Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - A crucial offseason for the Penguins begins and Josh Yohe joins to discuss!

Episode Date: June 25, 2024

With the Stanley Cup finally awarded, a very important offseason begins for the Pittsburgh Penguins and The Athletic's Josh Yohe joins Patrick Damp to discuss what Kyle Dubas needs to do. First, Patrick and Josh discuss if trading Tristan Jarry might be in the cards after the unexpected signing of Alex Nedeljkovic. They also touch on some other trade candidates including forward Reilly Smith. Next, they tackle the biggest question of the past season and that's improving the power play. Josh gives his thoughts on what they're missing and how it can get better. Finally, we get Josh's input on the "champion of champions" debate when it comes to the Penguins' five Stanley Cup championships!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.Ultimate Hockey GMEver dreamed of becoming an NHL GM and managing your hockey franchise? Ultimate Hockey GM is completely free and playable offline, play on the go, as you want and when you want to. Locked On listeners get a 100% free boost to their franchise when using the promo LOCKEDONNHL in the game store. To download the game just visit hockeygm.app or look it up on the app stores. Ultimate Hockey GM - Start your dynasty today!PolicygeniusCheck life insurance off your to do list in no time with Policygenius. Head to policygenius.com/lockedonnhl to get your free life insurance quotes and see how much you could save.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET. That’s TWO HUNDRED BUCKS you can use to bet everything from the Finals MVP to who's going to hit one out of the park! Visit FANDUEL.COM/LOCKEDON and add a big win to your summer bucket list! FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Well, the Stanley Cup may have been awarded, but buckle up Penguins fans because we've got a busy offseason ahead, not to mention this coming week as well. And to help me break it all down is the one and only Josh Yohey. You're Locked on Penguin, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Hello and welcome back to another edition of the Locked On Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Patrick Damp. you can follow me on Twitter at Synonym 4Wet. Today, joined by, like I said, the one and only Josh Yohe, you know him from the Two for Talking podcast with Joe Bartnick, the athletic, and so many other things.

He's going to join me today to break down some of the offseason stuff. But before we get started, today's episode is brought to you by Fandul. Make every moment more as playoffs wind down. The sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, Fandle was hooking up all customers with a boost or buy. bonus daily. That's right. There's something for everyone every day all summer long. Visit fandle.com slash locked on to get started. So we have a Stanley Cup champion, Josh. That means hockey's over. We're done. We're all going to go to our cabins and the beach and

everything. Wait, no, we're not because this season took forever. And we've got just a couple days before the draft, just a couple days before free agency opens. And I wanted to start with something you wrote a few days ago because I think it perfectly encapsulates where the penguins sit right now. And you wrote, the NHL draft in the opening of unrestricted, the unrestricted free agency period are upon us. Kyle Dubus, the Penguins general manager, has his hands full. The obstacles are clear. The penguins haven't reached either of the past two playoffs. They're one of the oldest teams.

They don't have much in the way of talent in their minor league system. Nearly half the roster has a no movement clause. and they have only around now 10 million of Caps face. So just going to be a chill summer for Kyle Dubus, right? Not a whole lot for him to do. Something like that. First of all, I have a new policy. I only come on this show when Hunter's out of town.

So I'm sorry, Hunter. I don't mean to hurt your feelings. I'm kidding. It's good to be on with you. Yeah, I know it's been talked about a lot. First of all, the length of the Stanley Cup final in the playoffs, to be over like three days before the draft is a little bizarre. I'll be flying to Vegas tomorrow, in fact, so I'm not complaining about that, but it's just, it's the reality.

It's so weird to crown a champion. And then, oh, the drafts in 72 hours. This is wild. But, yeah, it was an incredible postseason that Penguins did not take part in it for a second straight year. And, yeah, I mean, like I wrote, Dubus is in a fascinating situation because on the surface, there's no obvious solution here. There's no obvious answer. they're not going to rebuild while Sidney Crosby's on the roster. I've been trying to tell people that for years, whether you want to acknowledge it or not,

not what they're going to do. So he's basically trying to pull off the impossible, but Ron Hextall could not pull off, trying to replenish the system and making the NHL team better simultaneously. It's possible, but you can't really have any screw-ups. No. He's already had some, Ryan Graves. And so, you know, so he needs to have a flawless summer. Kyle's a really smart guy.

