Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - After a bad weekend for the Penguins...what's next?

Episode Date: February 12, 2024

The Pittsburgh Penguins failed to get any points from this weekend and Hunter and Pat are here to tell everyone what went wrong for this team. They detail how the same issues continue to pop up and how they can be fixed heading into the rest of the month before the trade deadline. They also analyze how this team is allergic to scoring goals and how that's been a massive problem over the last month. They then look to the future and get into a long debate about what Kyle Dubas should do for the rest of the season. Should he get this team some help? Should he look towards the Summer a little bit more? They also look back at Dubas' moves over the summer and how a lot of them haven't panned out, which is a little bit scary. All that, plus much more is on this edition of the Locked On Penguins podcast.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.Camino ConsultingAfter providing more than 20 years of service to small and midsize businesses, Camino is offering a digital seminar for families and couples. Go to www.caminoconsulting.ca and use discount code LOCKEDON for 25% off the rest of the month OR mention Locked On when reaching out for a business seminar and receive the first 5 profiles free.SleeperDownload the Sleeper App and use promo code LOCKEDONNHL to get up to a $100 match on your first deposit. Terms and conditions apply. See Sleeper’s Terms of Use for details.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelGet buckets with your first bet on FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET! That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – if your bet wins! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.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) 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.

The Penguins have returned home from their quick two-game road trip with no points and even more questions. On this edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast, Hunter and I are going to break down that and more right after this. Your Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day. Welcome back, Penguins fans, to another edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Patrick.

Damp. Joined as always by the one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Synonym 4WET. You can follow Hunter at Hunter Hodes. You can follow the show's account at L.O. underscore Penguins. We thank you for making this your first listen or watch of the day. We are free and available on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

And today's episode is brought to you by Sleeper. Download the Sleeper app and use promo code Locked On NHL to get up to a $100 match on your first deposit. Terms and conditions apply. See Sleeper's terms. of use for details. So we start this Monday in a not so great place as the Penguins quick two-game road trip through Minnesota and Winnipeg saw them yield zero points, a three-two loss to the Minnesota Wild on Friday night, and then a two-one loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.

And as I have been saying for the last couple of days, these games pretty much have been a microcosm of the last two seasons. power play continues to be garbage and falling apart in the biggest moments of the game. They have no semblance of depth scoring, nor can they even score pretty much at all, scoring all of three goals across those two games. And especially on Saturday, just unable to start games on time. That was a huge problem last year. It hasn't so much been this year, except for a handful of games. And Saturday night was definitely one of those games. the penguins did not look good in the first period.

Actually, let me amend that a little bit. They looked good for the first couple of minutes of the first period, and then when the goals were scored by Winnipeg, they just completely imploded upon themselves and were scrambling, trying to play a brand of hockey they cannot play. So at this point, we have to discuss where this team is, where it's going, in what the future in the near and long.

term is going to look like. That's pretty much going to be the theme of today's episode that there are, as I said in the intro, a lot more questions than there are answers with this Penguins team. Getting back to the playoffs is obviously the goal. I think I speak for most Penguins fans when I say Stanley Cup contention, not in the question this year. So at this point, Hunter. I know you have been waiting since Saturday night to really cook and talk about these two games this past weekend. So as per usual, my friend, the floor is yours. Empty the clip. What do you got? I just think these two games showed what the Penguins issues have been all season long. Number one, they have too many passengers on this team right now, especially in the top six.

Ricard Raquel has been absolutely terrible this year. He's not working on any line. He has five goals in 37 games. I know I didn't see that coming. You didn't see that coming. I don't think anyone in the fan base or anyone that covers this team on an everyday basis saw him that coming. Five goals in 37 games.

