My singular focus for the coming NHL season.
#Pittsburgh #Penguins #LetsGoPens #NHL #DKPS
Hear award-winning reporter Dejan Kovacevic’s Daily Shot of Penguins podcast every weekday morning!
SUBSCRIBE TO CHANNEL ►https://www.youtube.com/@DKPS_Penguins?sub_confirmation=1
MEMBERSHIP TO CHANNEL ► https://www.youtube.com/@DKPS_Penguins/join
OUR APPS ► https://DKPS.net/apple | https://DKPS.net/android
OUR WEBSITE ► http://www.DKPittsburghSports.com
ABOUT US ► DK Pittsburgh Sports is the proud, pioneering, fully independent venture begun in 2014 by award-winning reporter Dejan Kovacevic and featuring a professional staff covering the Penguins year-round and everywhere they go! This is where it all started!
30 Comments
These videos are fun, but our actual jobs are covering all three of our teams for DK Pittsburgh Sports our city's No. 1 sports app, featuring original on-location coverage, videos, podcasts and a global community of fans! – DK
► Apple: https://dkps.net/apple ► Android: https://dkps.net/android
DK is the king of putting forth criteria under which you are allowed to have an opinion.
So how is attendance going to be when the core is gone and the team has zero blue chip prospects? You think people will be flooding the gates to watch Kindell and Jarry?
They finished strong the year before that too and missed the playoffs by a mile this year. If they are trying to win, this isn’t the roster.
Thanks Dan, keep up the optimism. Never doubt a team that has Captain Crosby!
You don't want to hear a blessed SYLLable, or blessed sylLAble? lol
Do you not remember how they finished the 2024 season? That killer streak? It meant nothing for the following season man.
I think shooting for a lottery in general would be bad practice and I’m sick of people calling for the tank. Unless you’re drafting generational talent, having a lottery pick likely means you won’t sniff a Stanley cup final for nearly half a decade. MacKinnon and Ekblad are the most recent overall #1s and it took those guys nearly a decade and their teams to win a cup
J1Q: Do you think people are still stuck on Sullivan? Every time I try and discuss the team (specifically guys who have underperformed) with friends, coworkers, or random people in the comments, I constantly hear the phrase, “They don’t fit the Pens.” I understand that the Pens have a historic team culture and that coaches like Johnston failed here, but isn’t it just as likely that an all new coaching staff, with completely different systems could get more out of some of these guys?
Better defense and goalie play will make the Pens better, and provide an "opportunity" to make the playoffs while growing younger players. #LetsGoPens!🖤💛🏒
like many people here I read and listen to a lot of chatter. Many other teams have similar channels like the Penguins do however, the tone is often so much different. For example, many of the channels related to the Montréal Canadiens are very positive about training camp development, and a culture around positivity. The culture around the penguin is generally always negative. The tone with which many of the commentators take is often very condescending. I would look forward to a future where existing commentators around the Penguins do less admonishing fans for whatever attitude they take.
The Penguins have noticeably regressed in arguably the most important position in hockey — goaltending — which was already a major issue in last season’s decline. They're now leaning on unproven AHL backups, a clear and immediate downgrade.
Good morning DK, I really like Koivunen on the second line with Geno & Mantra/Novak because from what we saw, he loves to set up. He has very good hockey iq, can see a play developing, and can definitely pass the puck! We all know Geno, Mantra, and Novak can all shoot the puck and especially in Geno's case loves to shoot the puck so to have Koivunen there fits perfectly. I placed Novaks name because he imo will have a bounce back year and he too likes to shoot. He's also good at it with roughly 16% shooting percent over his career. If not on the second, I really like how you put together a 3rd line with Novak centering Rutger and Tomasito. If that's the case, I can see Tomasito having a better year while more consistent too. They played together, as you know, in Nashville and that may help Tomasito much. With Rutger also there he can crash the net, get some goals, and build confidence. Nice 3rd line. Blessings, Victor 🇨🇦
And last year it was “well if they just lift the power play off of the league floor, they’ll be back in the playoffs”
Pens need much more attention to the D and the goaltending..re goaltending they got rid of a quality backup and picked up a goalie who seems to have 'potential'…How have they improved the D over the last few years. The D and the goaltending and the lack of tough have been the problems for the Pens for years now, and this never seems to get fixed. I think other teams really like playing the Pens (lots of chances to score and not much physical resistance).
