Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - What does the future hold for Penguins defenseman Ty Smith?

Episode Date: June 22, 2023

The Pittsburgh Penguins will have some interesting decisions to make on defense this offseason and that includes Ty Smith. Hunter looks at what Ty Smith did down in Wilkes Barre this past season and how he seemed to be too good for the AHL. He also discusses what stood out about him in the nine games that he played with the team this past season and how he can make the team out of camp and in the preseason. He also looks at how the Penguins can get him to improve defensively, even though he's more known for his offense. Also: Could the Penguins have a competition coming between Smith and PO Joseph if Dubas acquires a top 4 left-shot defenseman? He dives into that before analyzing Joonas Korpisalo and why he could be a strong free-agent fit for the Penguins. He discusses howKorpisalo really saved his career this season with how good his numbers were before looking at how this would be a classic Kyle Dubas move for an undervalued goaltender. He looks at what he is projected to get on the free agent market (and it's not that much) and how he could work in a platoon role for whoever else the team has behind him. Finally, he ends the show with a silly season trade idea for Erik Karlsson. Do the Penguins have the assets to make a deal? How much fun would he and Letang be to watch? All of that, plus much more, is on this episode of Locked On Penguins.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BirddogsGo to birddogs.com/lockedonnhl and they’ll throw in a free custom birddogs Yeti-style tumbler with every order.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase.eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit. eBay Motors dot com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit is only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go to FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.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) 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, happy Thursday to everyone out there. To start off today's show, we're going to get into a player who I think could make a big push for a full-time roster about this upcoming season that's coming up right after this. You're Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day. Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodesman.

Follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, follow the shows Twitter at Ellenworths or Penguins. And of course, thank you all so much for making this your first list and slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. This episode is bought you by and buy and buy game time and download game time app, create an account and use code to lock down NHL for $20 off your first purchase. So let's jump right into it. The player that I teased for the opening segment of today's show is none other than Ty Smith. This is a player I've gotten a lot of requests about from listeners slash watchers of the show.

And for good reason. You all want to see what the penguins have in this kid, as do I. Going back to last September when training camp in the preseason wrapped up, I openly said on this show that he should be on the team full time, that he is better than just an AHL defense. And he had a really good camp. He really impressed me in that final preseason game. The reason he wasn't on the team, though, was because Ron Hextol screwed up the salary cap so freaking badly. Remember, they only had like $10,000 of salary cap space. That's what happens when you trade for Jeff Petrie in his full $6.25 million cap hit. That's what happens when you sign Naruto, almost a $3 million cap hit. You signed Josh Archibald. Later, you trade from a Kyle Granlin. He was so bad

with the cap. It's not going to be an issue here. I don't think with Kyle Deavis, but that is the main reason why Smith only played nine games in the NHL this past season. He came up for one brief stint. That was it. And that stint did score a goal, had four points in nine games. The goal came against the Vegas goal to Knights on January 5th, a 5 to 2 loss to the Knights. And when he was up here for those nine games, I came away honestly super impressed. I liked his shot that he showed in those games.

he can also jump into the rush with ease. His skating ability is off the charts, if you ask me. I think in terms of all the defensemen that are currently on the roster right now, he is the second best of skating defenseman on the team behind Chris Lentang. And that's no slight to Marcus Pedersen. I love his skating ability. But the way Smith skates with the puck, you can't teach that. The talent you can easily see it's there.

It's all about cleaning up the other. parts of his game to round him out to be a good NHL defense fan. I also really liked how he quarterbacked the top power play unit. It didn't have a lot of success, but the powerplay wasn't that success, so even when Chrisel Teng or Jeff Petrie were on it, but I liked his ability to fire the puck. Any chance he got from the point, he just put it to the net, looking for a deflection from Jake Gensel, looking for something from Cindy Crosby. I really enjoyed that aspect of his game.

as well. So I came away fairly impressed from his nine-game sample during about the halfway point of this past season. Finished the season in Wilkesbury played in 39 games, seven goals, 24 points, missed a little bit of time with a facial fracture. But when he came back, he played super well. Nine points in those final nine games, played on the top pairing of Wilkesbury. I definitely think he is too good for the AHL. Either way, I think this player will be on the roster this upcoming season, but it's going to come down to whether he'll be an extra or whether he will be getting full-time minutes above B.O. Joseph, maybe above someone else. That's going to come down to Kyle Dubus

and what he thinks is best for this defensive group. I've been on record and said that this team needs another top four defense, and I will keep banging the drum until that happens. I've seen other people say that the penguins need too top four defensemen to push maybe someone else out of the lineup. But if your left side is something like Noah Hannifin slash Ryan Graves, Marcus Pedersen and then P.O. Joseph slash Ty Smith. That's pretty good. Where you get into problems is if your left side is Marcus Pedersen at the top, P.O. Joseph Manning, your second pairing, and then Ty Smith. There's not enough experience. on the left side, and I'm sorry, I mean no offense to Marcus Pedersen,