He's almost on a 10-goal pace for someone that almost had 30 last year. Riley Smith has been a ghost basically all season. And yeah, I know he's scored against the Minnesota wild, but he's also been a passenger all year. Even in these two games overall, I didn't really like his effort that much. I mean, yeah, he scored, but I mean, that was also a really beautiful pass,

I would say, from Evgeny Malkin. Ryan Rust, okay, he's been decent times, but he's still quite often a little bit of passenger as well. But outside, I would say, over the forwards of Jake Gensel, Cindy Crosby, and of Guinea Malkin, There are just so many passengers on this team right now. And then that gets to the depth scoring. You said it when you were cooking right there.

They have no semblance of depth scoring at all. And it's funny, man, I kind of saw this coming a little bit when Kyle Dubus made his moves on July 1st. I gave him a C for the moves that he made because I wasn't sure where the goals were coming from outside the guys in the top six. And now, with some guys in the top six barely even producing this year, that problem only gets worse.

because you knew that a lot of these guys in the bottom six were not going to score this season. And yeah, I know Matt Niotto's been out for a while, but even when he played, he wasn't particularly playing that well. Noah Chari has not provided much offense at all this season, even when he's been healthy. Jansen Harkins has four points in 34 games. None of those are goals. Jeff Carter, I mean, he's been okay at times, but he's also almost 40 years old at this point. You know what you're going to get from him, I would say, on a nightly basis.

But we are in a couple of games. I think he's showing that he's probably one of their best steps options, but that's kind of sad considering that he's only played a couple of games this season. Lars Eller, he's also been fine. But again, I don't think he's a third-line center on a contending team, as I've been saying. I think he's been good this year. Drew O'Connor, he's kind of fallen back down a little bit after a really nice hot streak. But again, they really only have two or even three,

even decent options for their bottom six right now. And that's not good enough if you want to contend for a playoff spot. number three, they don't have a defense him that's worth a damn after Chris Luton, Eric Carlson, and Marcus Pedersen. I keep seeing these takes on social media. The Penguins will do anything but solve their second pairing issue. How do you suppose they solve that? Seriously, that is a open question to anyone out there.

Ryan Graves has been terrible beyond comprehension this season. I mean, I was higher on him than some other people were heading into this season. I thought he was going to be at least a decent fit, but he hasn't even been close to that this season. He's vomiting all over himself in his own zone. He's not providing any offense. And, oh, yeah, they still have five more years of that contract of 4.5 million per. So that's looking like one of the worst contracts in the league at this point so far this season.

And then P.O. Joseph, we've seen what he can do in the second pair of minutes with Eric Carlson. That's not going to work. John Ludwig's not going to play up there either. They don't have another true top four defensemen on this team right now. And I really think that is hurting them. Those are the three things that I think have just. been killing them all season. Of course, we can mention the power play as well. I mean, they've had 14 one goal losses this season, if you can believe that. And the power play

pat is below 12% in those losses. That's unacceptable. And that's cost them so many valuable points in this ending. So you combine those three things that I said, plus to how bad the power play has been in their one goal losses. And this is what you get a middling to okay team that is, yeah, in the race, but it's starting to fade a little bit out of the race. And if they don't get a lot of points in this next stretch here where five of their next six are at home, they're going to be really up a creek heading into the deadline in early March. Yeah, I want to add a couple things to what you said. I want to start with the Ricard Raquel point.

And this is going to sound silly, but at this point, you can't play him anywhere but the top two lines because we have seen he doesn't create offense on his own. He needs to be with an Evgeny Malkin or a Sidney Crosby to be a productive player. And that's no shot at Lars Eller. We're going to talk in the second segment more about roster moves, Kyle Dubus, the front office, and all of that. But we have seen that no disrespect to Lars Eller. He has been better than most expected. I would go even to say he's been one of the better signings they made this year.

Now that's not a high bar to clear. but he has more than fulfilled the role he was supposed to play. But he's not a guy that you put a winger like Ricard Raquel with him, and Ricard Raquel keeps his production. So at this point, if you're Mike Sullivan, Ricard Raquel has to play in the top six. I know he hasn't earned it. I know he hasn't looked like a top six forward this year,

but that is his role. You can't put him in reduced minutes with guys who aren't elite centers because it just doesn't work as well for him. As for the defense, you're spot on. Outside of Latang Carlson-Peterson, there is no answer there. P.O. Joseph has had multiple opportunities to seize that spot, and he just hasn't. Chad Ruehdle is who he is. John Ludwig's a nice little defenseman might have some upside as a middle pairing guy or a bottom pairing guy when you're on a deeper team.