2:52 17 games doesn’t make a season. The Pens went 1-8 right before you 10-5-2 end that you love to talk about. And while I agree with you this team hasn’t gotten worse. It hasn’t gotten dramatically better in the areas where they were bad, goaltending and defense.
Regarding Malkin as a winger, when the Penguins were at their worst last year, they put Geno on Sid's wing and it worked. I believe you even wrote that they should keep that line together.
In terms of position specific you cannot argue that LD will be better than last year. If you go into the season with some mixture of Ryan Graves, Ryan Shea, Connor Clifton, Owen Pickering and Parker Wotherspoon, there is not one legitimate top 4 option among that group let alone two. You can hope that maybe Pickering can mature into a middle pair defenseman but you cannot expect him to be one going into the season. Goaltending is still suspect because there is no evidence to suggest Tristan Jarry can maintain his very good play from 10-5-2 to longer stretches of the season. We’ve seen him have very good stretches but they never last more than a month or so. Silovs has some interesting potential but is still more of a question mark at the NHL level. So I would say those two positions are still as poor or worse than last year. The forwards as constructed are better though. RD is probably a push depending on Kris Letangs health and ability to bounce back from a poor season by his standards
I agree DK, I would be more concerned about the defense and breakaways. They need to stop the other teams from coming back and winning. They are very close to a playoff game. Thank you DK, Great show
They haven’t gotten worse. But the Metro got better. A lot of teams got better.
@DKPS_Penguins My guess is most people don't think the Pens will make the playoffs, and there is no benefit to not making the playoffs AND not getting a chance at a high lottery pick. Does the fact they go to overtime so much still speak to the lack of defense, goaltending, and ability to close out games that has plagued this team for at least three years now?
Has a player ever said, “nah, we want to lose”
Come on hahaha
The only thing they did over the course of the whole year to get worse was trading Pettersson. That was significant but is probably offset by other factors like the elevation of McGroarty and Koivunen, return of Hallander, acquisition of Novak, and then the recent additions of Wotherspoon, Clifton, Dumba. They're not better but I don't think they're worse.
I'm not quite with you there on Geno at wing DK. The player has to be willing, and as the question was framed, the system would have to accommodate, but it's not like an aging generational center has never slid to wing in the defensive zone. None other than Mario used to do that. He'd take the faceoff but then move to the wing while a linemate handled the middle of the ice in the D zone.
J1Q: DK, I’ve been looking over recent draft picks, and correct me if I’m wrong — since 2020, only two players selected by the Penguins have made it onto the NHL roster: Owen Pickering and Joel Blomqvist. As you mentioned in a previous episode, Pickering was only called up due to a 'perfect storm' of injuries and illness. I understand that development takes time, but my question is: why has the Penguins’ draft pipeline produced so few NHL-ready players over the past five years?
Tank for Gavin McKenna
Nearly everything DK said in this was wrong. The pens aren’t trying to “compete” next season. Of course the players are going to give their all…no players “tank” but management clearly wants the team to finish bottom five in the league. He’s also ignoring the fact that one of, if not both, rust and rakell are going to finish the season playing for another team. Karlsson doesn’t matter at this point. The team’s d core with or without him is one of the worst in the league. And as for depth, the pens are still a first line team at best. Without that first line, this team would have zero goal scoring. DK can talk all he wants about competing for a playoff spot but it isn’t going to happen. Not when your only consistent and guaranteed roster player is 38
We need lottery picks to help the rebuild. I get it that all kids drafted may not work out but top 5 picked have a way better chance to become a solid NHL player. Also remember the first shot on goal against was the worst. Didn't we set a record for most first shot goals given up in a season?
The pens only got worse in term of the fact that Malkin and Letang got a year older. I know Crosby did too, but his play has not dipped. The team will compete for the playoffs. They might make it; then, they will get eliminated in the first round after 5 or 6 games. I argue that the fans are not excited for this prospect. If we can't compete for a cup, which we can't, why not sell off players not named Crosby? It might speed up the process. And no, I don't mean the young guys
The penguins did not get worse as of right now. (Assuming they do not trade Rust, Rakell and Karlsson) But you also have to factor a change in systems/coaching staff/etc. Which could go wrong or boost the team into a surprising way. If we cannot compete with the top 5 teams in the league, then I'd rather get a higher lottery pick.