The local and national broadcasts of NHL games are full of former players serving as in-studio analysts and other members of the broadcast team.
Home AT&T SportsNet broadcasts have Jay Caufield breaking down video in the studio, with Bob Errey and occasionally Colby Armstrong part of the live game coverage. TNT has a number of former players, including Anson Carter, Rick Tocchet, as well as both Wayne Gretzky and Paul Bissonnette, proof that players on either end of the skill spectrum have the ability to step onto a TV broadcast.
For this week's Survey Says I thought it would be fun to go around the locker room and try to figure out which Penguins players might have their own future on a broadcast, and asked players which of their teammates would make the best TV analyst after playing.
Here's how they answered.
Jason Zucker: He would never do it, but Sid. I think he's a thoughtful guy, he thinks the game really, really well. And he's got great stories so he'd be a good guy to be able to add some color analyst stuff too.
Bryan Rust: Marcus Pettersson I think would make a pretty good one, or Jason Zucker. Petey's a little bit more outgoing than you'd think, he's very talkative. He's very chatty. He's very good with his words and I think he'd be a nice Swedish Hockey League broadcaster, I think he would do well. And Zuck's obviously a big personality.
Brian Dumoulin: Tanger, because he can argue.
Rickard Rakell: Probably Tanger. He always has an opinion on most things, and he's never wrong.
Danton Heinen: I think Dumo. He's got the personality and I don't think he's that shy. He'd be fine in front of a camera.
Tristan Jarry: I have no idea. I don't think about this on a regular basis.
P.O Joseph: If you could put Zuck and Rusty together on a TV show that would be awesome. I've seen them as twins since I got here. I feel like they'd make good analysts.
Jake Guentzel: Zucker. He likes to talk, likes the camera. That should be an easy choice for everyone.
Marcus Pettersson: Zucks would be very, very good there.
Josh Archibald: Oh, it could be a lot of guys. A lot of guys know a lot about hockey, like stats and everything. But most entertaining? Zucks would be the most entertaining.
Ryan Poehling: I'll go with Zucks. I think he's got a good personality for it. I don't know if he'd want to do it, but I think he'd be good.
Teddy Blueger: Probably Zuck. He seems like he'd be himself in front of a camera, he wouldn't have any nerves or anything like that. He's pretty articulate as well. And he likes the spotlight a little bit, too. It's a good mix.
Kasperi Kapanen: I think Zuck would be pretty good. He's pretty outgoing as well, and he likes to talk. He likes to talk a lot. So I think he'd do a good job of that.
Casey DeSmith: Okay, so you need the on-screen presence. I would watch McGinn. I think he's fun. I like when he talks. He has a likable personality, well-spoken. I could see that. Maybe Ruhwedel, Rudy's really well-spoken.
Sidney Crosby: Probably Tanger. I mean, he sees the game a certain way and he's pretty passionate about it. He'd have some some good takes, I think.
Past editions of Survey Says can be found here. Have an idea for a future question? Leave it in the comments!
