Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Will the son of a former Penguin be the next BIG prospect?

Starting point is 00:00:00 It's time for another prospect profile on Locked on Penguins, and today it's Wyatt Cullen, the son of former Pittsburgh Penguin, Matt Cullen. 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 to the Wednesday edition of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunser Hodes, joined by my host, Patrick Damp. You can follow him on all social media platforms at Sinan Furwet.

Starting point is 00:00:39 You can also follow the show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins. And you can find us on Instagram at Lockdown, underscore Penguins. And of course, thank you all so much for making this your first lesson slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. Pat, we're going to continue our season and review series with Dilley-Koevenin. Struggled in Pittsburgh this year was good in Wilkesbury. What does the future hold for him? We're also getting closer to the end of our season.

Starting point is 00:01:05 in review series. But first, Wyatt Cullen, it's time to talk about him as he is a prospect eligible for the 2026 NHDraft. And Pat, at this point, we are all just old talking about Matt Cullen's son eligible for the 2026 NHL draft, especially after Matt Cullen, hope the Penguins win back to back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. Yeah, father time. He's not the greatest of parents now is he because we're what two days away from the 10 year anniversary of the penguins winning the Stanley Cup in 2016 and here we are now talking about if one of Matt Cullen's kids could be drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins so yeah this is a little bit wacky and a little bit ridiculous and if we want to just jump right into it I like a lot of Wyatt Cullen's tape

Starting point is 00:02:02 I think this kid has a really good, he has a really good skating ability. He's got plenty of skill. And I always feel silly saying this about an 18-ish-year-old draft prospect, but he's got a lot of maturing to do because you look at the way he played this past year. And you could tell the talent is there, the skating is there. he might not have the best head on his shoulders. And that's not me saying he's a bad kid. That's not me saying he wasn't raised correctly.

Starting point is 00:02:40 None of that. He's Matt Cullen's kid. You know that kid's going to be an angel. But at the end of the day, you can tell that his hockey career up to this point has been one of where he is arguably the best player on the ice, no matter the team involved. as he moved up a level to play with the U.S. development program, you could tell that he was starting

Starting point is 00:03:07 to play against a lot of kids who were in that same boat as him. They were kids who were the best players on whatever team they were on. And there was a lot of frustration in his game because he was unable to do the things he was able to do at lower levels. If he can iron that out and become adaptable, especially as he gets ready to go to the University of Minnesota next season, And there's a lot of upside to Wyatt Cullen. Yeah, in terms of pure skill, he is one of the most skilled players in this class, in my opinion, brought up his season from this past year with the National Development Program, 16 goals, 45 points in 40 games. He was the best player, in my opinion, on that team. But as you mentioned about, he was going up against players of similar skill level.

Starting point is 00:03:52 And when something went wrong, he'd get frustrated. You would obviously see it on the ice. He wouldn't follow up the play in the way that. I would want him to. But when things were going really well for him, he was knifing through guys like it was nothing. Just the way that he can deke, it's fantastic. His one-on-one ability is great.

Starting point is 00:04:12 He's very shifty. He finds open space really well, especially on the power play. You know, it reminds me, again, I'm not comparing him to this player. Just in a very, very, very, very mini version of like, Jack Hughes, just in the way that he can knife through players and find. open space and once he gets a burst of speed, his separation from players is a lot of fun to watch. Again, I'm not comparing him to Jack Hughes. He's probably not going to be as good as Jack Hughes.

Starting point is 00:04:39 I'm just saying those abilities, very low-key remind me of the way that Hughes plays. But my question is, Pat, can he do this against better competition when he goes to college and plays for the University of Minnesota? I think that place is going to be great for him overall. but my question is, is he going to be able to get away with the things that he has done for the development team? Outside of that, at the U-18s, he was one of the best players overall at that tournament.

