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First Call: Ex-Penguin Jared McCann becomes a Twitter trend after expansion selection; high praise for Minkah Fitzpatrick | TribLIVE.com
Penguins/NHL

First Call: Ex-Penguin Jared McCann becomes a Twitter trend after expansion selection; high praise for Minkah Fitzpatrick

Tim Benz
Tim Benz
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Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review
Pittsburgh Penguins center Jared McCann moves the puck against the New Jersey Devils during their game on April 24, 2021 at PPG Paints Arena.

Thursday’s “First Call” has some lofty compliments for Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. The internet is in love with Jared McCann’s Pittsburgh-to-Toronto-to-Seattle travels.

Also, we look at other interesting picks by the Kraken and the latest trials of the woebegone Pittsburgh Pirates.

High praise

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin made a recent appearance on a podcast with Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay, defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, and NFL Network host Peter Schrager. It’s called “Flying Coach.”

During the discussion, Tomlin gushed about safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to the point that he compared him to Hall of Famer John Lynch and former All-Pro Ronde Barber. Those were two defensive backs Tomlin coached when he ran the defensive backfield unit with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“I learned the skills to coach Minkah down there in Tampa coaching John Lynch — gold jacket John Lynch — and Ronde Barber,” Tomlin said. “When you’re 28, coaching 29-year-old John Lynch and Ronde. Shoot, I played college ball against Ronde. The level of preparedness that you have to be ready for. … It brought the best out of us. It probably accelerated my growth and development. And it really made me view the game from a different perspective.”

Tomlin said Fitzpatrick reads keys and diagnoses opposing offenses with the ability to translate what his eyes see into where his legs can take him in a way few players aside from Barber ever have.

Now, he wants to put Fitzpatrick into the best position possible to leverage those skills in 2021.

“We’re in the process right now, the summer, of talking about dealing with his alignment depth based on the nature of the offense,” Tomlin added. “RPOs versus play action, and formational structure. Things of that nature. Conversations that you could not have with most guys. He’s able to digest things and make it turn up on the field that other guys can’t.”

Hopefully, whatever those conversations yield allow Fitzpatrick to get more turnovers in the second half 2021. In each of his first two seasons in Pittsburgh, Fitzpatrick has seen a fade in his turnover productivity as the season has dragged beyond Thanksgiving.

McCann mania

The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Jared McCann from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Filip Hallander over the weekend.

Then the Maple Leafs left McCann exposed for the Seattle Kraken to take in Wednesday’s expansion draft. Seattle obliged.

So McCann never played for Toronto and was a Maple Leaf for about four days. Twitter had some fun with the exchange.

I dunno. Did he ever even get assigned a number? Technically, this will be McCann’s fifth franchise since breaking into the NHL in 2015.

Essentially, Toronto ended up parting with Hallander and a 7th round pick (to the Penguins) so that they could use McCann as bait to protect the rest of their roster from Seattle.

So maybe not a bad strategy after all.

I’ve got to say, though, the tweet of the night came from the now defunct Atlanta Thrashers’ feed. Or better said, the account this disgruntled, dedicated fan is still running it at this stage, a decade after the team left Georgia for Winnipeg.

It really does sting when you put it that way, doesn’t it?

Also on the move

McCann wasn’t the only ex-Penguin selected by the Kraken.

The Dallas Stars lost defenseman Jamie Oleksiak.

A pair of players from the Metro Division who gave the Penguins a hard time are heading to Seattle, too. New York Islanders right wing Jordan Eberle and Carolina Hurricanes center Morgan Geekie were scooped up by the Kraken.

The Washington Capitals lost a goalie as well in Vitek Vanecek.

Lowest of the low

The Pittsburgh Pirates just did the impossible. They allowed themselves to get swept by the awful Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Pirates just dropped three in a row to the DBacks, thus allowing Torey Lovullo’s crew to improve its record to 30-68. That’s still just a .306 winning percentage, the worst in Major League Baseball.

So things can’t get worse for the Pirates, right?

Well, of course they can. Because now the Pirates have to play three straight games against the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants, followed by three at home versus the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers.

The Giants have the second-best run differential in the NL (+123) and have allowed the fewest runs in Major League Baseball (344). The Brewers will head to PNC Park as one of the best road teams in baseball. Right now, their 29 road wins are just one behind the Giants and Boston Red Sox for the most in the majors.

In other words, I’m sure the Pirates’ fortunes will turn around immediately.

Yup. I’m sure of it. Absolutely. No doubt.

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.

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Categories: Penguins/NHL | Sports | Steelers/NFL | Breakfast With Benz
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