Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Can former Penguin Reilly Smith help the Rangers cup aspirations, with Jon Chik of Locked On NYR!

Episode Date: July 16, 2024

It's a special crossover edition as Hunter and Patrick are joined by Jon Chik of Locked On New York Rangers to discuss Reilly Smith and a boatload of other topics. Jon gets Hunter and Patrick's thoughts about Reilly Smith and if he'll be a good fit with the Rangers before they discuss Sidney Crosby and how long he'll keep playing at an elite level. That leads the way for more contract talks about him before they discuss Opening Night between these two teams. They discuss how great of a matchup it's going to be before they discuss the Rangers offseason and how the Jacob Trouba situation could end. All that, plus much more is on this special edition of the Locked On Penguins podcast.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!IndeedStill searching for a great candidate for your company? Don’t search, just match–with Indeed.Claim your SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLAR CREDIT now at Indeed.com/LOCKEDON. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? You need Indeed. eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotors.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.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. As playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up ALL CUSTOMERS with a boost or a bonus, DAILY! That’s right, there’s something for everyone, every day, all summer long! Visit FANDUEL.COM and add a big win to your summer bucket list!FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I'm back for my mini vacation, and that means it's time for a fresh episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast featuring John Chick of the Locked-on New York Rangers podcast. That's right, we've teamed up with him for a special crossover episode discussing Riley Smith, Sidney Crosby, and the Penguins Rangers rivalry, and a quick preview of opening night between the Rangers and Penguins that comes your way in October. That's all coming up right after this. You're Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day.

All right, so no further ado, let's go ahead and kick off this special crossover edition of Lockdown New York Rangers and Locked on Pittsburgh Penguins. This is John Check with Lockdown New York Rangers, joined by my good friends, Hunter Hodes and Patrick Damp of Locked on Pittsburgh Penguins. And fellas, we were talking off there just a minute ago. about the Rangers acquiring Riley Smith this off season. And I want to actually start by going back in time about a year when the penguins, when they actually acquired Riley Smith from the Vegas Golden Knights. What were your thoughts then? And how do you feel he did and what turned out to be his only season as a penguin? Yeah, I mean, I was a big fan of the move. I felt like he was really going to help this team off the rush. I felt he was going to be a great fit with Evgeny Malkin. They really didn't give up much to get him at all. And for the first month of the season, he started out. really strong. He looked like a very seamless fit next to Malkin. But it was after that first month, things really went south for him, just wasn't a fit on that line, wasn't really a fit anywhere.

It felt like in the lineup. And as the season went on, it really felt like, okay, it's only really a matter of time before he's not a member of this hockey team anymore. He was rumored to be being, excuse me, shopped around the trade deadline. The Penguins opted to hold on to him. And then, of course, he was dealt to the Rangers after the season was over. and I'm honestly, again, not surprised that he was dealt. Maybe I was surprised that he was dealt to the Rangers just because I don't know. I didn't think the penguins were going to deal him to a division rival. But the writing had been on the wall for a long time.

He just wasn't as good of a fit as we all thought he was going to be. And that's the main reason why the move was made. And I was right there with Hunter when they acquired him last summer because you look at the season that he had, his final one in Vegas, more than 50 points, 26 goals. and he was a huge cog in that Stanley Cup run for the Golden Knights. And we all know how the Vegas Golden Knights operate. They spend money like a drunken sailor. And they get it all figured out in the summer.

They don't care what their salary cap looks like when the season ends. They care about what it looks like when it's about to start. So you knew that there were going to be casualties in that some guys who played big roles in that championship were going to get moved. So being able to get Riley Smith, a guy who had been an original misfit, a big part of that team produced fairly well for them in that time for next to nothing was huge. And just like Hunter said, that first month, you know, everybody was excited about the Eric Carlson acquisition. Oh, this is great. We got the Rainy Norris winner on the roster. But after the first month, a lot of us went,

man, the savvious move that Kyle Dubus has made is probably Riley Smith because he had instant chemistry with Evgeny Malkin. And then for whatever reason, it just completely evaporated after that first month. And he never found that again. And like Hunter hinted at, and like our friend Josh Yohe of the Athletic Pittsburgh has told us, there was a lot of talk that maybe he was unhappy, not so much with the penguins in Pittsburgh, but just the fact that he had never wanted to leave Vegas. so he was just not in a great place mentally.

