Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Will Kyle Dubas accept the Penguins GM job?

Episode Date: May 24, 2023

We're likely one day closer to Kyle Dubas deciding if he wants to take the GM job in Pittsburgh and Hunter has the latest for you to start the show. He dives into Taylor Haase's report about Dubas being in town and meeting with Sidney Crosby as that's a big deal. Hunter points out that Dubas likely wouldn't be doing that if he wasn't serious about the gig. He then looks at how Dubas is likely interviewing the Penguins as much as they are interviewing him since he wants to see if this is a good fit for him. What's the main driving force behind the decision? Hunter answers that question (no, it's not money) before giving a prediction as to whether he takes the job or not. After that, he dives into Rob Rossi and Josh Yohe's bombshell article that dropped on Wednesday as the last regime continues to look awful. Hunter gives his main takeaways from it before moving on to Jan Rutta's season in review and why the next regime might look to deal him this summer since he didn't live up to expectations this past season.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BirddogsGo to birddogs.com/lockedonnhl and when you enter promo code, LOCKEDONNHL, 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.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.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.

Is Kyle Dubis going to be the next general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins? Is he in Pittsburgh? What is the status of what's going on there? And also, what about that massive bombshell report from Josh Owey and Rob Rossi? That's all 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 edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes. Remember to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, follow the shows Twitter at L.O.NsR. Penguins. And, of course, thank you all so much for making this your first list in the day. We're free and available on all platforms as what a day it has been in this city

with a bunch of reports, rumors swirling. So let's just get right on into it. We'll start with not the report from Rossi and Yoi. That will come a little later. but with what is the latest with Kyle Dubus. So I woke up this morning about what, 8.39 o'clock, saw that Taylor posted her story right before 2 a.m. local time here in Pittsburgh.

And Haas of D.K. Pittsburgh's sport. She is reporting that Kyle Dubus was at the facility late last night. The meeting carried, potentially over in the morning, and Sidney Crosby was there with him. I'm sure just giving him a tour of the place, talking to him, So Kyle Dubus is here.

I mean, I don't need that. I don't need to confirm that for anyone. He is here and he is touring the facilities and getting to know the penguins and seeing if this is a good fit for him. Well, there's been no announcement so far. I swear it's going to happen when I am recording this right now. I'm recording this at what, at what? 4.35 o'clock on Wednesday afternoon. It would be my luck to finish up this recording.

Go check social media and the announcement for. whether he is or whether he is not the GM will have been made. And it's just going to throw this episode into the crapper. Hopefully, of course, that does not happen. I've heard a couple whispers about a couple things. One, I'm not really going to get into, but I can confirm that money is not going to be an issue. Power is not going to be an issue here.

The only thing that he really needs to think about is whether he, wants to bring his family down. That is the big thing here. Anyway sports group, you know, everyone knows they are a very rich company. They will give Kyle Dubus whatever the hell he wants. He will name his price. They will match it. That's just how it's going to be.

He is FSC's number one choice, according to Elliot Friedman. He said there already been discussions last night. He said in a podcast that he couldn't confirm if he was in Pittsburgh, but Taylor and Rob, both from different outlets, have said that he is here. And again, it's all going to come down to whether or not he and his family want to move down here. Or if they want to take a year off, maybe just live up in Toronto, Ottawa. I know he's from Ottawa. Just live up in Canada, him not work as much.

And then when he sees the right opening, he goes for it. You know, he could also try to spite Brandon Shanahan in the Maple Leafs by taking this job, thinking that it's obviously a big challenge, which it is. This job does not come without its many challenges. I can see it going either way. Right now, I am leaning toward him taking the job, but I will very much not be surprised if he does not take it. It sounds like the finalist.

According to Chris Mack, he works for 937, the fan. He said it's down to Kyle Dubus, Steve Greeley, and Matthew Darsh. And as I sent on my Tuesday episode, if Dubis walks away and he says no to this opportunity, I do think that he will give the gig to Matthew Darsh. as for a timeline again i've been saying this week is the hope but they're giving him some time you you can't rush a decision like this especially when people's you know jobs up in can't are online the families you know that's on the line that's a big move i know it's not like this six to seven

hour drive but you're still you're uprooting your whole family coming from toronto where you have worked in that organization for almost a decade and you're coming down to you're to an area where you don't really know much about it, and you're going to be given a mandate to win while at the end of the big three. So I can understand and sympathize why this is going to be a very tough decision for Debus. Again, money and power are not going to be an issue here.