But he just, that's his ceiling. I would be surprised if he became anything more than that. I want to see more of him, but I mean, up to this point, I know it's been a small sample. His underlings are okay. He can throw some big hits, but I want to see more outside of just him throwing a couple of big hits. Because, you know, I like the one that he threw in the Winnipeg game when he came back to the lineup. But I want to see his puck movie abilities. I want to see how he defends in his own zone.

And right now, again, I just kind of think of him as a regular run-of-the-mill number five, number six, number seven defensive, somewhere in that range. And again, I want to see more of them, but I just don't think. think his ceiling is that high at this point, in my opinion. No. And unlike last year, like last year, the only real issue, and I know this breaks it down a little too simplistically, but the only real issue the Penguins had last season was depth scoring. Because if you remember, everybody in their top six had double digit goals.

Everybody that played in the top six had 10 or more goals. This year, they have four players with double digit goals. And that's Crosby, Gensel, Malkin. in Rust. Rust has 13, Malkin has 16, Jake has 22, Sid has 28. Outside of that, yeah, Eller and Smith have nine each, but nine goals from Eller is fine because he's a depth player. That's about what you want him to score, 10 to 15. Riley Smith, that is unacceptable. You have been stapled to have Guine Malkin's wing for most of the year. He's missed all the six games. It's not like he was out long term. He missed six games, and he's got all the nine goals and 21 points.

that's just not acceptable if you're a top six forward. Jeff Carter, six goals. Again, fourth liner, 10-ish in that area, 10, 12 goals, which is pretty much what he's on pace for. That's what you want out of them. Contract aside, the role that he's playing, he's producing at the rate he's supposed to. And then Ricard Raquel, 37 games, five goals.

That's just not acceptable. So right now at this point, you have four players driving the bus and nobody else is there helping them. And that is not a key to success. It's taking us back to the 2014 and 2015 Penguins teams when the book on beating them was, got down their top two lines, and nobody else is going to be able to beat you on that team.

And we're right back to that point again. I love that you brought that up because this is, I feel like this is a carbon copy of those teams. And I'm going to go down memory land here for the fans listening to this. show. I know all of you remember Zach Sill, who I think is basically Jansen Harkins at this point, to be honest, with four points. It's a fair comparison. I mean, I think it's fair. He's not really doing anything offensively. Everyone remembers Craig Adams, of course, playing in the bottom six for so long,

Tanner Glass. Do you remember the line, Tanner Glass with Joe Vitale and Craig Adams, how that's useless. No offense and honestly, not that much defense either. It's probably one of the worst fourth lines in the league. You had Marcel Gotts in there who really didn't do anything. thing. They traded for Maxime LaPierre, who probably did a funny moment in a playoff series for the Penguins, but he didn't really do much the Penguins either. You had guys like at times Bobby Farnham was getting a look in the bottom six. It's just, that's not what I want the Penguins' bottom six to look like in 2023, 2024, 24 now, of course, but the 2020, 23, 2024 season, I should say. And the fact that we're even having that conversation is scary to me because I'm a bit worried that Dubus may not learn from that in the offseason.

And he's just going to double down on this over the summer. I'm not saying he's going to. I'm just worried because of the lineup that he built over the summer. Again, I understood the plan. But when I saw those moves made on July 1, Matt Nietto, Noachari-Lar-Zeller, I still said to myself, where are the goals coming from. And I'm glad that I get to be vindicated with that because Penguins right now are 25th in the league

in goals per game at 2.9. And shout out to Josh Joey, who put this stat out there on social media. The Penguins have not scored more than three goals in a game in a month. And a month, people. January 8th against the Philadelphia Flyers, they scored four goals.

