Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - A Penguins GM Search Update, plus who replaces Brian Dumoulin on the left side?

Episode Date: April 17, 2023

Happy Monday, or as Hunter says, the first day without Penguins playoff hockey in a long time. Hunter starts the show by going over the latest updates when it comes to the GM search. Is Eric Tulsky an early favorite for the gig? Could the Penguins be looking at some former alumni for the gig? He also touches on the latest rumor regarding Stan Bowman and why the Penguins should stay FAR away from him for multiple reasons. Hunter also isn't sure how much he buys it because it goes against what Fenway Sports Group is likely looking at for this gig. Hunter also looks at Rob Rossi's early list and why that one aligns more with FSG's current thinking based on the comments made during the press conference. After that, Hunter discusses locker room clean-out day and why it was obviously a somber day. He looks at why Kris Letang will be primed for vengeance next season after going through so much off-the-ice stuff this past season. He also analyzes why the Penguins will likely be stuck with Jeff Carter next season based on his comments to Matt Vensel and why they NEED to go after a top-four defenseman to replace Brian Dumoulin, whether it's via a trade or free agency. All of that, plus Hunter's playoff picks, are in this episode of the Locked On Penguins podcast.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase.eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit. eBay Motors dot com. Let’s ride. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.Athletic GreensTo make it easy, Athletic Greens is going to give you a FREE 1-year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit athleticgreens.com/NHLNETWORKFanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go to FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable free bets that expire 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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Happy first day of the Stanley Cup playoffs. And yeah, it hurt pretty hard when I realized that the Pistler Penguins were not playing tonight for the first time in, yeah, 16 years at this point. But that doesn't mean there's nothing to talk about when it comes to this hockey team. We have updates on the GM shirt. We're going to get into that to start off the show. And then we'll get into locker room clean out day. And which players could be staying with the team versus which players could be walking out the door. That's all coming up right after this drop.

Your Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day. Hello, welcome back to this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am, of course, your host, Hunter Hodes. Remember to follow me on Twitter on Hunter Hodes. Follow the shows Twitter at Illinois Show Penguins.

Of course, thank you so much for making this your first listen to the day. We're free and available on all platforms. Today's episode is brought to you by Hello Fresh. skip trips to the grocery store and count on HelloFresh to make home cooking easy, fun and affordable. That's why it's America's number one milk. Just go to Hellofresh.com right now slash NHL60 and use code at NHL 60 for 60% off plus free shipping on your first year order. So yeah, I mean, I woke up today. I was all giddy. You know, if it's still like the first day they didn't think of playoffs and I realized it's just a nice punch to the gut that Mr. Penguins

will not be participating in them this year for the first time in quite a long time. I mean, I was eight years old the last time Missy missed. That just goes to show, you know, how weird it is. You know, I think the whole fan base just gets to watch play off hockey and not be stressing about it, but I think all of you would rather be stressing about it than just watching them on your couch with no interest in mind. But we'll get to that a little bit later. But there were some GM updates for the Penguins over the weekend. It's still been, you know, a little over 72 hours since.

the penguins fired Ron Hextaw, Brian Burke, and Chris Pryor. Not too much has come out yet, but we have seen a couple of stories. Rob Rossi ran one on the athletic, which I'll get into in a second. But Elliot Freeman did have an update on the GM search on the 32 Thoughts podcast. Dropped on Sunday, it was their first episode of this week. Dropped a couple little nuggets in there. He thinks Fenway with their history, they could go after someone like Jeff Greenberg of the Chicago Blackhawks. He used to work for the Chicago Cubs.

He got interviewed for the Blackhawks' GM job. He's pretty big into analytics. He said he wouldn't be surprised if they maybe go outside the sport of hockey. Even though Greenberg's in the sport of hockey now, he wasn't before he got that assistant GM job in Chicago. He also did mention Jason Botterall, which he's going to get linked throughout this process. He was here as an assistant to Jed Rutherford to Ray Shiro. He did link Ray Shiro, but he also said Shiro's probably more likely for that Philadelphia Flyers, president of Hockey Operations gig.

