Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins

Everybody's working for the weekend, right? Hunter starts the show with some Penguins front office news as Kevin Acklin is promoted to David Morehouse's former position. He discusses what that means for the short and long-term of the franchise, plus how he and Brian Burke look to be running the show for the Fenway Sports Group moving forward. After that, Hunter continues the season reviews with Casey DeSmith. Was it a tale of two seasons for him? Hunter looks at how he started and then how he finished as his season came to a close in the worst possible way. He then discusses the pros and cons of bringing him back next season and if the team should look to find someone who's more reliable and more steady. IF the Penguins do bring him back though, what would the AAV look like? Hunter gives his best guess before looking at another potential trade target that would make the Penguins: A) Younger and B) faster. He's a player that's had some struggles with the Blackhawks, but also someone who hasn't entered his peak years yet and is an RFA, similar to Kasperi Kapanen. Finally, Hunter previews Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final and how the Lightning are taking a page out of the Penguins' book for slowing the Rangers down.

Built Bar

Built 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.

BetOnline

BetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!

Rock Auto

Amazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.

Athletic Greens

Athletic 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.

There is always fun stuff to talk about during the offseason and Hunter starts the show off by touching on the latest trade rumor surrounding John Marino. Frank Seravalli put him on his "trade bait" board for the offseason as it sounds like teams may come calling again for the defenseman this offseason. Does it make sense for the Penguins to move him? What would have to happen beforehand so that a move makes sense? What are the cons to moving him? Hunter answers all of those questions before diving into what a return could look like. He touches on how his value around the league could be higher than what some fans think because certain teams value players differently. Following that, he discusses a potential forward that the Penguins could go and get: Jesse Puljujarvi. Ken Holland is said to be open to making some trades this season and Hunter proposes one that could make sense for both sides. He also goes into the pros and cons for the move (though most of it centers around why it makes sense). Finally, Hunter reviews Tristan Jarry's season and what fans should expect from him heading into 2022-23.

Built Bar

Built 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.

BetOnline

BetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!

Rock Auto

Amazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.

Athletic Greens

Athletic 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.

Hunter didn't think he'd be starting out the show talking about Johnny Gaudreau, but that's what happens when there is silly szn stuff. Hunter goes into Hailey Salvian's article from The Athletic where she mentions the Pittsburgh Penguins as a potential destination for Gaudreau. Is it realistic for the Penguins? What would a contract for him look like? Hunter discusses those questions, while also touching on if he would make the team better with him and Sid as a dynamic duo, compared to Sid & Geno moving forward. He also gets into who the Penguins would likely have to move out to make that happen, plus how many years the Penguins could get out of both him and Sidney Crosby playing together. After that, Hunter breaks down Jeff Carter's season and what fans should look to expect from him next season. Was it the right call to give him that extension during the season? What else does he provide outside of scoring? Will the scoring start to dry up more next season. Hunter dives into those questions, while also looking at who Carter could play with next season (and no, he CANNOT be the team's second-line center if Malkin walks. Finally, Hunter ends the show by recapping Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final and how the Penguins certainly could've been a team to give the Lightning fits.

Built Bar

Built 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.

BetOnline

BetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!

Rock Auto

Amazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.

Athletic Greens

Athletic 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.

Happy Tuesday! Hunter is joined by a special guest for this show as he welcomes back Doug Glattke of Forechecking TV to get his thoughts on everything Penguins related so far in the offseason. The two first start out with some brief updates on Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang as Pierre Lebrun published his "rumblings" blog in The Athletic this morning. Are things getting closer on the Malkin front? What seems to be the big holdup as free agency is about a month away? Does LeBrun see a deal happening? The two get into all of that, plus again argue that there's no one really out there in free agency that can really do what Malkin does. After that, they get to the Letang update & how that one seems to be closer than the Malkin one. Are both sides going to have to bend a little to make it work? Does he look to be the top priority for the Penguins? What chances does Lebrun give of a deal happening? After that, they get into a fun debate in the second segment about what the dream Penguyins broadcast could look like using only announcers that are still announcing. This is brought up due to the Penguins finishing in the bottom third of the league in a fan poll of broadcasting duos with Mears and Errey. Finally, Doug gives a couple of free agents that he'd like to see the team go after, even if they bring back Malkin, Letang, Rodrigues, and Heinen, plus goes into who he would put on the trade block.

Built Bar

Built 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.

BetOnline

BetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!

Rock Auto

Amazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.

Athletic Greens

Athletic 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.

Happy Monday! We are now halfway to episode No. 1,000 and Hunter starts the show with some fresh Penguins news. He touches on how the arena has a new management group that will oversee the operations of PPG and tries to improve the fan engagement and entertainment in Pittsburgh. He goes into what this could mean moving forward for the Penguins as there could be new offerings inside the arena as soon as next season. After that, he gets into two Penguins assistant coaches being connected to head-coach openings and what that could mean for Mike Sullivan heading into this offseason. Will both be able to get a job? Could only one of them depart? Why are teams so interested in these two assistants? Hunter answers those questions before getting into Teddy Blueger's season review. He dives into his underlying numbers and looks at what they tell, plus looks at how his playoff numbers have been super, super concerning throughout the last four years. Should he be expected to be back next season? What needs to happen to make sure that he stays on this team for the next several years (potentially)? He dives into more questions about Blueger before ending the show by shouting out Penguins management for not being incompetent with Mike Sullivan since Bruce Cassidy and Barry Trotz were let go during the offseason. All that, plus much more on today's episode of Locked On Penguins.

