Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Yet another Penguin gets the call to head to the international stage!

Starting point is 00:00:00 Yet another member of the Pittsburgh Penguins is taking center stage when the NHL gets back on the international competition stage. And Hunter and I are going to talk about that right after this. You're locked on penguin. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguin. 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'm one of your host, Patrick Damp.

Starting point is 00:00:33 You can follow me on Twitter. synonym for wet. Joined as always by the one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can give our show's account a follow at L.O. underscore Penguins. And we thank you for making this your first listener watch of the day because we're your team every day. And don't forget that we are free and available wherever you get your podcasts,

Starting point is 00:00:55 as well as YouTube. Before we get going today, today's episode is brought to you by Fandul. make every moment more as the playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, Fandul is hooking up all customers with a boost or bonus daily. That's right. There's something for everyone every day all summer long. Visit Fandul.com to get started. Well, despite where the Pittsburgh Penguins are as a franchise at this current moment, a lot of their front office and even some of their players are heading international.

Starting point is 00:01:31 It was announced on Wednesday that Penguins president of hockey operations, Kyle Dubus, has been named to the Team Canada staff for the Four Nations face-off as well as the 2026 Winter Olympics. So he will serve alongside Julian Breezebois on the staff for Team Canada. Kyle Dubus will be the director of player personnel. Meanwhile, Julian Breezebaugh, excuse me, will be the assistant general manager for Team Canada, like I said, at both the Four Nations face off as well as the Winter Olympics. So this is a really big honor for Kyle Dubus.

Starting point is 00:02:11 And before we even get going, I want to just say this. I know people have their opinions on Kyle Dubus, what he did near the end with the Toronto Maple Leafs, what he's done so far with the Pittsburgh Penguins. But clearly they believe he's doing something right. and this is a gigantic honor for him because even though Team Canada does have an absolute embarrassment of riches at their disposal, it's not easy putting together an international team. Just think back to the last few United States teams, whether it was World Cup, whether it was the 2014 Olympics.

Starting point is 00:02:53 When these teams have been put together, there's been a lot of talent there for the U.S., but they have not done a good job at getting this together. So Canada is also looking to continue its dominance of the world stage, especially at the highest level. And Team Canada thinking that Kyle Dubus could help them in that is a huge honor. I agree. And on one hand, his job should be fairly easy just because of how much talent Canada has overall. But on another hand, it's also going to be a bit difficult because think of the amount

Starting point is 00:03:24 of players that are going to be left off of team Canada. that are ridiculously good. I mean, we all know how stacked this roster is going to be, especially at Forward Defense, they're going to be stacked as well. Goaltending, I'll take a few other countries over them, especially the United States. I think the U.S. has a big advantage in net. I know Russia, if they're allowed to play in the Olympics in 2026,

Starting point is 00:03:44 they will also have a big edge in net there. But as far as the four nations face off the next year's tournament, the U.S. will have a big advantage in net there. But again, just going back to Dubis, it is going to be a bit difficult, just because you're going to be leaving a lot of very talented players out for that. And I think most of the players that you select for next year are probably going to be on the Olympics in 2026.

Starting point is 00:04:09 Maybe a couple other players could be in the mix for that next year after that. But I would say 95% of the players that you select to this competition in 2025 will be on that team in 26. But they obviously believe in him. Yes, he's had some failures in Toronto. He's had some failures in Pittsburgh. but you look at the staff that Canada has assembled here. Doug Armstrong, I mean, I personally don't think he's that good of an NHL general manager,

Starting point is 00:04:34 but I understand it. Julian Brisbaw, very good GM. You also have Jim Nill, very good. Don Sweeney, he's an assistant GM. He's done a very solid job in Boston. For the most part, Pat, that's an all-star caliber group of GMs in the NHL that are helping out team Canada. And the fact that Dubis is there, that's a pretty good honor for him.

Starting point is 00:04:56 considering how young he still is when you look at his age compared to a lot of the other GMs overall in this league. Yeah, he's very much not an old hockey man being surrounded by a lot of old hockey men. But I even then, like you were saying, like I know I goofed there and said the old hockeyman, but like you said, those names that are on Team Canada's front office, of the last 10 or so years, those are probably some of the best general managers from Canada in the national hockey league. Like I do believe Doug Armstrong has lost a little bit of his fastball,

Starting point is 00:05:28 but some of that is just the way the NHL is set up now. You're not going to consistently be one of the better GMs. I also look at a guy like Julian Breezebois, who has done a phenomenal job since Steve Eisenman left the Tampa Bay Lightning, even if I don't totally agree with what he did with Stephen Stamcoast. I mean, at the same time, even though I think that Tampa is going to take a step back this year. They're still a very good roster. They still have, they still have swung some incredible deals and he's been right behind that. The Bruins are always the