So it was tough to see him kind of fall apart the rest of the season because he brought so much promise early on. Yeah, it's interesting how that can happen. I mean, you both kind of mentioned, touched on it a little bit there, that maybe just a lack of chemistry, you know, apparently he was going to be the ideal fit for Malkin, and it got off to a good start, and then it just didn't work. And it's just funny how that works where sometimes two players can seem like

they're born to play on the same line together and it doesn't work. and then sometimes the opposite can happen. You have two guys that feel kind of random together or even three guys that feel really random and it can click and those guys to make magic. So it's just interesting to hear that. I do want to ask too. Is it weird for you guys to see the Rangers and Penguins

making all these deals? I think it's now, and granted the other two trades were very small, but we've seen, I think, now three trades between these two teams in the last calendar year or so. And so that's my first part of the question. But then the second one, should it be a red flag to us, Ranger fans that the Penguins were so willing to just give Riley Smith to a division rival. I know you got a second round pick and a fifth round pick, but still, I mean, that's kind of

just handed him over. It definitely is a bit weird that they have been making quite a few trades. I still think it would be even weirder if you see the Penguins and Flyers make moves just because they hardly ever trade with each other overall. So yes, it's a bit weird, but I don't think it's as weird as it would be if maybe they made a trade with the Flyers or the Capitals. for example, you did see a little bit of a divisional tax with this trade just because of one of the picks the penguins got back was in future years down the line. So there was a little bit of a tax there overall.

And I think as for your second question, I really don't think it's that big of a red flag. I think it's more that he just needed a fresh start and the Rangers had the best offer available for the Penguins at the time. And I do think he can be a decent fit for the Rangers, especially with how good of a rush-based team they are. When I watch the Rangers, I really feel like they're a great team in transition and just off the rush. I really feel like he can help them in that area. They're not as good of a team, I think below the dots in terms of forechecking aggressively in the offensive zone. But I feel like with Smith's game, with how good he is off the rush, he can really help on the second line, on the third line.

I think he's a good middle six options for the Rangers. I just hope he doesn't crush the penguins on a nightly basis. Yeah, that's my biggest thing. I don't want to have this come back to bite us. But overall, I mean, I'm going to go. a little deeper than Hunter on a philosophical thing here. I think this kind of shows a new generation of general manager. Now, obviously, this isn't going to be league wide or happen overnight.

I think some of that, oh, we don't trade within our division thought process is starting to leave a lot of general managers because why would you handicap your team at acquiring assets by saying, oh, this team is in my division. Now, obviously, you don't want to trade huge pieces within your division. That's why when there was a lot of talk up to the deadline that the Rangers were in on Jake Gensel, I was like, okay, now that's a player where if you're going to trade him within division, you have to tell the other general manager, yeah, you're going to have to pay a steep, steep price than most teams. Like Carolina did, people kind of forget, Pittsburgh got a lot for Jake Gensel out of Carolina.

So there was some of that stated divisional tax. As for a red flag, I mean, one thing I know Kyle Dubus is known for is, quote, unquote, doing right by his guys. And you could tell that this fit, this marriage between Riley Smith and the Pittsburgh Penguins was not a productive one. And this is somebody Kyle Dubus wanted to go out and acquire. So rather than leave him in a miserable spot, especially when it's not working, he's going to send him. somewhere where maybe it's going to work out a little better, especially considering that the New York Rangers and the Pittsburgh Penguins are in two very different spots right now. The New York Rangers have Stanley Cup aspirations. The Pittsburgh Penguins are in the midst of doing a retooling on the fly.

So I don't see a world unless a dozen planets and stars all decide to align that there's going to be an Eastern Conference final between the New York Rangers this year in the Pittsburgh Penguins. So I think overall you got a player that has some good upside for you, and the penguins got what they needed and what they've stated they need more than anything, which is just a bevy of draft picks. Gotcha. And something else I wanted to ask you about two, I think to start the season, you're probably going to see him on the right wing on the same line with Mika Zabagin and Chris Kreider. And the two of them have been together forever, but they've had this revolving door,

everyone from Kako to Blake Wheeler, Jimmy VZ, Johnny Brunsonski, Ross, Voselvik Wenberg. I mean, the list just goes on and on. And, you know, varying degrees of success, but it seems like nothing ever really sticks. And I know you guys don't watch the Rangers every single night, obviously, but, you know, could he be that guy? Could he be the guy that's finally the missing piece to that line? And can he excel like in a top six role? Because from what I'm gathering, you both kind of seem as kind of a middle sixer. Is that right? He could be, especially if he has a similar season to the one he had when Vegas won the Stanley Cup. That was one of his best seasons of his NHL career.

