Next up on THN’s Top-20 Penguins’ Prospects list at No. 11 is a left blueliner new to the system who has shown some pretty high offensive upside and who could fill a glaring positional need for the Penguins in the future
Video Transcript
They believe in him, to be frank
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They see his potential and they think that he is going to reach it
He has good underlying numbers and they think the production is going to match up to it
Now, do I think that’s going to happen at this juncture?
I would lean towards no because I haven’t seen it
But he has the opportunity to prove everyone wrong
If he goes out there, he becomes a top nine player, he can give you 15-ish goals a season
The contract looks pretty good, especially at 4 <a href="https://todaytrendnews7.com/california-pledged-750-million-a-year-to-hollywood-but-a-new-law-has-a-big-catch/” title=”California Pledged $750 Million a Year to Hollywood. But a New Law Has a Big Catch”>million where contracts like these I feel like are only going to go up for younger players
So if he gives you okay production for a middle six top nine forward, that’s fine
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But that’s the big if because we don’t even know if he’s going to turn into that type of player
There are warning signs right now about him
Yeah, solid eight-game sample at the end of the 24-25 season
But last season, he was stuck in neutral in a lot of his NHL tenure
He lit up the AHL
That’s great
But I got to see it
That’s the thing
He needs to really show up to camp, have a hell of a summer, and be ready to fully put in the work and make this team
Nothing is going to be given to him or anything like that
But it’s on him now to really prove everyone wrong and be like, “Hey, I have what it takes here to be a competent NHL player that can play up and down the lineup.”
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But there you go
Those are my main thoughts on it
I think it was a bit much
I would not have made that gamble and it was a pretty big gamble
But I’m also not in charge of an NHL franchise
I’m just here on a podcast with you
So those are my main thoughts
Pretty jumbled
I kind of said the same thing on Locked On today
We’ll see
Like, they’re betting on him
It’s up to Koivunen now to kind of answer the call, if you will
The, the area where I kind of think the sticking point is for me is what kind of precedent does this set for some of the other younger players who are going to be due for contracts next year and the year after?
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You know, if you’re setting a precedent, pay a deal like Koivunen 4 million a year for eight years, what does Rucker McGorty want on his next contract?
What does Tristan Bros want on his next contract?
Avery Hayes, Sergei Mireshov, you know, Harrison Brunick
What’s Ben Kindle going to get on his next contract?
I mean, they’re going to pay Ben Kindle whatever, you know, they, they have to to keep him around
But you’re looking at some of these other fringe players
Owen Pickering comes to mind too
You know, several of these guys are RFAs next summer
And if they’re not RFAs next summer, then it’s RFAs the summer after
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So this contract kind of sets a precedent for those guys
Billy Koivunen has only played 47 NHL games
And he’s shown kind of limited potential in those 47 games
If Rucker McGorty goes out there and has a pretty decent season, if Tristan Bros goes out there and has a pretty decent season, Avery Hayes, they’re all going to look to that Billy Koivunen contract and be like, all right, where’s my eight years?
You know, where’s my 4 million?
And, and, and that’s kind of the inherent issue for me is what kind of precedent does this set?
If Sergei Mireshov goes out there, has an okay season, but not a franchise goaltender type season, do you commit to him long-term seven years?
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You know, and whatever money?
That, that’s kind of, that’s kind of the worry for me because it’s one thing if you have a couple of these contracts on the book, you know, you have Billy Koivunen as a taking a chance on a guy kind of contract
You have Igor Chinikov as that kind of bridge take a guy or take a chance on a guy contract
How many of those contracts can you fill up your NHL books with?
