Pittsburgh Penguins Free Agency Recap

Pittsburgh Penguins Free Agency Recap

[Music] welcome to the tip of the iceberg podcast your home for Pittsburgh Penguins news and Analysis you can find us on YouTube at tip of the iceberg or anywhere you get your podcast from I’m your host Nick bsky joined as always by Nick horad and it was a busy day one of free agency for most teams including the Pittsburgh Penguins who offloaded a contract for future assets we’ll get into that trade here in just a little bit but they also brought in nine players on day one of free agency we’ll talk about most of them and then look forward to what is remaining for Kyle dubis and the Pittsburgh Penguins this offseason a lot to get to horwat so let’s get started on this one and let’s start with the Penguins decision to trade Riley Smith it was a decision that feels like was made a while ago but now we finally have a resolution to that story the Penguins send Riley Smith to the New York Rangers with 25% of his salary retained which is $1.25 million for the 20242 season in return they get a 2027 second round pick and a 2025 fifth round pick your thoughts on the finally resolution to the Riley Smith trade discussions from this summer yeah like you said finally or it’s been or it’s already been determined yeah this trade just felt like a long time coming it was just a matter of finding the right trade partner and deciding what kind of return the Penguins wanted they settled on just a couple of draft picks and retaining some salary which you were gonna probably have to do if you weren’t throwing in more pieces it was just purely this trade just looked like it was purely getting Riley Smith off the roster um because things didn’t work out Riley Smith might go on and have a really good year in New York we if you’re a penguins penguins fan you cannot be upset at that because uh he has a track record of being a good player still um and part of me kind of expects him to go on and do pretty good things for the rest of his career but the fit just wasn’t here in Pittsburgh that’s all it was and loading up on draft picks has been dubis Forte uh since getting here he didn’t uh add too many at the most recent draft but he also didn’t send any away so uh he’s going to have some picks to really revamp everything down the line and for what it’s worth and we’re going to have this whole episode not even discuss the draft which a lot of people seem to be happy with which is a good step in the right direction for the Penguins and um when it comes to free agency the deal with Riley Smith um I’d say the team is trending in the correct direction and it all started with uh dealing Riley Smith and getting most of that contract off the books Yeah you mentioned trending in the right direction I think that depends on who you ask in what direction they think the penguin should go in the Penguin’s Direction and we’ll talk about in a little bit what it seems like Kyle dubis is direction is for this organization but when you look at the trades I mean first and foremost the Trad should tell you what the direction he’s headed in he traded if you look at his last two trades over this past weekend he traded Riley Smith for a second a fifth Kevin Hayes and another second essentially because that’s that’s the out versus in on his last two trades and that points to one thing which is a retool or rebuild depending on who you ask what the penguins are heading towards but we’ll get into that in a little bit as far as the Riley Smith thing you hit the nail on the head it was only a matter of time before this happened 13 goals 40 points and 76 games played he just didn’t fit with the Penguins and by the end of the season it was evident especially considering he was playing on the third line with L Zeller and valter Pon and then yeah he started to find his footing a little bit but I think we can all agree that if you were paying $5 million to Riley Smith to be on that third line you’re really kind of wasting that salary cap space especially when you can go out there and get in my opinion surprisingly more than you paid for I understand you have to retain $1.25 million but as far as future assets is concerned you traded away a third round pick which is not a nothing asset to get Riley Smith now you thought that you were getting a much better version of Riley Smith but the end of the day you flip him after a Down Season for a second round pick and a fifth round pick and and that’s good asset management from Kyle dubis now there are things that you know I didn’t particularly like from Kyle dubis but I will give him credit where it’s due I think his two trades this weekend were pretty decent for the Penguins not that I love the Kevin Hayes addition but at the same time I can see the point especially whenever you’re looking at a team that is is not going to go for a Stanley Cup next year yeah it’s going to be an interesting the Kevin haying is going to be a little interesting will be yeah the obvious he’s going to fill as a third line Center he can shift to Wing if he needs to and if he’s bad enough you drop him to Fourth I don’t know what else to say but you got to keep the expectations High I’m sure I’ve bagged on Kevin Hayes on this show years ago but yeah uh here we are it’s a new era we are moving along and he uh could absolutely be a useful asset for the Penguins if given the right opportunity given the right situation he’s not you know costing the Penguins a ton of money I think that’s a pretty solid that’s a pretty solid sign and man I keep forgetting that the one draft pick from the Rangers are two years away still but yes got a long build ahead of them and they’re loading up there’s a ton of draft picks in over the next three drafts that are in the Penguins possession that like I said c duas likes adding them and if they realize hey that they they can go for something let’s say they