So, you know, I think if he were to be a good fit on that line, I think he'd have to be an even better finisher. I know Zabedajad is pretty sound as a playmaker. I know he's also a good finisher. Crider, he'll finish any chance he gets, especially on the power play. But I think adding another finisher to that line in Riley Smith, if he's on top of his game,

I do think could work for the Rangers, especially off the rush. For sure. And I don't think, you know, in any world this guy is cooked. And it's not like we don't want to sit here and talk about him. like he's some scrub because he's not. He's scored 20 or more goals five times in his career.

He's eclipsed 50.6 times in his career. So this guy has a track record of being able to produce. And like we talked about at the top, it just didn't work for whatever reason here in Pittsburgh. But there is a track record of this guy being able to produce. And to add on to what Hunter said early on about the way the Rangers play compared to the way the penguins play, this feels a little bit more suited to his style of play.

So if he can fit in with those guys, you might get a 20, 25 goal score in your top six, and all you paid to get them was some draft picks. And with where we all know the New York Rangers want to go over the next couple of years, that's a valuable commodity to have in your top six. So if he messes with those guys and kind of has, I don't want to say a total resurgence, because let's be honest here, 13 goals, 40 points last year,

disappointing for the way he started. But overall on the surface, that's not a bad year of work, especially for what he's making. So if he can produce at that level or just a little bit better for the Rangers, this could be a very, very nice little piece of business for the New York Rangers. You guys are kind of talking me into it. It's kind of funny. I've had some mixed feelings on Riley Smith.

And, you know, obviously a solid player and somebody that the Rangers have been interested in for a long time. I never really got all the hype. I mean, he's solid. I just don't think he's an elite superstar. And there were a couple of free agents that signed one-year deals that maybe I would have preferred. But yeah, I mean, if he's the missing piece for that top line for the Rangers, I think Ranger fans are going to love him.

So obviously, I'll keep my fingers crossed it. That's exactly what happens. But I will keep everything rolling in just a second. I've got a couple of questions for Hunter and Patrick about Sidney Crosby and some things that are going on with the Penguins. And we will get to that in just a minute. Before we get back to our awesome conversation, John of Lockdown New York Rangers. It's time to tell you all about our first sponsor,

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All right, we just want to thank everybody, as always, for making lockdown readers and locked on penguins. Your first listen every day, both shows are free and available on all platforms, including YouTube. And so, fellas, obviously, we talked about Riley Smith. Let's go ahead, talk about some storylines, you know, circling the penguins right now. And I know you both want to ask me about Jacob Truba,

and we'll get to that at some point here as well, your favorite player, I'm sure. but yeah So Cindy Crosby Obviously going to the last year of his deal And you know No new deal has been struck as of now How where does everything stand there

And do you guys think it eventually will happen And will it or could it happen before the season starts? It should happen before the season starts I mean the athletics Rod Rossi reported last week That the deal was getting close to being finalized It sounds like based on all the reporting out there It's going to be a three year deal for Crosby This will I think be his

last NHL contract, but he could keep signing some one-year deals after. But I think this is, I mean, at least his last big one, but I think overall he'll probably walk away after this one if you were to ask me. And money-wise, if I had to guess, John, I'm going to go out there and say it's going to be three times 10 for Crosby. That's Pat and I have kind of echoed that on the show numerous times throughout every discussion we've had about Crosby's next contract. Yeah, I know some people are kind of scared just because he hasn't signed the extension yet, but Crosby's not the kind of person to take this into the season. I don't think he wants to be asked about this after every practice, every game, especially leading up to the deadline if the penguins are out of it. Oh, you haven't signed a contract yet. Are you going to get

traded? You know, where do you want to go? He's just not the type of person that is really interested in that kind of talk. So I think he's going to want this done sooner rather than later. His birthday is coming up. We all know how superstitious Crosby is. His birthday is on August 7th. Would not be surprised if that's when the contract announcement comes overall. But by all indications, this is probably going to get announced fairly soon. I'm pretty confident in that. I would be genuinely stunned if it's not done before the start of training camp. Just because in Hunter knows and our locked on penguins listeners know, I went on a whole tirade about all the takes around Sidney Crosby. So I'm not going to make you guys suffer

through all that again. But he has, his biggest idol is Stevie Y. And Stevie Y's claim to fame as he played his entire career in one place. I know that's not his only claim to fame, relax comment section, but he's going to stay a penguin for life. He has said it on the record multiple times. He wants to wear one jersey. He wants to be a one helmet guy, as a lot of Pittsburgh Steelers, players like to say to cross sports there for a second. So again, I'm right there with Hunter. It's going to be, I think, three times 10. And he's going to finish his career as a Pittsburgh penguin barring something absolutely. Absolutely ridiculous.