They have not scored four goals in the game since then. They have scored four, they have scored three goals, I should say, and only four games since then. They can't score to save their lives. They have three goals in the last two games. That's not going to win you anything. And until they get better goal scoring, they also potentially not be the worst finishing team in the league because that has been a case for the last couple of seasons.

You're going to continue to see them struggle like this. I think the finishing, it's a combination I think of a bad luck, B, not having enough finishers, I don't think, and C, partly the system a little bit. But they really need to get this goal scoring problem fixed or they're just not going to go anywhere at this point. We can get into this conversation in the second segment. But if the penguins are really serious about winning this year after going all in over the off season, then a move needs to be made ASAP. And we will get into the Kyle Dubus of it all in the roster construction of it all in the second

segment, but before we do that, we have to go to break and tell you about our first sponsor, and that is Sleeper. We're a little past the halfway point in the season, Penguins fans, and we know how this one is going. The highs have been high and the lows sure have been low. Regardless of where we are in the current standings, I want to remind you that you could win big by playing Daily Fantasy Hockey on Sleeper, the official Daily Fantasy app of the locked on NHL network.

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Terms and conditions apply. That's code locked on NHL, see sleepers terms of use for details and locational availability. We're back on the Monday edition of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Patrick Damp, joined as always by the one and only Hunter Hodes, and we teased it there before we threw to break. You had your rant on these last two games

and where things stand right now. Now I'm going to take my turn here, and I'm going to rant about, the way this team is built and the general manager and all of that. And the thing I want to start on is this. We brought up in the last segment guys like Riley Smith, guys like Ricard Raquel, guys like Ryan Graves. And I have seen a lot of revisionist history.

And I will give you your flowers absolutely here, Hunter. You said it on July 1 prior to me joining the show that his offseason, his July 1st, his free agency, Kyle Dubus. see average grade didn't do great didn't do poorly middle of the road and the thing that i have been seeing a lot of and if you follow me on twitter you know i have been fighting this battle for the last 36 hours i've had a lot of people coming at me and rightfully so you guys know me i love talking hockey as long as it comes from a good faith a good faith place and you're not name calling and doing all kinds of goofy stuff i'll talk hockey with you all day every day as

long as I'm awake. But seeing a lot of revisionist history of people who were like, the Graves contract was awful and Riley Smith was a dumb move and all this stuff. No, they weren't. Not at the time. The evidence was there that Riley Smith would be a productive top six winger. He did it for multiple years with the Vegas Golden Knights. And then Ryan Graves, he was a huge part of the New Jersey Devils getting back to the Stanley Cup playoffs. Now, if you called both of them going and turning into absolute pumpkins, I'll get you a gold star, but it's going to take four to five business days because they're on back order due to supply chain issues. At the same time, though, yes, we can evaluate it right now that they have both been absolute busts and they have not worked out and they have greatly disappointed. I don't think anybody saw Ricard Raquel having this down of a year. I really do.

don't. Again, another guy, evidence was there that he was going to come in and still be a productive 20 to 25 goal scorer in the top six has not looked that way at all. A lot of that is just bad luck. I'm not going to sit here and pretend like Kyle Dubas had a great offseason. He didn't. It was fine. I will say he gets marks for getting the best player available. And that was Eric Carlson. The best player available this offseason was Eric Carlson. And he traded for him. and gave up next to nothing. So he deserves full marks for that. The free agency part of it, though,

I can't say it was great, but I also can't sit here and pretend like I was disappointed with it at the time because it all made sense. I wouldn't say I was disappointed. I would say I was kind of underwhelmed, as I've said, you know, a couple of times in the show already. I'm glad that Lars Eller has exceeded my expectations.

But as I've said all year, I think he serves you best as maybe if you're, a true contending team, he serves you best as a 4C with someone providing more offense as a 3C. And I don't think it's helping him that he's playing with Ricard Raquel, as you said, because Raquel hasn't really been doing anything all here. And again, it's fine if you sign a player like Lars Eller because he's played well so far. But that can't be your best move for your bottom six over the off season. Again, bringing in a player like that is totally fine.