Starting point is 00:06:03 Bruins. So you look at Don Sweeney and think, okay, this guy has some kind of voodoo magic where he always makes a team that we're expecting to take a step back, stay right in the mix. And look at the Dallas Stars. I mean, has there been a team that has flown more under the radar, but still been that good, that consistently, because we talk about how good they are once we get to playoff time, but it's almost just assumed at this point that, okay, the Dallas stars are going to be right in the mix. We don't got to talk about them, but that's a big credit to him. And then I think you look at a guy like Kyle Dubis, that's a good fresh perspective for Team Canada. I don't think he's going to overthink anything or try to play 4D chess, but it's another solid voice for Canada to have in the room.

Starting point is 00:06:52 Right, yeah. When you're assembling those types of rosters, you want to have as many great voices in that room as possible. You're going to hopefully see it with Team USA as well for the Four Nations face off and for the Olympics. The next year you're going to see it for the other countries that are participating in the Four Nations face off outside of Canada and the U.S. next year and then for the Olympics as well. The more All-Star voices you have in that room, the better I think you should be overall. And I mean, we all know how great Canada is going to be again, people. We all know that they're going to be the favorite heading into that tournament. We all know they're going to be the favorite heading into 2026 unless they screw up some of these decisions.

Starting point is 00:07:31 But I don't think that's probably going to happen just because of the amount of all-star talent that they already have. So, yeah, you want to surround yourself with as many good voices in terms of GMs in this league as possible. Canada is doing that with these couple of moves. And honestly, I think Breezeball could honestly be the GM of this team. He definitely could. Dubus also joins Mike Sullivan, who will be the head coach of Team USA at the Four Nations face off. Though unlike Canada, they didn't name him.

Starting point is 00:07:59 I don't believe also the Olympic head coach. We're still waiting to find out on that. I'd be stunned if it wasn't. Yeah, I would be, unless he takes some sharp decline over the next two years, I think it's pretty safe to say, if nothing else, Mike Sullivan will be on the team USA staff. And of course, he joins his captain, Sidney Crosby, who was named in the first group of players who will play for Team Canada, which, like you were saying, Hunter, just on the first few names that Team Canada put out there

Starting point is 00:08:31 for the Four Nations face off. Connor McDavid, Sydney Crosby, Nathan McKinnon, Bradshaw, Braden, Braden point, and Kail McCar. I mean, that line up right there, how do you compete with that? I don't know how you do. Yeah, man, I mean, it's insane. I know this is the best pool of talent that the United States has had in a long time, specifically during my generation, at least, but you look at what Canada can put out there, outside of the players that you mentioned, Pat.

Starting point is 00:09:00 I mean, Sam Ryanhart, for example, Mark Stone, Connor Beardt is definitely going to be on that team. Matt Barzel, Mitch Marner, Zach Heiman, Stephen Stamco's, I can keep going if you want me to. There is so much talent that Canada can put on that team, especially at Forward. It's going to be fun seeing Canada and the U.S. going glow for blow at that position. But, man, I'm definitely going to be at least a little bit freaked out considering the level of talent that they can put out there. Well, into your point and to further mine a little bit, you also then look at the first six named for Team USA. And that includes Jack Eichol.

Starting point is 00:09:36 Surprisingly, for Hunter, Austin Matthews will play for Team USA, not Team Canada. That's not even funny. You know, I made that stupid mistake three years ago. I know I'm going to get flamed for it. Yes, for those that maybe we're not listening a few years ago, I made the dumbest mistake I think I've ever made on this show by saying that Austin Matthews is going to play for Team Canada. And after I listened to it, I'm like, yeah, I can't believe I even said that. So yeah, there's a fun moment for everyone.

Starting point is 00:10:04 Continuing that list after Matthews, Matthew Kachuk, Adam Fox, Quinn Hughes, and Charlie McAvoy. So even though I look at that and go, oh, those are all very great players, you compare it to the first six outside of maybe Bradford. Marrcheon, who I think got named just because some of the games of the Four Nations face off will be played in Boston. That's a tough one to stack up side by side. So we'll see what happens. But really cool honor for Kyle Dubus to be named to that staff for both four nations as well as the Olympics. So we're going to be following that just like we would anyway, because it's going to be a lot of penguin representation on the international stage over the next two years. But that will do it for our first segment. When we come back, Kevin Hayes met with the media on Tuesday.