in a pretty good spot come trade deadline you’re still holding on to three first round picks if you want to go add or if you want to ship out an any other number of picks for something H you never know because hockey is weird um and you can’t doubt Sydney Crosby sometimes yeah I think they would have to be in a really really good position like top three easily in the Metro position to trade away one of those first round picks I don’t think I don’t think it’s going to be easy to to pry those away from Kyle dubis especially considering the direction that he seems to want to take this team but you know to close out the Riley Smith thing for one Penguins will play and this was announced yesterday as well amidst all the craziness the Penguins will play opening night on October 9th at PPG Paints Arena against the New York Rangers and against Riley Smith that’s a recipe for disaster if you’re the Penguins an opening night because you know Riley Smith is going to make a significant impact in one way or other against his former team that night yeah it’s unless he doesn’t want to be in New York either I find it hard to I find it hard to believe I mean I personally Love New York I know there’s some people that don’t like it but you know Riley Smith he might have wanted to be a Southwestern guy but we’ll see what he ends up doing in New York yeah I just wanted to throw one more jab out there yeah I’m sure he’s going to do fine it’s uh it just wasn’t the right situation for him in Pittsburgh and if the penguins are lucky he keeps on to the same Trend at least for game one yeah at least for game one and maybe the three or four other times the Penguins end up playing the New York Rangers next season the the question that I have before we get to the nine players signed on opening day of free agency is there anyone else after Riley Smith especially after you’ve seen now where some of the Dust is settled is there anyone else that you see dubis moving out this offseason via trade I should say for a trade it I mean the off season isn’t over I could still see the Tristan jar situation going in a step further and I’m sure he’s still looking for some of taker on Ryan Graves it’s the way that they still kind of want to bring po Joseph back but haven’t been able to yet and yet they signed a player Matt Klick which we’ll get into there’s there’s a log Jam all of a sudden if they decide to bring po Joseph back so maybe Ryan Graves is still on the Block who knows that one seems less likely but I’m sure you just keep that you keep that uh thing in the fire until someone strikes maybe yeah especially with the performance he had and the contract he has but for the most part I doubt that he ends up getting moved simply because of that contract how poor he was last season when I look at now after yesterday who I think could potentially be on the block that’s lar Zeller or Nola charari obviously Kyle dubis is saying that he wants to weaponize salary cap space he wants to bring in some pretty decent assets L Zeller was pretty good last year for the Pittsburgh Penguins and I think if there’s a team that’s out there that needs a depth Center at this point of the off season they’d be willing to pay a decent draft asset or maybe a a b Prospect or maybe even a c Prospect which the Penguins you know you can’t be choosy when your prospect system looks the way the Penguins does but I think what’s telling to me about that and the reason that I’ve kind of changed my tune on that after yesterday is they signed three Center capable guys right they traded for Kevin Hayes who Kyle DUIs said yesterday they’re going to look for him to play center out the gates Blake lazat who will get to play center and according to you know puckpedia Anthony ovil who is likely going to be a Winger with the Pittsburgh Penguins has Center capabilities as well so you have all of these guys not to mention a Sam pulan not to mention a vasil Pomo not to mention I believe Jonathan Gruden has played center before as well you have a lot of Center capable guys and while I I do like the fact that the Hayes move bumps down Eller to 4C and maybe you know lazat can fit in where he fits best it opens the door for you to get some more assets and considering Kyle dubis is saying that he wants to you know start this kind of asset you know collection I I think Eller or achari could end up being on the other side of that yeah aari seems less likely uh just because of the way dubis has spoken on no aari before uh when it comes to lar Zeller though I agree with you that it always kind of felt like he could be a trade piece this summer and I forget who had it now whether it was uh Yos right whether it was Rossy or yoi um Buffalo was in on something or there was something with Buffalo involved there so perhaps maybe that is Another Log on the Fire of deals that um dubis might be looking to make and larel finding you know his own way out of here so it’s going to be interesting and you’re right I think at least when it comes to it Lars ‘s another the name that absolutely could be among the names he would fall into the main three that are left let’s move over and talk a little bit about the nine players I you know a lot of people are saying the Penguins they they didn’t do very much of anything on the opening day of free agency they signed nine players that is not nothing and let’s go down through uh the nine and then we’ll go to a certain amount of them certain ones that we want to discuss some of the bigger names uh but started off left-handed defenseman Matt grizzli one-year deal $2.75 million a lot of people not happy about that we’ll get to that in a minute uh also on the left-handed defense side Ryan Shay one year 775k he could play the left or right did both last season comes in and basically you kind of locked up your seventh defenseman with Ryan Shay you bring in left Winger center right Wier