Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Your Pittsburgh Penguins trade deadline primer!

Episode Date: March 19, 2022

It's a special Saturday episode of Locked On Penguins as Hunter first starts the show by previewing the game against the Arizona Coyotes. He goes into how hot this team has been as of late and why people shouldn't be fooled by their record. He also touches on who to watch out for in this contest as Arizona has some elite players playing great hockey this year. He then does a full deadline primer as the trade deadline is just two days away. He gives his most realistic trade targets for the Penguins and what it may cost to get some of them. After that, he goes into Josh Yohe's article from Friday and what stood out the most as the team prepares for the deadline. All that, plus much more on this episode of Locked On Penguins!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!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.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.Athletic GreensAthletic Greens is going to give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit athleticgreens.com/NHLNETWORK. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello, welcome to a very special Saturday episode. This is probably, I think, only the second or third time that I've done this in the two and a half years that I've been doing this podcast, but I apologize for a Friday episode, so I figured I would talk to you all today. I'm going to have a full preview for this evening's game against Arizona. Big game for the Penguins. Obviously, the Metropolitan Division is very tight. I'm going to get to that coming out after this drop. And we're also going to have a full deadline primers. The deadline is now two days away.

Going to go into Josh Yoey's article as well and get some. some thoughts on, you know, what he's been hearing and a whole lot more. So stick around for that right after this drop. Your 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 a very special Saturday episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast.

I am your host, Hunter Hode. He's going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hode. So all this show is Twitter at L.O. So, Arnold School Penguins, and of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen of the day. Again, apologize for an episode on Friday. I'm not going to go full weekend without talking to you all, so I figured I would have an episode today before the game against Arizona. I'm going to have it up a few hours before, so you all can go in and listen to it and all that jazz. So, and of course, you know, we're going to have the trade divine primer.

So start out, I am going to preview the game against the coyotes. You know, this is, you know, you can ignore the record a little bit when you look at Arizona. Yes, I understand they are one of the worst teams in the league. But, you know, they have also been playing some really good hockey as of late. I mean, they just put up six on the Canadians. They just put up five. They've scored 11 goals in their last two games. They almost beat Boston last Saturday.

They beat Toronto on March 10, five to four. I mean, they have scored five or more goals in three of their last four games. Hell, actually, going way back, they have scored five plus goals in five of their last six games. This is one of the hottest teams in the league right now. And actually, they have won five of their last X. So you can ignore the record. They've beaten some really good teams throughout that time. I mean, the Red Wings, I know they're not as good as good as they were earlier in the year, but, you know, they're ahead of them in the standings, at least. Ottawa, they crush. They beat Toronto. They almost beat Boston. I know they beat

Montreal. They beat Colorado even on March 3rd. You know, they almost beat Winnipe, They beat Vegas on February 25th. They almost beat Los Angeles. Going back towards late February, this has been one of the hottest teams in the league for the last two and a half to three weeks. So this is, I think, going to be a tougher game than some people, you know, may anticipate today.

I know their underlying numbers are not that good, but Clayton Keller is averaging a point per game this year. He's their top left winger, their best player. I also think, you know, Nick Smaltz, he's awesome. He's also on the top line. Alex Galchenio, former penguin, Phil Kessel, former penguin.

they are on the second line with, I believe that's Riley Nash. I almost forgot that Riley Nash is in Arizona. So, you know, Nick Ritchie on the third line, Louis Erickson's down there, Fisher on the fourth line, Krause, Lawson Krause, defensively, Shane Gossesbair, former Philadelphia Flyer, Anton Strauman, and then there are a bunch of defensemen here that I just have never heard of. Carol Vigmelka is probably going to start today. Scott Wedgwood is the backup, but I'm not.

sure, you know, Vajemalka is going to start. He played pretty well in that first matchup. And, you know, in that first game, when the Penguins did play Arizona, you know, that was a really close game for going into the third period. Remember, with the Penguins and Coyos, they was tied two to two. I think actually at times it was two to one, Arizona. I think even they might have were up three to two in the third period. And then the Penguins just blitz them right after that.

Nick Schmaltz was really good in that game, had two of their goals. Clayton Keller had the other goal. You know, those are the two main players that the Penguins have to look out for today. Obviously, Keller, you know, he's averaging a point per game, as I said. Smaltz has been really good. I mean, you know, the guy had a freaking seven point game just a couple of weeks ago. And that is something that is very rare. I mean, and so hell, I don't even remember the last time Cindy Crosby did something like that.