Starting point is 00:05:09 Three goals, nine points in five games, his 1.80 points per game was the highest of any player at that tournament. One of my favorite clips from his season was also from that tournament pat when he got the puck in the offensive zone, knife through one Germany defender, and then he goes backhand, forehand, tucks the puck past the German goaltender, just his skating, shiftyness, his silky hands, all on display there. So again, pure talent, pure skill. It's one of the best in this class. But how does he adjust when the competition gets even tougher? That's going to be my big thing with him. And the thing to keep in mind here as well is he was

Starting point is 00:05:49 genuinely really good with the development program. 16 goals, 25 assists, 45, or, however many points. 45 and 40. Math is hard for Pat today. Sorry, I suck at math. You guys should know this by now. And only 40 games. So over a point per game with the development program.

Starting point is 00:06:09 So that is genuinely very encouraging. And I do think, like you said, going to the NCAA is the best thing for his development because he will be forced to play a little bit more of a physical game. He doesn't really have that many warts in his game other than the frustration, save for the fact that he, I don't want to say he avoids contact because that's not the right way of describing it. Because you talk about his shiftiness, his ability to play well in, in tight spaces. It's not as if a game gets physical he shrinks. it's just so much more that he doesn't initiate contact.

Starting point is 00:06:56 He doesn't seek it out. Now, I don't want him to become a power forward. I don't want him to become a rat. I don't want him to completely alter his game because there's a lot of really good skating there. There's a lot of really good skill there. He also has a really underrated shot. The kid can pick corners with the best of them. But he needs to round his game out a little bit better and be more willing

Starting point is 00:07:20 to maybe take a hit or two or throw a hit or two because the skating is there, the skill is there. He just has to work on the maturity and he's got to be a little bit more willing to get his game into the dirty areas. Because if he does that, the upside for him is pretty big because he does a lot of things at a high level while playing on high level teams. So if he can translate this to the NCAA level, this is a kid who has a lot. And I mean a lot of potential. I'm with you. And in terms of his all-around game as well, I like to see him improve his two-way game, too. It's something that I felt was lacking a little bit during this last season with the U.S.

Starting point is 00:08:05 National Development Program. Again, is it awful? No. But I do think there's room for improvement there for, you know, getting back into the play, breaking up some plays in his own zone. I know. He is pure offensive first. I love watching it.

Starting point is 00:08:20 He's very skilled. His skating is great. His playmaking, especially. Pat is fantastic to watch. But I just feel like his two-way game could be a little bit better. Now, one of the biggest things I noticed for his defensive game, it has less to do with anything that we were saying here about physicality, skill, all that. His hockey IQ has to improve because when you watch his tape, especially, the mixtape that our pal jesse marshall put together there's a lot of times where he prematurely

Starting point is 00:08:51 exits the defensive zone and it leaves his team in a bad spot and some of that is yes he is a young kid who is offensively talented and is going to cheat toward offense but a lot another side of it is just misreading the play it's thinking that okay i my team has possession 100 percent i can leave the zone and be an outlet when in reality it's more of a 50-fifference 50 puck and his team loses it, he jumps the zone and it leaves his team in a vulnerable spot. That's fair too. Sometimes, you know, he's going to have to learn that less is more at times. Overall, I think he probably goes top 15, though if he starts sliding a little bit, I would not be surprised at the Penguins at least consider trading up a few spots to get

Starting point is 00:09:41 him potentially, just in terms of the skill that he has. And I trust, West Clark quite a bit. He has done a great job since coming over from Toronto. Kyle Dubas, the rest of the office, they have my trust and support, obviously, right now, too. So I'll be curious to see what happens with him, but those are our main thoughts on Wyatt Colin. What do you guys think about his game? Let us know in the comments. You can send us a DM and all that too. That's now two players that we have talked about, and we're going to talk about plenty more in the next two and a half weeks before the first round of the initial draft starts later on this month. But that's going to do it for this first segment.

Starting point is 00:10:18 Coming up in the second segment, it's time for Vili Koibinen's season in review. He Shogun in Pittsburgh was good in Wilkesbury. What does the future hold from him? That's coming up right after this. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about one of our sponsors, which is indeed. Workplace chaos can show up fast. Deadlines are stacking up projects need attention. And on top of everything else, you're trying to fill an important role.

