Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Can Bryan Rust continue being a top Penguins forward?

Episode Date: May 6, 2024

It's time for another season review and this time, Hunter and Pat discuss Bryan Rust. They look back at his excellent season and break down what went right for him. They also look at the numbers and how he contributed most of his work at 5-on-5 before pondering if he deserves an "A" on his sweater every night. They then look at if he can continue this heading into next year even though he'll be a bit older. After that, they look at some bounce-back candidates for next season, including Rickard Rakell and maybe even Noel Acciari. Finally, they discuss their second-round playoff picks and look at how Wheeling is doing in the Kelly Cup Playoffs. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Monopoly GO!Get in the game and join your friends. Click HERE to Download MONOPOLY GO! now free on The App Store or Google Pay. The mobile hit twist on classic MONOPOLY.PolicygeniusCheck life insurance off your to do list in no time with Policygenius. Head to policygenius.com/lockedonnhl to get your free life insurance quotes and see how much you could save.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.IndeedThere is no “I” in “team.” But there is one in “Indeed” and that’s the hiring platform you need to build yours. When you’re hiring, you need Indeed.Claim your SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLAR CREDIT now at Indeed.com/LOCKEDON. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? You need Indeed.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning GUARANTEED That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET! 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) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Brian Rust had another spectacular year this past season, and Pat and I are going to break down that year, plus look ahead to his future 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. Hello, welcome back to another episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am one of your hosts, Hunts or Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. joined by my host Patrick Damp. You can follow him on Twitter at Center for Wet, and you can follow these shows, Twitter,

at L.O. Arnold Swear Penguins, of course. Thank you all so much for making this your first listen slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. And finally, today's episode is brought to you by Monopoly Go. Game off, we got to talk more about Monopoly Go. This fast-paced game lets you team up with friends for tournaments to unlock awesome prizes

like unique stickers for trading, cool playing pieces, and hilarious emojis for taunting your friends. So download Monopoly Go now, free on Google Play or the App Store game on. So, Pat, we've already done the core four for season reviews. And the next one on the list is Brian Rust, who was tied for third on the team in points this past season with 56, also had 28 goals. And the biggest thing for me, Rusted most of his damage at five on five. He only had three power play goals and nine power play points total. So 47, five on five points this past season.

season for Rust. He was absolutely spectacular for the Penguins. And if you dig into the underlines a little bit, he along with Crosby together were a force to be reckoned with. In 62 games, they played a little over 700 minutes of 5-1-5 ice time together. They had almost 55% of the shot attempts, 51 goals for, 48 goals against, 54% of the scoring chances, almost 60% of the high danger chances, and then 27 high-danger goals for versus 23. high danger goals against. His numbers do dip when he's not with Crosby. So I do think they need to continue playing him with Crosby next season. And they've worked well together ever since Rust came into the league. So it's kind of a no-brainer to have Rust with Crosby. Doesn't matter how old

Russ is. Doesn't matter how old Crosby is. They just work really well together as a duo. But I'm going to borrow something that you like to say on this show quite often. Brian Russ was someone that would always drag this team into the fight, especially when they were really down late in the season, when they were seven to eight to nine points out of a playoff spot. He was still playing his tail off every single game. I think his best effort to me outside of that Red Wings game was that game against the avalanche. I know the Penguins blew a four nothing lead,

but the way he played in that game was spectacular. He was being an absolute force on the full. Forecheck had a really nice goal driving to the net, great defensively, really strong on the PK in that game as well. It was a very typical Brian Rust game. And I do think he is in line for another really good year for 2024, 2025. I know, again, you're going to hear calls from fans and some other people to maybe move on from him just because his value was at potentially an all-time high.

His contract is maybe not the greatest on the team right now. But unless you're getting a package that you can't refuse. I'm keeping him no matter what. He was awesome this year. I give him an A for this season. He had a great year. There's no two ways about it. And it included a year with an injury that kept him out for a little while.