I think he's very good at his job, but man, he's got his hands full. Like I said, he really does. He really does. And you kind of brought this up in a different story today that you put out about saying that whatever he does has to be different. I think a lot of people forgot. And I've said it on the show. I've said it on social media. I've said it in conversations.

This mess that was left for him was not an easy one. Because between no movement clauses, between high money contracts with a lot of terms, and just everything else surrounding it, this wasn't going to be a one and done kind of job for him. It wasn't going to be one down season, and then all of a sudden they find themselves right back in the mix because there is a lot of flaws here, and a lot of the flaws were of the prior management's own making.

So simply asking you this, Josh, is if you were in his chair, I'm not saying you got to solve it all right now, but what would your first priority be? going into this offseason. Well, I could give you five or six answers, but the first thing that entered my mind when you asked, I'll use the phrase money allotment. And what I mean by head is,

when you're in a position like the penguins are right now, they're not a Stanley Cup contender. They just aren't, okay? Would it be great if they made the playoffs next year? Sure. Are they capable? Yeah, maybe these stinks. We know that.

But if I were Kyle, I would look at my roster, I would see where the money is being spent, and I would try to make some changes. And I'm not going to beat her on the bush. I'm very much a member of the trade Tristan Jari camp, and that's kind of where I'm getting at to start. He's making, what, $5.3 million for four more years? I think it's $5.75, if I remember correctly. Do you think Tristan Jari is going to win a Stanley Cup as the Penguins goaltender?

I don't. And, you know, it's like a baseball team having the best closer in the league when you're a 75-win team. It doesn't make sense. I see goaltenders who aren't really that much better than Jari, talent-wise, being traded around the league. Markstrom. Okay, is Markstrom better than Jari? Yeah, I guess.

But if you look at his current numbers, he's not. They're identical. They're the same guy. Neither's had all that much success in the playoffs. Markstrom's five years older. He just went for a first-round pick. You could trade Jari if you wanted to. I don't know that Kyle wants to.

That would be my first order of action. You've got a guy in Ned who's five. you've actually got some young goaltenders in your system who have talent. It's the only position in the penguin system where they really have a lot of that. I don't see the point in keeping Jari. I didn't particularly like the five-year deal they gave him last year. I think that money can be better spent elsewhere. So, you know, things like that.

If I'm Kyle, I'm going to spend to the salary cap because Fenway is going to do that. That's what everybody wants. So he will do it. It's just about how intelligently he can spend that money. he made some mistakes last year. He also made some good moves. But that's what jumps out of me. And I don't mean to blame Jari for all of their problems.

He's not the only bad contract on that roster. That's where I would start. If you could move them, I really would. And I'm right there with you. I'm on team, trade them. And it's not even so much an indictment of him as a goaltender. It's just the reality to me where the penguins are right now. And then you've kind of brought up, you know, Markstrom gets traded,

Olmark gets traded yesterday prior to the start of game seven. And you look at these returns and you think, okay, one, there's a market out there for Kyle Dupus to dip his toe into. And then now he kind of finds himself, I would say, in a little bit of a position of strength because you know that Nashville is going to ask for the sun and the moon for UC Soros. That's if they're even trading him because they're still talking about bringing him back. and he may be a hometown hero, but Gibson is not what he once was. So now he kind of finds himself with maybe one of the more valuable assets to move in net with Tristan Jari, even with that contract, because we know that there's still a handful of teams out there that are looking for goaltending. So do you see a world where he could be moved?