wherever he really needs to go Anthony boiler one year $1.25 million Blake lazat comes in two years 1.85 million we’re definitely going to talk about lazat Emil bemstrom is back not a name that I was super excited to see but we’ll see what he’s able to do in a second stint and a second opportunity in Pittsburgh one year 775k league minimum not bad and then four American Hockey League players because as we had mentioned going into free agency they really didn’t have any defensemen and they needed to restock because they let a lot of those forwards go a Vinnie hroa who went and signed with Dallas I believe they let Goa redeem zah Horna who they haven’t at least uh had any interest in bringing back to this point but they signed four AHL players to NHL deals including Boo imama ma Hollowell Nathan Kerman and Jimmy Huntington horwatt let’s start with the name that I think caught the most Heat yesterday and that’s Matt grizzli I don’t personally understand the hate on this one what were your thoughts on the grizzli signing I don’t totally hate it either I get where people are coming from he was scratched for the last like 11 of their last 12 uh the Bruins um the numbers didn’t match up with what they’re used to with what the Bruins are used to when it comes to Matt grizli but also uh it’s not like he was a minus player he’s never been a minus player in his career so there’s some sort of Puck moving ability that he has that the penguins are going to look to take advantage of him I think that was the main part of main reason why they got him he’s not going to be your first line guy he’s not going to be unless comes down to it because he’s on the left side um but he’s going to be a solid mover for a team that could use a bit of uh transition out of Their Own Zone at times it we’ll see how the defensive game plays out but also much in the way that we discussed Ryan Graves last year this is a good signing this is going to be good for the team it’s a bit long but so be it um then it turned out to be a bit of a disaster you have to look at this it’s looking like a disaster now it can flip the other way too you never know what’s going to happen on a player entering a new system entering a new season even um I get that on the surface it looks scary but you got to do your best to withhold judgment until you see something on the ice or at least you know at least not overreact until you see something on the ice I’m glad you mentioned new system in there because when you look at when Matt grizzli really started to fall off it coincides directly with a coaching change right they went from Bruce Cassidy to Jim Montgomery and grizzli numbers started taking hit not only mentioning the fact that you know he dealt with injury last year as well early in the season and that can affect you know your play throughout a year you look at Chris L Tang he was injured early in the season and his play Slowly deteriorated through the season but I think the big thing that I look at with grizzli yeah he’s had a couple of down seasons and whether it be because of injury or coaching change that is the performance that he put out on the ice and I think that’s the reason he got a one-year deal right 2.75 is a is a decent chunk of change but also look at the fact that the Penguins didn’t have very much to spend they needed a top four capable guy and they’re already spending a lot of money on Ryan Graves on Chris lat Tang on Eric Carlson on Marcus peton for next season they needed somebody that could play bonus up in the lineup top minutes somebody that’s handled that before somebody that’s played with a defenseman similar to Chris lat tang and he has with Charlie McAvoy and I think grizzli checks a lot of those boxes is he the most flashy signing no would I have rather seen Jacob chran you know if the salary cap wasn’t anything if trading assets wasn’t anything you had to take into consideration I know that Washington got them for a steal but again would I have liked to see a guy like Jacob Chan yeah I would have preferred that but at the end of the day with what they could do with what they were handcuffed in because of what they’re already spending I don’t hate the Matt grizzli signing and I also think that there’s been a lot of revisionist history about po Joseph’s season after this signing um but I’ll let you respond before I get into that no I just you also mentioned new system let’s not forget that Matt grizzli spent three years of his college career being coached by uh David Quinn who is now in the Penguins uh behind the Penguins bench as the defensive coach um so David Quinn’s can be tasked with revamping the career for the final years for at least the latter years of Eric Carlson bringing uh chryst Tang up another step this upcoming season and now maybe even a quick re project on Matt grizzli a guy he is familiar with and had relative success with I’d have to look into the deeper details relative success with at Boston University so keep that in mind too that there is that connection there and that could be a net positive for the Penguins now the big thing I before we move over and talk a little bit about Anthony boiler a lot of people are saying well I would have just rather brought back po Joseph and put him into that position because you know po Joseph is still young he has uh some untapped potential sure but at the same time I think there’s a lot of people that are saying you saw what he did at the end of the season wasn’t wasn’t that great guys like it was it was better it was better than Ryan Graves which is why I think a lot of people have rosecolor glasses on it but we’re so far removed from actually seeing those games and seeing the play on the ice that a lot of people are forgetting that PO Joseph wasn’t the next best thing at the end of the season right he wasn’t yeah a guy that is you know undeniable to bring back and at the end of the day