He can give you some scoring a little bit at times. He's really good in his own zone. Great penalty killer. But if that's the biggest bottom six move you're making, then I kind of question your process of how you're going about selecting players. No. Al-Chari, you know, he's had a history of scoring definitely a little bit more than what he has this year. And I think he could use some better linemates.

Maybe we'll have to see how that is next year. But so far, again, outside of some defensive impacts, some impacts on the PK, he's provided next to nothing and half the ice this season. We can talk about Matt Nietto as well. I felt like there were better options to build out the bottom six over the offseason, someone like a Matt Duchain, though, of course, you have to have him intentionally want to come to Pittsburgh, and we don't even know the Penguins were truly interested in him.

But if they weren't, I mean, I think they should have been considering Duchain was out there. And then someone to me, and I've been beating this drum for a long time, Evan Rodriguez, that's my boy. I know he's had a great year in Florida. I would have loved to see the Penguins bring him back, though. You know, I know him and Mike Sullivan, there was a penalty in the playoff series, Pat that you remember he took in game six at home.

There was just a whole situation, I think, with that. So, again, I would have wanted them to sign him, but I also understand why he went to Florida because of the situation that it presented itself. But I just felt like overall, there were a couple of better options to suit this bottom six a bit better. and now you're really seeing why that roster construction on July 1 is coming back to bite him a little bit just because, again,

I was underwhelmed and they're not getting the depth scoring that I want them to get. When they were winning those cups in 2016 and 2017, they were getting contributions from everyone in their lineup, even when the Malkin line was shut down, even when the Crosby line was shut down. They were getting contributions from the HBK one. They were getting contributions from the Matt Cullen line, especially. And you fast forward a few years now,

they're getting almost next to nothing most nights, I would say, from those two lines. And it's just really hurting them every single game or most games, I would say, at this point. Yeah, and you brought up Matt Douchain. And the thing I also want to put out there as well is there is two things here. One, I have to say this before I get into the Kyle Dubus of it. there's a lot of revisionist history on, oh, he didn't do a good job in his first off season. Well, a lot of the seeds for what ails this team were planted before him. It really cannot be understated how much damage in just two short years, Hextall and Burke did.

And I'm not passing the buck from Kyle Dewas. I'm not saying he's perfect and absolved of all blame. He's made some questionable moves. But you look at a lot of the guys that are ailing and struggling this year. I mean, Ricard Raquel's got four more years at five million. Duba didn't sign that dude. You've got obviously the Jeff Carter 3.125 with a full no move. Again, Ron Hextall move.

You, and if you're going to get after him for the bad moves, we have to credit him. Again, for Lars Eller, I know 2.45 is a little bit much, but he's played the role he's supposed to play and played it pretty well. He got Alex Nadelcovich, who looks like a 1B goalie. He re-signed. He took a gamble on Tristan Jari, and Jari has been one of the best goalies in the league this year.

And again, I will say, let's see how bad deal ages, but so far, that's an A plus move for almost a goal. Where this team is, you're not worried about three, four years from now. You're worried about the next year or two. And right now it looks very good.

And then the same thing, the Eric Carlson trade. You can, you can Hem and Haw about the power play. That's fine. We have all season. And he's got to be better on that. But at 5 on 5, he has been both pretty solid defensively and he's producing at his usual

career pace. People forget his 100 point season in San Jose was well above his career pace. He's producing the same amount he has for his entire career. So you can't really say he's been a disappointment. He's been worth the money. And then to the future of it, the other thing I think people are forgetting, aside from on July 1, you always overpay. That's the price of business on July 1.