He will be given total control of the hockey ops. That's not a secret. Benway will give him whatever he wants. He's their top option. That is not a secret. It is all going to come down to whether or not he, and his family want to move down here. That last point, I was told earlier today,

that's been the main sticking point with what's been going on. So again, timeline. I think they want to know some point this way. I'm sure as soon as possible. I mean, he's here right now. It's probably getting asked questions by Fenway Sports and maternity's probably asking questions

about, you know, the city, team, all that good stuff. Honestly, if you want to think about this, the penguins are interviewing him, but he's also interviewing them in return, getting to know the players, getting to know the organization, getting to know the people who work for the organization, seeing the facilities, seeing the arena, all this other good stuff. Meeting Cindy Crosby, that's what it comes down to here.

And if he thinks the opportunity is good and his family is down to move here, then he will take this job. If not, he will take some time off, maybe wait to see if something in Ottawa becomes open, or maybe a different job comes open during the season or during the end of next season. But the job is in his hands. They have made him an offer. I mean, I don't, obviously, I don't know the specifics of the offer. I don't think anyone does.

But it's quite obvious that they have. It is his job to lose. And we're going to find out here. pretty soon whether or not he wants it. Again, I am leaning toward the fact that he will take it, but will I be surprised and should any of you be surprised if Dubus does not take it? No.

No. And chief among reasons why I want him to take this job, not just because I do think he would be a good fit here, just because feed me the interactions of the Toronto media and the Toronto Maple Leafs fans directly into my veins. Please, God, give me that. That takes on social media will be unbelievable. Kyle, you lied to us.

How could you do this? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It is going to, it will melt Twitter. It is going to be amazing. if he takes a shop in seeing how the fine folks up in Toronto react to it. And I do think it's different for him right now because, yes, he did say it's Toronto or nothing. But that was also before he got fired by Brandon Shanahan. He was fired, people.

It looked like the extension was on the one or two yard line. Elliot Freeman made this reference in his blog last night and I loved it. All you got to do is give the ball to Marshawn Lynch and they passed it. It was intercepted. that's that that's basically what happened so i can totally see him saying you know what screw what i said i don't care what people are going to say i'm going to take this job and i'm going to do the best i can to run this team and oh yeah maybe i'll spike the maple east a little bit along the way so that is where it stands right now again i've heard a couple of other

whispers i'm not going to share them right now just because i don't want to be made to look like an idiot, I'm going to keep them to myself. And if he does get the job, I will likely share what those are. But right now, I've heard a couple of things. I can't get it fully confirmed by other people closer to the team. So that's why I'm just going to keep them directly to myself. But I was able to tell you a couple of things that I had heard individually. So we are going to play the waiting game here.

What is going to happen when it comes dubus? We will see. Again, I lean towards the fact that he's going to take it. but I won't be surprised if he does. So that's the latest update on the GM search, specifically Kyle Dubas. Coming up in the second segment, we're going to touch on that massive bombshell

an article from Rob Rossi and Josh O'I. and how Ron Hextall, Chris Pryor, and Brian Brook couldn't look any worse even if they try. So that's coming up right after this. But before we get into that, for a championship team, it's all about making sure every player is a perfect fit.

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And, of course, thank you all so much for making this your first list in the day. We are free and available on all platforms. If you have not had the chance to read Rossi and Yoie's article on the athletic, please do so. Even if you are not subscribed, I believe you only have to pay $2 to read the article. Let's Chump Change. Please go ahead and read it. There is so much to discuss when it comes to this article. My number one takeaway from this was that while Burke and Hextall were villains here,

the true mastermind behind this, the Emperor Palpatine, if you will, who was just using his little fingers to electrocute and all that stuff. I'm just going to keep using the Star Wars references because I love the franchise, was David Morehouse. he was the one who set the wheels in motion to hire Ron Hextall. He was also the one to set the wheels in motion to potentially move on from the big three as Rossi and Yoey right here. Morgan House was scrambling to find GM candidates and was surprised to discover most of his top choices were not too interested in running the penguins for one big reason. Morehouse sought a willingness from the next heads of Hockey in Pittsburgh to break up the big three.