And then the big one that he dropped outside of Eric Tolski was that he expects the penguins to reach out to the league to see if they can talk to Stan Bowman. For those that do not know who Stan Bowman is, and I'm sure there are people out there that don't. He was the general manager of the Chicago Blackhawks for all of their cop years. But he resigned a little over a year ago because of the Kyle Beat situation where he covered up sexual assault within the Chicago Blackhawks. or organization. Has not had a job since. I believe, you know, again, teams have to go through the league now to hire him. And Joel Quenville, remember he was the head coach in Florida at the time,

but he was also in Chicago when that situation happened. And he resigned as head coach of the Florida Panthers, too. You know, if you put that Kyle Beach situation aside, and again, you shouldn't, but just bear with me in this case. the penguins should not be interested in Stan Bowman at all. And, you know, I'm kind of skeptical about their interest in Stainbombe or trying to talk to him and go through the league because he's like the opposite, I think,

of what Fenway Sports Group is looking for in their next jam. Go back and watch the press comments. They want someone who is forward-thinking, proactive, you know, use the analytics because the penguins are also building their analytics department up, you know, pretty well here. He is the opposite of that. I just don't think it makes any sense, you know, from that standpoint, like a pure hockey standpoint. He was also not a good general manager towards the end of his tenure in Chicago, those final, after those, the final cup year, which was what, 2015, the Hawks really went downhill, 2016, 2017 after that.

They were just a really bad team. He was basically staying on as a GM because of his legacy, I guess, because he brought the three standing the cops. But he wasn't doing a good job. but obviously you know we don't live in a world where you can just forget about covering off sexual assault you you add that to the equation as I'm doing now this is someone who I don't really think should have a GM job ever again just because of what happened there but again even if you take that out and there's it you again even if you do take that out I'm sorry for saying that twice in five seconds it does not make any sense I think

freeman was just kind of plugging Bowman's name in there because because, you know, he's a hockey man. He knows him as agent, something like that. Maybe the penguins interview him if they get permission. But do I expect him to be like a frontrunner for the job? No, I don't. I'm just pure speculating here, pure guessing, but I don't expect him to be a hot candidate for this job.

And that also goes off of what Rod Rossi wrote after his article that he published on Sunday where he said he talked to people within the Penguins organization. And he expects the Penguins to go a little bit younger here, going for someone who is not just that typical we tread GM like a Peter Shirelli, you know, like a Stan Bowman and all those other, you know, former GM types. Maybe like even a Jason Bonner.

So that's also good news. But again, the whole Stan Bowman stuff, I really wouldn't take it too serious just yet. And I know Phil Bork and Josh Yew talked about it on the, uh, their show on Friday. Someone's obviously talking about him, you know, again, maybe it's his Asian. I don't know if it's someone in the organization.

I don't know that for sure. but again, I don't expect me to be a serious candidate, nor should he because, you know, at the end of day, I don't think he's, I don't think he's a good general manager anyway. But there's that. Freeman and Merrick also discussed Eric Tolski and how Merrick said he got that name right away, right after the press conference that would really fit Fenway's profile. I told you all on this show, on my Twitter, and everywhere else. Eric Tolski is my first call.

He is a, he is the right-hand man down in Carolina. line for Don Waddell. He kind of basically is their general manager in a way. He's great with player evaluations. He's great with analytics. He is the bona fide candidate for this job. And I would expect him to get an interview, if not maybe multiple interviews. And I'm really hoping that he does blow them away because, you know, he would be an awesome gym.

He would be someone that I think can get the penguins out of this salary cap hell that they, I shouldn't even say salary cap hell. But out of some of their salary cap problems like McCaill-Grandland or Jeff Petrie, a couple other people as well, I think he can be someone that can at least do a pretty solid job with that. And finally, Rob Rossi, as I've been alluding to, he did write his first article. He kind of just did like a 10 names that some of them were guesses, but he also did say in the article that he spoke to higher-ups within the Penguin's organization to just get their thoughts. And these are some names that really just popped up when he was discussing them. And there were some good ones in here. You know, Matthew Darsh, assistant GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

I believe he got an interview in the last hiring process the Penguins had before Ron Hextall was hired. He's under Julian Brisball. You could definitely see him getting an interview or two. He's also the director of hockey operations there. Tyler Delo, he's the vice president of hockey analytics with the New Jersey Devils. He's one of those OG computer boys. I know some people don't like, you know, that term or, whatever, but, you know, he's been in analytics a long time. I believe he was with the Oilers a few

years ago. He's one of the very, one of the very first, again, computer boys when it comes to analytics. So I could definitely see him getting a call. Jeff Greenberg, as I mentioned earlier, he's the associate GM with Chicago. He got, he got multiple interviews for that GM job before it. They gave it to Kyle Davidson, you know, it fits a profile of Fenway Sports Group. Cameron Lawrence, he's a consultant for the Chicago Blackhawks. As Rob Wrights, he's known for integrating traditional scouting methods with an analytics tool, a process that Panthers have used with success or prospect evaluations. He's also worked as a senior financial officer with several publicly traded companies and the tech community.