You are always going to overpay, especially for anybody worth a damn because there's going to be multiple suitors and you eventually have to be the one that has the most lucrative deal. But you brought up Matt Douchain, $3 million contract for a third line center, and he's got 48 points, including 18 goals. That would be really nice to have on the third line right now. then I also look at a guy like Vladimir Teresanko. $5 million deal, 14 goals, 34 points. Again, would be really nice to have in the bottom six, or as somebody who can fill in on the top six when guys struggle. And then another guy who Kyle Dubas had history with that I'm surprised he didn't

give a call to is Michael Bunting. 11 goals, 32 points. He's making a very affordable salary for a couple of years in Carolina. That would have been very nice to have in the bottom six. Now, you hinted at it a little bit. I also have to make sure people understand. Guys have to want to come here. We often forget that as fans of a team because in our world,

we're the main characters, and understandably so you root for a team, you focus on them. We're a Penguins podcast. We focus solely on the penguins and talk about the rest of the league when it's required. But there's also a very real chance. Maybe they tendered offers to these guys.

And they just said, no, I don't want to come to Pittsburgh. It's very much a possibility that these guys just said no. And lastly, I think people need to relax a little bit. I'm not saying except mediocrity. I'm not saying everything's okay and, you know, Baghdad bobbing it and being like, no, no, everything's fine, everything's good, no questions. But I think the biggest moves, and I've hinted at it on this podcast before, are going to come this summer because more meaningful money comes off the books that you can move. You only have Jake Gensel as your only free agent.

And whether people want to admit this or not, you're not going to lose if he doesn't come back. You're not going to lose Jake Gensel for nothing. You're getting cap space. And in today's NHL, cap space is an asset. I also think, and we can continue this discussion a little bit in the final segment, I don't want us to run too long here, but I do think there is a world where they can do a little bit of quote unquote selling at this deadline to compile

assets to move this summer it's not guys that they're going to bring in and make long term answers for but i do think the biggest spotlight will be on kyle dubus this summer rather than right now i could see that i think i'm still of the opinion where i think i maybe just disagree a little bit for right now because of how they went all in over this summer. You make all those moves. And no matter how some of them have worked out versus how some of them haven't,

you still went all in for this season. Try to get back to the playoffs. You try to get at least one more massive run out of this core. And right now, the GM is kind of sitting on his hands a little bit. And I don't know if he's nervous to maybe do something because I know if Jim Rutherberg was sold the GM right now, he probably would have done at least a couple of major trades

just because that's who he was. you know, I will say this, though, and I don't like Ron Hextall. I don't like what he did with the team. I do think if Hextall were still the GM of this team right now, and this is how patient he was being, you would be hearing the pitchforks even louder, to be honest, just because of what Hextall had done with this team for the last couple of years. But that aside, in my opinion, Kyle Dubus needs to basically ask himself, what am I willing to do to save this easy?

because right now, standing pat, I don't think is an option. I think if, because you went all in over the summer, you need to make a move ASAP. A couple trades I've already been made. There's a lot of trade chatter out there already. Are you all in for this season or are you not? And if you're not, then okay, you're just wasting a heart trophy caliber year away from Cindy Crosby.

And to me, that's unacceptable. And that's a slap in the face to him considering what he's doing this year. It's a slap in the face to Jake Gensel considering what he's doing. Tristan Jari is eighth and goals saved above expected this season. He has a 9-16 save percentage. He is playing like one of the best goaltenders in hockey. It's also a slap in the face to him if you stand there and do absolutely nothing. And I'm not saying, again, that you need to go out there and get a massive rental at some point.

But considering you went all in over the summer, you still kind of owe it a little bit at this point to try and get Crosby some help so that they can make the playoffs at this point. considering how just okay the Eastern conferences, again, outside of maybe three to four teams, this conference is not that good people. It's just not. So I don't think he can sit on his hands any longer. You've got to make a move sooner rather than later. And the longer you wait,

the more upset people are going to get. And rightfully so, because nothing is being done to help fix this team. And we'll explore more of that question on what they should do here in the next few weeks to a month with the trade deadline looming. But before we do that, we have to tell you about our next sponsor, and that is Fandul. Get buckets with your first bet on Fandul, America's number one sportsbook.

