Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Training Camp is finally here, plus some BOLD predictions!

Episode Date: September 22, 2022

Happy Wednesday! Training camp is right on the horizon and Hunter starts the show by discussing what he's most looking forward to seeing at camp. Does he want to see how the new guys perform? What about that 12th-forward spot competition? Do any goaltenders need to have good camps? Does it matter if Kasperi Kapanen has a good camp after what happened last season? Those are some of the questions that Hunter potentially answers in this segment before getting to the BOLD prediction segment. He gives five bold predictions for the 2022-2023 Pittsburgh Penguins and yes, some of them may make you spit your water out or have you fall out of your chair. Finally, Hunter reacts to the Locked On NHL Coaching power rankings and whether Mike Sullivan is in the right spot. He also tells the listeners who he voted for before finishing with why it's unlikely Sullivan will again get any consideration for the award, even though he should probably be a finalist for it each season.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, Penguins fans, happy Wednesday the day before training camp. Yes, training camp officially gets underway on the 22nd. The official last day of summer, actually, the fall equinox is about 9 o'clock on Thursday night. So almost basically the last day of summer slash the first day of fall. And that will officially mark three weeks until the start of the 2022, 2023 NHL regular season of an action-packed episode for you all today. I'm going to go into what I'm looking for heading into. camps from the storylines I'm going to be paying attention to. Also, we're going to get

into some bold predictions for this season. That'll be the second segment. And then we're going to get into the top 10 NHL coach power rankings that the Lockdown NHL host got to do. And yes, I did have a vote on it. And I can confirm that Mike Sullivan is fairly high on Ellis. So we'll get wind of that in the final segment. And then that will be today's show. So that's all come 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, Hunter Hodes. We're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Can also follow the show's Twitter, L-Ns for Penguins, and, of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen of the day. So again, yes, less than 24 hours until camp,

actually as I'm recording right now, 9.30 at night, 12 hours until the first practice. The first practice takes a place at 9 a.m. tomorrow. Remember, the practice practice will be free and open to anyone that wants to go. All the practices are free and open to the public except the ones on game days on the schedule for tomorrow. Leave team one and team two will have a practice on the two different ranks. Then they're going to scrimmage. I think team three is going to practice. They'll have some conditioning and all that. Leave the day will end around, it's like 1-130 or something like that. So there will be a scrimmish tomorrow between teams one and team two.

I do not have the teams in front of me. I thought they were going to release them today. Usually they do. I guess they'll do it tomorrow right before camp starts. Probably like, I don't know, 8, 8.30, something like that. Or, you know, maybe at 9 right when it gets underway. But for those are going tomorrow, you know, if you are, let me know in the comments. You know, let me, you can send me a DM, you know, and just, you know, tell me what you saw.

You know, who looked good and all that stuff who looked bad, you know, all that good jazz. But with Camp now, about to get underway. You know, we'll just get into stuff that now I'm looking forward to seeing. You know, you definitely got to start with the new guys. You know, how is Ty Smith going to perform, you know, just in a new system under Mike Sullivan? You know, this is the player that I've talked about a lot over the offseason. I'm really intrigued about him. Had a really, really good rookie year with the New Jersey Devils a couple of years ago, Ben,

had a really rough sophomore slump. I think part of that did have to do with him. playing with Lindy Rough system and the Devils were just a really bad team. That kind of hindered him. I really want to see what he can do with Mike Sullivan, who runs, you know, a more fast-paced system caters to offense. And, you know, for someone who is really good with the puck on his stick and has good foot speed, I think that can really benefit tie a lot.

I think what they're going to do, you know, they're maybe going to sit him down, you know, in the video room, Taubiering's going to go over some stuff with him. And I think in a perfect role, they would like. him to win that number three left-handed left-hander spot on the bottom pair. I think, in my opinion, that's who they want as a number six. I mean, he's going to have to go out there and her POJ is going to be going after it. Mark Freeman, we're going after it. So, you know, he's not just going to be given that spot.