Starting point is 00:10:44 The problem is that finding the right candidate can take a lot more time than businesses can afford. That's where Indeed's sponsor jobs come in. Indeed, sponsor jobs helps you reach the candidates who actually fit what you're looking for based on skills, experience, and location. You're spending less time sorting through applications and more time talking to qualified people who can help your business succeed. Finding the right person can make all the difference, whether it's building a business or building a winning team. The organizations that consistently succeed know how important it is to identify the right talent and put them in position to thrive.

Starting point is 00:11:17 Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all of your boxes, less stress, less time, more results. We need the right person to cut through the chaos. This is a job for Indeed's sponsored jobs. And listeners of the show, you will get a $75 sponsor job credit to help get your job post the premium status it deserves at Indeed.com slash podcast. Just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast.

Starting point is 00:11:46 One more time, that's Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. You need to hire. This is a job for Indeed's sponsored jobs. All right, we're back here on the Wednesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-s, Patrick Damp and Pat, as we continue to round out our season and review series. That brings us to Ville, Coivinen, played in 39 games for the Penguins this year,

Starting point is 00:12:13 finishing with two goals and seven points. He came to camp in on day one, I felt like he was honestly the best player of all the groups. He was getting the top six opportunities. He was knifing through some players. I was like, okay, maybe this could lead to more success, especially after the way he finished the 24, 25. Season Pat was right around a point per game. He had a lot of momentum going into the offseason, going into camp. He's able to make the team.

Starting point is 00:12:38 He had some good chances on opening night. But it felt like that game was the story of the rest of his NHL team. tenure at least for this season where he played in almost half the games, Pat. He would get chances. Puck would not find the back of the net. I also felt he was too soft along the boards, just was not winning a lot of the board battles and the puck battles that I would want him to win. And despite having some really good underwings, like we can go through these right here,

Starting point is 00:13:05 Pat, like 450 minutes of five-on-five ice time. When he was on the ice, the penguins had 57% of the shot attempts. They also had 57% of the expected goals, 59% of the scoring chances. and 57% of the high danger chances. All very good numbers, but they didn't translate to counting stat numbers, goals and assists. Reminds me a little bit of Dominic Simone,

Starting point is 00:13:27 if you remember that, Pat, where had a really good underlying numbers, but for whatever reason, he just could not stick, could not produce, and we all know what happened with that. I really hope this is not turning into another Dominic Simone situation here, considering that it feels like you can see the skill at times

Starting point is 00:13:45 with coivenin, but it just hasn't translated. And can't lie, man, I'm really concerned. These two brains apparently are just melding into one, because if you weren't going to say that, I was going to say that that we are about to have another Dom Simone war among the Penguins fan base with Ville, Coivinen. And for me, this season in the NHL,

Starting point is 00:14:12 because AHL, he shined. 13 goals, 28 assists, 41 points in 34 games. Great at the AHL level. But when we talk about his performance with the big club, it was a tale of two seasons for him because he was great to start the year. And he was genuinely snake-bitten at the start of the year. He was hitting posts. Goalies were making unbelievable saves on him.

Starting point is 00:14:43 That part was true. I wouldn't call him great to start the year, but I do think part of it was he was Snakebitten, yes. And it got to the point where it felt like he was never going to score. He was never going to put the pug in the back of the net, no matter how well he played. And then as he finally started to get on the score sheet with a couple of goals, it kind of went downhill.

Starting point is 00:15:03 He was a half second to too early or too late. He wasn't great on the walls. He was getting out muscled. He was playing mostly. on the perimeter and you can see that the confidence was either gone or that it was a flash in the pan. Time is going to tell. But at some point, we all have the same, we all had the same thought of eventually these really good underlying numbers have to turn into actual numbers because with the way he was touted

Starting point is 00:15:36 as a prospect, with the way that he is playing at the HL level, this eventually has to turn into something. And I will again remind people, he will be 23 in a couple of days. So when camp opens later this summer, he will be 23 years old. And development is not linear. He is not going to suddenly become a superstar overnight. There's going to be stops and starts. But here is the rub. He is no longer going to be waivers eligible this upcoming season. So this is put up or shut up time for him. He's got to have a good enough camp and a good enough start to the season where he's able to stick or he might be out of the Penguins organization.