So he makes sense, I don't know too much about him, but I do want to do more research on him. He also looks at Scott Mellonby from the St. Louis Blues. He also, I think, got an interview in the last hiring process for the Penguins. Scott Nicol, he's the assistant GM of Director of Player Development for the National Peders. Eric Tolski is on here. Sam Van Sherrup, he's the vice president of hockey strategy and research for the Sabres. He's also a slam dunk hire. This, I think, would be his dream job.

He grew up a Penguins fan. He worked for the organization. He started War on Ice. He came up very high in the organization before he left for the Sabres. This would be a great hire. As Rob Wright, he would bring a fundamental. understanding of the penguin strength, weaknesses, and culture. I think this could definitely be selling on Fenway's radar.

He also does include Haley Wickenheiser, assistant GM of player development for the Toronto Maple Leafs. No, she's done great work over the years. Kyle Dubas hired her pretty recently. As Rob Rice, it will be a bold one, but he does say at the end, you know, Fortune often favors the bullet. I think this will be also a pretty decent one.

And then the final one that he has is Alexandra, Mandrake, you know, she is an assistant GM of the Seattle Cracken. Ron Francis thought so highly of her that he wanted to hire her. And actually, he promoted her from Director of Pocky Strategy and Research to assistant general manager. And she still heads to Crackens' research and development team, Paul Rossi. You know, there's a lot of very solid names on that list. Not many retreads.

And again, as Rob reported in a comment, he doesn't get the sense of the penguins are looking at a lot of those retread candidates, which back. makes me happy. Go with someone with fresh ideas, someone who is ready to be a GM, even if it's for the first time, and someone who has just that blend of, you know, scouting, player development, player evaluation, and analytics into one person. My opinion, that's Eric Tolski. You can say the same venture. You can honestly say it's many of the people on this list. But this is a very good starting point. I really do believe that. Sin, again, this is still in its infancy. only been a few days.

You're going to see a lot of rumors about it. But it's good that the penguins are potentially looking at some really outside the box candidates here, people who have really never been full-time GMs before, but people who are also probably ready for that role. I'm really excited about where this could be heading. I really do think Fenway is going to get this right as long as they don't hire a washed-up retread GM who is not that good. Bradshaw Living was, you know, they part.

of way the flames part of ways with him today i don't expect him to be a candidate here maybe he gets an interview if there's one retread gm to interview it's him like he didn't do that bad of a job in calgary but i would still rather go with a couple um young and upcoming people over so i'm like drub living but that wraps up this update on the gm search yeah i don't expect this to be filled for a while this is not going to be something where it's filled in two weeks like you saw last time three weeks I expect this to be going until at least the Stanley Cup final. If it's not filled just before the Stanley Cup final, it's going to be filled right after it, like before the draft.

But I think this is going to go for quite a good. The thing is really going to take their time with this. They're going to really branch out, interview as many people as they can. And that's the best thing to do here. Get new ideas. Interview as many people as you can. Then you can filter down the list, get to your finalist, interview those people again,

the best decision that you think is best for the short and long-term trajectory of this franchise. So that wraps up this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, we are going to touch on Lockroom Clean Out Day, what Brian Dumlin and Jeff Carter had to say, thoughts on a couple other things from that before we get into some playoff picks a little later on in the show. But before we get into that, nope, wrong promo for the YouTube people, We do have to discuss athletic greens, one of the sponsors of the Walker Financial Network. It has a product I use literally every day.

