DK’s Daily Shot of Penguins: Dubas backs it up

DK’s Daily Shot of Penguins: Dubas backs it up

[Music] the NHL’s free agency period opened yesterday and it wasn’t supposed to be all that entertaining from the local franchises standpoint but where they didn’t necessarily get a ton of quality they sure did quantity good morning to you good Tuesday morning I’m de kovachich of DK Pittsburgh sports and this is daily sh of penguins it comes your way bright and early every weekday if you’re into football Andor baseball I also offer daily shots of Steelers and Pirates the other two teams in town that I cover Matt grizzli Anthony blier Blake lazat were signed from the outside Emil bemstrom was brought back Ryan Shay was brought back and uh oh right Riley Smith got traded I almost feel like I should do the whole epod episode on Smith getting traded he went to the Rangers for a couple of draft picks I don’t care what those draft picks were honestly I don’t care that he stayed in the Metro division in fact I think that’ll end up being a big positive for the Penguins in their home opener next season which will be on October 9th happens to be my birthday at PPG Paints Arena they can manufacture a tribute video for him even though he wasn’t part of a Stanley Cup champion ship just to remember all the great times all the highlights all those seven week bans of not scoring a goal or not really doing anything but I digress because the team is being built I’m not going to use rebuild there’s no way you can have a rebuild Sydney Crosby of gny malcin Eric Carlson Chris lat Tang what you have to do and I’m going to continue laying it on thick here for Kyle dubis because I believe this GM has figured this out and has begun acting on it is just build here’s how he put it upon meeting with reporters yesterday in Cranberry we’re not uh looking to Simply squeak in to the playoffs it’s to return the team to become a contender as soon as possible can we do that this season can we do that next season it’s hard to put a time frame on it but this is obviously not a strip it down to the studs uh situation here I that the people in the room are too good for that well yeah I I I’ve been ranting about this for more than a year but what’s needed to happen all along was that this team needed to get younger so that it can contend not despite contention if they’re younger if there’s more fresh legs in the equation they’re going to be a better hockey team they’re certainly going to be a better Supporting Cast that’s why all those months ago I was flipping out over nol laari and Matt Neo and whoever else was coming in everybody except larella of course when what they needed was a bunch of energizers well now look there’s too many bottom Sixers to count he has really dubis has loaded up the quantity component of that bottom six to the point that right now I feel like you could make out a sixth and a seventh line if there was an opener tomorrow and that’s fine because competition is good competition doesn’t hurt you you bring in a bunch of guys knocking each other around in training camp for jobs you’ve got yourself a very very different environment than the one that we saw throughout the 2023 324 NHL season what you saw then for the better part of five months I won’t say six cuz they gave it all they had in the sixth was guys like Riley Smith who knew they had jobs they just knew nobody was going to take them out of the lineup there was some of that in Ricard Raquel’s game and what remained mindblowing to me is that there was some of that in the games of Fringe guys why because they had no push there was nobody wilbury Grand who was going to be threatening them so line them all up out there and let them go add it heck think about adding more you know this episode is brought to you by bet online your number one source for all your summer Sports needs this season from Major League Baseball golf NHL NBA playoffs get the latest odds and lines including all team matchups player props odds on just about everything that’s out there head to the website today or use your mobile device to get in on the action bet online where the game starts as I see it right now your top two lines on this team have drew o Conor on the left wing with Sid with Brian rust Michael bunting showed something alongside Gino and you could have Raquel on that right side or you could you know keep looking see what else is out there for a top six scenario I and then there’s just a ton after that it’s crazy Kevin Hayes Anthony blier Jesse py valter pin Lars Eller Matt Neo Blake lazat nol lachari Sam Pand I’m probably missing some Jonathan Gruden lots and lots of guys and by the way if there’s a commonality with all of these Acquisitions with the exception of Hayes they’re younger and that’s reinforcing the point that I’d been making for months which is they don’t have to be 22 23 years old to be considered young because you’re not getting them for their future potential you’re getting them for their legs you’re getting