And I think he does to further discussion a little bit, I think he wants to be the guy to usher in the next generation of Pittsburgh Penguins. Now, I don't see a world where they're going to get a top five pick with Sidney Crosby on the roster. But you can see that they're starting to stockpile a lot of young players who project to be solid NHL players, while not superstars or franchise players, they're guys who are going to fill out in NHL Rock. And I think there's a huge part of him that wants to say, hey, I'm taking this torch as the leader of the Pittsburgh penguins in their golden era of hockey and passing it on to the next generation rather than, hey, good luck.

I'm going to go play with my buddy Nate in Colorado for a year or my boyhood team in Montreal. And I'm going to be out of here. And you guys, good luck with whatever it is you're doing. So I think, and I'm lastly right there with Hunter, as superstitious as this guy is, it would not shock me. in the least if we find out the contract is signed and announced on August 7th. Fair enough. I'll keep an eye on that date for sure. Another question here, Hunter, I've asked you this one a couple of times in the past.

Patrick, I think it might be my first time asking you. But Crosby, you know, going to be 37, like you guys were saying before the season starts. And, you know, last year, just another casual 94-point season. So I'm just wondering, like, how many more years of this? Like, because Rangor fans, as a Ranger fan, if you're going against the Penguins, you know that's the first thing you got to do is you've got to figure out a way to at least contain this guy. How many more years do we have to go up against this guy at an elite level? It's going to be like a full two decades here.

I mean, go ahead, Hunter. Okay, I can go ahead with that one. I think this year he's still going to be playing at an elite level. I mean, he'll have Brian Ross next to him. We still don't know who his left winger is going to be just yet. Right now, it's Drew O'Connor, who just had a 16-goal 30-point campaign. But Kyle Dubas said after July 1 that they would like to get a winger for Crosby. that's at least on the agenda in terms of what is left to do for the rest of the offseason.

So stick around for that. But I think next year he's still going to have a really big year. He's going to be at least a point per game player. I think in the NHL, and I would not be surprised if he does hit 90 plus points again. He is a total cyborg at this point. And I can't bet against him, like overall. Right. That's right where I am with Sidney Crosby as well.

I mean, you every year we're like, oh, the degree. decline's coming. The client's coming. He's not going to be able to keep this up forever. And then he just goes and does it. I also have a running gag that I used to have on an old show I was on for some of the listeners of that who may remember it dying alive. I did that show for a few years. And the funny thing I always said about Sidney Crosby is that while he may be the most superstitious and competitive athlete we've ever met, he's the pettiest as well. Because if you look back in the early days of his career, it was, oh, he's a playmaker. He, you know, he's not a goal. He doesn't score. He doesn't score goals. Next year, Ho Hum goes out and wins the rocket. A couple years later, oh, you know, he's this really solid playmaking, goal scoring forward. He's great offensively. But, you know, you can't trust

him to take a big face off. Goes out, he's top five and face off percentage. And then a couple years later, yeah, you know, he's not bad in the defensive zone. He's solid. He's good enough. Goes out, becomes one of the better two-way forwards in the NHL. So you tell him he can't do something or, you know, people like us, us pundits and media people say, oh, he can't can't do X, Y, Z, and then he just stuffs it and shows us he can do it. So if I were to put a number on it, I'd say next two to three years, he probably remains a point per game player, stays in that 80 to 90 point range. And he's also just a complete and total hockey purist.

He wakes up thinking about hockey, goes to practice hockey, comes home, thinks about hockey, goes and plays hockey, watches hockey before he goes to bed, goes to bed, dreams about hockey and then wakes up and starts a cycle all over again. So this guy's so dedicated to his craft that I don't see a precipitous drop off coming anytime soon. But I do think gradually a lot of things are going to start to fall off. But the one thing he has that a lot of people don't is an incredible hockey IQ. So the brain never leaves you, but the skills will start to deteriorate.