Hextall was up for the job and Burke came on board to sweet talk sponsors in season. ticket holders to distract from managers agreed upon plan for a future without Malkin and Lattang. And that is why you saw Malkin last summer, almost good or free agency, because he was getting harvalled by Ron Hextall and Brian Berg. You saw Burke had some weird comments about Malkin to the media saying, they're like, well, you know, there's an offer on the table, take it or leave it, all that stuff. Rossi also, Rossi and Yowie also rightly in the article that Hextall said to Chris Pryor, that's how you negotiate a deal on your terms.

It's like, wow. Just a complete gong show by everyone involved. But again, do not think for a second. The mastermind of this is David Morehouse. What a complete and utter buffoon. I don't even know how he had this say. I don't understand he was the team president, but he has no background in hockey.

Before he got this job, I mean, he was into politics. Yes. For people that do not know, he really did not come from a, big hockey background. He was doing stuff politically. And he's going to come in here and say and be the president and be like, well, I want the next regime to break up the big three, three players who everyone has loved rooting for and

who sells tickets, who has brought in this team, Stanley Cup after Stanley Cup. It's like that's what you're looking forward in a new regime. And it's no wonder why a lot of the people, maybe someone like Chris McFarland, who was a big candidate for this job, passed on it. Or it wasn't given the job because Morehouse wanted basically a yesman to do what he wanted, which was to break up the big three. And apparently according to Rossi and Yo, that's when the Fenway sports groups stepped in because they heard about the plan and they're like, no, no, no, that's not going to work here. We want them to retire as Penguins. You saw Let's hang, get his deal done. And then at the 11th hour, Prosby, Sullivan, Lettang, Malkins agent, they were all able to calm him down.

and they were all able to get that deal done. But Hextall and Burke were prepared to let him walk. And that's the thing that just doesn't make any sense. How were you brought in here to move on from the big three? What was your plan if they were going to walk? Malkin-Latang it is. Were you just going to sign John Klingberg, who did not have a good season? Were you going to sign Vince Trocheck,

who is a fine second-line center? But he's not getting Malkin. he wasn't even close to a point per game this season and his contract is ridiculous what exactly was their plan if you want to get bad quicker then okay but I just don't know what their plan was

I don't know what David Morehouse was thinking that is by far my biggest takeaway what a complete and utter idiot he was and I'm glad he's not with the organization anymore feel bad for the steward's there he's probably not going to have too much roster decision making. I think he's working in a different department,

but that is absolutely ridiculous to me. Another major takeaway from this article. So Fenway, they were asking David Morehouse and Ron Hextall in that regime to show them their plans for the team, and this comes courtesy of the article where Rossi and Yoey write, the executives of Fenway, they asked to see more houses and Hextall's plans

for the business and hockey departments, respectively, this came last year. Morehouse detailed team finances and waiting ticket revenue in a PowerPoint presentation. The Hextall was caught off guard by the request and said the hockey plan was in his head. Remember, Rossi and Joey had this last year. There's more information, though.

He was ordered to put it on paper. He scrambled that afternoon, handwriting his ideas on a legal notepad, transfer them to a word document, and printing out a couple of pages in a hotel business office. What the hell? heck are we doing here?

How are you not fired on the spot for that? I understand you can be caught off guard a little bit, but these are your bosses. You can't be caught off guard like that. I understand maybe Fenway was just trying to get to know hockey a little bit. They maybe weren't fully in it 110%. They are now, for sure.

They're doing a really good search here. But that is just crazy to me how he is not fired there. What a complete and utter bozo. Saying like, oh, I got it all in my head. And you can get away with that at your position. Just unbelievable when it comes. It's basically just like that meme on Twitter. Hey, can tell me what you're planning is.