them for their energy if you’re 25 26 years old you’re going to be able to contribute more from the energy standpoint than someone who’s 5 years older lazat and he’s somebody I’m going to spend an entire episode on this week lazat is he’s one of those drag you into the fight kind of forwards the way Jason zooker was you will notice him when he’s out there that’s what was needed and I understand dubis was in his first year and I understand Ron hexall left him a mess and play the violin while I’m talking but I thought all of that was evident last summer and right now I’m just glad that it’s coming around but I’m I’m even more glad that dubis has taken the approach of saying listen we’re still in this to win he acknowledged yesterday freely and I thought impressively that he’s constantly communicating with Sid Sid’s there SIDS up there in Cranberry skating dubis doesn’t have to go very far they’re probably running into each other five six times a day and he’s letting them know hey you know we we respect the fact that we’re in a negotiation we respect that you could if you wanted to go play somewhere else we’d rather that doesn’t happen here’s our end of it all those times that the team looked so lethargic or out of it or out of gas or whatever the heck was wrong with them for five months this past season we’re taking steps to address that you and Gino and the other scorers on this team you take care of your end score on the power play and we’ll get you the energy we’ll get you the competition we’ll get you the stuff that was missing I like it when we come back J1 [Music] Q today’s j1q comes from TB who says DK I like a lot of the signings that Kyle dub has made without a doubt depth is one of the most important factors in building a successful hockey team however with all these additions and dubis even saying out loud that the Kevin Hayes acquisition would make it likely that no laari can now move to Wing does that leave Jesse pul Ary or maybe even valter puson and without a seat when the Music Stops not to mention Sam pulan who I’m hoping truly gets a shot in the NHL lineup you know this is going to sound insensitive enough uh I I don’t care and take that from somebody who really likes a couple of these kids like I’d love to see Pon and succeed but I’d also like to see pen and get pushed if you think about the way in which he came up this team wasn’t getting any scoring uh he was the trigger guy from the left circle on the power play in wils Berry and they needed somebody anybody to try to get something going and he did to his credit you’ll recall he was just doing things a little bit differently than the rest of them and that was just enough to get them moving but I’ll tell you the same thing that I tell him all the time it’s kind of a running joke shoot the hockey puck shoot the hockey puck he’s blessed with a ridiculous release he really is and I’m not just talking about that onetime I’m talking more about any spot on the rink he has the ability to just snap it off and it goes doesn’t need a wind up doesn’t need to look over anything no double clutch it just goes but that’s only when he decides to shoot the hockey puck that’s got to change something’s got to impress that upon Him pul Yari obviously has to show that he can sustain his good fortune and his recovery from a really challenging injury but on top of that he’s got to be more responsible and more aware defensively and pulan look we’ve been talking about him for five years various things have Arisen in that time but to me the number one and I don’t hear this from the Penguins by the way so I don’t want you to think that this is something that I’ve picked up on as a team sentiment this is for me I don’t know who he is I don’t know what he is as a hockey player what’s his profile what’s the ambition for him is he a top six guy is he a bottom six guy if he’s a bottom six guy there’s a lot missing there if he’s a top six guy there’s a lot missing there maybe the solution to that before it’s too late is to have him isolate on one or the other or have the development staff or the coaching staff isolate on one or the other and say hey Sam if you’re going to make it you’re going to make it as this the opportunity is there I mean that that’s the best answer I can give you for all of these guys the opportunity is there just rise up you know get it done outperform other people it’s not about blocking anybody I’ll remind everyone into eternity that John Marino showed up in training camp handful of years ago no one knew anything about him no one expected anything of him and you knew a week into camp he was going to be starting the season with the team without ever spending a blessed day in the minor leagues it’s okay to do that too I appreciate the question I appreciate everyone listening to daily shot of penguins and we’re going to do another one of these tomorrow maybe on laai [Music]

Kyle Dubas backs up his words in a quantitative way.

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