase two of reopening. We all know the NHL is very much aware of that. I'm sure they're in regular contact with some of the other sports leagues like the NBA on what they're going to do.

You know, it's going to be very, very interesting to see what happens. You know, we'll have it all covered here for you guys on Locked on Penguins if we get any breaking news announcements in the next few days or so. But, yeah, I just wanted to update you guys around the league. There's some, like I said, you know, the draft is just, you know, an early June draft, especially when there's no season going on. And also, I feel really bad for the prospects, too, going back to it, because their season was cut short.

They didn't get a chance to showcase their ability in their league's playoffs and everything. And, you know, some of the prospect evaluations are a lot, some of them are based off of how they do in the playoffs. Although some of them, it adds to it for them as a player. And for them not to have that, you know, it absolutely, it stinks. It absolutely sucks. All right, so for this last little exciting of the Locked-on Penguins podcast, you know, we'll keep doing the, talking about the Penguins 2017 Stanley Cup final rewatch.

They replayed Game 5 last night, Monday night against the Predators when they, of course, blew them out in Pittsburgh. They shut them out. What was it? I still can't. 6-0. The fact that I almost can remember that is actually pretty pathetic. So, yeah, just that game was just so awesome to watch.

You know, especially when they made it 3-0 after, Malkins goal very, very late in the first period. That was the backbreaking goal for the Feders. There was no going back from that. Of course, my favorite memory from that game is Ron Hainsey making James Neal look like a complete dupist when he basically ran into his own teammate.

Ronnie deeks him. And then Ron Ainsie, he's able to go coast to coast and score that goal. That was just absolutely brilliant. The big power play goal, a minute into the period, a minute into the game, I should say was just awesome. Brian Russ backhand goal to make it 2-0.

Just a few minutes later. As I said, Phil Kessel Malkin on that. I think it was a 4-on-4 Malkin. Slaps to pass Rene with only less than a minute left in the first period. Just awesome. And then, like I said, it wasn't done there. I suspect Rene was, of course, pulled in. You know, I wonder what happens in game six.

But, you know, watching that game back was just so much fun. I've never seen a game or over that quick when it comes to the Penguins and the Stanley Cup. and all they just absolutely blew the doors off them. And it was just weird how Pecorina was just, he just turned into a pumpkin every single time the penguins would play them in Pittsburgh and yet in Nashville he plays like an absolutely god.

And, you know, of course, Patrick Hork was able to do his thing. I'm hoping for their next, well, for 18T Sportsman for the Penguins where they'd be playing these classic games, they should just replay like some classic, like regular season or like games that have like some off. some moments, you know, like since comeback game, you know, their first

win over the fires in PPJ Payne's Arena, you know, that was, I think, during the March of the Penguins in 2013, that clip came across today. Just some classic games from this last decade. It helps some classic games from the team overall. There's so many to choose from that are just not playoff games.

I mean, I don't get a lot of people, you know, I think some people are starting maybe to get a little sick of watching them, you know, I personally don't mind it, but I would like to see them maybe show some other season games, and hopefully they do do that. I think there's a rumor coming up that they might show back the 1991 final. But, you know, what do they go do after they show the 92 final?

I think they may have already done that, so that's going to be interesting. But we will also, we're going to end this episode right here with a year of this, today in Penguin's history. This comes courtesy of the Twitter account on H.L. Penn. Seven years ago today, the Penguins went up two with a games to one in the first-round series against the New York Islanders. Chris Kunitz broke the hearts. This was during the game where Mark Andre Flore

almost had his meltdown, which was a big yikes. So we will play this goal call for you here, right here. Now Malkin. Kunitz takes it deep. Malkin walks out. It's knocked off his stick, Hall Martin, doubles at the crossby. Now a chance. Goonitz.

Chris Kunitz. Overtime has ended it, and the Penguins went at 5 to 4. And they take a 2-1 lead in the series as a a disappointed Jack Capuano and his coaching staff exit the ice. Oh man. First off, after that, rest in peace, Dave Schrader. He was taken from us far too soon. Easily one of my favorite hockey announcers.

Growing up, I always loved when NBCSN had him and Ryan Engbaum doing the uphangerous games because I think that was, I think that team is, I know Doc is on the number one team and he's a legend, but I think that team is better than docking them as a whole. I will always believe that. So rest of me, Dave Schroeder, but man, and you know, the way Kirk Kunis was able to do that. Just go top cheese on Abgeting Nabokov.

Man, I always forget about Abgeting Nabokov. He had a long career, if I'm not mistaken. He played for a long time with the San Jose Sharks. He was also really, really bad at that series. He kind of saved the Penguins' asses. Because, sorry, Mark Andre Fleury was really, really bad, those first four games. And then Tomas Vocoon comes in. And, you know, actually played better than that.

Not average, guys. Above average, he actually was pretty, pretty good when he came. And then, of course, was really good against the senators. and then, you know, his magic ran out against the Bruins, but, you know, the whole Penguins, magic ran out against the Bruins. That series was not his fault. But, yeah, seven years ago today, that was fun.

I remember going to high school the next day, my friend who was the Penguins fan there, was just laughing because all the Islander fans at that game just sounded like they were drunk with everything. It was just, it was really funny to just talk about that. But thank you guys so much for listening to this episode of the Locktown Penguins podcast. We will be back potentially tomorrow,

if not tomorrow, Thursday, Friday. If tomorrow is a very, very busy day for me, I have a final paper due, and then I have a couple of things to do for class before. I have three finals left, which has me for graduation. I still can't believe I'm graduating college in 10 days. So I hope you guys liked this episode. Follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, the show's Twitter, L.O. underscore Penguins. Go out maybe buy a BiltBar. Like I said, they have some really, really good flavors.

Builtbar.com. You get $10 off in order with promo code locked on. So definitely check that. definitely check that out and we will talk to you all very soon.