if you’re bringing somebody back and you’re trying to keep things open going into the future especially on a left side where there are a lot of question marks Marcus Pon we’ll get into that later this summer uh Owen pickery how far does he develop there’s a lot of question marks on that left side do you really want to eat up more years with a guy that at his best is nowhere near what grizzli was at his best so if you can get grizzli to his best he’s an analytical darling he’s a guy that played top pair minutes with Char Charlie McAvoy in some of their best seasons together I I think that if you can get that out of grizzli there’s not even a question that it’s better than bringing back po Joseph because let’s not forget about this with po Joseph he was healthy scratched for a good chunk of the season to start and he wasn’t put into that first line position because he was good the Penguins didn’t have a choice no it was out of the Press Box and onto the top line for him yep they didn’t have a choice it was all right here we go let’s get let’s give it a go and it happened to be okay it happened to be fine good it worked out that’s great that doesn’t mean it’s going to again also is po Joseph a lock if they bring it back is he or even without M gzck was he a lock to hold that position again not necessarily again it wasn’t because he worked his way there it was because the team didn’t have a choice yeah so again I the door is not shut on Pierre Olivier Joseph k was mentioned that but if you’re bringing them back the best thing that I can say about that is there’s going to be competition whereas without that I don’t know if Ryan Shay is really pushing one of those three guys for a spot in the lineup every day it’s just chay’s a little bit of a injury you know injury help because you saw what he was able to do with Jack ivany down the stretch and that was good as well but you know grizzli I I saw a lot of people saying you know a lot of Doomsday after the grizzli signing and I was like it it’s listen he wasn’t good the last two seasons but let’s not act like he hasn’t been good and let’s not act like that was eight years ago it was two seasons ago who knows a new system a new coach Mike Sullivan might bring a little bit more than Jim Montgomery did for specifically for Mt grizzli so again we’ll have to wait and see what’s up with that let’s move over and talk a little bit about Anthony boil because it was a similar reaction to boil somebody that we put at number two on the you know top free agents to watch for the Penguins and that was simply because he was gonna be cheap and it feels like he just fits with the Penguins uh couple days later boiler is a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins what are your thoughts on this one we said Anthony boiler sounds like he’d be a good fit for the good fit in Pittsburgh Pittsburgh went out and sign him and everyone freaked out yeah uh except for us because you can’t go listen much like gzck one-year deal all right good start getting him for a season if you want to trade him because he’s not good like for nothing do it who cares you’re moving on at the point that the penguins are at it is bringing in guys for a season two seasons maybe moving on afterwards if you can bring Anthony bili in for a good season and he does some good work he helps out the bottom six refines the game that made him solid in New York then you’ve got then you’re cooking’s it’s a lowrisk signing guys I I get that’s I get with you see the analytical numbers of of recent with grizzli piler these guys but I’ll tell you what who cares it’s a season it’s gonna they’re gonna enter a new system you can’t overreact this early and I think it’s just a good choice it’s lowrisk option he’s going to come in and help the bottom six the best way he can it’s hard to judge the bottom six this at this point of the summer too MH Little aside here yeah I enjoy the analytic side of hockey right I’m I’ve somebody that has embraced it I’ve tried to learn as much as I can about it and to be frank I’m still not as in the weeds as I’d like to be I want to continue to learn but the amount of people that just take and I love J fresh you know friend of the show the amount of people that just take the J fresh hockey card see red and take that as gospel and just post that and say uh how about we realize that these are more than just numbers on a paper these are humans when you look at last season it was bad for Anthony boiler that much you could sell on the ice and on the spreadsheet but let’s not forget there’s a human element of this the guy was traded twice twice in the middle of a season he’s played on four teams in the last two years and I’m not saying that he’s going to come to Pittsburgh and he’s going to be you know some great piece to the bottom six what I’m saying is let’s not bury the guy a guy who has had previous success in the NHL and more specifically in the Metropolitan Division before he even steps foot on Pittsburgh ice not only that he’s had success in the Metro division he has shown that he has offensive upside and he’s a bottom six Edition and that’s the thing that I I I don’t understand what the hate on the Hayes deal the hate on the boiler deal is you look at those two you look at Yesa pvy you look at Emil bemstrom which is why I haven’t screamed and raved and ranted about him coming back they will all be bumped for the prospects that are in the system if those prospects prove to be ready as of right now these are placeholders that’s why it’s one year for both that’s why it’s one year for bemstrom that’s why you know Hayes has two years left but at the same time you could move on from that as the St Louis Blues did that’s why P yvey has one year left on his contract because if these young guys are better then put them on waivers send them to the miners it’s not going to hurt you that much so that’s why