Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - A young defenseman is on the trade market, does he fit with the Penguins?

Starting point is 00:00:00 A lot of people played for the Pittsburgh Penguins this year, and we have been looking back at their seasons. Today, we wrap up our season and review series with the rest of the roster, their impact, and for some, what the future may hold. You're Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on podcast network, your team every day. Welcome in to the Thursday edition of the Locked on. on penguins podcast. I am one of your hosts, Patrick Damp. You can follow me across most social media platforms at synonym for wet, joined as always by my good friend Hunter Hodes. You can find him on

Starting point is 00:00:49 Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Today we're going to take a look at the reporting that defenseman Ryan Shea may be hitting the open market come July 1 in what that could mean for the penguins' plans this summer. Also, a big name defenseman is reportedly on the trading block. We'll see if the penguins could or should have any interest in him. But before we do that, it's time to wrap up part of our offseason content. And that is our season in review series. We're going to wrap it up today with some quick hitters of a few different players we didn't get to yet that didn't play a ton of games, but did appear for. the penguins and still remain with the penguins, which means we're not talking about guys like

Starting point is 00:01:37 Tristan Jari or Brett Kulak and others who were traded away. So let's begin Hunter with someone who had their season cut short, and that is Philip Hollander who is back in the fray for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He made the team out of camp, scored his first NHL goal against the LA Kings. It was a short-handed game-winning goal, which was pretty fun for him. But unfortunately, after a blood clot was detected in his leg, he was out of the lineup for months at a time. He ultimately got sent to Wokes Bear for a three-game conditioning stint where he scored a goal. Once he was recalled, though, mainly he was just there to practice and get himself

Starting point is 00:02:22 back into shape. The questions now, Hunter, are, is he helping? and if so, can he be an effective NHL player? That's the biggest thing, his health. Like, if he is good to go, then I see him as a potential 12th or 13th forward that can make this team and be in and out of the lineup next season. But again, it all comes down to Pat. Is he healthy?

Starting point is 00:02:49 Because blood clots, we've seen it in the past with Pascal DuPlee. Very serious issue. It's very tough. is he ready to go? If he is, that's awesome because I do think he can help this team in some games, this upcoming season. I don't see him as an 82 game player,

Starting point is 00:03:07 but I still see him as someone that can play here and there. He can get you a depth goal at times. You saw that game against the Kings. That was one of the better wins of the season. And they had a lot of really good wins last year, but considering the way they came back to the way they started in that game was also not pretty, but they came back. Hollander was able to get a great goal to win it,

Starting point is 00:03:25 just a really nice job. And, you know, when he was healthy, I was liking his impact in the lineup. Only 13 games, small sample. But I still like what he was able to do as a 12th or 13th forward. And if he is good to go from those blood clots and we'll probably have an update here at some point in the off season, that'd be great. If not, Pat, obviously that would just suck beyond belief, just considering that, you know, he's been working so hard to come back.

Starting point is 00:03:50 So hopefully that he's able to. But those are my main thoughts on Hollander. When he's on, I think he's a perfectly fine 12th or 13th Ford overall. For sure. I'm right there with you with him. I'm interested to see where he goes post blood clot. And if he's fully recovered, if he's ready to go. I do have a little bit of concern over the fact that he only played three games with

Starting point is 00:04:15 the baby penguins. Yeah. And his conditioning stint came back and did not get back into the lineup. That said, though, we're not entirely sure if that was more just. him falling victim to the numbers game or if it was mainly due to the his health that's what it really was so again that's what we're looking at we just want to make sure that he's healthy going right so that's the biggest thing so if he comes back healthy i do think he provides some solid depth because he did not look out a place whatsoever before the diagnosis so that does look like a player that

Starting point is 00:04:48 could be somebody into the future now let's move it back to the blue line with a few players we also have to talk about. We'll quickly mention this one. There's not going to be a lot of thoughts. We'll go with Caleb Jones. He only played seven games for the team. He gets hurt on his road to recovery. He's about ready to come back.

