Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Why it's a GOOD thing Brandon Tanev was picked...

Episode Date: July 22, 2021

The Seattle Kraken have taken a player from the Pittsburgh Penguins and yes, it's a fan favorite. Hunter goes all into the Brandon Tanev pick from a lot of angles, but first explains why it's great for the team since it gives Pittsburgh a lot of cap space. It's also a player that can be replaced the easiest in free agency since he's on the 4th line. Who should they look to for replacing him? After that, Hunter gets to some listener ideas for using the cap space wisely. Does a Pettersson for Dadonov trade work? Does a trade for John Gibson look more likely now? All that, plus much more on this episode of Locked On Penguins.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. 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.

Your Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day. This Wednesday evening episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast, I'm your host, Hunter Hodies. Remember to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. So all this shows, Twitter, at L-O-N-Square Penguins.

This episode is brought to you by Spotify, Green Room. This was the last week, I think. Hopefully I'm going to try to do something. late week, you know, maybe sometime this weekend before it really kicks back up again during the season. So we have finally made it the day of the expansion draft. Again, thank you all so much for listening to my interview with Josh Yoey. I know he had a lot of great stuff that was in there, you know, especially with regards to the Penguins' offseason plans.

And they're going to get a little more trickier now that way. It looks like who we know who the Seattle Cracken are going to take tonight. And that is Brandon Tanna. So I know you all obviously come. her to get my thoughts on that situation and they're the same as they were this morning and the other day this actually benefits the penguins and it may not be something that you all want to hear but here's my logic you know with this pick so you know they're obviously going a bit younger cheaper with their roster but tanniv is an actual contract that they're taking on you know you can sell him

you know as like a leader of the team you know markability and so so much more so it makes sense but you know from a penguins perspective this is four years of three and a half million per right off your cap i mean that is just so crucial and now before the astin reese contract kicks in because obviously i think they're going to resign him you know right the the penguins will have 7.45 million in caps place according to cap friendly so say ashton reese gets around a million million and a half that goes down to around six six million to 6.4, 6.5 million. All of a sudden, this team has some decent salary cap space to play with via trade or via free agency that they didn't have last year or the year before that. And as Tyler Week says, if they offload someone such as Marcus Pedersen in a trade, that's another 4 million off your cap. That takes you up to maybe 10 million. And then if they can somehow get someone to take Tristan Jari off their cap hit, I mean, that then you're talking around potentially 12 to 13 million and 10. cap space going into this all season where obviously your number one priority is to get an upgrade

in goal. But even if they don't move out one of those players or even both of those players and they still have six to six and a half million in cap space, they can go out and sign a good goalie or trade for a good goalie. Whereas beforehand, if they had taken someone such as Zach Ashton Reese, that wouldn't be possible. You know, I saw a great tweet earlier today. If I can find this here from Jason, you know, if this, and he tweeted, if this was blue, over McCann, would you prefer Bluger, Philip Hollander, in $6.4 million in cap space? Or would you prefer Tanneth with McCann here still in $2.2 million in cap space, assuming they take Sack, Aston Reese, when you absolutely need to address goaltending?

So I actually look at the McCann trade. More of it as a, like, it's not awful asset management. It's still bad, but it's not nearly as bad as it was before. And they're gaining salary cap space. And who knows, what if Philip Hollander turns out to be a decent player at the NHL ever? at the NHL level, excuse me, then it gets even better than it was before. And I get it, everyone. I know Brandon Tannett is a fan favorite.

I mean, for God's sakes, people. He literally, his celebration against the Islanders in game three is my lock screen on my iPhone. So, yes, I am a huge fan of his. But again, getting that $3.5 million off your cap for the next four years is so crucial, because you can replace him in free agency. That was the one position on the fourth line. that can be replaced because I think Bluador and Askenwries can do just

line with almost anyone next to them. They can go out into free agency, sign someone such as Yoel Armeo from Montreal, sign another debt player. I mean, bring up Freddie Goodrow, put him there full time. And that's a pretty dang good fourth line, in my opinion. So I think for that reason alone,

it actually helps out Pittsburgh a lot more than others would think. And you know, that's just how it goes sometimes. Sure, he had a good season offensively, but I don't think you can, bank on him doing that again next season, especially because he's not going to be playing on a line with two really good defensive players at Zach Ashton Reese and Teddy Bluger. So honestly, going into this, I had Tana being taken as one of the better, or one of the,