Because right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $150 if your bet wins. Bet on all your favorite NBA players and teams with quick bets, live same game parlayes, exclusive props, and more. Just visit Fandul.com slash. Locked On and Shoot Your Shot, Fandle, official sports book partner of the NBA. We're back here on the Monday edition. I almost said the Friday edition, but let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here, folks,

of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Patrick Damp, one more time, joined as always by Hunter Hodes, and we're going to keep the conversation going from the second segment of what this team needs to do with the trade deadline looming. I have kind of made this point before, and I kind of stick with it, is I think this is a really unique opportunity for Kyle Dubus. Because we know at this point, there's only a handful of teams that are truly out of it and that are still in rebuild mode and that will be selling come the deadline. Just because this has been a competitive year. You can say competitive, you can say mid, however you want to describe it.

but in both the Eastern and Western conferences, there are a bunch of teams that still have a very realistic shot to make the postseason, maybe not go on a cup run, but to make the postseason, and that is going to make it a seller's market. So if you're Kyle Dubas, if you're looking at this roster and you're saying,

okay, I know this isn't probably a Stanley Cup contender, chances are they can maybe win a round or two, but they're not going much further. I think you can look at some names like maybe a Riley Smith or Lars Eller or even a PO Joseph and you can get some return for them. To what I was saying in the last segment, I think his best decision this season should be not so much to go all in, not so much to punt, but to think to next year in say, okay, if I can flip a couple of productive guys for a roster player to some

extra draft picks or whatever, I can flip those this summer and really rebuild this roster. My thinking, I understand you're thinking with that. My only hope is that if you do that, then Cindy Crosby continues to produce like this next season. And to be honest, that there's no guarantee that he will, just considering that he's going to be another year older. And I know it sounds crazy of me to maybe, I guess, bet against Cindy Crosby, considering what he's done at this point in his career.

but I do think as he gets closer to 40, you can have those conversations just because what he's doing right now usually is not the norm for 36-year-old players in the NHL. So if you are confident that Sid can play like this next year and Gino can at least play, I would say at this level for the most part for next season,

then okay, maybe I can see a little bit more for that. But in terms of if you're not, then I think you should try to push her chips a little bit for more going all in this year. Again, I'm not saying to make the biggest moves of the deadline, but just getting a few or a couple, I should say, reinforcements to help this team at least get into the playoffs. That's really all I care about at this point. Seeing more playoff hockey and seeing what you can do against teams in a conference that are not that good. Boston is very good this year.

Are they the juggernaut that they were last year? no, and they also lost in the first round. The Panthers are very good, but we'll have to see if they can get all the way of the final again. The hurricanes are very good, but let's face it so far. They're not built for playoff hockey. Their goal scoring goes away in the playoffs because they don't have enough high-end talent to win for seven-game series. They just haven't so far yet.

Knock on wood, I should say. The New York Rangers had that hot start. They've kind of cooled off a little bit, and their best goalie isn't even playing that well this season. If that's a problem in the playoffs, that could spell trouble for them pretty quick. And they also just lost in the first round last year. New Jersey is not playing that well this year. They need a goalie really bad. You look at the conference overall.

Again, it's so right for the taking that I think honestly still at this point, maybe you can call this copium, whatever. I just think it's foolish right now to punt right now. Now, if these next, I don't know, a few weeks go by and you're dropping points on the fly, then okay, let's have a different conversation. even maybe about Jake Gensel, who again, I'm still right now, I'm not even sure if he's going to get moved to the deadline just because a couple of teams that I kind of saw maybe targeting Jake, they're going to be out of the race now with the Winnipeg Jets, for example, and the Vancouver Canucks.

The only team that I really have seen connected to Jake are the Edmondton Oilers, and let's face it, they don't have anything to offer the Penguins. Their prospect pool stinks. The roster player you're going to get from them is probably not that good. And I'll just make a joke here. The only roster player I would want from the Oilers for Jake Gensel is one, of their two best players, which that's not going to happen or Ryan Nugent Hopkins, or is that kind of, they're not going to train any of those players, nor should they.