Oh, yeah, I do. And when Nadelcovich was resigned last week, that was my first. So I like, huh, that's interesting because at the end of the season, the season ended April 17th, I think. Dubos did a press conference two days later. And he was asked about Nadalkovich specifically. And I don't remember word for word the way he answered. But the tone of his answer was very much,

and we're probably going to lose him because we can't spend too much money in goal. And that's just the way it is. Excuse me. So two months later to have him signed in, I think, a fairly team-friendly deal, that got my attention. And that made me think, does Kyle Dubas really want to spend $8 or $9 million a year on his goaltending? I don't think he does.

So do I think he's actively dangling Jari? I don't know if that's how I would word it. But I absolutely think he is available for the right price. And I think he should be. If you could get even a couple of decent prospects and a draft pick for Jari and use that money and free agency, to me, it's a no-brainer. Yeah, and that's kind of how I look at it too, because I think back to, and I know it's a bit of an open wound for some Penguins fans,

the Jake Gensel trade. It was on the surface, underwhelming, but I totally understand the strategy behind it. You get a guy in Michael Bunting, who this team, I have been shouting from the rooftops, has been missing for a while, because we have seen it now with teams like Vegas and now Florida, winning the Stanley Cup, even Tampa Bay when they went on their run. The way I always put it to Hunter is they have bastards on their team,

guys that are going to make it a long night for you the second you step on the ice. And they had that when they went on their runs with your Chris Kunitz, Patrick Hornquist, etc, etc. But he also went for quantity as well because you get bunting and three prospects back. So I've been kind of setting a lot of expectations on this in the sense that, that you're going to look at a lot of moves and trades he might make and think, oh, man, I don't really like that return. But he's betting that if you get two to three or four prospects back in a trade,

it's way more likely that they'll hit than they'll miss. And you can likely have guys who will be NHL contributors rather than, okay, we got this one guy who was ranked third in their system and he didn't work out. So I kind of think, and I want to get your thoughts on it, that feels like what his strategy is. He's not going to do the Carlson trade every single time. He's going to move out some pieces that are going to maybe upset you, but what comes back is going to help in the longer, longer term, I would say.

No, you're right. I never had a problem with the Gensel return. I know some people did. There was a lot of misinformation out there, especially that evening that all of Carolina's top prospects were coming to Pittsburgh. It just wasn't the case. and I know a lot of people were critical of bunting when the trade was made. I've always thought he's a good player.

I've always liked him. He's a good scrappy third wheel on a top six line. That's what he is. Or a bastard, as you called him. And that's actually a really good description of how he plays. And you're right. If you look at the penguins in 16 and 17 compared to now, there are three profound differences.

One is the goal-tending, not as good. Number two, they're either not as fast as they used to be or the rest of the league caught up to them, probably a little bit of both. And number three, I'll use your language. They don't play like bastards anymore. That team was so hard to play against. Kunitz, Hornquist, Ian Cole, even guys like Scott Wilson, who we've forgotten about. Played with an edge.

Nick Benino, Matt Cullen, like those guys were tough to play against. And the penguins have gotten away from that. They're so easy to play against. I hate the word soft, but they're soft. Let's be honest, they are. Yeah. I mean, the thing is I wouldn't go so far as to say soft, but like they just don't have the guys anymore like you're saying. Like the way I always describe it is it's you go into playing a team like Florida, Vegas, Tampa, whomever.

And you know you're going to get a chunk taken out of you at the end of those 60 minutes. Against the penguins. Yeah. You might get a couple hits here and there. It might be a faster paced game, but you're not going to have to earn every inch of ice like you used to. No, I mean, look at the team that won the Stanley Cup less than 24 hours ago. They just wear you out. I mean, they just physically punish you.

And by the end of series, listen, I respect what Edmonton did and what McDavid and Tricidal did. They looked exhausted that whole game last night, even though there were the days off in between games. That's what teams like Florida do to you. We've seen teams over there. Vegas is a great example of a team. Boston always plays that way. like, you know, they wear on you. And the penguins don't, it's not that the penguins even have to play like those teams.

