DK’s Daily Shot of Penguins: The Avery Hayes miracle

25 comments

1. 😶

2. 👻🐧👻

3. Tl;dr I wonder what kind of calls Mike Lange would have for these kids but,

   Hayes has been such a steady performer these two seasons, to see him getting the spotlight and seizing it, is extraordinary. What a surprising problem the Penguins find themselves in. Absolutely loaded at young forward now and with a plethora of picks.

   Can't be understated how well the ENTIRE youth movement is playing too. Rutger, Ville, Broz, and now Howe? These kids are STARVING and seemingly ready to start making a real impact.

   Last thing I gotta say about it, Ben Kindel showing up and just immediately being the best of them lit a fire not a single person could've predicted. His presence shifted everything I think (but I'm biased since I was BEGGING for a center for years).

   I figured the pens would probably float around the playoffs and that WBS would be great again, but this?

   Get out of the fast lane, Grandma 🔥

4. Also look at the "power of friendship" line in San Jose with Mack and Smith… Don't tell me Hayes and Rutger couldn't be our version, y'know? 😏🔥

5. If I’m Dubas you gotta move either Mantha or Braz as well as either Rust or Rakell. We can’t sign all of them and it doesn’t make sense to let someone like Mantha walk at the end of the season for nothing. There’s a logjam of forwards and a number of young guys that deserve another shot in the NHL (plus, who knows how soon we will see Horcoff & Zonnon has been killing it in the Q since his return from injury). You can make moves in a way that still preserves the long-term goal (dealing one of those guys for draft capital/prospect(s)/a young NHL ready player) while still providing the resources for the team to be a true playoff contender.

6. Only one game, but he definatly earned another.

7. Yeah came home and got a hatty…. nice knowing you Avery 😂😂😂

8. The season of surprises.

9. Good to have the minor league playing, but don't miss out on the Olympics hockey!
   I watched the USA Women's team put on a show. Lots of good stuff happening on the ice in Milan, and I'm not talking about figure skating. 😉🏒🐧

10. Dubas could waive k. Hayes and keep up a.hayes and create some kind of rotation w accarri and or any one on the 4th line.

11. I've watched the Pens for a long time, and I swear I'm having deja vu watching this edition because it reminds me so much of the 2016 Pens that basically came out of nowhere to compete for the Cup. If this team stays healthy, I could definitely see them making it to the second round, but I question whether they have the oomph to beat teams like Colorado, Tampa Bay, Carolina, in a seven game series where they are the road team. Something truly un-anticipated would have to happen to change my feeling about that. Could Hayes be that something anticipated? Maybe. I was personally betting on it being Murashov, but sure, why not?

12. Imagine if the Penguins wouldnt have given Jake Guentzel a real opportunity. Point is, you're 100% right, you have to see how this plays out.

13. Awesome to see Avery follow up with that hattie. Wilkes-Barre has a bunch of exciting Baby Pens.

14. I got to see Avery have another great night in Hershey this weekend 🙂

15. What will Dubas and co do if next season one of the draft picks this summer turns out to be NHL ready? Likely….nope, but look at Kindel. Then we have the other two 1sts from last year clearly killing it where they are. I honestly believe its the perfect time, and considering we signed Mantha for peanuts and won't get anything for him, to make a couple of trades. 1 swing for Robertson right after the season ends unless Dallas is willing to part with him before March 6th but highly unlikely because they want him for this cup run or they tank and are willing. 2 who knows what we may receive for a Mantha at his peak…ever! And possibly a couple more for assests. We could receive another 1st, 2nd, and 3rd depending on who. We then use those with a player Dallas want who can slide into their line up and then we didn't give up all that much for an elite player for the next decade. 3 Maybe even an elite defenseman like the Russian kid in Anaheim.

    We still go hard this playoffs by bringing up 2 players, we got rid of a Mantha and another, maybe flipped 1 or 2 to open spots. and would definitely help serve now and future!

16. Somewhere ben is shooting pucks at a dryer in his parents basement 😂 waiting for the break to be over. He will finish with 20 goals this year. Unbelievable season for a rookie.

17. Seems to me the Pens organization now has sufficient forwards assets and cap space to assemble a world class D and shore up the goaltending if that is what is needed if those players are available

18. The pens are far from being small 😂 they very big and a lot more physical. 75 is a savage. 😂 He lays atleast two dudes out a game I swear someone is laying on the ice when he checks them.

19. Thank you DK. Avery Hayes certainly stood out. I sure do want to see more of him. I like this kind of problem ! Well at first glance anyway we will have to wait and see. Great stuff DK !

20. Thanks for using the awesome word awesomer 😂🤘🤘

21. I'm sure the plan at the start of the season was to trade Mantha at the deadline. Do you still do that now and risk a cup run knowing you're losing him after?

22. I pray dubas makes the right decisions with this roster, don’t forget dubas’s history…

23. Big remember the legion of doom…

24. Avery Hayes has worked hard for this. He's a fast skater, he's got the gift to make great and unexpected goals. He's a nice kid too.

25. Rutger's and Solovyov's GENUINE excitement on the first goal was so wonderful. Those guys are super easy to root for. Let's gooooooo!