Oh, dude, trust me, bro. I got it. I got it, bro. Yeah, that's what it is. Oh, I just, unbelievable. That was the second main takeaway. way that I had when it comes to that. And you can go down the list when it comes to this to the McHile-Graman trade,

how Mike Sullivan and Ron Hextall never saw eye to eye. That was very evident throughout this article. Sullivan said he wanted numerous times to trade, to have Hextall, excuse me, trade for some players. The Hextel was like, no, no, man, I'm going to stick this out. This team's going to figure it out. Nope, it didn't. didn't come close to figuring out.

Another one that really caught my eye, apparently when Hextall put Kisbury Capon on waivers, according to both Yoey and Rossi, Hextall said privately, oh, he's going to flourish away from Mike Sullivan because he doesn't use him enough. My brother in Christ,

Kisbury Capin was giving ample opportunities. And I mean ample opportunities to succeed on this team. He never took advantage of it. Even during that 2021 season where he was decent, he only had 11 goals in 40 games. By the way, Hextall was talking,

you'd think he was scoring a goal per game or even half a goal per game. That's not accurate. So I don't know where that came from. Yes, I get it. He played well down the shreds with the blues. That's not going to continue next season, people. It's not.

We've seen that song and dance plenty of times before. So that was ridiculous to me. And another one, this is another one that was so, damn me, just getting this part of the article. When interviewing for their jobs for the, in February 2021, Hexel and Burke had expressed their willingness to break up the big three, as I said. Hextel wastes a little time embracing that idea. He did not try to negotiate extensions with Malkin or Lattang during the 2021 all season.

Also, of course, last year, he resigned Jeff Carter to a two-year extension with the premise being that Carter could assume Malkins' role as the number two center for this upcoming season. How do you even think of that? What goes through your head to think that Jeff Carter in his upper 30s is going to be your number two center for this past season? I mean, is he deranged? I mean

I'm just laughing thinking about it you're telling me you wouldn't even have tried to sign someone oh yeah yeah yeah yeah I mean those were our main takeaways of the article if you want one more it was Teddy Bluger found out he was traded via social media at the team dad's dinner on the dad trip they were at a steakhouse in Tampa Bay and Blue Green's dad immediately left

and when Crosby came back to the table he said to everyone that's not how we do things in Pittsburgh. That's a damning statement. And I'm not going to sit here and criticize Ron for planning that dad should at the wrong time. I don't think he has anything to do with that. I think whoever planned it in the organization, you know, I will say this, you did a terrible job. You did a very bad job planning that. But it was not Hextall's fault that the bad trip was right around the trade deadline. I will say that, you know, doing that turning a team dinner, though, that's a little, that's a little messed up for me.

And not totally as small, but still, Emma, that's a little uncomfortable to say, and you can definitely tell that Sid was really fed up about it. So go read the full article. Those are just my main takeaways from it. I cannot believe they were even here for two years. Two of the worst years, you know, managing wise, this franchise has ever seen. Hextall will go down as arguably, if not inarguably, the worst general manager in the history of this franchise.

That is how bad of a job he did. With that, said, Yins, I am tired of talking about it. I would like to move forward. The only time I'll bring him up is if I'm really joking about something, but I think it's all time for us to move on. There's a new regime coming. The draft is coming. We have a lot to look forward to for this team.

but had to discuss that big bombshell article because, wow, just unbelievable reporting from Rossi and Yoi. Go check it out. Only Athletic, if you're not subscribed, you only have to pay a couple bucks. And there's a whole lot more in that article that I really did not discuss. So that does it for this second segment. Coming up to end the show, we're going to continue our season reviews with Jan Ruda, how he did, what I expect from him next season if he's on the team. Do I still think that deal that he signed was fair?

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Follow the shows Twitter andlers for Penguins. And, of course, thank you all so much for taking the time to listen. We are free and available on all platforms. So Jan Ruta's season review played 56 games this year, three goals, nine points in those 56 games. Not a whole lot of offense. Most of his goals came in the early stages of the season. He had half as many points as he did last season for in Tampa Bay when he had three goals,

18 points in 76 games. Just not a truly good offensive season. But the penguins are, you know, they're not paying him for his offense. They're paying him for his defensive work. This year, though, his numbers did dip a little bit. In 56 games, 802 minutes at 5-on-5 ice time when he was on the ice. The Penguins had 49% of these shot attempts compared to the previous four seasons with Tampa Bay, where his numbers were 50% or higher.