They don't have any element of that in their lineup. They really don't. You know, if you were to ask me, what's the penguin's strategy? Like, how are they trying to build their team to beat other teams? I don't know. Like, they're not so highly skilled that they're going down skill teams anymore. They're not that fast anymore. They're certainly not big.

I'm a big believer. You can win a cup. any number of different ways. We've seen it over there's the Penguin Chicago with skill, Boston, Vegas, brute force, but you got to pick something, right? Yeah, pick a direction and go with it. Yeah, and we don't see that. Can't try to be everything.

But I think it's a good place to leave that. We're going to end this segment here when we come back. Still a lot to talk about with this Penguins off season, including maybe some other trades as well as what they're going to do about. Remember that thing they used to have called a PowerPlay? Well, they got to fix that going into next year. But we will talk about that when we get back. And we're going to tell you about our first sponsor, which is Fandul.

I love sports. I love them so much that I never want them to stop. But as the playoffs wind down, we get fewer games and the sports aren't sportsing like I want them to. But Fandul lets me keep the sports going whenever I want. All I have to do is open the app and dream up bets anytime I'm in the mood. In this summer, Fandle is hooking up all customers with a boost or bonus daily. That's right. There's something for everyone every day all summer long. So head over to fendul.com slash locked on and start making the most out of your summer.

FanDul, official spring partner of Major League Baseball. All right, we're back here on the Tuesday edition of the Locked On Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host Patrick Damp, joined today by the illustrious Josh Yohe. And I want to get right into this because we screamed and yelled about it all. season long and it was the power play it was awful there's no two ways to put it i've kind of been similar to your thinking on it is that yes todd reardon was fired he paid the price for it mike sullivan still here which i agree with i don't think they needed to get rid of sullivan but i also think this was just such a toxic mix of they never got off to a good start

everything spiraled and they just didn't make any kind of changes but But when you look at this team and the talent they have, especially at the top of the roster, no excuse for it to be this bad. It should, at the very least, be average. So they get rid of Reardon. Sullivan's obviously still here. They bring in Quinn. We obviously haven't seen that he's going to be the power play coach yet.

They haven't said one way or the other other than he'll be taking the defense. But Josh, how do you see this team finding a way to at least make this power play average? going into next season. Well, when training camp starts, that's what we'll be talking about it. And rightfully so, I got tired of asking players and coaches about it last year because it became pretty evident around Christmas time that they didn't have any answers. And they kept saying the same thing and they kept doing the same thing and it didn't work. Last game of the season in Long Island, I was talking with Eric Carlson.

I said, hey, I'm sorry, man. I got to ask about the power play again one last time. And he looks at me. He says, I don't blame you. It's the worst damn power play in the league. You should be asking me about it. I mean, I appreciated that. Carlson was such a breath of fresh air to talk with

because he would be very open about it. There was a game that we were talking about Florida. It's in December. I think the penguins lost in Florida power play. That was when they were on their streak where they went like 40 power plays without a goal. I said, you know, Eric, I think if you guys can just get one, just score one.

Maybe everyone will relax and the puck will start going in. Carlson looks at me and he says, you would think so. When he walked away, I'm like, oh, he just really thinks the power play stinks. It's incredible how bad it was. And I'm curious to see from a coaching standpoint how this is handled. When David Quinn was named an assistant coach,

the Penguins were very clear that he would be coaching the defenseman. There was no mention made of the power play. So either they don't know who's coaching the power play yet. Mike Sullivan's in charge of the power play. solely, which I kind of doubt. Or they're going to bring in someone else, which I've been pushing for for a while, a power play or special teams,

guru, whatever you want to call it. I don't know why more teams. We have special teams, coaches in the NFL. I don't know why the NHL doesn't think it's necessary. I mean, I hate to bring them up because they are one of the more annoying teams and fan bases in the league, but you look at Toronto and they've got a billion coaches because there's no salary cap on what you can spend.

on your staff. So if you have the money and resource, which we know FSG does, why not just have a offensive coordinator or a power play coordinator that that's their job. They go in, they figure it out, it's all they focus on. And maybe we will see that. You're right. That's one of the bonuses of FSG as being your boss. I don't think they really care how much money Kyle spends. I think it's something they should consider. I think the world of Mike Sullivan. I think he's a great coach, but he was complicit in this too. He was behind that bench watching that power play for 82 games last season. Okay, so it's clear to me as great of a coach as I think he is. He didn't have the answers for that power play. Maybe David Quinn. Well, I don't know. I think David's a good coach.