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and pick up the ultimate daily nutritional insurance. All right, I'm back here in this episode of the Lockdown Payman's podcast. I'm your host, Honour Hodes. I'm going to follow me on Twitter, Hunter Hodes, follow the shows, Twitter, LOR, Pemones and of course thank you so much for making this your first list in the day we're free

and available on all platforms so welcome cleanout day was on Saturday as you would expect very somber day there no one was happy I mean you miss the playoffs when you have sky high expectations everyone's gonna be pretty unhappy Sydney Crosby was saying like yeah I don't really know what I'm gonna do for this first month because I've just not used to having all this time off you had crystal tang saying that he's just going to really take some time away good for him you know, I think he's going to be a lot better for this team next season. And that's not saying he was bad. I think after coming back, you know, from that late injury in his dad passing way,

he played admirably, but still wasn't at the true level that I think most people would come to expect. I think with a fresh full summer training, getting over the stroke, you know, and all that stuff, I really do think he's going to come back with a vengeance next season and play at a very high level. I just, this was just a really rough year for Tanger. And I felt for him when he said he just wants to take some time off

and be away from everyone for a little bit because this was a really hardier from his dad passing away, the stroke, getting injured while his dad passed away. You know, he just needs a mulligan, man. Yeah, I expect him to be really good next year. Yeah, I touched on that, Sid. I believe it was met then. pencil, switching to Jeff Carter.

He was the only reporter that spoke to Jeff Carter. So shout out to Matt for finding him. And he actually asked Carter, like, do you expect to play next season? Like, what are your plans? And Carter said, yes, unfortunately for you all that listened to the show, he did say yes. He plans on playing, and he said he's happy in Pittsburgh. So in case you all thought that Carter was going anywhere, it's probably not going to happen. Penguins, their options are very, very limited with his contract.

He has a full no trade, no movement clause. So if you want to trade him, you have to go through him. You know, really can't put him on waivers. Ron Hextall really screwed his next, Ron Hextall really screwed the person that's going to succeed him with that contract. There's really not much the Penguins can do. People try to say, oh, bury him the miners. That's not really an option either.

You know, their best case was going to be him, saying like, oh yeah, I want to play, but maybe I don't want it to be in Pittsburgh or, oh, yeah, maybe I'm thinking about retirement. That's not, none of those look like it's going to be the case right now. I think you're probably stuck with him for this next season. You can probably hopefully put him on a fourth line and he played a little bit better down the stretch. That's the best case from what you can expect from him next season, but can he do that for

a full season? I don't think so, but definitely not the greatest news when it comes to Carter. And then with Dumlin, I can throw Jason Zucker in there. Breaking news. Player that had a lot of fun on the team wants to be back with that team. What do you expect him to say? They don't want to be back. Of course they want to be back.

With Zucker, it's tricky. I would love to bring him back, but that contract situation is going to be really tough. Can you do a short-team deal for $4.5 million? Maybe a little more than that. That's what I would do. I don't think Zucker would take that. But I just don't think if you're the Penguins,

you can offer him five or six years at, you know, five or six million per. People will say to me, well, yeah, you could because they did the Raquel deal next year. And sure, you know, who cares when the team is rebuilding. But with Zucker, he's older than Raquel. Can you count on him to be like this every single season? That's my biggest thing.

And do you think you can get someone that can provide equal to better value in free agency or via a trade? That's going to be the big question that comes from me. Brian Dumlin, you know, he can say all he wants and he wants to return. And I'm sure he does. You know, Chris is Tang said during his media session that he played his best years with Dumlin, and he's not wrong. That was one of the best top pairings in the league when both were in their primes.

But that's no longer the case for either of them. Letang is still pretty good. He's not his prime. Brian Dumlin, he's not good at all anymore. He's probably going to have to go to another team and take a short-term deal for lesser money to play on the second or third pairing. The Penguins, they will not have the Saturday cap space to sign him. And they will also, they don't have a need for him anymore.

And once he does inevitably walk, that does create a need for a bona fide top four left-handed defensemen. I don't think enough people are talking about that going into next year's team. This team badly needs another top-four defenseman on the left side. Marcus Pedersen is not going to do all of the heavy lifting by himself. Yeah, Ty Smith may be ready to go down in the minors. P.O. Joseph, I still think, will be on the team. but also can you even rely on Joseph getting

top four minutes every night? Can you rely on Smith playing on an every night basis? I would be more comfortable getting another guy for that left-handed spot on the defense and I would maybe look to Calgary because I think they're going to have a lot of decisions to make there with Nikita Zedorov, Anderson, Noah Hanath who would be someone I would look to trade for?

I don't think he's a free. I'm just making sure that he's not a free agent. I don't want to look like a complete moron. I just want to look to make sure. Yes. Okay, yes. So he has one more year left on his contract. 4.95 million modify no trade laws.