Starting point is 00:10:50 Hunter and I are going to look at some of his comments. And we have learned just like a lot of players coming to the Penguins this year, he is one motivated guy. But before we do that, we have to tell you about our first sponsor. And that is Fandul. I love sports and I love them so much that I never want them to stop. But as the playoffs wind down, we get fewer games. And the sports are no longer sporting the way I like them to. But Fandul lets me keep the sports going whenever I want. All I have to do is open the app and dream up any bets anytime I'm in the mood. And this summer, Fandul is hooking up all customers with a boost or bonus daily.

Starting point is 00:11:28 That's right. There's something for everyone every day all summer long. So head over to fandual.com and start making the most out of your summer. Fandul, official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball. All right, welcome back to the Wednesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm Patrick Damp, joined as always by the illustrious Hunter Hodes. It is my last episode before I go on vacation, which we will talk about once we wrap this show up. But before we have our cheery goodbyes before I walk away for a few days, we got to talk about a guy who's walking in the door this season, and that is Kevin Hayes.

Starting point is 00:12:06 He had a lot to say on Tuesday. And very similar to what we were talking about with Matt Grizzlick last week. This is a guy who feels like he has been cast aside. People no longer consider him to be an effective NHL player. And while the jury may still be out on that in their heads, they think they still got a lot to prove. The biggest thing that stood out to me was him saying this. I think I can still produce in this league.

Starting point is 00:12:34 and I want to show that to my teammates and the coaching staff. Now, I understand very generic, very canned quote from a guy who's been in the league for a while. And me saying it on this show, reading it in an article does not do it justice. If you can go on the penguin's website and watch his availability, you could hear it in the tone of his voice. He is not happy with how things ended in Philly and how things ended in St. Louis. So if he can get back to even a little bit of the level he was at just a couple of years ago, this could be a great return on investment for Kyle Dubus. I'm telling you, man, a very motivated player is dangerous.

Starting point is 00:13:14 And I do think you're going to see Kevin Hayes at least get a bit better this year for the Penguins. Do I expect him to be the player that he was during 2022, 2023, when he had 18 goals and 54 points, 81 games? No, but if he's still around, you know, 40 to 45 points, for the penguins as their third line center, maybe even getting closer to 50. I will gladly take that just because of how awful the third line has been these last couple of years for the penguins. They have really been searching for a true bona fide third line center for the last couple of years.

Starting point is 00:13:46 They really haven't been able to find it. I think Eller in sports last year was pretty sound in that rule, but I've said for a while, I've wanted them to upgrade over him and slide Eller down to the fourth line. It looks like they've done that, especially if Hayes can get back to the level that he's played at at times in his career. Again, I don't know if he's going to, but if he can get close, that would be a big deal for me overall. But again, you put a playmaker on that line, someone that can dish the puck to someone like a Valisrae Pustin, maybe someone like a Drew O'Connor if he starts there. That makes a lot of sense to me. But I really do like that

Starting point is 00:14:20 move for the Penguins. I said it at the time. I think this has an opportunity to be one of the more underrated good moves that Kyle Dubus made this off season. And one of the numbers that really stood out to me this past season when he was with the Blues was 36 goals for for him on the ice, 35 goals against. And that's on a Blues team that was horrendous defensively. Now you come to a Penguins team that is at least a bit better defensively. I think you're going to see that number jump up. And also 23 high danger goals for 19 high danger goals against. I think you're going to see a jump in that number as well, especially if he can produce a bit more offense on that line. And while he's also playing next to better line mates compared to what he had in St. Louis.

Starting point is 00:14:58 Yeah, you kind of beat me to the punch on that. That was something I was going to bring up. You look at, if you look at his top line statistics from this past year, they are wholly unimpressive. He was not good if you just look at the counting stats. But you pop the hood open, you look under it. And you see that on a pretty bad blues team, he was among their top forwards in expected goals, goal differential, expected goals. And you look at that too as well. He had 0.74 goals per 60 at 5 on 5, which was the highest mark he's had since 1920. And then his individual expected goals per 60, third highest mark of his career, all while on a blues team that was not very good.

Starting point is 00:15:46 So if he can get himself on a third line with, say, a Val Terry Pustinan or even Drew O'Connor, if he moves down and they find another winner for the top six, we could be in business here. And while again, I don't expect him to get back to some three 2020, 2019 level that we saw him at in his run with the Rangers and Flyers, you still could have a very valuable third line center who is going to bring some offensive output to a bottom six that has really been lacking for the last few years.