Starting point is 00:16:21 I agree with you on that last part especially. And even during this past season, remember when he scored that first goal against Tampa Bay. And that was one of the craziest penguin games of the season, of course. It felt like, okay, maybe this is the start of a bunch more pucks finding the back of the net. Okay, he got that first one. It was a nice goal. Let's see if it can change. But that didn't have it back because for the rest of the month of December,

Starting point is 00:16:46 he only had one other point. It was an assist in the Penguin 73 win over Chicago in their first game after the Christmas break. Now, he did have a goal in January against Columbus. That was that crazy five-four overtime come from behind win. Then after that, he didn't get any NHL action for two months up until March when he came back and played against the Flyers and then played a bunch of games in March and then obviously played some games. at least a few games in April, and just counting stats-wise,

Starting point is 00:17:13 after January, Pat, only had two points the rest of the season. Again, played about half the games, but it's simply not good enough overall. Like, point, point. It's not good enough. And you said it, he was a step, half a step behind, half a step ahead. It felt like his timing overall was just way too off. He was overthinking things every time he had the puck, looking for that. an extra play and you're not going to get that time and space in the NHL. Yeah, you can maybe do that

Starting point is 00:17:46 in the AHL pat and we've seen him do it in the HL. He was over point per game. But going from the HL to the NHL, it's the hardest transition you will ever have to make as a player. And so far, he hasn't gone it down yet outside of an eight game sample at the end of the 24, 25 season. No, and I will give him his credit, though, because you look at the way he played when he returned to Wilkes-Bair. And I've said it on the show before. I'll reiterate it now. When he got sent down, it would have been really easy for him to say, screw this team, screw this organization, screw the coaches.

Starting point is 00:18:25 I'm just going to put up a pile of points and continue to be good at what I'm good at. Everything else be damned. I'm eventually going to make it one way or the other. And he didn't do that. He went down and very clearly the guidance for management in the coaching staff was you've got to get stronger. You've got to get a little bit more edge in your game. You've got to play a little nastier.

Starting point is 00:18:49 And he did that, especially in the playoffs. You look at a lot of the people who covered it day to day down in Wilkes-Bair. And anytime there was a scrum, a post-wistle thing or a battle on the boards, everybody was saying look who's right in the middle of it, Vela Khoevenin. So we don't want him to turn into a pest, a rat, but one of the biggest knocks on him in his tenure with the NHL club this year was he was getting out muscled, he was losing board battles, and he went down to Wilkes-Barre and he worked on that. And that is what you want to see out of a prospect of this age and this potential.

Starting point is 00:19:26 So we will see what happens with him, but at the end of the day, he is, still very young and there's still potential and skill there. But this is a huge summer in a huge training camp for him. Yeah, I co-sign all that. And you brought up the board battles again. Yeah, there were a couple of goals, especially during Wilkespray's playoff run where he won a board battle, led the rush the other way,

Starting point is 00:19:50 and the penguin scored right after it. It was like, okay, nice. You're working on that part of your game. Now, again, it's all about taking that to the NHL and also taking it to the next level because the players you're playing up against there. Again, way different compared to what you have been seeing in the AHL. But that's going to do it for our second segment. Coming up to end the show, we're going to continue our discussion about Billy Covenant, whether we're fully worried,

Starting point is 00:20:14 all that plus a lot more coming up right after this. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about one more sponsor, which is Fandle. The biggest stage and world soccer is here with the FIFA World Cup. In every match, feels like it has the potential for a memorable moment. One goal can completely change the energy of a game, shift momentum, and alter the outcome in an instant. Patsman makes tournament soccer so exciting from the opening whistle to the final kick. Now, Fandall is giving fans another reason to stay locked into every match with every goal pays, bet on a soccer match and get bonus bets for every goal scored in that match. More goals, mean more bonus bets, all you have to do is turn on your token. Again, I love the FIFA World Cup.