You know, he's obviously one of the best players of all time to win a player, especially on a team like, you know, the Yotes, get seven points in one game. you know, you're doing something right. And I believe that was the game that came against, I can find that here. I believe that was the game against Detroit on March 8th. No, it was not that one. It was the, I'm going to find,

I'm going to find it here pretty soon. I just, I know it was, oh, man. It was very, very recently. I don't know why that just totally abandoned me. there. But you know what, whatever. You know, they've, you know, this is a team that's playing a lot better than their record is right now. And, you know, good, good for them. You know, their fans deserve something at least at least good during this season. You know, they're probably going to have to play at Arizona State next year, which is just hilarious and sad at the same time because for some reason,

you know, I mean, you know, Gary Batman loves the coyotes, I guess. But, you know, overall, you know, if you look at expected goals and all the wrong, I'm not. numbers, 42% of those, 45% of the actual goals, minus 26 goal differential. They only have 44% of the shot attempts, even strength. That is also not good at all, going up with some of the more underlying numbers. Goals 4 per 60, 2.44, there are also goals against right around 3. So definitely in the negative there. Expected goals, though, per 60, 1.98.

So that's definitely not lining up to what we've been seeing for the last couple of weeks because they have just been way overdoing their attractive goals. Again, they scored five plus goals in five for their last six games. But normally this is a team that, you know, struggles for offense. I will be curious to see how the penguins start in this game. You know, the Coyote C-Person, overall C-Personat is fair 5-5, 9-10. So let's, you know, close to league average. You know, they've gotten decent goaltending from that rookie,

and he played well against the penguins in that first game before they really got to him in the third period. So I'm curious to see, you know, especially how the penguin, again, how the Penguins start. You know, that's going to be, I think, the big indicator for me because they're coming off the stretch, right, nine games in a row against likely playoff, most likely playoff teams, that Columbus is obviously the one that's not going to get in. All the other ones are playoff teams. Six and two and one.

Last seven against total full-on playoff teams, four and two and one. So, and the Penguins played really, really well during that stretch, you know, had 55% of the scoring chances, around 53% of the shot attempts for, around 50, 3, 54% of the high danger chance to score, 54% of the expected goals, all very good numbers against some of the best teams in the league. You know, the only team that really carried the play against them was Carolina. I thought the Penguins dominated a lot of the other teams that they played against. Now, in this one, they finally get a team that's not that good, even though they're playing

better, how do they start? What's the vibe check going to be for this game? I think that's going to be very important because obviously, you know, It is hard, I think, to wake up for game 63 out of 82 on a Saturday afternoon slash evening against one of the worst teams in the league. I know you're in a playoff race, but, you know, they're coming off some really massive games. Are they going to really bring their 100% effort against a team like Arizona who, you know, they're not going anywhere. And there's probably going to be a little bit of a sell-off for them, you know, by Monday. So that's, I think, going to be really curious.

For me, you know, Penguins just got to get shots on goal like they did against Arizona. of that last matchup, you know, they got six past Edge Milka. So that's obviously very good. You know, I thought they mainly dominated play in that game. But, you know, Arizona, they have some good team speed. You know, Keller's, you know, a handful to get the puck off of. Schmaltz is also, again, very underrated. You know, they have a couple pretty good, a core players that, you know, they can build around.

It's just that, you know, around them, there's really not that much. And, you know, they also, I think, made a number one defense. at this point. I mean, Schengostis Bear is not going to be that guy. That's for sure. So definitely excited if this one, 5 p.m. start time, and then the penguins will be off until after the deadline. They will play Buffalo and Columbus after their day. I believe the Columbus game is first at home.

Then they go to Buffalo and then they have the Rangers next Friday. So that's going to be pretty interesting there to say the least. But again, you know, curious to see how this game goes. You know, the Arizona special teams are not good. should have the edge there. As for who starts today, Mike Sullivan has not made an announcement. I'm sure that's going to come after I record this.

Would not be surprised if it's Casey DeSmith. I'll say bad team. I know Arizona's been scoring a lot, though, but I thought DeSmith wasn't too bad in Nashville. I could see Sullivan maybe going back to him and say, hey, you know, let's see what you can do here in the game before the deadline. But also, you know, wouldn't be surprised if they do go to Kristen.

