The Pittsburgh Penguins Have a New Head Coach & a New Direction but What Happens This Offseason?
the Pittsburgh Penguins have a new coach and a new direction but what is that going to mean on the ice this year hunter Hodis of Locked on Penguins joins us to discuss that and what should be an eventful offseason in Pittsburgh coming up next on today’s Locked on NHL podcast [Music] you’re Locked on NHL your daily podcast on the National Hockey League part of the Locked On podcast network your team every day gil Martin here welcome everybody to the Monday edition of the Locked On NHL podcast part of the Lockdown Podcast Network your team every day i want to thank everyone who makes Locked on NHL your first listen every day don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss an episode it is my pleasure to welcome back to the show the co-host of Locked on Penguins Hunter Hodies and uh Hunter it’s been a pretty busy few weeks for the Pittsburgh Penguins a new coach a lot of change probably coming down the pike talk to me about Dan Muse and what he brings to the table for this team i think 95% of the fan base actually that number’s a little bit low i think 99% of the fan base did not know who the heck Damn Muse was before Elliot Freeman dropped that bomb on Twitter that there was word that he was going to be named head coach literally 10 to 15 minutes later the Penguins confirmed what Elliott had heard i had heard of him only a little bit but after reading up a bit more on him after Elliot dropped that tweet and after we had our episode know the more I really like him and he was introduced to the media last week and I try not to overreact to these intro press conferences sure you can win them but you know the main stuff you want to see is on the ice when the games really matter but I felt like he was very cool very calm collected he seems like he’s ready for this opportunity everything I’ve read about him says that you know he’s always the first one there last one to leave he’s been really good with development i mean he’s coached some really good young players you know Will Smith has had a lot of really good things to say about him gabe Perau is the same thing ryan Leonard has had a lot of good things to say about him too he’s coached Rucker McGordy he actually answered a question about that after the intro press conference saying how excited he is to get to work with Rucker McGordy again after that he had his little try out run to end the season with the Penguins but I think he very much showed that he belongs in the NHL after the way he played with Sydney Crosby he’s also a coach with Lane Hudson Logan Culie etc so his bread and butter is development with younger players and the Penguins they’re going to be trying to bring up as many young players as possible I think heading into this season we know that Rucker McGordy is probably going to be on this team same with Dele Quinn they both looked the part at the end of last season but Tristan Rose he could potentially be up owen Pickering could potentially be up full-time we have to see if Harrison Brunick makes the team and I’m sure they’re going to make other moves this offseason that bring in younger talent that is NHL ready or that has already been established in the NHL so again that’s his bread and butter but I’m also excited to see what he can do with the veterans on this team he’s also spoke a lot about those you know Crosby Malin Latang Ross Carlson at least for now we have to see if he gets traded but I really like the hire especially as I’ve gotten to know him at least reading about him especially more these last seven to 10 days what is his approach what style of hockey does he want to play once the puck is dropped yeah so I think it’s a lot of puck support and puck pressure i think the Penguins will also try to be a bit more responsible in their own end it kind of felt like the Penguins were getting away from a lot of the good plays in their own zone these last couple of years under Mike Sullivan which never used to be the case i think Dan Muse wants to bring that back and especially with puck pressure he’s shown an ability to really change up some of his tactics when you go back and watch some of the tape with the US development program and even before that even when his teams were trailing he would change a few things up and it would lead to some comebacks and that’s something that you know Mike Sullivan at least towards the end of his tenure didn’t really do as much it would just be you know his system 0 to 100 he wouldn’t make some tactical adjustments especially these last couple of seasons i think with Dan Muse you might see that here and I’m excited about that because this franchise has really needed some fresh new innovative ideas for these last couple of seasons just because I felt like Mike Sullivan was getting a little bit stale here and don’t get me wrong I think he’s the best coach in franchise history but every coach has an expiration date and I think Mike had reached is here so I’m excited to see what Damuse can do here with this team but I think really puck support and puck pressure are the two biggest pillars of what he’s going to try to bring for the Penguins here you talked about this team trying to get younger let’s start with the draft what is the approach at the draft is there a player you think they have their eye on i mean but really best player available at number 11 there have been some rumors that they’re trying to move up i think it would only be for one player Gil and that is Porter Martone kyle Dubis really likes him he should be going top five if I had my way he would go top four i think he is one of the four best players in this draft i think he is one of four players with Misa Schaefer and Hagens that could be NHL ready as soon as this season i’m a really big fan of Marton a little bit of a power forward but also just a really good skill player he’s kind of like a hybrid in terms in terms of skill and power forward my buddy and I compare him to sort of a Blake Wheeler type player something that the Penguins could really use in their prospect system so if he starts falling to seven or eight I could see Kyle Dubis and company trying to