First Call: Looming questions about Penguins goalies, Mike Tomlin's player appeal, Steelers radio play-by-play job

Aside from posting “U mad, bro?” on Thursday morning, “Breakfast With Benz” is taking a quick break for a few days. This will be the final “First Call” for the week. We’ll get back in gear Monday.

For Wednesday’s “First Call,” I thought I’d do something different and address a few questions that I’ve been pondering of late, so that I didn’t leave them simmering in my brain over the long weekend.

Should Connor McDavid have received the Conn Smythe Trophy?

No.

I started to warm up to that idea after Game 5 when he dragged Edmonton back from a 3-0 hole in the Stanley Cup Final series and forced a Game 6 with eight points over two games.

However, McDavid was pointless over the last two games. And if the playoff MVP is going to go to someone on a losing team, that guy better have gone down with guns ablaze in the losing effort — like a hat trick in a 4-3 Game 7 overtime loss or something.

For as great as McDavid was throughout this postseason, his team didn’t win the last round. I would have given it to someone on the Florida Panthers — probably goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.

As shaky as he was in the three losses, he was good enough to win in the final series, allowing just four goals over the first three games. Plus, he stopped 23 of 24 shots in Game 7 and was excellent in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

If not him, then Aleksander Barkov, who had 22 points to tie for the team lead (with Matthew Tkachuk) on Florida’s roster in the postseason.

Plus, does McDavid even want the trophy, whether he deserves it or not? If McDavid retires without winning the Stanley Cup, then having that Conn Smythe in his basement would just be one giant reminder of the real trophy he never won.

Should the Penguins have kept Alex Nedeljkovic?

I wouldn’t have.

As he proved at the end of last year, “Ned” is a nice 1-B type of backup to have on your team. And, with a 1-A goalie as inconsistent, big-game averse, and injury prone as Tristan Jarry is, that’s a nice option to have.

But Ned is not a No. 1. That ride he got on at the end of last season was fun. But as we chronicled here at “Breakfast With Benz,” Nedeljkovic “battling” his way to that 8-1-3 stretch in the early spring was more about the Penguins finally getting hot offensively than it was Nedeljkovic turning into Patrick Roy. Ned may have gotten points in 12 of 13 games to close out 2023-24. However, his save percentage was only .898, and his goals against average in that span was a pedestrian 3.05.

A two-year deal for $5 million isn’t exorbitant to me. That said, my preferred method of operation would’ve been to let Nedeljkovic walk, start the season with Jarry, and have young prospect Joel Blomqvist get his feet wet as the backup in his NHL rookie season.

Then hope that Blomqvist proves he is ready to be the 2025-26 starter by year’s end.

Now, if Kyle Dubas trades Jarry, it’s more like Ned is the safety net if things go badly for Blomqvist in his first year.

That makes me shaky.

Not to mention, I expect the Penguins will have to eat some of Jarry’s salary, and I bet the return for him is even less than it would’ve been if he was traded before other teams knew the Penguins were keeping Nedeljkovic.

Doesn’t every NFL player want to play for Mike Tomlin?

That’s what the players’ polls keep telling us.

Unless the mighty Washington Commanders come calling, I guess.

First, Carolina Panthers defensive back Jeremy Chinn admitted in June that he took less money to play for the Commanders instead of the Steelers when he left Charlotte in free agency.

Now, San Francisco wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk — who openly tried to connect with Mike Tomlin on social media before the draft — is using Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels as an accessory in his contract negotiations with the 49ers.

What big-name free agents have really signed with the Steelers recently? Two above-average guards in James Daniels and Isaac Seumalo? They are good players, but not exactly tectonic-shifting stuff.

Inside linebacker Patrick Queen is a rare exception. A year ago, though, he was talking about how much Tomlin “disrespected” him.

So I don’t think that really counts, does it?

High profile players that don’t play here fawn about Tomlin all the time. But when the money is on the table, there is rarely enough of it from Pittsburgh to really entice those players to come here after all.

I’m getting the sense things may prove to be the same with Aiyuk if San Francisco ever makes him available to a trade-and-sign elsewhere.

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What’s going on with the Steelers radio play-by-play job?

It should go to either SportsNet Pittsburgh’s Rob King or KDKA-TV’s Bob Pompeani.

Pompeani has done the TV play-by-play on KDKA preseason games for years and King has been the team’s postgame show host and go-to backup guy for retired announcer Bill Hillgrove on WDVE in recent seasons.

King has been an increased presence around the facility and on the team’s website throughout spring activities this year, and Pompeani continues to be immersed in all things Steelers throughout his TV and radio coverage of the club.

Both are qualified and capable of doing the job. Both have had excellent sports broadcasting reputations for many years in Pittsburgh. A decision in favor of either would be one based on merit.

That’s if either person wants to take the gig (perhaps having to leave or modify their current jobs) in whatever form and for whatever compensation is offered — and potentially having to take on Steelers.com, public relations, and Steelers Radio Network duties along with calling the games.

Those are details that are a bit fuzzy as of yet.

I have heard that at least one candidate from outside the area is also under consideration. Although, for an organization that loves to publicly position itself as one that operates with a family-first image, and one that values the notion of promoting and retaining talent from within, it would be remarkably hypocritical if the job was given to someone else after the work that King and Pompeani have done for the club under this umbrella in the past.

Furthermore, if the team was going to hire outside of the market, it should’ve done so already so that person would’ve had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the team during OTAs and minicamp.

Will Paul Skenes be the Pirates All-Star?

He should be.

It’s the All-Star game. It’s a TV show. He is who the people want to see. He is a mountain of a man with a celebrity girlfriend who throws the ball 102 mph and has the baseball world buzzing.

Not only that, but his strikeouts-per-nine (11.85), WHIP (0.99), strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.63), win-loss record (4-0), and ERA (2.14) are building a case that could become even more solid between now and July 16 in Texas.

Bryan Reynolds has had a great month of June. Mitch Keller and Jared Jones have been good. And Colin Holderman is an exceptional middle reliever.

But Skenes is a star. He’s worthy. He’s exciting. He brings eyeballs to televisions. Livvy Dunne, I’m sure, will be network TV cutaway ready.

Put Skenes in the game.

Listen: Tim Benz and Brian Metzer discuss the Stanley Cup Final and Penguins’ offseason plans in this week’s hockey podcast