He's going to have to have some good practices. He's going to have to have some good scrimmages. He's going to have to play well in some of the preseason games, you know, all that good stuff. But really intrigued about him. I'm curious to see who they pair him with. end drills and scrimmages and all that. I would have to guess it's young Ruta, especially after he was paired with him during the scrimmage,

even though it was very informal. But we'll know for sure, you know, once Mike Sullivan, you know, starts to put some pairings together and all that stuff. Also, you know, same with Jeff Petrie, you know, really excited about having him here. You know, he's probably the second, the best right, second, I'm trying to say this right. the best two right-handed, the best two RHD, right-handed defensive that this team has had in quite some time.

Maybe since a prime 2017, Justin Schultz, but, you know, Petrie's a better player. Justin Schultz is not really close. You know, really excited to see how he fits Sullivan's system. You know, he was great with Montreal. Last year, year before that, it was getting some Norse Trobia consideration. You know, I think when Marty C. and Luis took over, he had 21 points in 23 games. and, not 23 games, 30 games, excuse me. And, you know, he just, he kind of, you know, found his stride again.

So, you know, I know he's a bit older, but he brings a lot of offense. He's still quick with the puck on his stick, still good in his own zone. Really excited to see how he fits the system, for sure. Of course, you know, the 12th forward spot. I think that's going to be a big talking point coming into camp. I mean, it probably should be the biggest talking point. I know I, you know, talked about Ty Smith. and Jeff Petrie a little bit first.

But, you know, that's really, you know, one of the main roster competitions that this team has right now. You know, who's going to stand out? Is it going to be Ryan Pailing? Is it going to be Drew O'Connor? You know, I was listening to watching Penguins Lunch today with Nick Berlanski, who does Tippy the Iceberg and, you know, Doug Blackie, good friend, both are good friends of the show. And, you know, they were both, you know, they were both agreeing that they would like to see Drew O'Connor get that 12 Ford's spot over anyone else. I'm kind of, you know, warming up to that as well.

I would like to see how he does in camp. He's going to be given every opportunity to win that 12th 4 spot, especially with how he played in camp and preseason last year. I mean, you know, he did make the team just because, you know, Sid and Gino were out to start the year. So that also helps. Well, you know, this year, that's not the case. Juno's well healthy.

Sid's ready to go. You know, the team that, I mean, basically everyone on the team is ready to go heading into camp. So it's going to be even tougher for him to get it, but I do think he's going to have every opportunity to make the team just because of, you know, of the intrigue that he, you know, showed early last season when he was actually putting the puck in the back of the net and, you know, being responsible in his own zone and all that other stuff. So, you know, is it going to be him, paling, you know, obviously, even a former first-round pick, you know, last season in Montreal, all not the best.

You know, again, going to a new system. You know, I think that the management staff is really interested in him. I think Mike Sullivan, you know, he's not going to put him in the top stakes or probably even on the third line. I think he would have to be on the fourth line. You know, Josh Archibald, you know, how's that going to be? You know, is he going to have a good camp? You know, if he's bad, you can maybe just bury him in the minors.

It's only 900K. Something like that. Jake Cajula, he had a decent year in Buffalo. last year he's on a two-way deal. Is he going to make play? And then also, of course, redeem Zohorna. He's on a one-way. People forget, but Zahorna is on a one-way deal this season.

Remember, he signed a two-year contract just a couple seasons ago. Last year was two-way. This year's one way. So I believe he will need waivers to go down to Wilkesbury. You know, is he going to make a big push for that 12th forward spot? There's going to be a lot of competition for it. I mean, you know, made the best player win. that's for sure um you know obviously you know i'm intrigued about the goaltending you know i hope

you know trishan jari does have a good camp a good preseason even though he's probably not going to be getting too many reps um at least game reps and maybe he'll play like a period or two but he's not going to um play too many full games um if you ask me um so again you know mainly mainly just the new guy especially the defenseman that they acquired you know also you know I'll put Jan Ruta in there. Really curious to see how he does as well. And, you know, mainly just, you know, that 12th Ford spot, you know, who's going to come out and take it and, you know,

and take a run for the money there. So those are the main things I'm looking for at camp. I guess if you want to throw one more in, this is going to sound so stupid maybe to some of you all. I'll say it. I think Kesperi Kappa needs to have a good camp. I know what you all are going to say, oh, well, he was so good in.