That's for sure. That wraps up this preview segment for the game against Arizona. coming up in the next segment, and we're going to have a full deadline primer and go into what my prime targets are for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Before we get to that, though, this is the time of year that I pretty much given up on all of my New Year's resolutions, but not this year. I'm sticking to a resolution to eat right thanks to Bill Park. Almost feels like it's not really a resolution because I actually enjoy eating them. Have you tried the puffs? If you have it, you are missing out on one of Bill Purs, best tasting bars.

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Thank you all so much for making this your first listen of the day. Okay, I was definitely right about, you know, it was either that game against Detroit or Ottawa, because my mistake, of course, because I was on the Ottawa page on when I was looking at the NHL. Yeah, Schmaltz had seven points in that game, Saturday, March 5th, so two weeks ago. Obviously, again, he's a player that the Penguins will have to watch out for today for sure. Anyways, getting into a full deadline primer, we are now officially two days away from the trade deadline, almost a full 48 hours. I know Juan Hextall has not made a move yet.

He's probably, you know, waiting to see what the prices go down. I mean, Brandon Hagle got traded. Actually, he was a player that I talked about on this podcast a lot for the last week or two. Two first round picks and two pretty good bottom six players went back to Chicago. You know, I saw some weird takes on Twitter saying, well, why didn't the penguins pay that price and all this other weird nonsense? It's like they're willing to give up two consecutive first round picks and maybe like a, I don't know, Zach Allison Reese and Drew O'Connor or Drew O'Connor and redeems O'Horna, I'm probably not giving up that for, a player that's shooting 22% this year.

What is this player going to look like? Obviously, that's Hegel. When he's not shooting 22% next year, and he scores 10 to 12 goals. I mean, not going to be playing like this. That's for sure. So great haul by Chicago. I understand why Tampa Bay did it, obviously.

I mean, they're all in. They're going for three in a row. And I'm sure Florida is probably going to go get Claude Jaroo from Philadelphia. So, you know, I'm not really upset that Ron passed on that. it is a seller's market right now at the end of the day. They're just, they're asking for everything. So anyways, going back to the players that, you know, I'll also be very comfortable with for the Penguins acquiring.

I've already said Connor Garland. He would make so much chance for Mike Sullivan's system. Great defensively, great offensively, has a really nice shot. If you can get him in Swab, the defenseman, probably not John Marino. I think that's probably great. You know, Brock Besser, good in theory, but, you know, are you going to pay his 7.5 million qualifying offer next year? Probably not, right? No, there was a player that I have seen been getting a lot more interest lately.

Tyler Bertuzzi of Detroit, and I understand that he is not vaccinated against COVID-19. Though I will say this. The Penguins probably will not have to worry about that come play off top. unless they get to the final and they play the Calgary Flames. But, you know, that would be a bridge that they would have to cross to when it comes to it. But at the end of the day, the Penguins, in their division, they will not have to go through any Canadian teams. Of course, that's if they're in the Metro bracket, you know,

with how Washington's playing lately, who knows if the Penguins slide down a little bit. But, you know, in the Atlantic, there's only Toronto. And Toronto, probably not going to get out of the first round. I don't think they're going to get to the conference final, that's for sure. I think Florida Tampa and Boston is just lighting up the league as well. It's just going to be very tough, I think, for the Leafs to go on a massive playoff on here and really put it all together. So the Penguins, again, they wouldn't have to worry about that unless they, you know,

they win three rounds. So that's the only thing that I guess definitely gives me some pause. But, you know, he makes a lot of sense for many reasons. You know, his cap hit is really not that big. If I recall correctly, it's, If I can find that here. I'm going to find that, actually, as I'm going to keep talking to you all. You know, he brings that sandpaper element that I'm sure Brian Burke and Ron Hector

love, you know, especially Burke, the truculence, as likes to call him, you know, great goal score, great playmaker, seeing him next to of Gennie Malkin and maybe Denton or something like that, or Jason Zulker whenever he comes back, you know, that would just be a lot of sense. and he has term on his contract. So actually $4.7 million. So the Penguins, it's dollar in, dollar out. They would have to give to get and give up a player or two to get Perchusie. The Red Wings are supposedly open for business.