But I'm really curious to see if they bring in a new voice or two to help with that power play. I think it's incredibly important. And I also think if you're dubus and you're constructing this roster, I understand you don't have a lot of money to spend and maybe you get rid of Jari's salary. I think they're going to trade Riley Smith, that opens up $10 million if you pull it off. That's great. Is there a player out there that could specifically help the power play? It doesn't even necessarily have to be a star player that would be a lot of money. But is there just a, you know, a power play specialist kind of somebody who's really good in the bumper spotter, somebody who's really good in front of the net, so something like that to help this power play because as many flaws as

the penguins have, the fact is, if they had an average power play last season, they very comfortably make the playoffs. I don't know if they do anything in the playoffs, but, you know, there's no question they still would have made the playoffs. It cost them probably 10 points in the standings. It was that bunch of a problem. So I'm curious to see how it unfolds, but I know that if they bring back just the staff as it is now and the same guys on the power play, why would we expect it to get any better? You have to change at some point when something's not working. Yeah, when you find yourself with the talent that the penguins have, at the very least, their top unit and you finish down in the power play rankings around teams who are actively

tanking. That's probably an issue. You touched on them there real briefly talking about the salary cap and this is one of the last offseason things I want to ask you about. And, you know, I'm not saying that we got to kick him on his way out or, you know, be mean to him or anything, but it really didn't feel like Riley Smith was a fit this year. He played very well in Vegas. He's one of the original misfits. And we know how much that meant to a lot of those guys in Vegas when they got there and how they continued to perform together. And I think it's a pretty open secret that they're likely to trade him this summer just

because it's not a marriage that's working out. They just, it doesn't seem to work here for whatever reason. What did you observe with him as a penguin, whether it was as a player or around the team? Do you have any idea as to why it just didn't? work. Did he not want to be here? Did he miss Vegas? Just not a fit. What did you see? So weird with him because in October, he was really good. He and Gino looked like they had instant chemistry. I remember tweeting on the very first day of training camp, wow, Riley Smith and Gino really looked good together. And then came November and just went away. He did play a little

better, I thought, down the stretch. But I have been told by numerous people, the organization, people I really trust. He didn't want to be in Pittsburgh. He never wanted to be traded. And the way he behaved certainly indicated that that was true. I'm not saying he's a terrible guy, but he didn't look happy. He certainly didn't look thrilled to be in Pittsburgh, and I didn't think he was very good on the ice either.

There were so many games in the middle of the season, I'd watch him play. It's like, man, would that guy run through a wall to win another championship? I don't think so. I just, I didn't see it. And I know for a fact that Kyle tried to trade him before the deadline in March. And there were no takers because I think teams were a little leery about, you know, paying him for two seasons. But now you only took him for one season. And the cap goes up.

So because of that, I think the penguins are pretty confident they can deal him. I think they will. But yeah, it was just a disappointing season for him. and just from the very beginning, he was just kind of a sour puss. Like, he just didn't look happy. Maybe that I don't know, Riley. I didn't know him before the season.

Maybe that's how he always is. But no, I just had so many people tell me he doesn't want to be here that I will take their work for it. Yeah, and what you brought up, training camp first month of the season, I remember saying on this very show, like Eric Carlson was going to get all the headlines and all the pizzazz of, oh my God,

they went out and got Eric Carlson, when in reality, it looked like his savviest move was going to be Riley Smith because that first month, it had shades of James Neal with Evgeny Malkin where they just knew where each other were. They were playing well together. And then like you said, for whatever reason, calendar flips to November and poof goes away. And I know the penguins thought that too. I don't know if I may have told this story before on this podcast.