Starting point is 00:05:10 We find out he gets dinged with a 20 game suspension for using a banned substance. He took full accountability for it. And honestly, I don't see much of a future for Caleb Jones. it stinks that he gets hurt. He's on his road to recovery. By the sound of it, he accidentally took something or incidentally took something that was banned. And that led to the suspension. But I don't see him really playing a role with the organization moving forward.

Starting point is 00:05:43 Yeah, I don't think he's going to be on the main squad as much next season, especially with Solonyi Brunich on his way. They have Solovia there as well. I think he's someone that is probably going to play most of the time in the A. Because even Pat, when he started the season, he made the team and you saw him play in a few games. Never really stood out. I always felt he was kind of one of the weaklings on that left side. They kept trying that pair with him and Crystal Tang wasn't a big fan of it.

Starting point is 00:06:14 So overall, he kind of is what he is at this point. I'm not really expecting him to play a ton of games at the initial level next season. I think Pat, he really only plays if there's a lot of injuries on the left side. I think they were more comfortable with him last year just because of their state of the blue line, but I think they're going to look to improve it even more this offseason, which means I just don't think there's really going to be a spot for him. As for the other two, we can be quick here with Ryan Graves. Three more years left, guys.

Starting point is 00:06:43 They're going to try to find a trade partner, I think, at some point during this time. I know there have been the rumors surrounding darn-known nurse. you know, my interest gets peaked slightly if they can take all of Ryan Graves going back there just because they missed the e-vail on him, played in 22 games, scored a goal. It was his only point of the season. He was at least a good soldier in Wilkes-3. It felt like a lot of the younger players really enjoyed having him down there at that time. But overall, Pat, this deal is aged like milk.

Starting point is 00:07:12 And I think the penguins, they're going to try to find a way to get out of it at some point here. The biggest thing I can say, maybe not even. even in defense of Ryan Graves, it's more just looking at it factually is he's been a good soldier since everything has gone on since his game dipped away. He was a really good veteran presence for some of the younger players when he was sent to the baby penguins. Would have been real easy for him to really make a stink, to really kind of pout and not be a professional just because of the contract that he has, the term he has.

Starting point is 00:07:50 has on his contract. But he handled it like a pro. He did a good job as a leader down there as a veteran presence. And he's even kind of said on record that he knows he has to be better. He knows he's got to work on his game. And obviously the bar is in hell. But I do think at the very least when he had limited action in the NHL, he was at the very least serviceable, which is vast improvement.

Starting point is 00:08:20 from the past couple of years. But I'm with you in the sense that they're going to eventually have to find a taker for his contract, whether it's something with Edmonton, someone else. But with the cap going up, especially with some teams looking to shed some money, you could probably attach him to take on a worse contract if you need it. So it sucks that they miss the eval on him. But now they just got to find their way to dig themselves out. out of it. Finally, let's...

Starting point is 00:08:51 I wouldn't say he was serviceable. I would say he was better in quotation marks, but again, the bar was literally on the floor after the first couple of years. Not saying much though, Pat, so... Exactly. I don't want this to come off as I'm acting like the Ryan Graves Defense Fund, but I begrudgingly have to give him credit for being a pro, for working on his game, because he is one of a couple of different people who were on this roster this year. that got squeezed out or got demoted. And it would have been really easy for them to become a locker room cancer.

Starting point is 00:09:27 And they just didn't. So that speaks to them as professionals. Finally, we'll talk about a player that we have been kind of intrigued by the last couple of years, but it doesn't seem like it's going to work out. And that's Jack St. I haven't. A couple of years ago, I really liked the way he debuted and became a sixth or seventh defenseman. it looked like he had a solid future as a good two-way stay-at-home kind of defensemen for this

Starting point is 00:09:56 organization. But he really hasn't been able to reach what he got to the last, or I should say what he got to about two years ago. Exactly. I 100% agree with you on that because I was coming on the show saying that, you know, I was at least intrigued, fascinated, a little excited to see what he could do going into the next season because I thought his on-ice results were fine. a couple of seasons ago, there was at least some reason to be a little bit excited just based on the eye test the way that he was playing on the third pair. Then Pat, it just goes downhill. And then this year, he looks out of place even more.