I don't think he is a number one left shot D on a contending team. You mean someone else there, that is a bit better than him. So Pedersen can eat up those second pairing minutes, and then you can have a competition on your third pairing with P.O. Joseph and Ty Smith. Smith is a very talented player. He didn't just forget to play hockey. That's what some people said about his second season in New Jersey when he slumped really hard. Still had 20 points that season, but he was a tire fire in his defensive zone.

And the devils thought they couldn't really rescue him. So they shipped him off to Pittsburgh for Marino. I know it's worked out really well for them so far because Marino had a great year for them this past year. But maybe there's a chance this works out good for both teams. If Smith actually does get a chance, his best season with the Devils. came his rookie year, had 23 points in 48 games. You don't just average half a point per game by accident. The talent is obviously there.

It's all up to the coaching staff to fully unlock it. Now, if Smith does make the team out of camp, you're going to need to put him with someone who is defensively responsible. Smith is an offensive defenseman. He's going to escape the puck out of danger in the defensive zone. He's going to jump into the rush really aggressively. He has a really nice shot, good play-making ability, and quarterback your power play,

but he's going to give it all back in the defensive zone. That's why you need to have a defensively responsible partner for him if he, you know, maybe he does win out a battle with P.O. Joseph, if that's the way it goes. Or, you know, maybe he gets, you know, 20 to 30 games as an extra if someone else goes down. You need to put someone else there with him that can clean up the mess that he will probably leave in the defensive zone.

That's just not his game. Now, will he be able to work on that part of this game? Absolutely. You don't just want players to stink defensively. But from what I have seen, when I've watched the numbers, he's not defensively responsible in his own end. And that's going to have to change a little bit, and you're going to have to put a player with him that can help.

But I am really intrigued about him heading into this season. If you're asking for my prediction, I do think he's going to make the team out of camp. I think, I personally, if he just does what he did in training camp in the preseason last year, he'll be on the team here no matter what, we'll just have to see what his role is. But they got to find out sooner rather than later what they have in him because that was a big trade that Hextall made. I know Kyle probably would not have made that trade. I don't know if any other general manager would have made that trade. But it's over with, it's done.

got to see what you have. And I'm really intrigued about him heading into this upcoming season. My personal prediction, he makes a team probably starts out as an extra, but I think he plays 25 to 30 games for the Penguins this upcoming season, not in the full-time capacity because I think it's going to go to POJ at first, considering his experience, considering his play with a puck on instead this past season. But I do think you will see him on the team. He is too good to play in the NHL.

He ate up his minutes like it was nothing this past. past season had a good amount of points, averaged a point per game after he came back from his facial fracture. He's a really solid player. And I'm excited to see what he can do at the NH level, you know, on more of a full-time basis. So that wraps up this first segment of today's episode. Let me know what you think about Ty Smith down in the comments. If you're watching on YouTube, you can also send me a DM on social media and any other platforms. Do you think Ty Smith should make the roster, and do you think he will make the roster, and I'll even throw this out there, do you think that he will play over P.O. Joseph on the third pairing? So let me know your thoughts about that.

Down the comments, you can also send me a DM and all that. But coming up for the second segment, looking at another goaltender for the Penguins this upcoming offseason, and that is Yonis Corpusallo, formerly of the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Los Angeles Kings. Could he make sense on a quote-unquote, short-term deal. I'm going to get into that coming up after this break. But before we discuss that, we have to get into game time. Buying tickets to your favorite events

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Terms apply. Again, great account and redeem code locked in NHL for $20 off. Download GameTime today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. All right, and we're back here on this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes. We're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the shows, Twitter,

at El Mercer Penguins. And of course, thank you so much for making this, your first listen slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. So, Jonas Corpusalo, I'll admit, my friends, when I first saw him as an option on the free agent market, I scoffed at it just because he was not good in Columbus for most of his career. But that changed in a big way this season when he had a 9-13 say percentage on one of the five worst teams in hockey. The jackets were a lottery team and he still had an above-average say percentage when you look at a lot of the other goaltenders in the league. He then gets dealt to Los Angeles Kings at the time. I'm part of the Gabrikov deal.

and in 11 games after the deadline goes 7 and 3 in 1 and has a 921 save percentage and a 2.13 goals against average played in their first round series against the Oilers, had an 892 save percentage, only won them two games, but the Kings were just totally outmatched against the Oilers. They could not keep up with them offensively. But he played even better with Los Angeles than he did with Columbus. and obviously it helps to have a much better team around you. But he had a really good year overall.