I guess one of the better case scenarios. Obviously, I had Zucker up there clearing that $5.5 million would be awesome. But then, again, if you do clear him off, your left wing depth on the team suddenly becomes a little bit more of an issue. Obviously, I would have loved it they could have taken Pedersen. That's $4 million off your cap, but they could still trade him. But again, $3.5 million per. Seattle is doing them a favor because if you look at all the picks that were leaked today,

which was basically every single one. I mean, I think they all got leaked within a two to three hour span, starting at 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., excuse me. No, total salary, it's only around $49 million. The cap floor, I believe, is around $48, $47 million. So they still have like $25 to $30 million in salary cap place to $4 million. play with this offseason, so they will definitely try and upgrade any way they

can. And again, taking Tanez's contract for them was probably a way to get to the cap floor because they didn't take a lot of high salary players, at least from what was leaked. I mean, they did not take Beladimir Teresenko. It sounds like it's going to be Vince Dunn. They passed on Kerry Price. They're going to pick Chris Dreger. They're going to sign him to

a $3.5 million per contract for three years. So again, that compares with Brandon Tanev money-wise. They just signed Jamie Alexiak right before I started recording. Five years, 4.6 million per. Definitely, I think, a bit of an overpay, in my opinion. But right now, he's the highest paid

player, I think, on the Cracken, and they haven't even made any trades. We have not even seen any trades announced with the Cracken. I think that will happen tonight. Anyways, getting back to my Tanna discussion, that's just how it goes sometimes. It's much easier to replace a player like him

than it would be Zach Ashton Rees, and it also would not help them salary capitalize if they lost Ashton Rees instead of Tannas, because now they will have a lot more space to play with. And I know a lot of people said this on Penguins Twitter today. I agree. You know, you have to, the big kicker is you have to spend the cap space in a way that

will actually help the team. You can't do what Jim Rutherford did a few years ago when he cleared salary with Matt Honlick and Connor Sherry, which was fine. You know, you give Connor Sherry away to Buffalo. You can replace him with a fine depth board. You give away Matt Hungick, who wasn't good. Okay, you have decent salary cap space to play with. then he gives it all away and vomits all over himself and gives it to Jack Johnson.

You know, you can't be giving the salary cap space to Jonathan Quick on 50% salary because he's Washnell or Nicholas DeLoree, which for some reason, apparently Jeff Merrick on 31 Thoughts said that teams are potentially willing to give up a first round pick for him. I'm glad that Ron Hexton, Brian Burke, don't have that, but it would be ludicrous to spend your salary cap space on two players who are, one, washed, and two, bring nothing of value to the lineup. So that is the big thing here. They have to actually use their cap space wisely now that Seattle is basically giving the Penguins a gift and taking one of their higher salary cap players. And I'll also see this again. I was definitely a bit surprised this morning when I read

that from Frank Sidervelli that they were closing in on taking Tannath. I thought for sure he was going to be asked in Reese. I'll chalk that one up as an L. I thought there was an outside shot at Zooker, as Rob Rossi also tweeted. I definitely did not think that they would actually take on four more years of Brandon Tanneth at three and a half million per you know maybe they could flip them I doubt that's going to happen I think they're gonna take him and put him on the what the third fourth line using for a lot of marketing he can be a fan favorite there just it also reminds me a little bit of the mark Andre fleury pick in the way that again what I just said you can use him for a lot of marketing he can be a fan

favorite for the next four years and sure you know if you're bad you can trade him though I don't see that happening especially in the first year that they are a franchise I think he's going to be there for at least the next couple years. It definitely is going to suck to lose Tana. This is not a Jack Johnson situation where it's like, oh my God, I'm so happy he's leaving the team. I'm definitely really upset that he is going to be leaving Pittsburgh, but I also know that they can replace him via free agency or internally and that it helps them solve their

biggest problem going into this all season, which is the goaltending and finding an upgrade over Tristan Jari. So those are my overall thoughts on Seattle, but most likely taking Brandon Tana. the official announcement, the broadcast is about to start in five minutes on ESPN. I really just hope they cut to the chase here, say, hey, we know that it got leaked basically earlier in the day, but we're going to provide the best analysis that we can. This is their debut.

I mean, this is the first time that they've had the rights back since what? 2004, I think, 2005. So I'm going to be really curious to watch now on ESPN to see just how they do. Coming up in the next segment, we're going to get to your thoughts on Seattle taking Brandon Tanniff and what you think the Penguin should do with that much-needed cap space. Before we do get to that, it's time to talk about Green Room. It's the perfect place to start or join conversations around the league. You'll find fans just like you on Green Room for watch parties, debates, post-game breakdowns,

and of course, we have to back into big news or rumors. You have a chance to chat with me, hopefully at the end of this week. Be sure to join me then. I'll be hosting a room. You can go download the free Green Room app right now, currently available on all iOS devices. I still think they are doing a test on Android as well. Beershurch create a profile, link your Twitter, and join the NHL group for the latest lead updates.

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All right, welcome back to this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. Remember to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins. So just after watching the first 15 minutes of the ESPN broadcast, I absolutely love. They literally had an octopus slash squid make the third pick for the Red Wings for obvious reasons. You know, throw a squid on the ice in Detroit. Okay, I don't need to explain something so obvious.