They are not going to make the playoffs here. I'm sure they're going to do a little bit of a sell-off by Monday's deadline. This is a player that I would definitely look at for the Penguins, regardless if he is vaccinated against COVID-19 or not. I know he's one of two players to not be vaccinated. but, you know, I could definitely see this, him running while on the penguins. If you look at Jayfresh's stuff here on my phone, 93% wins above replacement. He's in the 90th percentile for even strike offense, 89th percentile for finishing ability.

He has two years left on his contract. So this just makes too much sense, at least for me. I don't know if the penguins will be in on them. I'm sure Detroit is going to ask for a lot. You know, maybe it's similar to the Manta verb for Verona thing. we saw last year, but, you know, this is definitely a player that, you know, I would love to get for Pittsburgh. Rickel, rental-wise, I would be down to get him, but I'm not giving up a first for him. I'm open to give up the first. Don't get me wrong. You know, they should and they,

they should give it up. But for Raquel, a player that's just been really banged up and he's not been the same this year compared, you know, to a couple years ago, you know, I'm just, I'm hesitant him to give up a lot, you know, for that kind of player. You know, would he make sense? Yes, but, you know, I'm also not really sure, you know, what the ducks are going to want in return for him. You know, I would maybe do a second and a prospect for him or something like that. I'm probably not going to do a first for him. Just because, I mean, you know, decent at creating offense, but, you know, how he's played this year, I'm just, you know, I'm not really, I guess, open to it as some others are. But here's an opposite.

that I know has not been discussed a lot. Jordan Eberley of Seattle. I know that's a name that's, you know, I guess, you know, not a good name in Penguins, Penguins land here, but he does make sense. Good goal scorer has haunted the Penguins many times throughout the years, right shot so you can put him on the Gennie Malkin's right wing.

That's a strong side. Put, you know, a Gensel-Crosby-Rustop line with a Zulker-Malkin Eberley second line. And then you can shove put some other wingers down. You can have Carter and Rodriguez on the third line with Hinen, Ashton Reese, McGinn, and Blugher.

Then, you know, Capinen is right there as well. Or he gets sent out in a separate deal. That would make a lot of freaking sense. I'm not really sure if Seattle is open to moving Everley. I know they're open for business, but I'm just, I'm not really sure if they are open to moving him. He's in the 82nd percentile for wins of a replacement. 90-second percentile for even-shank offense.

I know he makes $5.5 million for the next three years. So, you know, maybe Seattle would retain half his salary. Maybe the Penguins are moving out some salary in another deal. They could make it work, and he's definitely a player that, you know, I would like to go after. Dominic Kubalik, he's an R&A from Chicago. I'm sure the Blackhawks would ask a lot for him. But, you know, he also makes sense looking at Jayfresh's stuff right here. 77th percentile for wins above replacement.

84th percentile for finishing ability, 3.7 million. for the rest of this year. Capone and makes 3.5. There's hopefully a match right there. Maybe you're giving up your first or something for, you know, an RFA. You know, who knows, maybe you can re-sign Cooble League. So he's also a player that I really like for the Penguins if they want to go out and get a scoring winner. You know, I saw some talk, Paul Stassney from Winnipeg, if they want to be open for business there. I think he makes sense in a way.

He only makes $3.8 million for the rest of this year. That's a rental option. I know the Penguins would prefer. to get players with term. You know, Alexander Radjulov, I saw was thrown out there by a couple people. Probably not make $6.3 million. I don't see away how the penguins are able to get him there. Gustav Nyquist, if the penguins and blue jackets want to hook up for a trade,

that also makes, you know, a lot of sense to say the least. So there are no shortage of really good options out there for the penguins, as I just named. But, you know, we're in the crunch time now. you know, where I have to see if Ron Hextall really wants to make a deal. I'm not having more on that, you know, coming up in this next segment here, as I go into Josh Joey's article a little bit. But before I do that, at that time of year again, as college basketball's tournament is finally upon us.

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favorite Vegas casino games. You can head to the website today or use your mobile device to learn more about the trends. And actually, that is been online where the game starts. All right, I'm back to coming this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am your host,

Honor Hoddes. We're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins. So yesterday, Josh J.O.A. did a new, basically a new, what he's hearing about the Penguins trade deadline plans. And apparently in the first. thing that he said he actually confirmed a couple people from the national hockey now's report and i'll say right here you know i apologize i you know usually their track record is not great

um you know maybe i'll have to be a little more careful moving forward but you know when someone like josh you know is reporting the same thing and i trust him a hell of a lot more for sure um than i do some of some of the other people um you know i definitely think you know it's more true for sure can get this stupid hair off my thing on my back of my neck here. I definitely think that, you know, okay, what I'm trying to say is, you know, I trust Josh a lot more than I do. These other guys, so if the Penguins were in on him, you know, it definitely makes sense to say the least.