Starting point is 00:20:57 It only comes around every four years for a reason. There's going to be so many memorable games. games, so many great moments. I love seeing this sport get more love because there are so many great world-class players around the world that are going to get their chance to shine here. And of course, I'm excited to watch the USMNT as well. Hopefully they can make at least a little bit of a run here at the World Cup. Now, from the opening whistle to the final kick, let there be goals on Fandall. Visit fandle.com to get started right now. All right, we're back here on the Wednesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host on Sir Hodes joined by my coes Patrick Damp.

Starting point is 00:21:37 And Pat, I'm going to repeat myself a little bit from Tuesday's episode talking about whether I'm worried. And I've kind of hinted at it a little bit during today's episode as well. Owen Pickering, that's really put up our shut up time. Ville-Ecovenin, we're just about there with him where it's really about to be now or never. Like if you can't figure it out at some point this season, man, it's probably it for his chances to be, you know, at least a middle six, bottom six player for the Penguins.

Starting point is 00:22:08 Like, we always bring up the Quad A player reference. It really, it's about to be put up a shut up at time. I need to see a big camp from him. I need to see a good preseason from him. And I want to see him carry that momentum into the regular season if he is able to make this team. It's up to him, man. I'm not selling my stock in Coyvenin yet, but I have pulled up the web.

Starting point is 00:22:33 website where I might be able to make that transaction relatively soon. Because I'll, again, I'll repeat myself a little bit from what I said in the second segment in that I'm encouraged at the fact that he was able to transform his game a little bit at the AHL level in the second half of the year. Because at the end of the day, the knocks on him were very obvious. We talked about them over and over again. he acknowledged it, the organization acknowledged it, and he went to work on it, which if I'm the penguins, and this is less a evaluation of Covenin because the play is the only thing

Starting point is 00:23:18 that's going to really change that in one way or the other, but it's more in the stock that the team and the organization are going to put into him. The fact that he is willing to admit it, he's willing to work on it, and he's willing to change tells me that they might have somebody with some value here. We'll see what he does this year, but we have seen a number of prospects over the years. And this dates all the way back to the early Crosby days with some of the draft picks and young players they acquired, where they were one dimensional or they were rigid and not willing to change. Coyvenin being able to make some changes in his game tells me that you might.

Starting point is 00:24:01 might have something here. Now, again, he's got to prove it. He's got to have a good camp in a preseason and he's got to find a way to make it translate to the NHL level because we have seen the skill. We have seen the hockey IQ. Now he's got to get the timing right and he's got to get the strength right. And he has pretty much said on record that the focus he's going to have this summer is getting stronger. Yeah. And again, he is still very much at an age where if he has a good summer in the gym, he's going to come back to camp stronger because he is still of that age where you have a solid summer in the weight room, all of a sudden you show up to camp and you're captain bulky. So we'll see what he does. But I'm not totally out on him yet,

Starting point is 00:24:49 but he is getting dangerously close to being a very worrisome prospect. Yeah, I'm with you. I'm not 100% out on him, but I'm getting closer and closer. to that point, but he has the chance to change that this fall and then potentially during the season if he's able to make the team and potentially stay. So those are our thoughts on Billy Coyvenin and Pat. We do have a few minutes left. So I want to discuss this. What a Stanley Cup final we have had so far. I mean, these four games have been unbelievable back and forth action. The series is tied it to two. It's now a best of three. Going back to Raleigh for game five, I have no idea who is going to win this cup. It really just feels like it's a total coin flip just with the way that both

Starting point is 00:25:37 teams have played. I am having so much fun. Jordan Stahl, I mean, unbelievable Stanley Cup final from him. His first Cup final, of course, in 17 years. And he is trying to will his team to the Stanley Cup and try for himself, of course, to win his second Stanley Cup after winning with the Penguins in 09. He has been fantastic. I'm still waiting. for Carolina's more high-end guys to show up, like Sebastianahou, Svachnikov, they haven't really been that good yet. But man, this has been an electric final,

Starting point is 00:26:11 one of the best. And I say this considering how great the last two were, I think the Florida Edmonton finals, both of them were awesome. This one might be even better than both of those series. And again, those were a great series. This has a chance to be one of the best Stanley Cup finals, not just of this era, but of all time.