I don’t mind this move I understand that people say well he had a bad season last year but also this is a bottom six piece for a team that is not going to a Stanley Cup you have to realize that it’s not going to be that enticing for top free agents to come to Pittsburgh not to mention Kyle dubis mentioned it on Friday in Vegas saying basically don’t expect anything flashy in free agency B boiler fits right into that mold nothing flashy flashy excuse me doesn’t move the needle much but it is an expected move that at the end of the day fills out the roster with somebody that at his best could be a Difference Maker could be an impact player for the Penguins this season Kyle dubis set he’s looking for one to twoe guys he has signed one to twoe guys did the did the Penguins fail yesterday because they didn’t go out and get Jake debrusk for that contract or oh my God that was an awful contract or whoever else even signed yesterday no that’s not why they lost if you think if you think they lost yesterday I’d say they had a plan they stuck to it and M was part of it from very early on too apparently yeah and the one name that was out there a lot yesterday was Jeff Skinner and I understand it Jeff Skinner on the first line with Crosby yeah that could have been a fit and he signed for one year and $3 million which yeah the Penguins they could have afforded but at the end of the day if the Penguins offered him one year $3 million which we’ll never know why would he not take it with the team that just went to the Stanley Cup Final it’s Jeff Skinner this is not a guy that has won copious amounts of championships in his career if he wants to win a championship do you want to come and play with Crosby yeah that’s enticing but this team has missed the playoffs the last two years or do you want to sign a similar deal approve a deal and go play with either Conor David or Leon dry settle who were just in the Stanley Cup Final that’s the other thing you have to look in here there’s a reason free agency is not all these great players clamoring to come to the Penguins this year it’s not you know a bunch of Splash moves because the Penguins don’t carry as much weight this year as they had in years past and I think people need to start realizing that yeah absolutely and they will it’s like I said it’s just the quick immediate reactions because again they weren’t in on Steven stanos Jonathan Maro even J gel if you really wanted to because they weren’t in on the big names it’s Hellfire and brimstone out of Twitter it’s which represents a vocal minority of the fan base I do understand that yeah and people with a couple of followers who think they know things but it’s it’s gon to be fine I think the team had its plan and they’ll execute their plan and if their plan is to trade Tristan jar maybe that’s going to be of the plan if their plan is to do other things if their plan is to sign one of the biggest names still out there is a name will get into in Vladimir tereno we’ll talk about it yeah but if that’s part of the plan it’s part of the plan if it’s not it’s not so be it let’s move over and talk about because it wasn’t all Hellfire Brimstone there was one move that everybody was excited that the penguins made yesterday and that was signing Blake lazat two-year deal the only multi-year deal dished out by Kyle dubis on day one may have been the most fan approved deal of the day what you think about the addition of Blake lazat as you texted me quote he is one of your guys that’s a good one it’s a good choice for you know undersized depth depth piece again who knows how high up in the lineup he ends up making it um but he’s gonna be there to much like Anthony Anthony blier fit into that bottom six play defense from the forward perspective and hopefully if possible chip in every so often uh because there does still need to be an element of score scoring to the bottom six that someone needs to add um Blake lazas just a good over just overall a good choice there’s not too many more details to read into um I’m sure he’ll describe himself more because much like I know Matt Phillips was here for the shortest cup of coffee in the world um but the way he described his game was well I don’t have a lot of size so I have to bring other things Blake lazat according to cat friendly which is soon which will soon be a dead page yes it’s about five seven so he’s got to utilize what he has at his disposal to make up for a shorter stature 57 that seems like I got 5’9 on on nhl.com but I mean again yep that’s why I said I’m I’m on I thought I’d make sure I had that specifically that’s a dead site Walkin right there um but no I like the I like the lazat signing a lot he’s a spark plug type of guy and at the end of the day I think he brings much more offense than you got out of the fourth line Center position last year if that is indeed where he slots in because last year you know aari you mentioned it Kyle dubis really liked to back no aari last year but the offense just wasn’t part of his game he didn’t bring anything by way of offense and neither did Jansen Harkins and those two played way too many games together and I think that’s not as much to do about achari being in the lineup uh but you bring in a guy like Blake lazad who has a little bit more scoring ability from the center ice position a guy that is gonna be you know kind of a younger higher leveled Vinnie hinestrosa that is more attuned to continuing to stay at the NHL level that’s what I I feel like Blake lazad is is a better version of V estrosa that is not NHL AHL tweener as much as everyday NHL or at a fourth line Center role so I like it a lot of other people liked it so uh that’s the one move that Kyle dubis got that everybody said yeah all right I mean they said that about the Riley Smith trade as well getting a second rounder even if it’s you know whenever we’ve all got our government pensions