So the fact that he's able to put up nearly another 30 goal season and play as well as he did with Sidney Crosby. I've been saying it since the trade deadline. I know that the reporting has come out that said they pretty much went up to him and said, we're going to honor your no move. We're going to keep you here. And I think that's smart because you look at the way this guy plays the game. He's a kind of player that championship teams have. And we've seen him win too with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the organization.

So I'm happy holding on to Brian Rust just because it's been great to watch his evolution as a player as a Penguins fan. Because you remember when he came up, he was looked at as pretty much a depth piece. He was going to kill penalties. he'd be good on the bottom six. And he's worked his butt off to become a legitimate top six winger. I mean, we're not really all that far removed from the Dom Lecision meme of who the F is Brian Rust. Because he was a guy who came out of nowhere. And he kind of is the inspiration for the acting a Fuliman meme of the penguins have called up Buzz Flibit and Mark

donk. And then you look at their stat line and they've each got 15 goals. So he's a great piece. and I always praise him for his versatility. You know, he's a guy that you can play in just about any scenario. You can put him on a power play. You can put him on a penalty kill. You can put him on the top line.

And yeah, like you said, his numbers do dip away from Sidney Crosby, but not significantly. And you're hoping in a moment where you use him in a different role away from Sidney Crosby, it's not because he's playing poorly. it's because he's a good Mr. Fix It. He's a very steadying presence on whatever line he's on. So you can plop him onto a line and say, hey, go get this line back on track. And then in three, four games, you'll be back with 87 and we'll figure things out from there. So numbers aside, I mean, he has become a leader on this team. Yeah, is he one of the quote unquote core? No, because he's not a superstar. but he is somebody in that locker room that everybody respects, everybody listens to,

and he's very much a leader in the way he plays. I've said this on the show before, but he is someone that people can go to when maybe one of the core three or core four players don't want to talk. And I know I've said this before as well. He needs to have a letter on his sweater. I think they can make more room to have him have an A on his sweater because he's been here long enough.

You can tell he's one of the top leaders in the locker room. Whatever he says something, this team responds. So I think it's way past time for him to have a letter on his sweater. I don't disagree with you, but I also think he's the kind of guy that doesn't need one to be a leader. And that's not to say that Crosby, Malkin, or Latang do either. Those guys are just natural-born leaders, both in the way they play and in the way they carry themselves.

I do think with that in mind, though, you know, if there comes a time where, God forbid, Sid or Malkin or Latang find themselves out for an extended period of time, he's the first guy to take the next day. Because if Sid's out, nobody's going to take the sea. You'd probably just run with three alternate captains. If Gino or Latang go out, he's the first guy. You slap a letter on his shoulder and say, hey, in their absence, you're the second alternate.

Go out there and lead the team as best you do. but overall he doesn't strike me as a guy that needs to be named a captain in order to be a leader. He just is a leader in the way he works, the way he plays, and the way he conducts himself. And there's a lot of value in that and what you said that, you know, Crosby, Malkin, and Lattang do a phenomenal job in relation to the rest of the league when it comes to candidates and players who face the media because we've kind of seen it in a team that just went out in the Toronto, Maple Leafs, a lot of their leaders, namely Marner and Riley, didn't talk after game seven. And you know that Crosby, Malkin, Latang, anytime things go poorly, they're right there to be accountable and talk about it. And then on the dog days of the season, you know, your December, January, February,

might be a night where Crosby or maybe not Crosby, but Malkin or Lattang just don't want to talk. Brian Russ, right there to fill in the vacuum. Right. No, I agree with you on that. And just to go back to the point that you made. about how he can fill in on any line. You're right, because his underlines, no matter what line he was on this year,

were really impressive. And the 62 games he played almost 900 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time, Brian Rust, this year when he was on the ice, just about 53% of the shot attempts for the Penguins, also 60 goals for, 56 goals against, also 53% of the scoring chances, almost 57% of the high danger chances for Rust when he was on the ice. obviously he was great with Crosby, but even with Malkins line or even the third line,