You have to hope that the Penguins are not on his no trade laws. I don't think they would be. But, you know, he is someone I would really look to, you know, bolstering the defense, especially on the left side. But I just don't see a role where DeMolin comes back. And it doesn't make sense for the team as well. He's been shot for the last couple of. of years now, you need younger legs on your defense, someone who's more mobile, someone who can

contribute more offensively. You know, funny thing is, Duman was a little bit better offensively down the stretch, but also someone who can defend his own zone a bit better because Duman was just turned into a turnstile numerous times this past season. So that's one looking forward that. Mike Sullivan also spoke during his end of media conference. He was asked about the power play, said that he thinks it could have been a bit better. You know, honestly, disagree with some of the criticisms that some people had saying it was an average group look he's obviously going to defend it I don't you know blame him for defending it he did use expected goals in there which was I thought interesting I didn't think he would use that um and yeah the numbers are maybe

more kind to what some of us have said but it doesn't it didn't feel like an average unit it felt like a unit that was very lackluster very inconsistent it looked like a unit that couldn't gain the zone to save its life that just had too many perimeter passing plays. The fact that it finished in the middle of the pack, you know, that's crazy to me. It really is. But I do think he's going to make some changes to that unit during the summer here

with Tar Reardon because he is involved with the power play. You know, Tar Rear and maybe like the main coach, but Sullivan is still involved with that unit. I can tell you all that firsthand. You know, other than that, you know, Shris and Jari, he did say he wants to come back here, breaking news it's not unexpected that's going to be another main question what do the penguins do do and goal you know we have all offseason to discuss that if you're asking me i would i would

just start fresh with that and bring in two new goaltuners like the capitals did for this past season they let samsonoff and vetech an check go i would do the same thing here with de smith and jari i would let jari walk see if you can find a trademark partner for dismith and i would see if you can find two new goalies who can be a bit better than that no it's going to be hard to I think maybe find like a bona fide number one guy just because, you know, the free agent class is not that good. I think they would have to trade for someone. But I don't see how you can go into next season with Jari as your number one guy based

on how the season went. And yes, I understand that he was banged up for the most of the season. But, no, again, even if it's a short-term deal, do you still think he's going to stay on the ice for a full season with how his injury concerns have been the last couple of years? that's a tough sell to me. I just don't think he's it to be the full-fledged starter that this team means towards the end of the Cigino era. That's just my take on it, though. Nothing too big else, you know, from Lockroom Clean Out Day that I can really recall going on Twitter and all that stuff.

But very somber day, as expected, you know, we'll have to see when we hear from these people. again, it's probably not going to be for a very, very long time. But that does it for this segment. Coming up to end the show, it's time for some playoff picks. You know who I'm picking for the first round of each series coming up right after this commercial break. All right, I'm back on this episode of Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Honora Hodes. Remember to follow me on Twitter.

Hunter Haudies, follow this show Twitter at Elmoremorest or Penguins. And, of course, thank all so much for making this year first list in the day. We're free and available on all platforms. So, playoff, start tonight. let's get it underway. Devils, Rangers. I'm going Devils in seven. I think the devil's speed is going to give the Rangers a lot of fits. The Rangers have the, they have the Equalizer in goal with Igor Shusurkin, who is at least the second best goal tender in the league. But I just think the devils, they're too quick, they're deeper, they're more mobile on the back end. The Rangers, they play a little bit of that heavier game. They can still beat you really good on the rush.

They're a bit better than they were compared to last year. But I just like the Devils in this series. I think it's definitely a coin flip. I'm the least confident in this one when it comes to all my series, but I still like them enough that I'm going to take them to win. Would not be surprised if Shurkin stands on his head, though. I think this could be a series where he might make his presence felt. I think it was the other way. Ruins Panthers also tonight.

I'm going Ruins in five. I understand that people they maybe think I'm underestiming the Panthers. I'm sorry. I don't think Alex Lyon is going to beat this team four out of seven times. You know, he's been a great story for the Panthers. without him, they probably don't make the playoffs down the stretch here. But going up against a Bruins team that won 65 games, their top six is disgusting, their bottom six is gross,

their defense is awesome, Linus, Omar, Jeremy Slimman. They got two goalies that can start against you. I just don't think the Panthers are, you know, equipped to win this series. Kachuk is going to be a pest. You know that. Farhiggi's awesome. You know, Duke is a good player. Aaron Echblod's awesome.

Shasha Barkov. But going up against that Bruins top six and just the Bruins in general, I don't see how they win more than a game in this series. I might be wrong, but I think this might be a quick series, and the Bruins will take care of business. Maple Leafs Lightning, I'll say it. Leaves Break the Curse this year. They're going to win the series in seven games.