or whatever that is uh you know that far down the future um a lot of people like the Riley Smith return as well but you know a couple of interesting sings we obviously continue to dive into more of them and then obviously see if there’s more that come along the lines but I want to ask you final thoughts on the opening day of free agency for the Pittsburg Penguins nine players signed one player traded out couple draft picks coming back in return what were your overall thoughts on Kyle dubis is work on July one I didn’t hate it it’s again he had a plan and he stuck to it he didn’t go out of his way to I mean initially say I’m looking for one to twoyear guys and then jump for a lengthy boat of a contract he’s stuck to his one to two year guys he got some good depth additions for with bavil and lazat who knows where grizzli Falls or ends up or even rises in the lineup who knows he’s got a training camp at a preseason to work uh and for what it’s worth I know we didn’t discuss them those minor league contracts are assuming they’re minor league contracts I don’t totally hate either they’re a bit more last year there was an obvious you’re getting nhlers and setting them to the to the AHL this time around it is ahlers for the AHL that have NHL ability I think I think you put Bokey Mama into the opening night lineup just to get Matt Ry taken care of for for uh for what I’m assuming is a national audience I don’t know yet probably uh that’s just how you start that that’s just how you start the season get the statement out of the way uh he led the AHL on penalty minutes did he not last like two seasons last season definitely I believe I I can’t remember off the top of my head I think career-wise he has like 300 and some penalty minutes and a 100 games or something like that so it was over two penalty minutes a game yeah you if if he’s in if he’s in the NHL lineup you know why he’s here yeah he didn’t get those for hooking either yeah he’s a tough he’s a tough customer so I’m going to enjoy that signing uh the other names aren’t jumping off the page M Hollowell is interesting I think mostly because he has a Kyle dubis connection didn’t see that one coming did you yeah there’s only a couple of those yeah uh but overall I think even he might push for a spot one day I mean the way the defense is filtering out maybe he finds himself cracking the NHL again so um good choices I’ve enjoyed I enjoyed day one for the Penguins they stuck to their plan again I’m not going to give it an a because they didn’t make the big splash they weren’t in on the big names that could you know push the team way down the line but for the time being for the small plan that he set out solid good enough for me yeah the names weren’t as attractive as maybe everybody had liked them to be but none of the contracts are bad like the one thing you can say about the grizzli contract is maybe you know I I you would rather had them pay 2 million instead of 2.75 okay 750k I understand that a league minimum contract nowadays but at the same time again he’s not filling a third line role he is your going to be I would assume at the beginning of training camp he is the guy that’s playing with Chris L Tang so you’re gonna argue over 750k for the guy that’s going to be in the top four that’s that’s a hard sell for me uh sorry about that but you know my final thoughts and this is a tough pill to swallow and I believe it was Josh yoi of the athletic who essentially wrote this in not so many words over the weekend in one of his many pieces uh when while in Las Vegas this is what a real a retool looks like it is what a retool looks like the the quote that he had I believe was uh building the future building the next era is the only goal now I believe that’s what it was uh probably missing a word or two in that but I tweeted about it so go check that out on Twitter but that’s what it is dubis is shifting into that mode and and you saw a quote yesterday that I want to bring up that really highlights that that he’s he’s trying to say it in the nicest way possible that we are starting to retool starting to look more towards the future than worrying about trying to make this a championship team in 2024 25 he said quote this is not a strip it down to the stud situation here the people in that room are too good for that it’s trying to use every method we can to acquire future assets that can come in and support the core group that is here you saw that last year with a jake gensel trade we might see one or two of ponamarev or kiun this season make an impact at the NHL level uh Cruz Lucius down the line he’s a pretty decent Prospect as well um one of those second round picks I mean they’ve obviously Jesse Marshall has a piece out in the athletic that I’m excited to read about those second round picks today they’re trying and he’s trying to say in the best way possible listen because of the respect that he has for what Malin Crosby and Letang doing he can’t strip it down because they’re playing at too high a level to be able to be a top three team in the lottery they just are yeah but also how are you going to strip it down when it’s hard to move everybody that’s what I think the missing piece that a lot of people were missing when they reacted to that how many tough contracts are there to move Russ has no move Clause you can’t move Brian Russ that’d be a nice trade piece but also he has four years left on a deal that rides into his mid-30s same with Ricard Rael eight team node trade clause four years left on that trade uh on that contract Malin and lat Tang no move Clauses that he inherited if you’re going to strip it down to the bolts that’s going to be included right I don’t think it should be but if you’re stripping it down to the bolts some would say there’s an option that is off the table right there no move Clauses some of it’s his doing Carlson has a no move Graves has a 12 