When it comes to goals for, goals against, 28 goals forward, 32 goals against. He had been well above 500 in those marks with Tampa Bay. Squint chances, only 48% of those for the Penguins when he was on the ice, compared that to 54% for the last season. High danger chances-wise, penguins were on ice for 50.6% of those, and then 15 high-danger goals for 20 high-danger goals against. for 42.8%. That's the lowest mark of his career.

He had been a really good player in terms of that category in Tampa Bay. It is not the case right now. All of his numbers just skyrocketed. He was signed to a three-year, $2.75 million per year deal under the last regime, Ron Hexton, Brian Burke.

It was assigning that I was okay with at the time because maybe I thought he was a better option than Chatterweigel. But the more I watched him, the more of my opinion started to change where I was like, wait, You just had a similar player like Raweedle sitting in the press box who can do exactly what he does. And I know Ruehiel didn't have the best season.

I think Rudo was close to his bad, if not just as bad. Maybe he can argue a little worse. But he signed for two more years, 2.75 million. It's just a luxury. I don't think the Penguins needed with looking back on it. They could have just said, hey, Chad, you are our number six defensemen. They were doing that the season before when Cody Cici was there for a little bit. so I don't know why they could have just said

Hey Chad you're a number six guy We're confident in you We have Mark Freeman behind you We have Ty Smith coming in That should be good enough With all our defense with a note Hextal thought I'll be prudent to sign Ruto to a three-year deal

Worth a little under $3 million per Again defensively He's okay But he's not going to bring you a lot of offense And that's fine I don't need my whole back end To have mostly offensive players I think you can live healthy in a world where three of your guys provide a lot of offense,

the other three and more defensive mind and defensive. There are room for plenty of those on your back end. But I think the Penguins had too many of the latter this past season and not the former because I think in terms of offense, it was mainly Chris Lutonan that brought it. Brian Duhn-Millan brought it a little bit towards the end of the season. Marcus Pedersen brought it a little bit more. But Duman has not been known for being an offensive defenseman.

He never scores. Patterson is not usually an offensiveman either, but he still had a really good year. But for the most part, it was the time. So in terms of what to do with Ruda, I would like to think he's going to be on the team. If you can find a trade partner for him, I would entertain it.

That's almost $3 million off your salary cap. If you can get another team to take the full cap hit, he's a fine third-peering defenseman. I don't think he's going to be a second-peering guy on a cup contender. Maybe he is on a middling or a lottery team. I don't think you would need to attach picks to get out of that contract just because his cap hit is not super high. I think you would have to do that with a Jeff Petrie deal.

But in terms of Ruta, if you can get out of that deal and you can maybe promote, you know, Ruudel, even though he had a little bit of a rough year this go-around or if you can sign someone for a bit cheaper on the open market, I would look to do that. I'm just not sure he's the true answer here for this third pair. I didn't like the offense that he brought. I thought it was too little.

Even his defensive work this year was a bit shoddy. He did miss some time down the stretch, which was very unfortunate. But he did not look like the same player that I saw playing next to Victor Hedman, all those minutes down in Tampa Day with those back-to-back Stanley Cups with the lightning. You know, maybe you could argue he was gas a little bit because he had played a lot of hockey. That's, you know, you can definitely argue that. But I also don't think that he was the right fit for the system. you saw that on display this past season.

If you can get out of that deal, I would very much look into it. If not, I think he'll be going into the season as your number six defenseman. That's just how I see it. But that'll do it for this episode of the Lockdown Parenthood's podcast

and my season review for Jan Ruda. My great overall, you know, C minus regular C, just average to a little bit below average. I don't think he was terrible by any means, but he was just kind of there, I think, in a way. But again, that will do it for this episode of the podcast.

We really appreciate all of you listening slash watching. I'll be back with another episode for you all on Thursday, and we will see if the Kyle Dubas saga finally comes to an end. The holiday weekend is coming up very fast, and I am sure the Fenway Sports Group will want to get an answer as soon as possible. So again, thank you all so much for tuning in. Really appreciate it. I'll talk with you all again on Thursday.

Thank you.