camp last year, great in the preseason, then stunk in the regular season? Yes, I know. I pumped his tires a good bit. I made myself look like a complete idiot. I totally get it. But I do think he needs to show that he can have another good camp, you know, to show himself that, you know, he has that confidence back and that he can be the player that he was, you know, back in 2020, 2020, 2021 and even, you know, back to 2018, 19. I'm really, you know, going to have my eyes focused on him to see, you know, is he going to struggle the way he did during the regular season in the playoffs last year in camp and preseason? Or is he going to go back to the way that we saw him play, you know, throughout his career at times where, you know, he's actually able to stay consistent in you. He's using his speed

to his advantage and he's actually firing the puck on net and not, you know, just coming into the zone and button hooking back and all that stuff. So I guess I'll add that, you know, I'm definitely going to be paying attention to that on camp. But what about you? What are you all intrigued about as campus is getting underway, do any matchups. I interest you. You know, who would you have as that told forward? Defense, you know, are you excited about the new guys? Do you like my take on Capnan?

You know, just whatever you have to add. You can add that in YouTube comments or you can just send me a message on any social media app. Heck, you can request to follow me on Instagram for all I matter. I only post pictures of just my girlfriend and I basically. So I don't really use it for anything else. Anyway, but before we. get to our second segment, which is, I almost just, I almost just blanked on the second

segment, bold predictions for this season. Can't believe I almost just blanked on that. Let's get into Ben Online. It's your number one source for football betting info this season. You can find all the latest player developments, team matchups, news, podcasts, and in-depth articles analysis on every game out there. And as always, Ben, it remains your continued source for all of your school treasuring information with live-bending and up to the the minute scores for every sport out there. It's the fastest, easiest way to check in all your favorite games and events, including MLB, MMA, boxing, and golf. You can head to the bed online or use your phone to learn more. That has been online where the game starts. All right, I'm back here on

this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am your host, Honor Hodes. Murdo, follow me on Twitter. At Hunter Hodes, follow the show's Twitter. I love this for Penguins. And of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen of the day. So let's get into some fun bowl predictions for this season. But I'm thinking about a few of them last few days. So after the sip of water, we're going to get into it. So my first one, I'm sure maybe someone else has this one. I'm not sure. But I'm going to say it. It's probably. But Jake Gensel's scoring 50 goals this year. He's going to do it. He's been really close twice throughout his career. He hit 40 last year. He's the only other penguin in the Crosby-Malkan era to have hit 40 multiple times. there's been a few players that have hit it once, James Neal. I believe, did Chris Kinnis hit 40 once? Maybe, maybe, my memory is just, you know, killing.

I don't even think Phil Kessel hit 40 when he was a penguin. But, you know, Gensel's in it twice. He is good enough to hit 50, and he's going to be playing a lot with Cindy Crosby. If he stays healthy, I definitely think he can do it. He's one of the five best pure goal scores in the NHL, his ability to, you know, get to a soft area of the ice where he's basically just undetected and have the smallest amount of time and still fire it in the net. It's second to none.

He is an elite talent in this league. He's not a product of Cindy Crosby. He's never been a product of Cindy Crosby. Just look what he was doing to the Rangers in the first round of the playoffs. Their fan base was basically having nightmares about him to say the least. So I do think he hits 50 this year. maybe he's one of three or four players that doesn't maybe it's less than that maybe it's more but um jake genzel is hitting 50 this year why not on my second bowl prediction

fool me once shame on shame on you fool me twice shame on me three times well you know you know the saying i'm gonna say it though i'm gonna be like i'm gonna be like my bro like the brian wine horse meme here where he's just like doing this like with the fingers point enough and it's just looking up to the sky. Jason Zucker is going 20 to 25 goals this year. Yeah, I'm saying it. I'm doing, I'm going out there.