Though for actually being in on charot, I don't think that makes sense. No, I think I'm just like jumbling my words here. I don't know what it is. Maybe I'm tired or something like that. But being in on Sharazan, he makes no sense at all. The Penguins already have, you know, basically four defensemen on the left side. That's the thing here. You know, Dumlin, Patterson, Matheson, Friedman is a right-eval place on the left.

They also already have seven capable defensemen up there. Pio Joseph is down in Wilkesbury. He's in in-H-all-ready. Yuseligal is also down there. He's an NHL ready, too. you have nine capable defensemen. Why are you going out and getting a 10th and Ben Sharot or trying to when there was no, there's no reason to go out and acquire him?

And then, you know, I did read on Josh's article that apparently the Penguins are open to acquiring another defensemen, but I just don't see that. I mean, they have seven very capable defensemen right now. And as I just said, two great ones down Wilkesbury that can play if needed. I don't see a need to waste assets for the sake of wasting assets. so you can go out and get, you know, truckulence or toughness from, you know, Robert Hagg as Josh Yoey puts in his article. And, you know, Hague is pretty bad, you know, to quote, you know,

one of my very good buddies from Penguin's Twitter, Jason J underscore A-155, Hague is not a good player. I know he only makes $1.6 million against the cap. But, you know, this is basically just, you know, it's a repeat of your brother for bringing in Jack Johnson because he knows him in some stuff. And yes, Jason, I just copied your tweet. onto this podcast, just think it's like a copy paste, whatever. But his projected wins of rubble placement is 13%.

Even strike the offence season, the 43rd percentile, even strike the defense 27th percentile. The only thing he's decently good at is finishing, but I mean, there's better penguin defensemen, you know, on the roster right now that are much better finishers. So I don't see a need to go out and get a player like that. If you want to go out and get a defenseman and target someone on Buffalo, go get Mark Pizek.

I mean, he actually is good, both offensively and defensively. I just, I don't see the need to go out and get someone like Robert Pye. I mean, it's just, it makes no sense to me. And also, you know, in a perfect world, I would not be going out and getting a defensive overall. Josh did say, you know, they are looking for a right wing who believe would be a nice fit with Afghani Malkin.

If I can also scroll down here a little bit here, he says they are also very much looking to make a deal. Ron Hextall is aware of the reputation that follows in that he's often not willing to make a move. So it sounds like he wants to prove a lot of his doubters wrong. He wants to make a trade. He wants to, you know, reward the team with, you know, going all in just because of how good they've been this year. As Josh says, you know, he's eager to make a trade and is perhaps willing to move more of the future away than many believe earlier in the year.

So that's definitely, I think, means first round picking this year's draft, a couple of our top prospects. We have to see what Ron wants to do. Josh really did not give any other trade targets in that article outside of Robert Haag. for a defenseman, but, you know, I just outlined my deadline primer in the previous segment for you all. So, you know, this is going to be a very interesting next couple of days for the penguins. We'll see what Ron decides to do. Does he stand pat? Does he not like the prices? Or does he go all in for a forward and give up a whole lot to get one? You know, maybe it's one of the forwards that, you know, I touched on, you know, for this episode. So that'll do it for this one.

on Monday, I believe I'm going to be going live at 3 p.m. Eastern time for the YouTube channel. It's going to be a regular podcast episode, though. So it's going to go up right after I'm done being live. I'm just going to download the recordings and everything like that and just posted on Apple and Spotify. So if you all want to come and, you know, mark it on your calendar is 3 p.m. Eastern time right when the deadline hits, I will be live, I believe, on the YouTube channel to, you know, break down any move that the payments make. also do, you know, maybe a little bit of a recap episode for the game against Arizona. You know, just be there.

You can have fun in the chat. We can all just, you know, BS and stuff like that. So be the first time doing that at least. But, you know, I'm definitely excited, you know, to say the least there. But I'll do it for this episode. Thank you all so much for listening. And I will be back with you all on Monday for a fresh new set of episodes next week.