he was still playing his tail off every single night, just really strong numbers from him. And, hey, if he's able to stay healthy throughout all 82 games next year, I know he's going to be another year older, Pat, but I can see him definitely hitting 65 points in a season, maybe 32, 33, if not maybe a little more goals from him just because of how great he was this year. For sure. And there's been a lot of talk about him and reporting around him that over the past few seasons, he's struggled a little bit with injury, but that comes with age. And he's updated his training regiment the way he gets himself ready in the off season. And it fills back into that evolution of him as a professional because it's really easy when you're the 20-something who just gets the call up from the H.L. you're kind of a surprise player at how effective you've been on a team that went on to win two championships.

But, you know, that's really easy to do when you're 24, 25 years old and all you know is winning and all you know is success. He's evolved as a professional and has adapted to what he had, the mileage that he has on his body. And that, again, folds into what a leader he's become because it could be real easy. We saw it with a guy like Connor Sherry who kind of figured that success is going to follow me forever and ever because I was part of two championships. I was a big contributor and he never really adapted to it. And now you see on the other side of it, you see a guy like Brian Ross. Same situation comes up big play driver for two championships. And he's found that consistency.

He's kept that work ethic and he's continued to be one of the better players on the Penguins. I agree. And I think part of the reason why you. you've seen that stuff about injuries and all that other stuff is because he plays a really grueling style. I think he's a very physical player, especially along the board. So sometimes that results in an injury or two. He plays a very honest game.

I think it's the best way to put it. I think so too. Yeah, that's a really good way to say. And I think it's also a good way to end this segment. Brian Russ, great for me, A, the season. I think you definitely concur with that. But overall, that would do it for this segment. Coming up in the second segment, Pat and I are going to look at some bounceback candidates for this team heading into next season.

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Exclusions apply. eBay guarantee fit is only available to you. customers. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes. Join my host, Patrick Dam. So we haven't done this yet this offseason, but it's time to look into some players who could balance that for the Penguins next year.

And I'll kick this off with a forward. And that is Ricardo Raquel, if he is on the team to start next season, I'm sure you're going to see him in some trade talks this off season. I've gone on record for this show before and said that if there's an opportunity, to move him. I think I would do that, even though I do think he is a bounce back candidate, just because I'm not that big on his contract. But that said, Raquel did end the season really strongly. Overall, he had 15 goals, 37 points in 70 games, so a little over a half a point per game to end the season. But he had a miserable start to the season overall, barely

even scored throughout the first month to six to even eight weeks, just looked like something was very much off. But that final four to six week stretch, he seemed to finally put it together a little bit. I think he was getting at least a little bit healthier to end the season, looking like the Raquel that we saw last year, Pat, where he almost scored 30 goals for the Penguins. And the bunting Malkin Raquel line was one of the Penguins' best lines to end the season, if not their best line, I probably should say that it was their best line, I think, to end the year.

and if they do decide to keep him heading in the next season, I definitely think he is a candidate to bounce back and get back to being a 22, 23, 25 goal score, even though he's also going to be another year older. And he's also someone that has a contract that I'm not too big of a fan of. I'm right there with you. I think that's a great bounce back candidate. And I do think he will bounce back because I know at the end of the year, there was reporting that he could be seen most of the second half of the season with a brace on his shoulder.

and when you play the kind of straightforward physical shot first kind of game that Ricard Raquel plays, a shoulder injury is going to hamper that a lot. You're not going to play as physical because you don't want to further aggravate the injury and take yourself out of the lineup. When you're a shoot first player, having a shoulder injury is going to impact your shot. And I think that even though his contract for the next few years is tough, the $5 million for the next couple of seasons, I think maybe next year they can move it just because the cap will,

go up once again. It'll be a little bit easier for teams to take on that salary burden. But at the same time, the chemistry he's shown with Malkin, the history he has as a player, and then you put bunting into the fold, which congratulations to him for being named to Team Canada, big moment for him for the world championships. But I think that assuming he's healthy going into next year, he is going to bounce back. He probably had a little bit worse of an injury than we were led to believe. And, And the history and performances are there for him to be right back in the fold next season. Yeah, I agree with you. And also just going back to what you're talking about as contract, it is four more years at $5 million.