Starting point is 00:26:29 Yeah. It is, every game has seen records broken. It has seen multiple leads blown. It has seen comebacks, disappointments. And we all looked at this Stanley Cup final and thought, oh, and we said it on this show, that this Stanley Cup final, oh my God, it's going to be a slog. It's two stubborn teams going up against one another. And they flipped us double birds and said, no, it's going to be a high octane final.

Starting point is 00:26:58 It's going to be exciting. it's going to be edgy your seat and i did say i was excited from a hockey tactics perspective so i'll take a w on that because that has been fun but i do understand a lot of people out there we were talking about it like who man could be some boring hockey lot of two one three two games that every game has just been unbelievable but to that point i also want to say this we were right but not in the way we thought we were going to be right because if you watch this stanley cup final and even if you put aside the scores, it's not like both of these teams have decided to just throw caution to the wind and play firewagon hockey. It is just relentless from both teams in all three zones.

Starting point is 00:27:44 We are so conditioned to think about defensive hockey as it's going to be big and slow and prodding and boring. Not really. You look at Carolina and Vegas. They put you under pressure in all three zones and they are playing at a million miles an hour. And it just goes to show how good the sport has become. Because again, you normally think of defensive hockey as slow and boring. And this series is two teams who are very good defensively playing anything but slow hockey. And I'll end it with this, man. Jordan Stahl is the definition of a gamer because he did this in 2009.

Starting point is 00:28:30 The short-handed goal scoring again to help force the game seven. He is a guy when the games get bigger, he does too. He did it in 09 for the penguins. He's doing it now for Carolina. And not only is it a guy who realizes this might be his last best shot, he is just playing as if he is telling Vegas, if you want the Stanley Cup, you are going to have to kill me to get it.

Starting point is 00:28:58 And that goal he scored last night, just while falling, Carter Hart's not able to save it, excuse me, just an unbelievable goal. And they have, Vegas has had so much trouble getting him out of the net front

Starting point is 00:29:10 because he is just standing there. You can try to cross-check him. It's not going to matter. He's just going to keep standing there, getting those deflections. He's been a menace. in this series. And it's been awesome to watch. As someone who helped the Penguins so much in that 09 Cup Pat, I think Penguins fans worldwide have got to be feeling really happy for him 17 years

Starting point is 00:29:31 later. And by the way, my God, it has been 17 years since the 2009 Stanley Cup. Again, another moment where I think we're all just old at this point, because time does not feel real. I also, I got to give this little anecdote before we close out the show. I always have a special place in my heart for Jordan Stahl. And I said this on social media last night, or maybe it was this morning. But either way, it was, it was after the game, after last night's game. Jordan Stahl was my, my dad's, may he rest in peace. Oh, no, I may have taught this kid too well moment. Because when the penguins drafted him and he made it out of camp, I was adamant telling him, Jordan Stahl's making this team. They're not sending him back to junior. And he was like, no,

Starting point is 00:30:18 he's not going to stay he's not going to stick he's staying in the in it here he's going back to junior and when he made it i bragged to the i bragged to the old man as much as i could and you could tell there was a little bit of bitterness in him but also a lot of pride of like oh god i've taught him too well he has flipped my own tactics on me so between that and him being an integral part of the penguins 2009 Stanley Cup always got love in my heart for Stalzy 100% man and we'll see if Carolina and stall can finish this one off and see if they can win two of these next three games to win the Stanley Cup give me all three games though I hope this goes seven games game five from Raleigh tomorrow and then game six later on this weekend and then game

Starting point is 00:31:07 seven if necessary will be next week but that's going to do it for the Wednesday edition of the locks on penguins podcast thank you all so much so much to take the time to listen to slash watch this one. Pat and I will be back with a fresh episode for you all on Thursday, getting closer also to the end of our season review series, and we're probably going to do another prospect profile. So for Patrick Damp, I'm Hunter Hodes. Thank you all so much for tuning in. We appreciate it.

Starting point is 00:31:33 We'll be back on Thursday.

Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Will the son of a former Penguin be the next BIG prospect?

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.