The Life of Reilly
On a day when most of us expected Penguins President of Hockey Ops Kyle Dubas to make his big splash by trading the 14th overall pick in the First Round, he instead made a big splash by trading a … third rounder? Back to its original team?
Yup.
Dubas essentially got a more dependable replacement for soon-to-be unrestricted free agent Jason Zucker by giving Vegas back the third round pick they’d traded to Pittsburgh for Teddy Blueger this spring.
And yes, while the dependability Smith has displayed is crucial – he’s missed just 59 games in the last 10 seasons – the lack of long term commitment is just as important, even if Smith is a year older than Zucker.
Was Zucker frequently a spark plug for the Penguins this season? Yes. However, he’d missed nearly as much hockey as he’d played since coming over from Minnesota in 2020. And on the heels of his best offensive season in half a decade – and the second best of his career – Zucker is due a raise and a long term commitment.
Although Dubas wouldn’t close the door on a reunion quite yet.
Best of luck to Zucker wherever he ends up, but the money here is on Smith lining up on Evgeni Malkin’s left wing at training camp in September.
Yager Bombs
With that 14th overall pick, Dubas and the Pens selected a youngster from the Western Hockey League, 18-year old right handed center Brayden Yager.
From EliteProspects Draft Guide:
“The puck absolutely explodes off his stick, no matter how compromised his body positioning appears to be during release. He rips it off either leg in just about way: two-touch, one-timer, and catch-and-release. His inside leg wrister is his signature shot, tipping his weight over his outside edge while somehow keeping his chest up and exploding through the shot. He takes every single puck directly into his shooting pocket, prepared for the next play.”
From The Athletic’s and McKeen’s Hockey’s Jesse Marshall:
From the Red Line Report, via Michelle Crechiolo:
The analysis is solid and gives you hope that he can be a part of a quality NHL team in the future.
But if he can’t help the Big Three make one more run, is he worth whatever else Dubas may have been able to accomplish with that pick, whether it be using it to offload salary, using it as the keystone to a deal for goaltending or forward depth, or simply moving back more picks in the second and third rounds?
For what it’s worth, Yager spoke to the media in Nashville following the selection and said all the right things.
Small Ball Adds Up Again
Another day, another Major League debut for the Pirates. And each of the previous two rookies came through as well, on another day where the Pirates scored seven runs despite just one extra base hit, a first inning homer from Carols Santana.
Santana may have started it, but the five-run seventh inning that blew the game open was started with some #BigNickEnergy, as Gonzales singled. After a Jack Suwinski walk, Jared Triolo loaded up the bases after being hit by a pitch on what looked like an attempted bunt in the seventh. Just called up early yesterday morning following Ke’Bryan Hayes being placed on the injured list with a back issue.
Three consecutive singles from Josh Palacios, Connor Joe, and Andrew McCutchen followed, plating three runs and re-loading the bags for Davis, who snagged his first multi-RBI game in the bigs by chopping a two-strike sinker past a drawn-in infield and into right field to score Joe and McCutchen.
The offense had to be a relief for Mitch Keller, who’d received exactly two runs of support in his last 12 innings of work.
The 7-1 win also secures the Bucs’ first series victory in two and a half weeks.
They’ll go for the sweep this afternoon at 12:35pm on 100.1 FM and AM1020 KDKA.
Skenes Skepticism
For those who are enjoying arguing over what the Pirates and General Manager Ben Cherington should do with the first overall pick on July 9th at the MLB Draft, here’s some more ammunition for the pro-Dylan Crews/anti-Paul Skenes camp.
I’ll say it again: The Pirates have little-to-no chance of ever trading for or signing in free agency an ace of Skenes’ potential caliber. Keller and Skenes are the kind of one-two punch any team needs if they’re going to do more than just sneak into the postseason and actually make noise.
Do they also need bats? Yes. But Crews won’t be in Pittsburgh until at least June of 2025, even if he’s on a Henry Davis-like accelerated timeline.
I won’t complain if they take Crews, because it will show a new willingness to go after a potential superstar, even if it means working with a Scott Boras client. But I’d prefer Skenes.
Bring Back the Blocks
If this mysterious tease is anything less than going back to the block numbers full-time, it will be a massive disappointment.