And honestly, I think this season kind of saved his career a bit because he was on a downward trajectory coming into the season before he had a really strong year. And this is a type of player that I think Dubis could definitely go after on the Free Asian market. Remember, he went after Ilya Samsonov and Matt Murray. Two more low-key options on the goaltending, market last year, ended up working out, especially with Samsonoff, because he led them to the

playoffs and the Leafs got their first series win in almost 20 years. But he didn't go after a big name goal. He went after two guys who were, I guess, undervalued around the league. And you can say what you want about him for that, but he got decent results from Samsonov and Murray, when he was healthy at least, played okay. And I think with Corpusalo, with the year he had, he is another goaltender who I think could be a little bit undervalued around the league, especially when you look at his contract projection. Daily faceoff is projecting him to get only two years, $2.6 million per season. Sign me up for that every single day of the week. If that is one of your starting netminers, you can get someone else for cheap and maybe you only have $4.4.4.4 million tied up to your goalies,

that is best case scenario. Maybe that is Casey DeSmith, but I would also argue that you should move on from him and get someone else in there. Maybe that's like a Joey Dacord who had a really good year in the HL. He's someone who doesn't have a lot of experience at the NHL level.

His numbers are a bit down. But in terms of his play at Coachella Valley this season, he was very good. Could definitely see him pushing for some starting time on an NHL team this season. But if you can get Corpusalo below 3 million per season on a two to three year deal. He'll give you 40 to 45 games.

You can get someone to back him up or have him be in a platoon role, play 30 to 35 games behind him. I think that could be a very strong bet for a Dupeson company. He won't have to pay premium assets to go out and get a Connor Hullabuck or a UC Soros or trade for Jeremy Swamon's rights. You can go out and get someone like a Corpusallo who can give you at least average goaltending to above average goaltending, and you can bring in someone else that.

that can stabilize behind him. Because you need to have as little money tied up in your goaltending as possible. At least that's how I see it. Unless you're a prime Connor Hellebuck, a prime UC Soros, a prime Igorseus, you should not be paying big money to goaltenders. That's why I kind of laughed at the capitals doing a five times five for Darcy Kemper. Last year, I liked Darcy Kemper just fine. I don't think he's worth $5 million per season.

Tristan Jari. I don't think he's worth what evolving hockey says he's worth, which is over $6 million per season at a five or six-year term. That's ridiculous. But with Corpusalo, he checks off a lot of boxes. He's a goalie that Dubus, I think, would go after. He's seen him up close. He hasn't had him on the least,

but he's seen his team go up against the jackets in a playoff series member in the bubble. and I think he would have serious interest in Corpusolo. Obviously, the Penguins will not be the only team that would have interest in him. He would have interest from probably over half the teams around the league that think he could start, think he could be a 1B and a platoon role. But I really like him as an option for the Penguins. In terms of free agency options, he is right up there at the top of the list,

you know, with Frederick Anderson, if you can, Somehow, Finangla, a way to get Jari to come back at a decent cap hit. Maybe you do that, but I'm also at the point now where I don't think that's going to happen. I think he's going to go somewhere else. But outside of Jari, Frederick Anderson, Yonis, Gorposolo, Ansi Ronsa, I think those are your best options. Aidan Hill, I would put in there as well, but Hill has probably priced himself out of Pittsburgh. He's going to get a massive contract from a team. And it's going to be hilarious to see him turn probably back into a pumpkin to

be honest. But I am big on him, put up really good numbers on a bad Columbus team, his numbers improved on a better Kings team, and I think they would kind of stay similar to what they were this past season on a Penguins team that I think you are going to see some major changes made to over the off season. So that is another goaltending option on the free agent market. Let me know your thoughts down the comments. You can also send me a DM. Would you consider signing Jonas Corpusolado to do a cheap deal, maybe a little around 3 million, 2.5, 2.6 million, something like that.

But that does it for the second segment. Coming up to end the show, we're going to have a fun, silly season idea with a big trade for a defenseman. It's someone that Kyle Dubas has gone after before, and maybe he could do it again, now that he is the president of hockey operations with the penguins. So that's coming up after this break.

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thank you all so much for making this, your first system of today. We are free and available on all platforms. So, the crazy, silly season idea I have to end the show is Kyle Dubish trading for San Jose Sharks defenseman Eric Carlson.