team jari has a 12 team achari has an eight team but that restricts what you can do and how much you can burn it to the ground I I think that’s also a factor it’s not the only Factor but it’s also a factor there so my final thoughts are this is what you should expect from the Penguins moving forward they’re not going to be a team that is going all in or going for it in 2024 25 um simply because Kyle dubis saw what he saw last year and he pivoted he said I don’t think that I can make this team a championship Contender so he’s going to try to do that by retooling however long that takes and he’s hoping that he’s able to do it quick enough to where probably not malan but Crosby is still on the team whenever they start to get back into that next era you just never know what happens I mean you mentioned Brian Russ having a no move that’s up after the season maybe you do maybe you do trade him after this year um if you really need to Michael bunting loses his claws after this season as well maybe you get assets for Michael bunting after this season um and then there’s a bunch of forward ufas there’s a lot of red on their roster right now actually so you’re retool on the Fly maybe you do this again next year maybe you go big game hunting next season for the final year of ofy malan mhm uh we’re assuming Sydney Crosby signs a new contract for the later years of Sydney Crosby yeah and you wheel and deal you go a year at a time yeah just a year at a time until Sydney Crosby’s gone and then it is all right everyone out the door first round draft picks here we go or I mean maybe this transition becomes a lot smoother than you think because maybe Braden joerger looks really good you want to talk about prospects you haven’t you had didn’t you didn’t mention maybe om Pickering turns it around whenever he turns Pro maybe there is some Diamonds in the Rough in this penguin system that maybe trist and Bros does something big there’s all kind of options that could maybe turn this team into a how did they get here in like second third round of the playoffs you never know hey I love the optimism I don’t quite share it but I love the optimism um we’ll see what the Penguins able to do I think it’s going to be more towards uh the beginning of that sentence where it was you know they’re going to give these guys the opportunity you know bili grizzli they’re of the same ilk need a fresh start need to come and do a new situation but if they succeed the Penguins should have a half decent team especially still led by a Sydney Crosby that’s been very good by led by Chris L Tang that for the most part has been very good by led by uh NY Malin that’s been for the most part very good if those guys can step their game up and meaning the uh guys that are brought in bilias and lazat and Kevin Hayes then maybe this team does squeak into the playoffs but that’s not going to be the goal as stated by Kyle dubis the goal is to try to build from the ground up a contender and hope that it coincides with the team that is still currently trying to hang on but let’s finish this episode off by asking one simple question horat what is the biggest piece remaining for the Pittsburgh Penguins this off season as as of right now they have about 4.29 million dollar remaining according to cap friendly who we’re going to shortly stop being able to reference what do you think is that biggest piece remaining the biggest piece of the puzzle that they still need to go out and get someone to play with Sydney Crosby yep uh Brian Russ is GNA be there he’s gonna be perfectly fine if you have to start the season with jeru Conor all right fine and maybe it’s it it it’ll feel a bit like um sheeri and gel 2.0 almost whereas there’s an obvious next to him who’s the other guy MH or I’m pretty sure I got the name wrong it was Sheri and someone else but or even kit dup it’s oh Kun is a good option I mean d is good but I mean first line good I think that’s how that’ll feel um so you don’t hate it but you wish there was something more there I.E thank you Josh yoi for saying the Penguins uh gave an offer to Vladimir tereno that doesn’t mean they’re not getting him just means at the moment things are on hold we’ll see where that goes that’s a name that could fit somewhere in the lineup to help C Crosby I know he’s a right side they’re kind of looking for a left but maybe if if that’s a guy you get next thing you know you got to hit some Shuffle buttons you got start making other moves uh it’s a long offseason ahead it’s only July 2nd and the biggest piece right now is getting a left Winger or someone to play with Cy Crosby and and a one B to what’s next uh gets into Crosby’s contract yeah obviously there was a report from David pagota that they had been talking and things had been moving along but don’t be surprised if it doesn’t happen today uh Crosby’s being patient with it dubis is being patient with it but I think both sides know that there’s going to be a deal done the other thing that pagota said is three-year deal which by the way we’ve been talking about on this show for multiple multiple months uh but no the Terrace enko thing is interesting if you look at Daily faceoffs projections two years $4.1 five million that is under what the Penguins currently have remaining under their salary cap and that’s if they don’t even move on from a guy like Eller that would open up some space like a guy like jari which would open up a lot of space but obviously create a massive hole for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the go tending ranks tereno had 23 goals 55 points and 76 games played not to mention he was a big piece to the Florida Panthers Stanley Cup run you know I like that yoi said the penguins made an offer the question is going to be what does tereno want he just won the cup so does he does he want that feeling again right he’s a two-time Cup champion 2019 with St Louis