First Call: Who is Steelers most underappreciated player; Pittsburgh connections help Hurricanes beat Rangers

Friday’s “First Call” debates the Steelers most “underappreciated player.” We also look ahead to the Pirates game against Joe Musgrove. And some Pittsburgh connections played a role in the Carolina Hurricanes win over the New York Rangers on Thursday night.

Plus, a happy anniversary for the Penguins, but a sad one for Robert Morris.

I’ll go a different way

NFL.com’s Cynthia Frelund came up with a list of the most underappreciated player for each team.

Here is how she defined “underappreciated.”

“First, I calculated and then ranked each player’s season-long contribution metric by team (win share). To sum it up without getting overly technical, contribution metric, or win share, measures each player’s production during a season, in this case, the 2021 campaign. The metric encompasses a value for every snap by each player and reveals each player’s contribution to the team’s overall win total.

After making those calculations, I factored in each player’s salary by position (contract data via Over The Cap) to add some context around who was being ‘underappreciated.’”

Her nomination for the Steelers? Second-year tight end Pat Freiermuth.

“Computer vision shows that his blocking win-share metric ranked fourth best among tight ends in the NFL last season. Per NGS, his +19.3 catch rate over expectation on tight-window throws was the highest among TEs. The 2021 second-rounder’s utility in the red zone was also tied for top three in the NFL, as he hauled in all seven of his touchdowns in this area. Freiermuth helps make up for deficits along the Steelers’ O-line and creates an outlet in the passing game, both of which combine to make him an incredibly important factor for Pittsburgh’s new signal caller, whether veteran Mitchell Trubisky or rookie Kenny Pickett takes the QB1 job.”

I can’t cosign on that one. I am not going to rely on the fancy stats or data Frelund rolled out. But Freiermuth doesn’t strike me as either “underappreciated” or “overrated.” I think he is viewed — and paid — as a quickly emerging young tight end who burst on the scene on a rookie contract and has the arrow pointed up.

What more needs to be said?

How about Tyson Alualu, though? For as much as we bemoaned the absence of Stephon Tuitt, the defense looked great in Week 1 against a good Buffalo Bills team. Alualu was a part of that. Then he got hurt in Week 2 against the Raiders and was lost for the year.

And the dam broke.

Alualu is steady. Consistent. Quiet. Can play two positions, and is a positive locker room influence. No one outside of Pittsburgh seems to recognize what he does here.

Plus, he’s doing it for $3.4 million against the salary cap this year. Exactly 1.6% of the cap.

Alualu gets my vote.

Pittsburgh connections

The Carolina Hurricanes are on the cusp of eliminating the New York Rangers and moving on to the Eastern Conference Final in the NHL playoffs.

That’s because the Canes won Game 5 by a final score of 3-1 on Tuesday night. They now have a 3-2 lead in the series.

Former Penguin Jordan Staal set up Upper St. Clair’s Vincent Trocheck for the first goal of the game with a gorgeous feed. It was a shorthand at 12:57 of the first period.

This is a work of art pic.twitter.com/Ai3fMKKtIC

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) May 26, 2022

SAUCE pic.twitter.com/PHRwTTU1Tg

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) May 26, 2022

That was Staal’s fifth assist and sixth point of the playoffs. For Trocheck, that was his fifth goal of the playoffs and first of this series.

Game 6 is Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

More of Musgrove

The last time the Pirates faced ex-teammate Joe Musgrove, it ended poorly.

For the Pirates, I mean. For Musgrove, I’m sure he was thrilled.

The right-hander improved to 4-0 by beating his former team while allowing just one earned run over seven innings. San Diego won that game 5-2 on May 1 at PNC Park. Musgrove totaled eight strikeouts while walking none.

The Pirates are going to have to face Musgrove again on Saturday. That’s the second game of the return series between the clubs at PETCO Park.

Musgrove is currently 5-0 with a 1.90 ERA. He has yet to allow more than two earned runs in any start. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is 51:9.

The Pirates will counter with JT Brubaker.

Awkward anniversary

It’s only been a year. But for anyone connected to the Robert Morris hockey program, it probably felt like a decade.

Thursday marked the one-year anniversary of Robert Morris University cutting their Division I hockey programs.

However, due to significant public backlash, threats of legal action and a hefty fundraising effort, fans, players, coaches and alumni managed to get the program reinstated in December.

The Colonials will have both teams back on the ice for the 2023-24 season, though. The fact that college hockey is being discussed at all in future terms is a massive win for those who made it happen at the school.

For as bitter of a pill as that was to swallow for those associated with the program, everyone who took part in the effort to get the teams back on the ice should use it as a moment of reflection — and pride — for that work that has been done in the 365 days since to regenerate the sport.

This one is better

Meanwhile, May 26 had some happier memories for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

That’s the date the team polished off both the Hurricanes in 2009 and the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2016 to win the Eastern Conference Championship.

In ’09, the Penguins finished off the Hurricanes 4-1 on that date for a four-game sweep. Max Talbot, Bill Guerin, Craig Adams and Rusaln Fedotenko all scored. They’d go on to beat the Detroit Red Wings in seven games for the team’s third Stanley Cup.

The one over Tampa was significantly tougher. That was a 2-1 victory in Game 7 at PPG Paints Arena. Bryan Rust scored twice. Then the Penguins beat the San Jose Sharks in six games to claim the franchise’s fourth Stanley Cup.