So I could see Kyle Dupas and company being like, yeah, we don't want to move him this year just because his value is going to be a bit lower compared to where it was last year. And they may not get that big of a return just because how many teams are going to want to take on four more years at $5 million with where the cap is right now? heading in July 1. But a couple other players that could be primed for at least a small bounce back next season. If he is on the team as well, I am looking at someone, Pat, like Noachari, only four goals, seven points in 55 games this season. I do think when he's healthy, he serves a purpose on the penalty kill, but man, he just got to give you more offense.

I'm sorry, that's the biggest hang up with me along with his contract. I think it was just too much term for someone who just really didn't play that well this year. I do want to see what he can do without Jeff Carter. No offense, Pat. I'm sorry, but I think without him on his line, that could be better for Atari. And also, maybe having Achari move to wing full time and bring in an offensive-minded fourth-line center that can just drive more offense on that line, and that can help Achari.

Because with all due respect to Achari, if you're asking him to drive all the offense on a line, you're asking for trouble. I don't think he's going to be the type of player that will do that. That said, again, when he's on the PK, the unit is better. I just still need to see more offense from him. And I think he can deliver that if he can bounce back and maybe gets a couple or at least one other better offensive player on his line. Definitely.

Him and Matt Nietto kind of have the same issue going into next season is that they were really just hampered by injury. And it's hard to put an actual grade on the way they played just because they were in and out of the lineup so much. I think you hit the nail on the head, though, with Noelle Achari. I think his biggest thing is he's got to have a better center or at the very least somebody better on his line than Jeff Carter. Because, again, similar as I was saying to Raquel, not with the Penguins, but just

overall in his career, he has shown to be a very, very effective third line player, fourth line player, if it's a really deep team. And he brings a lot of value both on the PK and for depth scoring. but at this point, it's hard for me to really put a grade on him because of the injuries. And I think that he's been very effective everywhere he's gone. And if, again, same thing as Raquel. Assuming he can stay healthy next year, I think he is going to be a bounce back candidate and just a bounce back player because health really held him back all season long.

That's fair. And I will say if they do decide to move on from one of Achari or Nieto or perhaps both, I won't be that upset just because I think the Penguins can do better in free agency or via trade than those two players. But we'll have to see what Kyle Dubus does with the bottom six this offseason. Another player that could very much use a bounceback and he needs no introduction. And that is Tristan Jari, especially if he is this team starting Netminder heading into next season. First half of the year, flawless, playing like one of the top goaltenders in the league. Heck, we were sitting up here, talk about how he was top 10 in goal state above expected,

at least for a time he was a very many dark horse for the Vezna after the first few months. And then it all went downhill once February started, lost his starting job to Alex Ndilkevich just wasn't consistent when the Penguins really needed him when the playoff push got very real during the final four to six weeks of the season. And the biggest thing for me, I keep going back to it, it's the consistency. I need to see him play at at least a good level for a full. 82 game season. And that's kind of where I handed over to you.

I honestly don't even have that much else to add. He was pretty healthy this past season. He just can't stay consistent. I think the biggest challenge when it comes to Jari, should they decide to keep him, is you have to find another Alex Nadelcovic or you have to really hope that Joel Blumquist is ready to take the leap. Because if nothing else,

I do think the biggest thing for him is that he has to maybe take a little bit less of a workload, at least early on. I think early on in the season, first month, two months, maybe you're not going every other game and going goalie by committee, but maybe every other game. Maybe every third game you sit them down and let him get some rest. Because as we've talked about, the trend with him the last few years is that once you get into March, He starts to fall apart. And I think sometimes the simplest answer is often the correct one. Maybe this guy can't handle a full-time starter's workload, but if you give him 45 to 50 games, he can be a little bit better down the stretch.