I think everyone that listens to this podcast would know why that they did that. And as Frank Cerrevelli, still. batting 100 or 1,000 right now, three for three, all three of the picks so far that have been made. All were ones that were leaked earlier this morning and this afternoon on Twitter. So let's get to your thoughts on what the Penguins should do with this new Calf space. I'll start with Travis 807. I think they should trade Marcus Pedersen for Evgetting Dadov. That would be interesting.

I think that does make sense for both sides. He says the centers want to move him. Daddanov had an off year, and so far as he was on a crappy team with a crappy power plate, but was on pace for 19 goals. Senators have a serious lack of left hand on defensemen. Pedersen is young, cost-controlled. I actually would not mind that, Travis. You know, Daddanov is a left wing.

With losing McCann, there is a void to fill on that left side. So bringing him in makes a ton of sense. You move Pedersen out. You elevate P.O. Joseph. I think your defense doesn't really miss the beat. I'm sure you could go, Joseph. Marino, Matheson, whoever else on the third pairing, I think it's totally fine because I do think that Joseph is ready for a full-time role on this team. So I think that trade would make a lot of sense.

And then, Dadanov, he's not even making that much money. They will still have cap space to go out and get a goaltender right after that. So I am down for that, Travis. Thank you for sending that in. Thomas Nevitt says, priority number one, get a goaltender in free agency. Well, Thomas, you know, I'm going to throw this out there. You know, I'm just going to say this for you all. I'm feeling a lot better about the Penguins' chances at this moment to go out and get John Gibson from the Anaheim ducks than I have felt in the last year or two. I think they have the cap space to do it now.

I'm sure that contract is kind of ify, but, you know, if the ducks want to eat a little better at that money, I don't think Bob Murray is that good of a general manager. Sure, he would be asking for a bunch of stuff in return. assets wise, that is, I think the penguins could potentially be able to pay it, and it would be a massive upgrade over Jari. Yes, I understand that Gibson has not been good these last couple years. If I go to his hockey reference page, I mean, but also, the thing with Gibson is, I mean, he's playing on the ducks, and they're not a good team. I mean, this year, 9-197, 903 say percentage, but for his career thus far, he's a 9-17. goal. Yes, I understand he was only at 904

the year before that in 2020. 51 games, but before that, 917 and 2019, 926 and 2018, in 2017, 924. So he's been a career, mostly a career 920 goalie or higher. And he's only 28 years old. You would be bringing him home because, of course,

he is from Pittsburgh. And I think he would do a hell of a lot better in front of Pittsburgh's defense than he would in front of the Ducks defense, and especially the forward. as well. They do not play a structured game out there. Mike Sullivan coaches his team to be responsible defensively. I think that would be a big deal with Gibson coming over to Pittsburgh. I really think you would see his number skyrocket. Jay of Locked-on Jacket says, can we interest you in one season of a gently used Max Domi? No, Jay, I think I'm going to have to pass on that. I do not want Max Domi here in Pittsburgh. I know a couple other people from Penguins who have talked about Domi

coming to the Penguins, I really don't think you're going to get that good of a player. I mean, just, you know, looking at his underlying numbers from last year, and then just looking at his counting stats, only 24 points in 54 games. Nine of those were goals, was only on the ice for 46.5% of the shot of Temps 4. I mean, it was just a big time struggle for him last season. But even before that in Montreal, only had 17 goals, 44 points in 71 games. His best season came in 2019 with the Habs. It was almost a point for game player, but I don't think he's ever.

going to get back to that level. Sure, I could be wrong, but, you know, with the cap pit that he makes right now, I think it's at around, what, a little lower four and a half, close to five. It just doesn't make sense, in my opinion. So the penguins really should not do that. And of course, you know, King Clarkie already talks about it as well. Should they make a play for John Gibson? Yes, Clark, I would absolutely love them to go for Gibson. He is definitely one of the best goalies on the market right now. And hopefully the penguins will have the assets that Anaheim want, even though I'm sure it would cost a whole lot to get Gibson

over to the Penguins. But that'll wrap up this segment. So there's some really good options here. I honestly like Travis is the best. A Pedersen for Dagenov trade, I had not thought about a lot, but it makes a lot of sense. You know, just Dadon's underlying numbers I thought this year were also

pretty good, too. Let me just make sure of those real quick. And I honestly weren't especially bad. Was on the ice for about 52% of the overall shot attempts. 46.4% of the actual goals. But before that in Florida, 52.1% in 2020,

52.9% in 2019. So he's always been around 52% to 55% in terms of actual goals for and expected goals this year, around 50%. He's been hoving around that for his entire career. Scoring chances right over 50%. And that's on a not that good Ottawa team. He also was on the ice for 51.6% of the high danger chances for

and was on the ice for 19 high danger goals. Horsorne versus 14 high danger goals against for 57.5%. So imagine he plays on the second line with Afghani Malkin when he's fully healthy. You finally get that Russian winger for Gino that we all kept talking about when Gino was in his prime. You've got to bring in a Russian player for Gino, you know, especially because they don't have Ruslan Fedatanko anymore. I mean, everyone always talked about Nikolai Kulaman when he was in the league. And they remember people talking about Vladimir Tarasenko with trying to make a trade for him.