I am standing on the head of our nice Jewish boy on this team. Jason is going to score 20 to 25 this year. He is going to stay healthy this season. I'm going to put my, I'm going to put my sword right on that. Maybe if I get Mark, hopefully I don't get Mark Andre Fleuried, you know, with the swords going to get to his back. I mean, this is crazy.

but he has the talent. He's that good. He just has to say healthy. I really do think if he stops getting injured, he can easily be a 20 to 25 goal score on this team. He'll play with the right my mates in Evgeny Malkin and Ricard Raquel, two players that can get him the puck numerous times throughout the game and he can use that excellent shot to his advantage to score.

He's also great in front of the net. I don't think enough people talk about that. And also, you know, he plays his tail off every single shift. When he was healthy last year, you know, it was very noticeable for the penguins. And again, I know he wasn't healthy that often. But, you know, when he was, you know, he was definitely, you know, playing well for the penguins. And, you know, this is a contract year for him. If he does score 20 to 25, I do think he can, you know, recoup some of the money that, you know,

he would maybe get on that next deal. because if he's bad again and he gets hurt, you know, he's not going to get anywhere, you know, close to $5.5 million per on his next contract. But I'm going to say it, 20 to 25 goals this year, bank on it for Jason Zucker. So that's two, bold predictions. Bold prediction number three.

Might be a little too bold, might not, but this is why, after all, that, you know, that this is a bold prediction segment. Tristan Jari is going to be a Vezna finalist this season. I am really high on him going to this year. think he has unfinished business for this team. He was playing at a Vesna level for a lot of last season. I know his numbers took a little bit of a dip, you know, once, you know, March came around,

April and all that stuff. But, you know, it also had to do with him just, you know, playing so much before him just because Casey DeSmith was stinking up the joint. You know, he just in the first half of the season, Desmith was really freaking bad. So, you know, I think if DeSmith is able to be on his game, you know, he's back healthy now and not look like, you know, the first half version of how he played last year and he looks more like the second half version, you know, that he's going to be able to spell Jari in some cases and that's going to be able to, you know, put his workload down a little bit, which A, obviously

could not lead to injuries. And B, you know, gets him more rest, which means, you know, he's going to be more refreshed down the stretch into the playoffs where he can hopefully be healthy for the penguins. But, you know, he was at 9.30 for a lot of the last season. Again, I know the numbers went down, but, you know, he was still top 10, also in goals saved above expected for the entire season last year. He even got, I think, a couple of Desna Trophy votes, and not like number one or two or anything, but I think he got a couple fourth, fifth place votes from what I remember. So, you know, some of the right, what, not the writer, because it's the general manager, some of the general managers, you know, they definitely noticed how good he was. And I do think with how good

he was last year, and, you know, this is a contract here for him. I think you're going to see him put it all together, and I think he's going to be a Vesna Trophy finalist at the end of this season. So that's three ball predictions right there for you all. Ball prediction number four. Let's see here. I had a couple that I wanted to make sure I have. Okay. I would say this a little bit bold. Cindy Crosby is going to score 100 points this year. He hasn't done it. in the last little bit, but he's going to be fully healthy going into this season. Scoring is up around the league.

I know he's in his mid-30s now, but I am more confident than ever. Insid, and I think he's going to have one heck of a year. And my final one involves Gino. I will say this. He's going to have 35 plus goals this year. Basically 20 goals and half a season last year was playing. still on a bum knee was a point per game player. His skating looks like it's, you know, better than it ever was.

And his knee looks, you know, to be in really good shape. He stays healthy this year, which, you know, hopefully he does. He scores 35 plus goals for this team this year. He will be a top two to three goals score on the scene. I would maybe even say he would finish second on the team of goals behind Jake Gensel. So those are my five bold prediction. I found my five main bowl predictions. for the Penguins this season.

Let me know what you all think in the comments. You can also send me a DM. Do you think of any of those have a chance of coming true? Which ones do you not think of any chance of coming true? Do you think that was crazy for some of them? Let me know. But those, at least those are mine for this regular season. So still a little more to get to for this episode of Locktime Penguins podcast.

Coming up with the final segment, we're going to get into the top 10 NHL coach power rings that the Locktown NHL team came out with. And I'm going to get into where Mike Sullivan is. and if I agree with the spot that he landed in. So that's all coming up right after this commercial break. I'm back in this episode of the Locktown Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes. We're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes.