And if you can get somebody behind him, or if you have Joel Blumquist and you go goalie by committee, maybe he finds that level in March and you're going into the postseason, and go, okay, we're going to put the saddle on Tristan Jari, give him a chance to battle his demons. But we know we have somebody on the bench who, should he falter, we can go right to him in the next game. I just hope that they will be able to find that goalie if it's not Blum Cushes because, again, I look at the goalie free agent market for July 1. It's bad. It is not a good market. So they might have to go to the trade market to try and find that type.

of goalie. A couple other bounce-back candidates before we head to our final segment and make our second round picks. This one's by default, Pat. I mean, Ryan Graves, the bar is on the floor, people. If he is somehow worse next season than he was this year, I won't even know what to say. And then this one is also, I would say it's fair. Eric Carlson, 56 points. I think he definitely has a much higher level to reach next season. You saw it down the stretch those final 10 games. He was a point per game was doing also everything in his power to get this team into the playoffs. But if he can play like that for a full season next year, this experiment is going to work. And I think you'll see him have 70 to 75 points next season. Those are my last two

bounce back candidates. I don't really have too many others, I don't think, but what say you? One I can think of off the top of my head. And right now, I can't put him in the bounce back category because he's going into unrestricted free agency. This is if they'd side to bring him back. That's redeems the Horna. I mean, he looks like he could and should be a bottom six contributor consistently at the NHL level. If they bring him back, which I don't really care one way or the other, because he's not going to command a raise. You'll probably bring him in for the same 775,000 that you have them for now. But he's one that I look at should have been a bottom six contributor all season long. She'd never seen time in the AHL, but it just didn't really work out for

him. But yeah, the two you brought up, Graves, bars in the floor, he's got to be better. And then Eric Carlson, I don't know if I would say bounce back, but he just has to find a better level of consistency into next year. He has to be able to, at the very least, play to a certain standard for all 82 games. He can't have the peaks and valleys that he had this year. It needs to be a consistent performance through 82 games. And I'll throw Crystal Tang in there as well. I did not like the way he played, at least the final month and a half. I know. had. He was great for a good chunk of this season. And the injury looked like happened.

But if he's fully healthy for next season, I want to see him be more consistent to end the year. I know. That's the caveat. Once we know what the injury is, how severe it is, if it's bad like we think, then we just want him to get healthy. But if it's something that wasn't that bad, then yeah, he has to have a better second half of the season. Agreed. Yeah. I don't want to be unfair towards Chris. I just want to see him play at the level that I know he can play at because he was playing at that level for most of the season before the injury looked like was really affecting him towards the late stages of the season.

But that'll do it for this second segment. Coming up to end the show, Pat and I are going to give an update on Wheeling and how the nailers are really up a creek right now in their series against Toledo. And we're going to make our second round Stanley Cup playoffs picks after I went eight for eight in the first round. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about our next sponsor, and that is Monopoly Go. All right, game off. We got pause here to talk more about Monopoly Go. I know what you're saying. Flag on the play. You already talked about that, but there's just so much good stuff in this game. In Monopoly Go, you can team up with friends for time tournaments where you work together to build up each other's boards. The more you win together, the more awesome prizes you unlock. And there's so much to get. You can get unique stickers. You can trade with friends to compete albums for big prizes, cool new playing pieces to travel the boards with, and hilarious emojis for taunting friends when you smash the buildings or heist their vaults. Plus, Monopoly Go feels new and exciting every day with constantly changing

tournaments and challenges. A ton include their own unique mini games like Dicking for Treasure or a robot machine. And there's always new timed events that help you win big like massive multipliers for everything you win or rent frenzies. There's always something fun to discover in Monopoly Go. So get off the bench and go download it now, free on Google Play or the app store, game on. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes, join on my host, Patrick Dam. So Pat, the nailers, they need to really dig deep in the second round series. They lose game one in heartbreaking fashion and overtime. They then drop game two in regulation. This series now shifts back to wheeling where the nailers

need to hold serve at home or this thing is over. Well, yeah, control of the series is, you know, I know this sounds obvious to say control of the series is up for grabs here because the ECHL Kelly Cup playoffs run a two three two format in their playoffs. So the first two games were in Toledo. The next two at the very least will be in Wheeling, hopefully three. And then it shifts back for six and seven in Toledo. And you're right. Game one heartbreaker, they were up one nothing going into the third. Toledo ties it, then gets the win in overtime. And then they just couldn't catch up to Toledo in game two, losing five to three. And this is the thing about a arrival. such as Wheeling and Toledo like I have been talking about.