and now last season with Florida or does he want some money and want to want to go to a fun situation you know you mention he plays the right side you’re not moving Brian rust away from Sydney Crosby and right now you need a left guy maybe you move we talked about this before the show maybe you move a Ricard Raquel up to play with Crosby who he’s sometimes played his best hockey with in Pittsburgh with Crosby and for the first time in what seems like his entire career if Genny Malin gets a Russian Winger that’s a B to score goals I mean Sergey plotnikov was supposed to be that certainly didn’t work out there but you know you bring in a Bonafide goal scoring Russian Winger for agny Malin I’m sure the you know Gino wouldn’t be too disappointed at that either that’d be a good that’d be a good one that’s there’s another connection there but like I said that’s kind of the thought process I had is if you let’s say you sign and bring in um Terra Sanko then maybe you do just have to hit the shuffle button and make other moves moves to maybe finally make a trade to add that Winger to play on the left side of s Crosby maybe you maybe you do go with Ricardo on the left side I mean one of the big themes of last training camp was these guys are going to play their off Wings these guys are going to be able to play Both Sides because we’re going to need that flexibility I don’t remember rael’s portion of that uh but I’m sure he spent time on the left side too if he needed to so there’s going to be flexibility there maybe that’s the same game going into this Camp too maybe it is you’re going to play your off Wi every so often get used to it mhm yeah so it’s obviously going to be a name to watch is Vladimir tereno most of the 10 names that we put out there as far as you know the 10 names to watch have been taken off the board some of them before free agency even opened sorry my Max doy dreams had been shattered before you know July one even came around but the other thing that Kyle dubas might end up doing and he mentioned it yesterday is he he could probably search the trade market and try to find somebody there because one you know what contract you’re going to get the guy on two you might be able to do something like the Kevin Hayes contract where they’re trying to get rid of a guy you can maybe even get something else in return and you’re not going to have to give up too much by way of you know looking at your own assets I don’t know the one name that is still standing out as a huge name that would certainly look good alongside Sydney Crosby and this is again this might be a I need to readjust my expectations of the Penguins considering where they’re at as an organization especially their on Ice product going in the next season Nikolai eers is said to be packaged with record moror and certain trade packages that is a good enough Prospect to where I’m saying all right some of these draft picks can go out the door if you’re bringing in record mcity with Nikolai eers but again that price is probably unrealistic whatever that price ends up being from Winnipeg is probably unrealistic and a little bit too high for Kyle dubis appetite ah can we offer you a slightly used larell yeah I think uh I think the the winnter pig Jets will just right away eers and moror for lar Eller that’s that’s I think that and pick probably a first probably oh I was I was so close to saying it thank goodness I didn’t I was so close to saying go take Tristan jari oh wait nope you’re set there yeah they’re good there with the VZ a trophy winner yeah um because they’re not going to Ryan Graves and uh that’s it I just don’t see Ricardo Kel getting moved yet either so there you have it yeah that’s I mean again that’s a pipe dream I think more realistically would be them trying to go out there and get Vladimir tereno I’m trying to look up the Utah uh Hockey Club because they did a lot of work on their defense yesterday you know I just thought it was funny that everybody said you know Utah perfect place for Ryan Graves they don’t care they don’t have any defenseman well they got guys that are a little bit higher quality you know Mel sergachev they overpaid Ian Cole I mean Jesus $3.1 million for Ian Cole but picked up John Marino but John Marino as well they still have Shawn dery I they did a pretty good job with their defense I don’t think you know dumping off Ryan Graves was ever going to be a possibility for them considering what they were able to pull off so interesting moves from Utah also last thing I’ll leave you with if you’re mad about Matt grizzli at 2.75 at least it is not Ian Cole at 3.1 how about at least it’s not a 34 year old for six years there’s also that just say I’ll I’ll leave the air of mystery and who that is yeah well that’s going to do it for this episode of the tip of the iceberg obviously we will be back tomorrow with a live stream around 4:00 Eastern and on Thursday at morning with a full episode of tip of the iceberg breaking down more of what we saw yesterday and hopefully some more moves as free agency continues to unfold but that’s it for this one thank you guys so much we’ll see you next time [Music]

In this edition of Tip of the Ice-Burgh, Nick and Nick break down the Pittsburgh Penguins’ first day of free agency, sharing their thoughts on the Reilly Smith trade (0:49). They discuss the nine players signed by the Penguins, including Matt Grzelcyk (11:00), Anthony Beauvillier (19:50), and Blake Lizotte (26:12).

They end the episode by discussing what’s next for the Penguins and a Stanley Cup Champion winger that has emerged on the Penguins’ radar (37:45). Tune In!

The top podcast for the most avid Penguins fans! Tune in as Nick Belsky and Nick Horwat bring you all of the Pittsburgh Penguins top news and analysis! New episodes of “Tip of the Ice-Burgh” EVERY Tuesday & Thursday

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