I think they're better than the bolts. underestimate the lightning at your own peril. They've looked gas down the stretch. They haven't looked good. but Masolevsky's always ready to go. You know that he's going to be ready for a fight here. The lightning, they could have just been resting themselves for the playoffs. This is still going to be a great series.

I have the Lightning. I have the Leafs in seven. I think this is when they finally break the curse. If they don't do it this year, there's going to be a lot of major changes coming to that team. One of which could be Kyle Dubus, well, I'm sure we might be interviewing for the Penguins GM job. But I do think the Leafs finally do it here.

I think. Oh, I almost forgot, though. Carolina, New York one. I'm going to go Carolina in six. I think Sorokin has the opportunity to send this to seven and potentially beat the hurricanes. And I know the hurricanes are without Stachnikov and Max Petruetti, but they play the Islanders really good this year.

They know how to beat that kind of team. They can also play very defensively, very passive. But they'll also forecheck the hell out of you. You know, they don't call them the Carolina Corses for no reason. They throw a lot of shot attempts at the net, a lot of shots in general, that come on goal. Rod Brindamore will have this team ready to play. They're starting anti-Ranta.

I think they will have enough scoring to win this game. Even with Barzell back, I don't think the islanders have enough firepower to win this series. I will take the Hurricanes and Six, even if Sorokin on the other side, could potentially steal it. Moving to the Western Conference real quickly here, Dallas, Minnesota, I'm going to take the SARS. I think the stars will win in the series. It's going to be a really close one.

The Minnesota curse is going to live on for one more year. I think stars in seven. Something about Jason Robertson, Rupa Hens, and Joe Pavelski, especially and Jamie Ben. They're just speaking to me. Jake Ottinger, I think it's going to be the better goalie in this one. I like Dallas to win it. Colorado, Seattle, I think Colorado wins this one.

I've been going back and board between five and six. I think Seattle's been a great story this season. Jared McCann obviously has 40 goals. Matt of Baneers has been great. Daniel Sprong's almost been a 20-goal score. I just don't trust their goal-tending. Vince Dunn's been awesome, but outside of that,

I don't really like their defense that much. They're deep. I'll give them that. They don't got anyone that can stack up to Nathan McKinan, Amico Ranson, though, and McCall McCarr. Those are the difference makers for me. I like the abs to win this series.

I don't know how far they'll go, especially they have to play Dallas. But I think I like the ads to win this series. Moving on to the Pacific. Edmonton, Los Angeles. I'm going to take Edmonton and 7 here. It's going to be close like it was last year. The Kings have the formula to beat the Oilers.

You saw it last year with how keeping the games really low scoring. But I just don't know if the Kings have that true knockout. They felt like they got that person in Kevin Fiala. We're going to find out if he's the main difference maker. I just think Leon Drysadle and Connor McDavid are going to be too much for the things to handle and, you know, this Oilers team is in it to win it. 16 and 3-1 down the stretch. Stuart Skinner's been a nice answer in net.

Matias Ekholm has been a godsend since coming over from the Predators. Their top six is lethal. Their bottom six just plays defense first hockey. If they, you know, they're going to do a lot of damage potentially in these playoffs. It's going to be really, really interesting to see. how that series goes, but I do like the Oilers and a very, very, very tight one. Making short, did I almost, oh, almost forgot the last one. Vegas, Winnipeg.

I'm going Vegas and six. Connor Hellelbuck has the ability to steal the series, but I like Vegas. They're getting a stoneback. Eichols there. They have two number one defensemen with Shea Theodore and Alex Petrangelo. They're deep. They're fast. They can defend well.

I don't like how the Winnipeg is playing, how played down the street. stretch excuse me in the regular season. I'm going to take Vegas here to win that in six games. So those are my picks for the first round of the playoffs. Let me know what you all think down in the comments for that. And just overall for this episode, did you like it? Do you disagree with anything I said? Let me know who your top candidates are for the Penguins GM spot.

Do you think Brian Doolin should be brought back? What's your ideal contract for Jason Zucker? Let me know all that. You can send me a DM, comment on the YouTube page, all of that stuff. But, you know, we're just getting started here in terms of offseason content for this show. going to be a lot more to come, rest of the shirt on that. So again, thank you all so much for listening slash watching. I really do appreciate it.

I'll get back with another one of these episodes for you all on Tuesday.