Starting point is 00:10:32 I just, at this point, I know he has a year left on his contract. If you look at it right now, 850K, he's said to be a UFA for the 27, 28 off season. Just don't think there's a spot for him and the lineup. I think the only way he comes up is if there's injuries to the back. end, but he simply has not done enough to really build on that very short but solid sample from a couple of years ago. I just don't think he's going to get back to that level at all. So he is what he is at this point too.

Starting point is 00:11:01 And part of the reason that I think he looked good when he first did was because he found himself on a pairing with Ryan Shea. And speaking of Ryan Shea, nice. Thank you. Thank you. I was proud of that one. I had it written down in my notes. Yeah, we're going to give it.

Starting point is 00:11:17 ourselves some credit on some good writing here. But speaking of Brian Shea might not be back in a penguin's uniform next season. We will talk more about that and what it means for this team's future plans this summer. So stick with us. We will get into that when we come back right after this. Before we do that, though, we have a couple of sponsors. We've got to get to starting with Decagon. As companies grow, customer support gets a lot more complicated. More customers means more questions, more channels to manage, and higher expectations for fast, personalized service. That's usually when businesses start to look at AI, but most solutions feel either too generic or they take forever to implement. That is where Decagon comes in.

Starting point is 00:12:12 Decagon helps companies create personalized concierge-style customer service experiences with AI agents across chat, email, voice, and SMS. Their agents are available 24-7, feel natural to talk to, and can resolve customer requests on their own, helping businesses scale support without losing that personal touch. The best customer experiences don't happen by accident. Whether it's in business or sports, people remember the organizations that respond quickly, understand context, and make every interaction feel personal. Everybody loves that kind of customer service. that makes you feel heard, seen, and understood. The organizations that respond quickly and solve problems efficiently,

Starting point is 00:12:58 that is exactly what Decagon is helping businesses do. They create more of those moments by giving customers fast, personalized support whenever they need it. So if you're ready to transform your customer support, head to Decagon.a.ai slash locked on NHL to get a personalized demo to see what Decagon can do for your team. One more time, that is Decagon. Dot A.I.

Starting point is 00:13:24 Slash Locked On NHL. And we're not done. We've got yet another to get to, and that is Ruggiat. Throughout the Stanley Cup finals, every shift matters, every moment is intense, and everything comes down to execution when the pressure is at its highest. Just like athletes must be ready to perform when the puck drops. A lot of guys want that same sense of readiness and confidence in their own lives. That is where Ruggiates.

Starting point is 00:13:51 comes in. Roosiot offers modern performance-focused treatments that are designed to help you be ready when it matters. Their top option, Rougeeat-Ready is a fast-acting, clinically formulated treatment that comes in a simple mint that dissolves under your tongue. It's designed for convenience with fast absorption and effects that can begin in about 15 minutes, and they may even last up to 36 hours. They also offer go-long, which is formulated to support both performance and control for longer lasting needs. It's all about helping guys feel prepared, confident, and in control. In the playoffs, readiness is not optional. It's everything. And for a lot of guys, that idea is about being ready at the right moment when it carries over into your everyday life.

Starting point is 00:14:38 That's exactly what Ruggiat is built around. Think most guys, they want something that fits into their everyday life without a lot of hassle and the idea of a small mint that dissolves gets right to work and makes it feel a lot more straightforward. So head to Ruggiat.com slash locked on NHL to get 15% off your ED treatment. That is RUGIET.com slash locked on NHL and you'll get 15% off. Ruggiat performance medicine for men. Keeping it rolling here on the Thursday edition of Locked on Penguins. I'm Patrick Damp running right alongside Hunter Hodes.