Built Bar

Built 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.

BetOnline

BetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!

Rock Auto

Amazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.

Athletic Greens

Athletic 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.

The weekend is upon us, but not before Hunter delivers some Penguins content. This is episode No. 500 and Hunter starts the show by reviewing Brock McGinn's season. What happened after he came back from his injury? Is there a way for him to rediscover his game again next season after he started out the season well? Could the Penguins look to be aggressive in getting out of that contract? Hunter ponders all of those questions, especially that last one as it'll be interesting to see if Ron Hextall knows when to move on from a potential mistake. Hunter notes that Jim Rutherford usually did (unless you're Jack Johnson). After that, Hunter has another trade proposal for yinz and yes, it involves a certain RFA on this team. The player that would be coming back is from a team that the Penguins have a long history of trading with, plus a team that usually isn't good offensively. He breaks down how it would benefit the Penguins, and the other team before ending the show with some talk about the conference finals and an injury update on Brian Dumoulin. All that, plus some other tidbits on this special milestone episode of the Locked On Penguins podcast.

Built Bar

Built 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.

BetOnline

BetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!

Rock Auto

Amazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.

Athletic Greens

Athletic 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.

The player season reviews are continuing into Wednesday with the bottom six. Hunter starts the show by touching on Brian Boyle and how his season was. Did he outperform expectations? Was he supposed to play 60+ games during the season? How did he perform down the stretch and then in the playoffs? Hunter answers those questions and also gives his take on whether or not he should be brought back. Are there better and younger players in WBS ready to go? What about some potential free agents? After that, Hunter brings up a silly szn trade proposal that he thought of the day before and why it would make a lot of sense for the Penguins (and potentially the other team). Hint: It's one of the Penguins' restricted free agents :-). Finally, Hunter gives some defenseman targets that the team could go after via free agency if a trade is made and if they feel like POJ isn't ready to come up yet. All that, plus much more on this episode of Locked On Penguins.

Built Bar

Built 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.

BetOnline

BetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!

Rock Auto

Amazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.

Athletic Greens

Athletic 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.

It's the final day of May and yep, Penguins' content NEVER sleeps. He starts the show out by reviewing the final member of the top 6's season: Danton Heinen. He came over on a one-year prove-it deal, and boy did he ever prove it to the Penguins. He lit it up for 18 goals and set a new career-high in the process. Hunter dives into the numbers to look at what he excelled at this season, plus looked at the big underrated part of his game: His defense impact. He goes over the metrics on HockeyViz with the heat maps which show that related to league average, he's well-above in terms of preventing scoring chances in the defensive zone. Hunter also gets into the topic of what his next contract should look like. Should it come from the Penguins? If so, what should the term and AAV be? Should he get most of his minutes with Evgeni Malkin (if he returns) next season? After that, Hunter brings up an old friend that will be a UFA this summer: Phil Kessel. Does it make sense for the team to take a flier on him? How bad has his offense gone down since he was traded? Can he still contribute at 5v5? Finally, Hunter previews the conference finals and even offers some praise to the Rangers since they remind him of a certain Penguins team from a few years back...

Built Bar

Built 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.

BetOnline

BetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!

Rock Auto

Amazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.

Athletic Greens

Athletic 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.

Happy Memorial Day! Hunter starts today's show off by going into Jason Zucker's season review and yes, he was able to play in 41 games. He goes into the underlying numbers and how they've still remained strong, plus how his finishing was this year. He then looks at how those numbers cratered in the playoffs, but doesn't blame him for those due to playing with Jeff Carter for most of those minutes. He also touches on which line he should play on next year (assuming he's on the team) and if he should get a bigger role on some special teams units. Finally, he gives his take on what the team SHOULD do with Zucker and why he understands the other side of the debate. In the second segment, Hunter brings up "the future young players" and if anyone can come up from Wilkes Barre next season to make a difference. Is it POJ's time to shine? Can Drew O'Connor rediscover his early-season magic? Could Alex Nylander keep up his momentum? What about Puutstinen? All that, plus much more on this episode of Locked On Penguins.

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!

Built Bar

Built 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.

BetOnline

BetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!

Rock Auto

Amazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.

Athletic Greens

Athletic 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.

#NHL #PittsburghPenguins #Penguins

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.

Mike Vellucci is rumored to be taking head coaching interviews...what does this mean for the Penguins? Hunter starts the show off with that topic after it was reported that the Flyers decided to interview him this past week as they look to find their new head coach. Hunter looks at how it wouldn't be that big of a deal if the Penguins lost him, considering how the PK played in the playoffs during this series. After that, he goes into who he would look to replace him with if he got a head-coaching gig, plus how this would be one of the rare times that Mike Sullivan would actually get to hand-pick his staff (thanks Jim Rutherford!) After that, Hunter reviews Jake Guentzel's season and goes into just how special it was. He slams the people who gave up on him after he no-showed for a couple of years in the playoffs and looks at the stats that led to that happening. He then looks at what realistic expectations should be for Guentzel heading into another season where he's in his prime. Finally, Hunter ends the show by going over a couple of trade options for a top defender that a few fans sent in if Kris Letang walks. Hint: They're both from the Western Conference. Would the Penguins be able to make it work? Should they be interested if one is made available? What would they have to give up? All that, plus much more on this episode of Locked On Penguins.

Built Bar

Built 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.

BetOnline

BetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!

Rock Auto

Amazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.

Athletic Greens

Athletic 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.