West Banko Arena is not going to be a fun place for Toledo to play. It never has been because the fans of the Wheeling Nailers, if there's one thing they love more than anything, and I know this firsthand, they love old school hockey. If Toledo lets Wheeling get to a physical, fast-paced kind of game, that place is going to be loud for 60 or more minutes, however long that game goes. and it will be a very, very difficult atmosphere.

But in seeing these games, with the exception of a part of Game 2, wheeling's right there. This isn't exactly like the Toledo walleye have jumped out and beat the crap out of them. It's just been on the margins. If the nailers can come out, play a little bit better consistently, put together a little bit better of a 60-minute effort, they're right there for it. And you win game three, you start sowing those seeds of doubt.

in Toledo of, okay, maybe we're in for a long series, won't be a short series. And then if you can find a way to get a win in game four or five, then it becomes a total toss-up. So I'm very interested to see how the nailers respond now that they're down two-oh in the series. Agreed. And I thought Justin Lee for Wheeling was really good in game two had two of the three goals. I think if he continues to have a really strong series, excuse me. Willing could definitely make this a series. And if you want to go to game three, that is Wednesday, in wheeling. You can get your tickets online or call their number.

And then game four Friday and then game five if necessary. That is on Saturday before the series shifts back to Toledo. But moving on from that, it's time for the second round in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Yes, I'm going to pat myself on the back. Once again, Pat, I went eight for eight in the first round. The haters will say it's fake. You know what?

Whatever. I got all eight series picks right. And we're going to try to go four for four in this round. I'm going to start with Carolina, New York. I'm still going to go Carolina and seven despite the Hurricanes losing game one to the Rangers. I do think the Rangers played pretty decent at five on five, but I think the main reason why the Rangers won that game again was because of goal-tending and special teams.

They got to stop giving the Rangers power plays. The Rangers power play, it's one of the best in the league for a reason. They made the Hurricanes penalty kill, which is a very good unit, look really bad in that game. And then Igor Shasturkin, he's been really good in the playoffs these past couple of years. he was great yet again in game one. I think Carolina is the overall better team. I think they're deeper.

And if they can stay disciplined, I think they will win this series. I'm still going to go Carolina and seven. I'm going to go Florida and six over Boston. It looked like for a little bit, the Bruins were going to choke that lead and become the first team in MLB, NBA, NBA, and NHL history to blow two straight three one series leads and back to back seasons. That was on the line for the Bruins, but they tied it. and then David Posternak breaks the Leafs' hearts in game seven. I'm going to go Florida in six just because Babrovsky is playing an unbelievable level. Barkov's been great.

Verhegey's been awesome. Ryan Hart, Kachach. I just think they're a better, deeper team. And the Panthers, when they're firing on all cylinders, I still don't know if there's a team in this conference that can beat them. I'm going to go Florida in six. And then in the west, I'm going to go Colorado in seven. over Dallas. I love how Dallas came back to beat Vegas the way they were able to dominate the

back half of that series speaks volumes to how good Dallas is, to how deep that team is. But when I look at that series, I see a Colorado team where its best players are just playing a bit higher than Dallas's best players right now. And there's really nothing anyone can do when McKinnon and the car go insane. I think you're going to see that again in the series. Also love Colorado's second line. Lackinin's been great. Millsat's been awesome. If they get average goaltending from Georgiev,

I think they win the series. Give me Colorado and 7. And then Edmonton, Vancouver, a series that I've been wanting to see since the playoffs started. Give me Vancouver in 7 and an upset, Pat. I'm taking Vancouver to win it. I'm hopeful that they can get back one of the other two goalies, namely Demco, just because he is a major difference maker in net for the Canucks.