He can also follow the shows, Twitter, Eleanor Square Penguins, and, of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen of the day. So let's get into it here. So on Locked on Sports, so they tweeted out this week's power ringing. So we power rank different stuff, us the host, throughout each week. And this week, you know, it's the top 10 coaches heading into the season. And everyone had, mostly everyone had John Cooper was at number one, that's fine. Darryl Sodor is at number two, okay, Jared Bednar is three, Robin DeMore's four,

and then Mike Sullivan is at number five. Me personally, I would have Mike Sullivan. I put him when I voted at number two. I think it's him and Cooper at the top. Bednar, I obviously can see it because he just led the avalanche to the Stanley Cup. He's also been a really good coach ever since he came into the league. Darrell Sutter, he also knows what he's doing. I can see that a little bit too.

Rindamore also really good coach, but I think Sullivan is a bit better than him. Cooper, though, I mean, I think he would have a little bit of an edge over Mike right now. But, you know, I think for Sullivan, you know, obviously he did get the respect that he deserves in this full finishing in the top five. I mean, if you don't think he's a top five coach in this league, I think you're kind of nuts, to be honest with you all. But again, you know, I have him as a top three, at least a top three coach in this league. I have him, I had him at number two.

And then the rest of the list, Gerard Golan, was out of six. I didn't even have him in my top ten. Craig Ruby at seven, Bruce Cassie at eight, Bruce Burrough at nine, Peter Lobelet at ten. At ten, I don't think Peter Lobelet's a top ten coach. That's just, that's me. speaking though, you know, I definitely think he's a little overrated. See, at least I would have had Bruce Cassidy at number six.

At least I would have him right behind Selvin Barubei. He's not bad. You know, maybe I'd have him a little bit lower. I would honestly move Moodrow up to maybe like that number eight spot. And I would take Lobby Lid out and put someone else in. And then there were the odds, actually, to win the Jack Adams Trophy this upcoming season from Ben Al-Loyne. The odds on favor is actually Jared Benar at plus 700.

Next up is Rod Brindamore at plus 900. Funny enough, Gerard Gallant has the next best odds, which I don't understand. John Cooper and Bruce Bidore next after that. And then Mike Sullivan has the next best odds after that at plus 2,000. Those odds are probably fine for Sullivan because the funny thing is, for some reason, he just does not get a lot of jacked out of consideration. You know, it's all because, oh, he has Crosby and Malk, and they're expected to make the pointouts. But yet no one understands just how much, you know, of a great job he does,

especially when the team is so banged up every freaking season. The last two years, they've been top five in man games lost. Like, they won the East Division in 2021, 2021, 2022, when I believe they actually lived the league and man games lost. So, and he still wasn't even nominated for the Giants, by the way. I season, they dealt with numerous COVID outbreaks, numerous injuries. They didn't even start the season with Crosby and Malkin. And the penguins were still kicking butt and taking names and beating teams left and right. And it's just like, wow, you know, I'm sure this is all going to be forgotten when the big guns come back.

And sure enough, it was. You know, that's just the voting for this award needs to change. You know, the name of it should be, oh, which coach got the best goal tending for this. year. In case you all can tell, I get very heated about the Jack Adams Trophy Award. It actually should go to the true best coach and not someone who gets 935, 940 goal tending. So that's how I feel about it. Hopefully Sullivan does get more consideration this year, but, you know, I'm kind of not holding my breath too much on that. With that said, that will wrap up today's episodes about, you know, 23, 24 minute episode for you all today.

I hope you all enjoyed listening to it, watching it. You know, we made it. Penguins hockey is just about, it's basically back. Training camp is in full. Steenwell, it's about to be in full steam. Remember 9 a.m. Eastern is the first practice tomorrow. I'm sure, you know, a lot of you are going to be all over social media, seeing what they're doing. I especially will be always retweening some stuff and all that jazz.

So now we've made it. Camps here. Really excited or, you know, just, you know, get back to really talking Penguins Hockey with you all. before you know it, the regular season is going to get underway. And then the fun really begins. So again, thank you all so much for listening. I really appreciate it. I'll be back with another episode for you all on Thursday.