Starting point is 00:15:23 Before we keep the show rolling here, get your daily locked on penguins fix completely ad free by joining the Everydayer Club. Start your seven day free trial right now and get closer to the team without all the interruptions. Click the link in our show notes or go to locked on podcasts.com slash everydayer club. Find our show and claim that free trial. According to a report hunter from the athletics Pierre Lebrun, Penguins pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Ryan Shea appears set to test the market on July 1st. The 29-year-old defenseman set career highs across the board, games played, goals, assists, points, all while making under a million dollars.

Starting point is 00:16:12 So after 80 games, 35 points, and adding in that basically the top defenseman on the market this summer, summer is Darren Radish. Shea very well may have priced himself out of Pittsburgh. That's what I believe as well. And I also think he is going to get term that the penguins really don't want to touch. If you look at the article and Pierre says this like Darren Radish, there is some late loomer action to the 29 year old Shea, who is a fourth round pick of the Blackhawks in 2015, place up and down the deep pairings.

Starting point is 00:16:44 And because of his age, the roster transition, the penguins can't get into the kind of term that he will command. Yeah, that's the biggest thing for me, Pat. Like, he is going to want term that they don't want to touch. Money-wise, they can afford it. I mean, they can really afford any contract because of the amount of cap space, but I don't think they want to give him a lot of term. And I said on the show when we did a season review, this is a contract that has to be on your terms,

Starting point is 00:17:08 not his. And I think they're realizing we're not going to be able to get this on our terms. And he's going to go out there and get the pay raise that he very much deserves, considering the season that he had. So I know there's still two weeks. Maybe he circles back or something like that. I think it's pretty unlikely at this point. But if he does walk, Pat, I will wish him the best,

Starting point is 00:17:30 considering how great he was this season in a top four role. And while I have wanted him back, I don't think it's the end of the world if he goes to a different team. They're looking for a replacement for that spot. And I think they'll be able to get one this off season. Hopefully via the trademark. and hopefully it's also not darnel nurse because again, I'm just not really a big fan of that potential acquisition contract doesn't really make much sense. He's also 31 years old, not really a big fan of that. I'd like to go other places. But in terms of Ryan Shea, this is not surprising to me at all. No. And I do want to respond to a couple of things that you said there. Obviously, this is a Ryan Shea segment and not a darnel nurse segment. But I'll start with the Shea part of it.

Starting point is 00:18:17 I'll reiterate what I have been saying since this season came to an end. I do think a lot of teams are now going to be searching for this summer's Darren Radish. When Darren Radish got signed last off season, it was not a story on anybody's radar. And he has a tremendous breakout campaign this past year. And you can kind of say the same just on a different level for Ryan Shea. It was a very surprising season, even to us, even though we were higher on Ryan Shea than most, we didn't see this season coming from him. This was very unexpected, which is the same that you can say for Darren Radish.

Starting point is 00:19:01 So I think a lot of teams are looking at Ryan Shea to be that for this upcoming off season. There's also, like you said, the term part of it. You know that he is going to want some term instability, because for the majority of his career since entering the NHL, even though he's only been given a chance here in Pittsburgh at the NHL level, it's been one or two year deals. There hasn't been a lot of three, five, whatever year deals. Now, I don't think he's going to get a massive term.

Starting point is 00:19:35 I don't think he's going to get seven years, but three to four very much feel like what he is going to get offered. and being 29 only having this season as a real, right now it's an outlier. If I'm Dubis, much like you said, Hunter, I'm shaking his hand. I'm thanking him for his service. And honestly, I'm congratulating him on it because it is well earned. We all complain about contracts and term and money. but if someone is going to pay you that money or that term,

Starting point is 00:20:13 you blame the team, not the player. We talked about Ryan Graves in the first segment. We hate that contract. It has aged like milk, but when that offer came through to his agent, you're not going to say no to that. Exactly. And this is like his big chance,

Starting point is 00:20:30 Pat, to really go out there, get some stability and get that big pay raise that he's looking for. And I think he's going to get it. I think there's going to be quite a few teams going after him. I think a four-year term is probably what he's going to get. Maybe it stretches up to five. Maybe on the low end it's three. But I think four is probably the sweet spot for him in free agency.