Starting point is 00:16:22 And really ever since this team won the Stanley, Cup in 2017 because you think back to those years. And their biggest hallmark was that they could beat you with all four lines. Yeah, the top two lines, the Crosby line and the Malkin line, they were going to do their thing. They were going to get their cookies. They were going to score. But it was the fact that you could no longer play the penguins and go, okay, if we shut

Starting point is 00:16:48 down Crosby and Malkin, we shut down the penguins, it was well, if we shut down Crosby and Malkin, well, here comes HBK. Well, if we shut down all three of them, well, here comes Matt Cullen's line. So while I'm not pretending like the penguins are back to that point, if you have another line on your offense that can at least produce a little bit and take the burden off of the top six, at the very least you can make yourself a playoff team. I agree. I mean, we've been wanting the bottom six to be a lot better these last couple of years.

Starting point is 00:17:18 I mean, there was a reason why I loved this team's bottom six at the very end of the Jim Rutherford. era. And even during the start of the Ron Hextal era, just because they had those lines that can score. They had players down there that were able to produce offensively and play well in their own zone. They just kind of went away from that these last couple of years by trying to get more defensive specialists overall, but not enough players that can chip in offensively when the top two lines go cold. Kevin Hayes, when he's playing well, he can chip in offensively. He's a good playmaker. He can score at times as well. And you want to know someone else who I could see on his line at some point?

Starting point is 00:17:53 Yes, he pull Yarvi. I could see with his net front presence the way he's also having a full off season of train after coming off that double hip surgery last year. I think he could be aligned for at least a bit of a better year of the Penguins this year. And he could be getting some third line minutes if he starts out the season playing fairly well. But I could see that fit going well for the Penguins if they were to try Pull Yarvey with Hayes considering that Plyarvey. He can also finish chances, especially right around that net front area, you know, five, 10, maybe 15 feet out overall. And I would love to see a bounce back for Poo-R-V because even for as much as he has struggled in his career, I've always really liked his game.

Starting point is 00:18:32 And I still think he's young enough that there is some untapped ability there, that if he gets some consistency, he very much could find. Now, will he ever live up to being the fourth overall pick? I don't think so. But can he be a very productive NHL player? I absolutely think he can. And one other thing I wanted to say about Kevin Hayes before we wrap up this segment is his last two quotes from that presser. I mean, it's July 24th as we record this.

Starting point is 00:19:03 And I want them to drop the puck right now with these quotes. It's definitely an ego shot when you go on two teams in two years. I'm a pretty confident person and I've been in the league for a long time. I've had successful seasons. I know what I need to do to make sure my game works in this league. I think I'll have a good opportunity in Pittsburgh to do that. I think, though, instead of it being an ego shot, I'll use it as more motivation to show those two teams I can still play and produce in this league.

Starting point is 00:19:29 And you set it right off the hop in this segment, man. A motivated player is a dangerous player. And when you combine it with the type of game that Kevin Hayes plays, this is the shot in the arm this penguin's team is needed in a while because he's not just going to go out and make good pay. passes and go to the front of the net, he's going to run a few people over. And we see it all the time. You see it in highlights.

Starting point is 00:19:55 You see it in mic'd up segments. When a guy throws a big hit, oh, that brings the juice for the whole team, man. Oh, and you know the fans here love it. I mean, anytime a player on this team throws a big hit, you see PBG Paine Serena going crazy. So when that happens with Hayes, I mean, that's only going to be the start. I think it potentially maybe him at least becoming a small, fan favorite here just with the way he plays overall. But I'm excited, man. I really hope that he can get close to the level that he's played at before or even fully backed that level of as I said a

Starting point is 00:20:28 couple of times during this episode. Yeah, that'll be really cool. And last thing before we wrap the segment, just really nice to see Kevin Hayes on the right side of the Metropolitan Division rivalries he's been part of for the past decade or so. Because as a Ranger, as a flyer, he absolutely tortured us. And I'm just glad to have him in our sweater now rather than red and blue or orange and black. So you go torture them now, baby. Yeah, exactly. So excited to see what he brings this year. Definitely another press conference where a guy conducted himself and made me feel just a little bit better about the signing and the trade. So we will see what happens with Kevin Hayes, but we've got one more thing to cover before we wrap up this show. The Penguins lose another

Starting point is 00:21:13 member of their front office. But I'll be honest. Don't think it's that big of a loss. Hunter and I are going to talk about that right after this. All right, welcome back to the Wednesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm Patrick Damp. That's Hunter Hodes. And Penguins lose another member of their front office today, reported by our good pal Josh who I hear rumor may return to the show relatively soon.