I apologize if I have. But last August, it was the day after the Carlson trade, as fate would have had. I'm in Boston at the Kevin Stevens golf tournament, the celebrity golf tournament, whatever. I already asked you to come write an article, but you do it, you know? So I'm in, but, and lo and behold, Sully's there. Oh, perfect.

I can interview the coach about his new all-star defenseman. Great. So I interview Sullivan, and we just talk for a while afterwards, and I cannot emphasize enough how excited he was about Riley Smith. Like I literally said, man, I said, you got a Carlson and Lars Eller. He goes, don't forget about. Riley Smith. He was really happy about it. And you could see why. I always liked him in Vegas a lot. Good player. So the penguins had high hopes for him. I think gave up a third round pick.

I thought at the time, boy, that's a great trade for the penguins. This is a good player you're getting. In reality, it wasn't. They probably should have kept Jason Zucker. I know that he has his health issues, but guy played hard. He played well with the penguins. And it gets to what you and I were talking about in the first segment. Zooker's right along those lines of that guy that you would like to have to win with because he makes it a tough night on you. He is not afraid to and to bring it all the way back to Riley Smith. He'll run through a wall to win.

He doesn't care about, oh, if I'm going to blow my shoulder out, but it gets us closer to a win. That's the price you pay. Jason Zucker, Jason Zucker in a playoff series couldn't even sit on the bench. His back was so screwed up. So he was just standing on the bed. And I know they didn't win with him, but I assure you you do win with guys like that. You're helping yourself a lot. It's not specifically him, his situation, but it's the kind of player you need if you want to do it,

Florida just did less than 24 hours ago. And Smith just wasn't that guy. Listen, it happens. Derek Bersard was a very good player in the NHL for a long time. He was not the right fit in Pittsburgh. He just wasn't. It happens. Sometimes guys just don't fit.

And it doesn't mean they're bad. hockey player doesn't mean they're a bad person, just means, hey, sometimes it's oil and water. But that'll do it for this second segment. When we come back, I've got to ask Josh about our favorite question that we've ever gotten here on Locked on about Stanley Cup champions in the Penguins organization. And I know Josh will give us some great insight because Hunter and I, well, we're of the younger vintage. So he's got some better memories of those first cups.

But we will talk about that right after this. All right, we're back here on the Tuesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am Patrick Damp, joined by Josh Yohe of the Athletic. And this has been, I apologize to who sent it because when we discussed it, Hunter was sitting in the host chair. And my apologies to the person who sent this in, this question in. But it's my all-time favorite question I've gotten on any podcast. And it's this. If you were to take the Penguins 5 Stanley Cup winning,

teams, 1991, 1992, 2009, 2016, 2017, and put them in a round robin tournament, who would be the Penguins champion? Now, I told Josh, before we started hitting record, I cannot for the life of me, decide between the 1992 team and the 2016 team, because I think they were both absolute wagons in just great hockey teams. But Josh, I pose the question to you, of the five Cup winners in Penguin's history, who would you crown as the champion? Well, they all had their wonderful attributes, no question. And there's no wrong answer. Clearly, the 16 team was the best team of the Crosby era.

That team was dominant. It really was. You can't go wrong with that team, but I am a child of the 90s. My favorite moment of the Cup final last night was Alonis Morset singing the national anthem. because I felt like I was in the 90s for a couple of, actually like 10 minutes because it was very long, but she did great. The 92 penguins were so dominant.

They won the Stanley Cup by winning their final 11 straight games in the playoffs. I would have to take them. It was Mario Lemieux at the very height of his power. And with all due respect to Crosby, Malkin, you know, Sid's one of the five best players ever. But he wasn't Mario at the height of his power. No. And also in 92,

Yager really became Yager. He was really good as rookie year. 92, he just took over playoff games. And you could see at that point, this was a special player. And I'll take it a step further. Not only would I pick the 92 Penguins, but I get so tired of people saying the 93 Penguins are the best penguin team of all time and they didn't win the cup.