Starting point is 00:20:53 And I think just based on, yeah, this season was great. I just don't like the penguins want to make that bet saying, oh, are you going to do this for four straight years? I don't know. It's just like, sure, he's a late bloomer. but that's a risk considering where the penguins are right now with their transition and stuff. So I think you let another team do that and you try to find his replacement elsewhere. And that's what I expect to happen.

Starting point is 00:21:21 So I do think, and I'm going to meld two things together here. And it's not me comparing the two players. They are very different players in very different junctures with very different pedigree. but I do kind of look at what you just proposed about what Ryan Shay could get and Darnell Nurse in the interest that reportedly, I don't know if the Penguins have interest, but apparently Nurse is one of the teams that he would be willing, Pittsburgh is willing, or excuse me,

Starting point is 00:21:55 let me try that again. I'm going to try that again, folks. Darnell Nurse is interested in going to the Penguins. That's on his list. But the way I'm going to meld these two together, is I look at both situations with the amount of cap space that the penguins have, the increase that the salary cap is expected to continue over the next few years. I look at both and say that is an asset that you can use to your advantage.

Starting point is 00:22:24 If Ryan Shea, and this isn't me advocating for the penguins to break the bank for Ryan's Jay or go out of their way to get Darnel Nurse, but with where they are, with where the salary cap is going, you can look at it from an. asset standpoint and say, all right, if Ryan Shea gets four years and he plays well in two and a half of them and you're not where you want to be or you're getting closer to where you want to be, it's a movable asset. I think the same thing can be said in a way for Darnell Nurse with where the salary cap is going where the penguins are. I don't want the penguins to break the bank and go out of their way to get Darnell Nurse. But if they can have a good package to get him

Starting point is 00:23:06 and in a couple of years he's playing well, you can flip that. But again, this isn't a darn-al nurse segment. But I do think that if Ryan Shea finds himself without a deal after the 4th of July, it's worth revisiting. Yeah, at that point, sure, though, do I expect that to happen? Probably not. I think he's probably gone pretty quickly on July 1.

Starting point is 00:23:32 Again, the league is always against tampering. let's be real. There's a reason why these signings are sometimes announced five to 10 minutes afternoon. You're telling me NHL front offices can work out these complicated contracts in two minutes on July 1 at 12.02 p.m. Last year they tried to be like, oh, we're not going to announce it. Now we're going to wait like 45 minutes to an hour.

Starting point is 00:24:00 Yeah, as if that's going to change anything. You've had these discussions for a few days prior, but I expect Shane to be gone pretty quickly. Yeah, I mean, in the same vein, you know, Kyle Dubus totally didn't have an offer from the Pittsburgh Penguins as he was mulling over his future with the Toronto Maple Leafs. But it worked out in our favor. So who cares? Who cares? But that is going to do it for our second segment. Speaking of potential replacements on the left side, bo-by. Byram might be back on the trade market.

Starting point is 00:24:35 And should the penguins be interested? Let's talk about it when we come back right after this. We've got one more sponsor to get to before that, though, and it is our friends at five-hour energy. If you've got a sweet tooth like I do, you know how tough it is to find that perfect treat without all of the sugar. That is why the fruity rainbow five-hour energy shot brings back that nostalgic flavor in a whole new way. fruity rainbow five-hour energy shots,

Starting point is 00:25:07 treat your taste buds to an explosion of fruity flavor with a tasty caffeine kick. It's a quick, easy way to satisfy that sweet craving while keeping things simple and on the go. It's become my go-to when I want something sweet without going overboard, whether it's between all the jobs that I have, going to the gym,