And I think that's probably going to happen in two to three years. Yeah, the all-time grades, I mean, not even just hockey, but really across all sports. They always find a way to, like, squeeze every drop out of the orange, so to speak, and just get the absolute, you know, best out of themselves that they possibly can before they eventually hang it up. But, yeah, I'm not counting on any kind of a drop from Crosby. If that actually does happen, I guess I'll just be pleasantly surprised at that point, but we shall see.

But, yeah, let's go ahead. Just a second where I keep everything rolling. I know you guys have a couple of questions for me about Truba. We'll talk about the rest of the offseason for both teams. And look ahead a couple of months. these two teams going to be playing each other on opening night. So, yeah, we'll do all that in just a second. All right.

So, yeah, let's continue here. And I know we were talking off air a minute ago, guys. And I get a couple of questions about Truba you want to ask me. So fire away. Yeah, so, John, this has been a very, what's the word, messy situation. I think with Truba, obviously the situation. I know with his wife, you know, the no trade clause. There was the rumors about the Detroit Red Wings.

Where do you stand all of it? And do you think they can repair this relationship with Trubb? before October starts. Yeah, I, it's a whole mess. I mean, it feels like the show, the analogy that I use on my show is it feels like we're on chapter three of a 10 chapter book here and we're just kind of getting started with this whole storyline. But yeah, I mean, the rumor for a while there, and, you know,

it seems like this has been debunked since this, you know, story broke, was that they had a deal in place with the Red Wings. They're going to send to Detroit. It would basically be a salary cap dump. And the Rangers might retain like two and a half million of his eight million dollar cap hit. That never happened. And they kind of leaked this before Jacob Truba's, you know, 15 team no move list was due. And that was my first question was like, if you have a place and deal with Detroit and you really do want to offload this guy and do the salary cap dump

and spend that money elsewhere, then why leak that to the press? Because if Truba doesn't want to leave, what's he going to do? He's going to turn around and put Detroit on his no move clause. And if he doesn't, if you just wait for him to do his list and Detroit's not there, you can do whatever you want. And if Detroit is on the list, then maybe you try to talk him out of it and maybe you get him to wave that no move clause and send him there. The whole thing like with his wife and her residency, look, I'm sensitive to anybody with a family and, you know, every pro athlete, there's always, unless you have a full no move clause, there's always this risk of this happening where you can be uprooted without a moment's notice. and the next thing you know, you got to move your whole family across the country, maybe to Canada to a different country, whatever the case might be. So I am sensitive, but I also don't see, like, what's so unique about this situation with Truba

where, like, they should cave into his demands because of this, whereas, like, other players, this happens all the time. A couple examples I use is, you know, Johnny Brunsinski. He's on the Rangers, became a full-time NHLer this past season, and good on him. It's a really cool story at the age of 30. finally kind of makes it, so to speak. And there was a story about him, like all these different places he's had to move to and bringing his family along.

He's got two kids, a wife, a dog. So he's had to do all that. Alex Wenberg, the Rangers trade for him from Seattle last year. His wife at the time, I mean, they already had one kid, and she's like eight and a half months pregnant, and they got to fly across the country. So that's kind of my thing. Certainly I'm sensitive to it. And being a father myself, you know, I get it.

But that's kind of what you sign up for when you're a pro athlete. And another point that I made about that situation is that if it was really that important to Trubman, that he has the full no move clause, then maybe he should have negotiated that into his contract and taken a little bit less than $8 million per year. Because if he signs for like $7 million a year or $6.5 million, I get the feeling he probably could have put that in his contract. He didn't do that. The opportunity was there for him to maybe negotiate that. Maybe the Readers never would have given him that no matter what. But I think if you take enough less money, they probably would have done that. So yeah, man, the situation's a mess, as you guys described it. And as far as whether the relationship can be repaired, I think it can at a certain point.

You know, it's just time to play hockey. And some have speculated like, oh, do you strip them of the sea? Do you go with maybe somebody like Trocheck as your captain next year? And certainly that's an option. But honestly, I feel like if you do that, you're just pouring gasoline on the fire. And you're just making it worse and it just becomes even more of a distraction. I get the feeling come opening night, Reindeer's penguins in Pittsburgh. years see Jacob Troob out there and very likely still wearing the sea as well.