No, they weren't. Yeah, they won 17 in a row. That's great. It was basically the same roster. It wasn't any different. A couple of, you know, different. differences here and they're basically the same team. That 92 team just operated at a level that I don't think people can necessarily understand it.

To win 11 straight against the Rangers who were the President's trophy winning team without Mario, the broken hand, four straight against the Bruins, four straight against the Blackhawks who were unbelievable team that year. What they did was really extraordinary. Almost half the roster was Hall of Fame or so. It's a good question, but I've thought of this question many times before. I always answer the 92 Penguins, what they did in the playoffs. I've never seen anything quite like it.

No, and even though I'm a child who was born in the 90s, I was all of a year old for the 92 cup run, but against the odds was maybe my favorite movie as a kid. So I would watch that all the time. Yes, listeners, I'm a gigantic nerd. You can say whatever you want about it. I do not care. But I remember just watching that. And then as I got older, the internet becomes more of a thing.

I could actually go back and watch all of those games. And you could see in 1992, that Penguins team was playing a different sport than everybody else. Nobody had an answer for them. Literally, the Rangers answer was, well, if we can injure Lemieux, maybe we have a shot. And that team was so darned. dominant. And I think I said this the first time, even though it was the year prior, that 91 team, and for all of us who love to hate the New York Rangers, they all love Mark Messier, we're going to win game seven in 1994. Does anybody remember what already said against Boston in 91?

We're going to win four straight. He goes out, dominates, and they win four straight. I will take that guarantee eight days a week. You know what's great about that story, too? Of course, I was 11 years old then, so I was not in the locker room in the Boston Garden, but I know people who were. And he was so serious about the message getting out that he was guaranteeing a victory that he was actually walking around to reporters. Like, hey, did you get this?

Did you get this? And at the end, Dave Molinari, who covered the pavements forever, he was there. He goes, Dave, did you hear what I said? And Dave said, no, what? And he said, I just wanted you to know. I'm guaranteed we're going to win the next four games. So then the penguins got on the team playing and Bob Erie walk. and I said it'd already really guaranteed we were going to win four straight.

And Phil Bork's like, yeah, he did. And he's like, oh, all right, we better win four straight. Then nobody was mad at him for doing it. I think they all felt the same. But yeah, those teams were great. And going back to the 92 team, I'm sure there are people out there who, they're younger, who didn't see those games, aren't all that familiar. If you ever get a chance to watch Game 4, it's on YouTube,

Game 4, Penguins Black Hawk's in 92, Penguins are winning 6'5 of the few minutes. left in the game. And there's, you know, playing keep away trying to, you know, to tick the clock down. Yager does takes the puck and skates around for 20 seconds. The Blackhawks are chasing him everywhere. And he swings it around to Mario and he does the same thing for 20 seconds. That's how that team protected leads. There was no dumping it in at the red line and get into the bench. They just had more talent than everybody else. And they were a joy to watch. It was. And, you know, the reason that I always kind of say, hey, I struggle between 92 and 2016 is, and I was saying this to you before we hit record,

you look back at that 2016 team. And you can't, it's such a cliche to say, I don't know what it is, but they had it. Because when Sullivan comes in, they make the couple of trades to get guys like Hagelin in the building. And that team just played at a level that we hadn't seen in years.