Starting point is 00:25:25 or even playing Monday night beer league hockey, five-hour energy gives me that boost that I need. Get candy-flavored chaos, with fruity rainbow five hour energy shots available online at five hour energy.com or on Amazon. We're finishing up the Thursday edition of Locked-on Penguins, Patrick Damp, and Hunter Hodes, guiding you through these silly season waters. And now that the talk of Ryan Shea potentially leaving is upon us, could his replacement

Starting point is 00:26:01 be the 25-year-old Bo Byram? The 2019 fourth overall pick has been solid the last couple of seasons with Buffalo 38 points in the 24, 25 season. Before that, and then before that he follows that up with 42 points. I know that the analytics do not like this player. I know that if you look at J. Fresh's cards, you go anywhere else. Bo Byram is an analytical borderline nightmare. But I will say this in his favor, both looking at the way the Carolina hurricanes have built their team with where the penguins are, the 2019 fourth overall pick being on the market and only having one year left on his deal. This to me screams a player that the penguins should be in the market for.

Starting point is 00:26:59 I think they're going to call on him, especially when you look at his age. Like, he's still only 20, well, he is 25 years. Sorry, we'll just do an edit there real quick. 5, 4, 3, 2.1. I'm sure they have probably called on him, considering his age, he is 25 years old. That is the exact perfect age that Kyle Dubus

Starting point is 00:27:19 kind of hinted at during his presser. They want players in their early to mid to late 20s to come on in here for the long term. He was pitching Pittsburgh as a, place where you can kind of rediscover your game a little bit. So I would not be surprised if they called on Byram at least age-wise. It makes a lot of sense. However, you do look at the counting stats and they are solid this year. He had a career year. 11 goals, 42 points, and 82 games, average a little over 22 minutes per ice time. So the counting stats,

Starting point is 00:27:52 all good. He played in a lot of high leverage situations, excuse me, for the Sabres. But you mentioned in the analytics, he ranks in the 40th percentile for five-on-five offense, 25th percentile for five-on-five defense, isn't very good on the power play, also isn't very good on the P-PK. My biggest thing is right now, he is making $6.25 million for this upcoming season. He's that to be a UFA in the 27-28 season. His agent, Darren Farris, has always been known to get his players to the UFA market and then get his players paid. And there are reports servicing that he wants 10 million plus on that next contract. Sorry, absolutely not. I am not paying him that money. I don't think he really, I'm not trying to

Starting point is 00:28:40 sound too harsh here. I just don't think he is worth that type of money. Like, that's eight figures we're talking about here. So to me, I understand why they would be interested. But when it comes to that extension, because you want a player like this to sign long term with you, like that's what I think they're going to be looking for when they target these types of players. I am not willing to sign him to an extension like that because I don't think he's worth that type of money. Yeah, again, you watch him on the ice, you see the tools, but analytically, it never matches up with the eye test at times.

Starting point is 00:29:15 And I also just don't know if he's going to repeat that 42 point season that he just have with the Sabres. I think he works better with someone like a better partner. and with here, Parker Watherspoon is already going to play with Eric Carlson. Are you putting Bo and Byron with Chris Latang with the way Latang is right now? To me, I just, there are better options out there, in my opinion. So again, I understand why they would be interested. I think they probably will call.

Starting point is 00:29:43 But I think there are other teams that will put together better offers and they can overpay for his services on a long-term contract. I just think for me there's too many things that I'm not too big of a fan of. I do think that a lot of teams are going to call on him. And I do think a lot of teams are going to call in the sense that they're going to think they have a chance to sign him long term. And if you know Darren Ferris's M.O. The way you talked about it, that doesn't happen very often with his clients. He either holds teams hostage or he lets his players just languish until they get to the UFA market.