Nope, don't pause the show. Don't turn me off. Just hear me out. Dubis has gone after him before. He made trade calls on Carlson when he was the Leafs GM. this past season. So he obviously likes him and there's at least

a little small chance that he could go after him again as Penguins President of Hockey Operations. The sharks are also looking to get rid of him even though he just finished his season with 25 goals and 101 points. It makes 11.5 million for the next four seasons

and the best part is even though it's probably a low percentage to happen the penguins can make this work. If you just package one of McCall, Grahamlin, or Jeff Petrie, plus a decent pick and a prospect,

I think the sharks may go for that. I don't think they're looking for a ton in return for a 33-year-old defenseman. Even though he just had a career year, he's 33 and he's making $11.5 million for the next four seasons. I don't think they're going to be looking to break the bank here in terms of a return.

And that could favor the penguins if they were to go down. that path. He would also need the sharks to retain. I'm guessing maybe one to two million. Maybe you have him at 9.5 million for the next four seasons. Maybe you even get a broker to come in to help out with that contract. So you're only maybe paying him $7 million, something like that. But still, this would be a lot of fun. You'd get so much offense from him. 20 of his 25 goals this past season came at five on five. His 2.3 points per 60 rate at five on five was first among all defenseman who played in the NHL this season.

He is all offense, no defense. The Penguins would need someone to come in and be a defensive presence in the defensive zone. There was a time when Eric Carlson was above water when it comes to playing in his defensive zone, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017. That time has long passed. per evolving hockey, he ranked in the fifth percentile this past season in five-on-five even-strength defense.

95% of his peers were better than him at defending in their own zone. If you go to J-Fresh hockey, he ranked in the zero percentile for five-on-five even-strength defense. That is how bad he is in the defensive zone. You would have to pair someone maybe like a Marcus Pedersen, maybe someone. someone else from a different team that you can come in to play for cheap for you to play with Carlson if this were to go down, but you're not going to rely on him to play defense in the defensive zone.

But if Latang gets hurt, he can step up and play top pairing minutes for you like it's nothing. He can quarterback either of the Penguins power pool units. Honestly, I'd argue putting him on the first powerful unit because as much as I like Chris Lentang on there, Carlton is a better power play quarterback. He's been that way his entire career. but man this would be so much freaking fun a right side that includes letang and carlson even though

that's a good chunk of money tied up to your top four defense on your right side it would be all offense at least letang can give you a decent amount of defense in his own zone i know people don't like his defense in his own zone but i think people are just seeing what they want to see when it comes to that with carlson you actually have a legit right because he can't play defense. But this is something that I think the penguins could do if they wanted to. I don't think they're going to be one of the top rumor destinations for Carlson, but they could make it work. I don't know if Jeff Petrie has the sharks on his 15-team, no trade list, but if he doesn't, you can send him there. The sharks would potentially take someone back who can provide a little bit

of the offense that Carlson is taking with him to Pittsburgh. I'm sure they would also sign maybe someone else to help provide the other part of the offense that Carlson is taking with them. And I'm sure they would want a draft pick, a prospect. They're really just trying to get out of this contract. The sharks are rebuilding here. Again, he's already 33. I think the penguins could get at least two solid years out of Carlson. And that's the big thing for me, people.

Cindy Crosby has two years left on his contract. You are in win now mode. This would be a win-now move for the penguins if they were able to somehow pull this off. I'm not worried about what Carlson looks like when he's 35, 36, 37, the final year of his deal, whatever. The team of the penguins are probably not going to be good at that point. But for these next couple of seasons where the penguins I know are going to still be contending in Miss Indian-Hrosby era before I'm sure he resigns, but at a lower cap hit, You have to go all in when you can in this move would show that the penguins are truly all in on winning a Stanley Cup for not just this season, but the season after that.

Again, I think the chances of it happening are extremely low, but I would be in favor of it if you can make a deal that makes sense because the offensive he provides is second to nut. It's more than what Letang gives you and that's saying something. I think Let's hang is one of the most offensively gifted defensemen in the league. Carlson is just that much better. This guy has been one of the best defensemen on the planet numerous times. So I would look into it. If you can't do it, you can't do it.

But it would sure be crazy and it would sure be a lot of fun to watch. That's for sure. But that will do it for this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I really appreciate all of you listening slash watching this. one. I'll be back with another episode for you all on Friday to wrap up the week before we get into draft week next week and free agency. It's going to be absolutely crazy these next eight or nine days. Just keep it right here on lockdown penguins for everything regarding the Pittsburgh Penguins. So I'll talk with you all again on Friday.