They were not just winning games. They were dominating teams. And then you see that. that playoff run, they exercise that demon of the Rangers. They continue to torture the Washington Capitals. They beat a really good Tampa team. And then obviously you have a really good San Jose team, kind of like 92, really good team in San Jose that anybody else,

I probably would have been rooting for them to win their first cup, but they didn't have an answer for the Penguins. No, and that Penguins team was so deep. You had Phil Kessel on your third line. I mean, that's what really separated them a little bit. When you can go Crosby, then Malk and then Custle over and over again, nobody else in the league had that kind of depth. Cessel was still kind of at the end of his prime then,

but still in his prime, I think. So, yeah, I mean, you can make a compelling argument for that team. They were better defensively than the 92 Penguins for sure. The goal tend in with Flurry and Murray, man, that's obviously quite a one-two punch. And yeah, so they were a great team of the Crosby era. You know, I've actually asked Sullivan about this. And he told me in a way he admires the 2017 team the most because to win it without Latang and when they were just out of gas the way they were.

I honestly think probably Sullivan had his doubts that that team could really win a championship in that situation. And they did. So I know that team kind of has a special place for him. but he will tell you that 16 team he told me before game six in san Jose he wasn't even that nervous he just knew he knew i sort of remember solomon in the locker and we've all seen the clip he said enough is enough that was how he he ended his speech to the team before the game he knew how good they were and honestly you know if matt murray doesn't struggle a little bit in the final that's a sweep yeah and they probably beat in tampa and six i mean they were they were there's way better

Washington was the only other team in the league that could really look them eye-to-eye talent-wise that year. And, you know, the Penguins are just, you know, meant to defeat the Capitol's logo more times than not. So that's the way that goes. But no, that's certainly a great team. Yeah. Or if Martin Jones doesn't decide to suddenly be a Vesna caliber goaltender out of nowhere for San Jose, that's probably a sweep. But Josh is that I had to fly back to San Jose for game six. Well, I've told Hunter before and our listeners before that I was still.

working for the nailers at that time and they were down in texas for the kelly cup final and i remember looking at one of the beat writers in the press box and just going if they win a tony cup in pittsburgh while i'm in texas i'm going to be so mad but you were with the wheelie nailers you were living the good life i don't want to hear it oh dude i loved it like i i joke about that but man that was some of the most fun i've ever had in my life working for that team right josh you said that you're heading out to Vegas tomorrow. What can we expect to see from you this week with the draft and free agency ahead? Man, all kinds of coverage.

You know, I don't write that much about the draft itself because at the athletic, we're very lucky. We have people like Corey Prondman and others. Like, that's their whole life is, you know, writing about these prospects and knowing every little thing about them. So I, you know, I'll write about the draft, but I really focus on July 1st and what Kyle Dubus has in mind then. It was Tristan Jari on the trade block. I think he might be. Riley Smith,

for sure is. I think there could be a lot of transactions in the next 10 days in Penguins land. I really do. So that's where I will focus the majority of my coverage. And it's great. It's the last year they're doing the draft, the old-fashioned way, with all

the scouts and GMs and players all in one spot, which I love. For us, in my line of work, it's great. Everybody's all under the same roof. Next year they're starting the NFL model where nobody's actually the draft, which I think's stupid. Completely stupid. But anyway, that's another story for another day. But yeah, so there will certainly be some news coming out of Vegas this week.

And the Penguins, I think Kyle will be pretty active. So I know fans like July 1st. They like free agent signings. They like trades. I think there's going to be a significant amount of both. Yeah. And we are looking forward to it. I know I am.

Hopefully I can pull Hunter off the beach at some point here if there's any big news and we'll have those updates here on the show but josh really appreciate you coming on man it's always fun chatting with you about the penguins because nothing else you got some damn good stories to tell about this team man and i love hearing them and i enjoy telling them so you know i come on these podcasts and i just start running my mouth it's it's good for it's good for the listeners i suppose but uh it's um it's always a pleasure to be on with you i will come on with hunter again i i was i was just kidding hunter i'm just joking with you don't get upset enjoy the beach but uh anytime my friend i always enjoy it i'm sure he appreciates here in that but that'll do

do it for us on this edition of the locked on penguins podcast i will be back tomorrow with another guest we're going to talk about some prospects and get you ready for the draft despite penguins for now not having a first round pick but for josh joey hunter hoodies i am patrick damp thanks as always for tuning in and i will be back with you tomorrow