Starting point is 00:30:32 So if I'm Pittsburgh, if I'm Kyle Dubus, I'm looking at this in a two-pronged way. Maybe I should say three-pronged way. One is what you said. If there are teams out there ready to give up the sun and the moon for them, thanks, but no thanks. We're not doing that. We're not giving up everything for one year of Bo Byron. We're not. That's not the business we're in right now.

Starting point is 00:30:55 But if you can put together a package that gets him, I do think there are two things that make this lucrative. One, you tell him and Ferris, listen, we'll bring you to Pittsburgh. We'll put you in a good position. We're not going to worry about an extension. If you have a hell of a year, congrats, go get paid elsewhere. Go get your 10 million from whoever wants to overspend. The other way I look at it, and as I have said once on this show already, just to say it again, not comparing the two players because they are not the same.

Starting point is 00:31:34 But look at the difference between Eric Carlson under Mike Sullivan and Eric Carlson under Dan Mews. There were a lot of similar critiques that we had of Carlson under Sullivan that went away under Mews. A lot of those criticisms. apply to Bo Byram. Pinch is too much, a little too reckless, not making the best decisions. You can work that out with Bo Byram for a year and let him go get paid elsewhere. Or if you're not in the playoff picture come trade deadline and he's playing well, a lot of teams will pay for that.

Starting point is 00:32:12 So again, I start at the point of don't pay the sun and the moon for him. But if you can get them, it's an attractive. option to have on your team because the other thing that we have to keep in mind that we have said multiple times penguins aren't going for the 2027 Stanley Cup sure none of us would complain if they won it but at the end of the day every move that they make for the next couple of years has to be future facing and there is a future facing option with Beau Byron. Yeah, I understand what you're coming from. I just think again for me it's just too risky to sign him to that extension. And I think Kyle Dubus, they want to get someone of that age where they can

Starting point is 00:32:56 basically sign right away. I don't think they want to go into a situation where a player like this only has one year left on his contract, give up these assets and then be like, oh, hey, see you later, because his agent has a lot of his clients walk to the market. I think the penguins want to get someone hopefully, again, around this age where they can acquire and then sign him basically right away, almost like a sign and trade, basically. And I'm also not sure if Darren Ferris and Bo and Byron want to do that right now. And even if they did, at the same time,

Starting point is 00:33:31 I'm not going to pay him 10 plus million on that next contract because I don't think he is worth 10 plus million. Not for a player, not for a defenseman who isn't scoring more than 50, has not scored more than 50 points. Yeah, exactly. And again, fit wise, while there's student Carlson, you know they work. Byron and LaTang, I don't know, man. Just considering where LaTang is right now,

Starting point is 00:33:57 I don't know, man. I don't know if I'd be willing to take that risk. I would not. And the last thing I will say, I hinted earlier in the show at the way the Carolina hurricanes have operated over the past few years. This could also be similar to the Rantanin situation where you bring them in.

Starting point is 00:34:16 And instead of worrying about, oh, my God, we got them, but now we got to sign them now we got to keep them you go yeah if it's not working or we think we can do better we'll just flip them again and again this is all putting the cart so far ahead of the horse but just to put a fine point on it i do think the penguins at the very least should be making calls on this because it's not often a 25 year old defenseman with his level of offensive talent becomes available and that is the exact kind of player that kyle dubus has been saying that this team is looking to get. But that will do it for the Thursday edition of Locked-on Penguins.

Starting point is 00:34:57 Ladies and gentlemen, we can officially tell you if you have made it this far. We'll be back on Friday, and we will be joined by the one, the only Jesse Marshall. Jesse will be coming on the Friday show to talk to all things NHL draft. and the Pittsburgh Penguins. So make sure you are subscribed. Make sure you are following us on social media. We will have that episode for you nice and early on Friday morning. But for now, for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp.

Starting point is 00:35:34 Thank you as always for tuning in. And me, Hunter and Jesse will talk to you on Friday.

Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - A young defenseman is on the trade market, does he fit with the Penguins?

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.