Starting point is 00:21:41 Yes. So because Pat is being a lameo and is going on vacation on Thursday, How dare he do that, by the way? I mean, have I done that yet, people? No, I'm just joking around. He's allowed to go on a vacation here, people. But yes, Josh Yoey is coming on the show. Once again, Thursday, 10 a.m.

Starting point is 00:21:57 The episode will probably be out around noon or 1 o'clock on Thursday for you all. We're going to discuss the offseason so far. Get Josh's thoughts on everything the Penguins have done. Get his thoughts on what else could be coming and a whole bunch more in Penguinsland. So be sure to stick around for that coming on Thursday. So anyway, what Josh reported. this afternoon is that the Penguins director of amateur scouting, Nick Pryor, is going to be leaving the Penguins organization and heading to the Colorado Avalanche as a

Starting point is 00:22:27 member of their amateur scouting department. And he has been with the team since 2021. He was part of the Hextall Burke era. And he definitely had some good hits. You think about guys like Owen Pickering and Braden Yeager draft picks that were made under his watch. But with the penguins adding West Clark to their staff earlier this summer, I don't think it's that big of a loss. I think that this is one of the last holdovers from the prior management that we kind of figured would not be here all that long.

Starting point is 00:23:01 While I don't think he did a poor job, I think at this point, this is another sign of Kyle Dubus wanting it to be his staff rather than keeping some people around. Agreed. I thought this move was going to happen last year. I was kind of surprised that it didn't. I mean, we all got to see firsthand that Kyle Dubus respected Nick Breyer's work. And I thought Pryor was doing a pretty solid job under Dubus in these last couple of drafts. But when the Colorado Avalanche of all teams come calling, I mean, you got to listen. Obviously, he did.

Starting point is 00:23:31 He's going to get to run their amateur scouting department. That, I think, is a promotion for him. Overall, congratulations to him. With West Clark being here, I think it made a lot of sense for Pryor to kind of just go do his own thing. He can run the amateur scouting department for Colorado, a team that has drafted really well over the years. They are a very well-run organization with Chris McFarland at the top as well as Joe Sackick. I think that's a good fit for him overall, and I wish him all the best. Yeah, and we love seeing people get promotions. I mean,

Starting point is 00:24:02 especially in that area of front office staff, because those really are the unheralded heroes, especially of championship winning teams because their entire job in a cap world is to go find those prospects in those hidden gems that you can get on your roster for, you know, $2 million or less or guys who make noise as young players, you don't have to open the bank vault for them and they can supplant some great talent, which we know you look at a lot of the previous Stanley Cup champions over the past decade or so. And some of the biggest heroes are guys who you hadn't really heard of. You know, you always, everybody thinks of the meme for the penguins in 2016 and 2017,

Starting point is 00:24:46 the who the is Brian Rust meme. And he's grown into being one of the better players in the NHL. But at the time, it was a guy nobody was talking about. It was a guy nobody knew who he was. And he came up and was a huge part along with guys like Connor Sherry and Tom Cunhockle and Scott Wilson, who all played big roles in winning a championship. But they weren't first round draft picks. They weren't big time free agent acquisitions.

Starting point is 00:25:12 They were homegrown talent. And that is really the biggest thing that you need to be a successful organization in the modern era. 100%. I mean, you have to be able to draft at least reasonably well if you want to, you know, content for Stanley Cups. Obviously, the Florida Panthers, what they did is going to be hard to replicate just because a lot of their players that they got are through trades. You know, there's only a couple of players that are kind of homegrown.

Starting point is 00:25:37 Romero. One of them obviously being Alexander Barkoff, but for most of the other teams in this league, you have to do well at drafting. And I do think with how Colorado has done over these last several years, I think going there just makes a ton of sense for him. And now a lot of the scouting staff and just a lot of the staff in general has been turned over over these last couple of years. And we'll also have to see if more moves are made for Kyle Dubus's staff. Absolutely, but this will do it for the Wednesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Thank you, as always, for making us part of your daily routine and hanging with us sickos in the dog days of summer as we talk hockey when there's not a lot of hockey going on. And as Hunter said, this would be my last episode for a few days as I'm heading out on vacation.

Starting point is 00:26:26 But you guys have been listening to this for so long. You know when Hunter's in control, this show's absolutely elite. He's already telling you he's going to have Josh Yohei on. tomorrow and when Josh comes on it's always a banger of an episode he's also going to have plenty more for you guys while i go get sunburnt on the beach but for hunter hoodies i am patrick damp thank you as always for tuning in hunter will be back with a new episode with josh ohe for you guys on thursday until then thanks as always for listening and we will be back on thursday

Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Yet another Penguin gets the call to head to the international stage!

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