I'm hopeful that Elias Pedersen wakes up in this series. He was really bad in the first round against Nashville. And I'm also hopeful that the Canucks can stop the Oilers power play. It's the number one power play in the league for a reason right now. McDavid, Drysadle, New Jersey Hopkins, Hyman, Bouchard, just a very unfair unit. I know so many people are going to take the Oilers to win the series. And rightfully so they have, I think, the best players in this series overall. But I just love the way Vancouver is going right now as well.

give me Vancouver in 7 and upset, and it's going to be chaotic. Those are my picks for the second round. I like it. I'm going to go the same order. You were going here. No disrespect to the Florida Panthers, but the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes kind of feels like the Eastern Conference final to me.

I think these are the two best teams left in the east. I'm with you with the same thing. I think it's Carolina in seven. They're a very disciplined team, and I think they got away from that in game one. And it's not a trend that happens often under Rod Brindam. So I think they're going to clean that up the rest of the series. Assuming Igor Shisterkin doesn't steal it, which he very much can,

I do think I'm there with you. I think Carolina and seven, they're a deeper team. They can pull this one out. Florida, Boston, I'm going to go Florida in five. I do think that Boston got a chunk taken out of them by Toronto. And they barely squeaked by a Toronto team that didn't get much of anything from its top players and they still needed game seven overtime to dispatch the Leafs, which is not a great sign for them. Florida is hitting on all cylinders. They've been resting for about a week. And that's just a

great team. And Sam Bennett likely is going to come back in this series. So that's going to put up a world of hurt for the Boston Bruins. So give me Florida and five on that one. Vancouver, Edmonton, I know it's your team. I know you love them. But I just don't think they have the horses to keep up with Edmonton. I think Edmonton's going to win this one in six. Now, I do think if Demco comes back, it gives them a little bit of a jolt, but there's too many question marks right now surrounding Vancouver for me going up against a team like Edmonton.

So give me Edmonton in that one. And finally, Dallas, Colorado, I'm ready for this series, man. I think this one comes down to goaltending and defense. If Jake Ottinger continues his resurgence, I, think he's maybe one of a handful of goaltenders that could match Colorado. But if Colorado's forwards get going, I don't like Dallas's defense to be able to slow them down, which could be a huge problem. But overall, I do have to go with the season team here. I got to go with Colorado. I think they take this one in seven, and we're going to get a damn fun Western Conference final in

Edmonton and Colorado. We're set up to have two great conference finals, I think. no matter what is. If it's Florida, New York, Florida, Carolina, and the east, that's going to be awesome. And then in the West, you know, Edmonton, Colorado, Edmonton, Dallas, Vancouver, Colorado, Vancouver, Dallas. I mean, this second round is going to be great, but the conference finals are also going to be awesome. And yes, people, the Canucks, my mistress team, at least a little bit. I love watching them. I don't think, I think they're going to put up a good fight. I think it's going to be a very good series, but I just think overall, when the two best players in the series are on the same team, that is a monumental task for a team like Vancouver who I don't think is going anywhere.

I don't think this is a one-year aberration. They're going to be around for a while. Yeah, I mean, I'm concerned about Vancouver's defense just because outside of Harmonic and Quinn Hughes, they have some pieces there, but is it enough to slow down the Oilers 5-on-5 attack? That scares me a little bit. And then Stuart Skinner was the goalie was pretty solid against the Kings. he's not UC Soros, but he can still elevate his game when needed as well. So I know I might be drinking some Kool-Aid with that one, but I'm still going to go Vancouver

and 7. I hope I can keep up my perfect score heading into the conference finals. But that'll do it for this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this one. Pat and I will be back on Tuesday for another episode of the show. So for Pafford-Damp, I'm Hunter Hodes. Thank you all for tuning in. We'll talk with you all on Tuesday.