Again, I was joking about McDavid, Dressile, Nugent Hopkins, but again, you look at the up and down that lineup. There's not many forwards there that I would really want for the foreseeable future. So, again, I just don't know how many true suitors there are for him at this point. So that's kind of where I stand on that right now, at least to your point. Now, here's a name I don't think a lot of people are talking about that could net some good assets to bring them back into the playoff race at the trade deadline. And you may look at me like I'm crazy. You may think I'm a little out of my mind.

But if I'm Kyle Dubis, I'm putting Alex Nadalcovic on the trade block. Because a lot of what you have right now probably doesn't have much value outside of Jake Gensel. And if you move Jake Gensel, you're pretty much putting up the white flag as it is. But you've got a goalie who's played 15 games. He's got a 9-17 save percentage. He has been a starter before in his career. We're coming down the stretch runs, so you're not going to put a lot of stress on him

because he's only started 15 games. He's appeared in 17. A lot of teams need goaltending. And if you're Kyle Dubas, you can maybe say, hey, I got this guy, he's a 1B. We've got an okay goalie in Wokesbear right now in Blumquist who could come up and back up pretty well and be serviceable.

so maybe we can make a deal. But we can discuss more trade deadline possibilities in the coming weeks, especially as we see how this season plays out. Before we go today, I have to give a shout out to my former employer, the team I used to work for in the ECHL, the Penguins AA affiliate, best hockey team name for my money in any league, the Wheeling Nailers in West Virginia,

have tied a franchise record this weekend by winning their 12th straight game. In Hunter, I got to tell you, man, if you have been to a Naylor's game, you know this. They are a blast. And when that team is good, West Banko Arena in downtown Wheeling Man, it is one of the most fun atmospheres you can go to. So at this point, if this team keeps it up and they find their way into the Kelly Cup play, And that is what it is called in the ECHL, ladies and gentlemen, the Kelly Cup.

Get your butt down there because it's only about an hour drive from Pittsburgh. The tickets are extremely affordable. And it's a very fun atmosphere. So shout out to them. And Hunter, I know you looked up a few stats for this team. So hit us with those. Yeah, no, Wheeling is playing really well this year. For those that are local to the Pittsburgh area or even the Wheeling area and you haven't

even been to a game yet, I strongly suggest you go. and honestly, I should say that to myself because I haven't been to a Wheeling game yet. And with how good they are, I'm going to have to go down there at some point. You know, you have players like Dylan Hamillick who came over in the Eric Carlson trade. 32 games this year, 14 goals, 35 points for Willie. He's playing really well down there. Jordan Martell in 40 games, 24 goals leads the team, 37 points in 40 games. Jordan Frasca, nine goals, 24 points in 25 games.

They are also standings-wise. They're fourth, 28 and 16 and 1-1. So one overtime loss, one shootout loss. They have 58 points, five behind Toledo, also five behind Idaho, 15 behind Kansas City, who is 35 and 8 and 2 and 1. That is a insane record. It's very rare when you see a record like that in hockey. But it's awesome seeing Wheeling play this well.

At least one of the Pittsburgh affiliated teams here, Pat, is actually playing its tail off this year. Yeah. And shout out to head coach Derek Army behind the bench. he was one of the key contributors for that team when I was there, especially my first full season working for them in 2015, 2016, when the Penguins organization actually did something that has never been seen before, and I don't think it's been seen since. In 2016, the Wheeling Nailers were in the Kelly Cup finals playing the Allen Americans

out of Allen, Texas, who were they the ECHL affiliate of the San Jose Sharks? and who were the penguins playing in the 2016 final, the San Jose Sharks. So that was a super fun time. But yeah, I mean, shout out to them. It's awesome to see. I'm telling you guys, well worth your time to go check out a game down there in West Virginia. You will not regret it. And if you do, you guys know what my Twitter handle is.

Go ahead and tell me you didn't have a good time, but you're not going to be able to do that. That is going to do it for the Monday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. For Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp. We will be back tomorrow to talk more about the week ahead and where this team needs to go to get back into the playoff race. But for now, that's going to do it for this episode. We will be back tomorrow.