potentially make a call to try and trade up because in my opinion he would instantly become the best prospect in the system by a mile but that’s someone who I think they have their eye on especially if he drops outside of that if he goes in the top five which I still expect but you never really know i think Victor Ecklan makes a lot of sense i know they met with him at the combine i think someone like Kahan Ason makes a lot of sense at number 11 i think potentially Ben Kindle Colin Potter we can keep going down the list if you want brady Martin of course Jake O’Brien i know that they like him a lot as well so it’s really best player ever available even though they dropped a couple of spots I still think they’re going to walk away with a fairly good prospect here it’s not going to be someone that’s ready right away probably unless it’s Porter Marone we still have to see on that he might need another year but it’s still going to be someone that improves the system here and we still have to see if they get the number 12 overall pick or if the Rangers defer it and send it to them next year you you mentioned possible trade rumors concerning Eric Carlson what is the approach and and what would they be looking for in return if they were to trade him really a futuresbased package if you can get you know a second round pick plus a prospect heck even somehow if you can get three things in return a roster player a prospect and a second I would do that in a heartbeat heck even a second plus a prospect I think Kyle Dubis would probably do maybe he tries to squeeze out a first if they retain a little bit on Carlson but I think in a perfect world they really don’t want to do that two years left on the contract i think of the three players him Raquel and Rust he is probably the most likely to go i will never fault the Penguins for trading for him it was a worthy experiment and a worthy trade to make but it just hasn’t worked out sometimes that happens with Trade Skill like you think you’re you think you’re going to do great with this but it doesn’t work out i still would make that trade 10 out of 10 times it just didn’t work out the way the Penguins wanted to and you know what that’s okay so I still think he’s probably going to get dealt this summer the bigger question is what happens with Raquel and Russ i still think the Penguins are going to be fairly active though what else are they looking to add i mean you talk about younger players but at what position what skill set what are they looking to do any honestly like they could use another young forward or two or probably three to four in their top nine their top 12 i They really need a bonafide top pairing defenseman on the left side they do not have that player on that roster right now marcus Person he got traded matt Grizzlick he’s walking the only player that I really trust on the left side going into this season is Owen Pickering ryan Graves he hasn’t been good in the two years ryan Shay he kind of is what he is a number seven defenseman but they don’t have a bonafide top pairing guy to play on the left side going into next season i think that is one of their biggest holes that they have to fill i don’t think you’re going to fill that probably via free agency unless you’re signing someone to a one-year contract or something like that but if you want to do it long term you’re going to have to probably trade for someone there’s been rumors about Bo and Byum i like him but you have to find the right partner for him i don’t think that’s Chris Laten because I don’t think Chris Tank can handle top pairing minutes anymore no disresect no disrespect excuse me to him i absolutely love Tanganger but with where he is age-wise right now I think he’s better suited for a second or third pairing role that’s going to be a position that they really have to rework these next couple of seasons the whole defensive group I think you’re not going to be able to fix this whole thing in one off season it’s going to be multiple offseasons but going into next season I still think one of their biggest holes if not their biggest hole is on the left side and a top pairing left shot defenseman otherwise you know getting some younger forwards into this lineup i I really think that’s going to be the big way ahead here and I I I really do think there’s a avenue here where they can a excuse me sell off some vets and b potentially add an RFA via trade in signing that player to you know maybe a three to fouryear contract something like around those lines all right well I know it’s going to be a very interesting off season in Pittsburgh hunter why don’t you tell everyone where they can find the podcast and where they can find you and your co-host on social media yeah you can follow the Locked On Penguins podcast wherever you get your podcast Apple Spotify YouTube Amazon Music all those good platforms and you can follow me on Twitter Hunter Hodes you can follow the shows Twitter at l_penguins we now have Instagram you can follow that at lockdon_penguins and you can follow my co-host Patrick Damp at Cinnamon Foret on all other social media platforms you know Blue Sky Instagram he’s not on Twitter but he’s on all the other platforms all right Hunter thank you so much of course thank you today’s episode is brought to you by your friends at Monarch Money ever check your bank account and wonder where did all my money go between dining out online shopping and entertainment it’s easy to lose track but that’s where Monarch Money comes in it’s your personal CFO giving you full visibility and control over your finances monarch Money isn’t just a budgeting app it’s a complete financial command center you could track all your accounts investments and spending in one place so you stop just 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The Pittsburgh Penguins have a new head coach in Dan Muse and a new direction and identity.
Hunter Hodies of Locked On Penguins joins us to discuss what this will mean for the team, who could be on the trading block this offseason and how the team will rebuild around Sidney Crosby.
All this and more on today’s Locked On NHL Podcast with Gil Martin.
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