There are so many others, you know, but at least he's a good player, and I'm not even sure if Ottawa wants him anymore. I think Bruce Garriarch of the Ottawa citizen has been reporting that they're trying to move him. So that trade makes a lot of sense, and I'm really glad you brought that to me, Travis, because I think the Penguins win that trade pretty easily, in my opinion. But before we do get to the next segment, it's time to talk about Ben Online. The fastest and easiest way to build on all your sports action. Baseball season is in full swing.

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That's Ben Online, your online sportsbook experts with the promo code Lockdown. All right, welcome back to this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. Remember to follow. me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, follow the show's Twitter at L.O. Oursquare Penguins. They are continuing to announce the pick. I think they just announced, was it the Hayden Flurry pick?

I think they're, they're, no, it was Kel Flurry, excuse me, from the Montreal, Canadian. So we are finally starting to get to the big picks. Chris Jeter was also just announced as well. Three-year, $10.5 million deal with the Cracken. I think that's pretty good. It looks like the capitals are going to lose V-Tek-Vanachech, to. Seattle and that's going to be interesting to see you know how Ilya Samsona transitions to being the guy next year I mean we don't know if Henrik Lunguiz

is going to be coming back from this injury or if the capitals will sign him back Vanichek was a good goal I thought for the caps this year so I think they're definitely going to miss him I think the NHL overall with this I'm just going to talk about this for a couple minutes before I have another episode tomorrow I think they did bungal this a little bit they should have just had all of the picks do by around 6 630 at night because the broadcast was going to be at 8 o'clock, even though some of the picks were probably going to get leaked. I mean, this happens all the time in the NBA draft, the NFL draft, the picks get leaked early, but the insiders would have ran out of time. If you give them like 10 hours

to dig and look for the picks with all the sources that they have, whether it's Frank Serevelli, Elliott, Friedman, Pierre, LeBron, et cetera, et cetera, they're going to find out all the picks for you. And that is exactly what happened today during that three to four hours. starting from around 10 a.m. Eastern time to about 1 to 2 p.m. Eastern time. They should have just had the picks do at around 6.6.30 or even had them do at 8 o'clock. And then boom, there's your show. Because right now, there's probably not that many other people watching them. There should be because they honestly could have made this like a whole spectacle.

And again, you know, just have the picks do right around the time of the broadcast, maybe an hour before. Boom, most of them would not have been announced. And there's your show. I mean, I wish the NHL would have done. that but you know this is this is peak nchl right now um they also just announced the yonnie gourd pick from the tampa bay lighting i was talking about that a lot on my twitter i wasn't sure where they were going to go from palat colorn yon yon gourd gourd gourd is a really good player so it looks like camp bay will actually be losing some serious talent um this year going into next year in the

form of him i mean barcly godrow got that ridiculous contract from the rangers um i really don't know what the rangers are doing with that contract six years 3.6 million per Blake Coleman's going to get a lot of money. So they definitely are not going to be, I guess, as stack going into next year, but I'm sure they can just fill all their holes internally and they can run it back with their core and they're going to be a very, very tough out. But again, just to wrap up this episode,

I'll repeat what I said earlier in this when it comes to the Penguins. It's an unexpected favor from Seattle that they are taking Brandon Tanneth. Yes, I understand that he's a heart kind of player, has a lot of character. He's gritty, has all the intangibles that a lot of people look for, big fan favorite. But when you really look at it, this will help the team not only in the short term, but in the long term, as they will get more salary cap flexibility these next three to four years

than they previously thought they would. That is the biggest thing here. They have holes to fill this offseason, starting with the goalie position. They cannot afford to run this same tandem back next season because no one, and I mean no one will take the penguin seriously if they roll Casey de Smith and Tristan Jari back as both their goalies next season. I know Ron Hextal knows that he's not going to come out and say that one of his goalie stank or that, you know, he's looking for this big time upgrade. He's going to work in the shadows. That is what he does best.

And I'll be curious to see what he does with that position, especially because he knows it so well. Again, please do not trade for Jonathan Quick. That will be the worst case scenario for getting a goalie. and I'm also curious to see tonight what other side deals are announced at the expansion draft. Again, thank you all so much for listening to this episode of Locked-on Penguins, and I will talk to you all tomorrow to discuss further on Brandon Tanneth and what else this could mean for the rest of the off-season with the Penguins. So let's do this again tomorrow.