We do often forget as, you know, prognosticators and pundits that these are human beings with lives away from the sport. So I'm really happy to hear you say that. And I also look at it, you know, real quick from this angle is, hey, they gave him that no move clause and that's his right to exercise it however he feels. And if he doesn't want to leave, he doesn't want to leave. But to me, and I want to get your thoughts on this, John, is it's $8 million. And this guy isn't a top pairing defenseman, at least not anymore, for what he brings to the table.

So do you think in reality, this is more or less not about so much the no move, the drama around it, and more about his play on the ice? Because we saw the way he played throughout the playoffs. Everybody did. it seemed like he was aside from, you know, whatever controversy you may consider, he just was kind of a liability for a lot of it on the ice. So how much of it do you think is his play rather than all the discussion around the contract? I mean, that's certainly part of it.

You know, going into the off season, you know how it is. You know, your season ends and whether it's a reindeer fan, a penguin fan, whatever your favorite team is, everybody tries to like fantasy book like trades and like, you know, you know, waving this player and doing this and doing that and sign this free agent. But certainly, you know, my feeling going into the offseason was that his play had slipped to such a degree that $8 million a season, you probably can't even give him away. I mean, if you were to trade him, it would be a straight salary dump. You're not going to get really anything in return and you might have to attach a sweetener.

Again, how far along was that trade with Detroit? Was there ever really a deal in place with Detroit? That I don't know. but if you would have told me that Detroit would just take Truba off the Rangers' hands, and we would retain two and a half million, and they would take care of the other five and a half million, before Free Agency especially, because then you can use that money toward Free Adents.

I would have signed up for that in two seconds. Yes, do it. I'll drive him to the airport myself. Truba in the playoffs was just bad. I don't know how else to say it, and I know certainly there's Ranger fans that like him. They like the fact that he's physical. They think he's a good captain.

They like the old school kind of hockey. And they like his willingness to hit and block shots. And there is something to be said for all of that. But you can find toughness and grit and snarl for less than $8 million a season. You know, it doesn't have to, it doesn't have to cost that much. And so, again, his play in the playoffs was just so bad. I've done more than a thousand episodes of this. I've never really gone in on one player the way I did on Truba in the immediate aftermath of that Eastern Conference final because I just don't know what he was doing out there.

And, you know, you got people saying, well, you know, he had the injury earlier in the season. and they were mental mistakes. You know, that game four winner that the Panthers had when the Rangers were short-handed, I mean, he's chasing the pup toward the boards and just taking himself out of the play, and they score, and just bad, man. So I don't know. Hopefully he can bounce back from this. Hopefully the relationship can be repaired.

And, I mean, at this point, I don't really see any point in trading him because where are you even going to spend the money now? All the big freedoms of signs. So he'll be back for one more year. But after this year, with guys like Igor and Lafranier and Miller needing new contracts, I think you'll see them cut ties with. Truba in one way or another. We'll see how it goes down at that time. Right. And just to switch gears a little bit, you know, speaking of that Eastern Conference final, of course, the Rangers lost to the Panthers who went on to beat the Oilers in the Stanley Cup final. John, I know the Rangers really

didn't do too much after, you know, they get Sam Carrick, they get Riley Smith, of course, but for the most part, this is the same team heading into the 2024, 2025 season. Are you okay with that overall, or would you have made a couple of more changes overall to this roster? And I guess as a second question, are you confident in this Rangers core heading into next season that they can beat some of these top teams both in the East and just overall? Yeah, I mean, coming into this offseason, I thought we'd see a few changes happen. You know, I'm doing all these free agent episodes like all of us do. And maybe we can go after this guy, you know, Bertuzi was somebody that was pretty high up there on my list. But the one thing you have to keep in mind, and I touch on it just a second ago, is a lot of in-house Rangers need new contracts next season.

So there's only so much you can do. And the funny thing for the Ranger fans, because there's a lot of them that are really doom and gloom about this offseason, and I get it to a certain extent. But when you look at this team, I think it's honestly a better team now than it was last year. Granted, I would say slightly better. But I would take Riley Smith over somebody like Jack Rossevik. Sam Carrick for $1 million a year versus Barclay Goodrow for 3.6. I give the edge to Sam Carrick there. They also have some young players coming along.

I think Brian Offman has a good chance to make this team this year, former first round pick. If he doesn't make it, you know, maybe he'll be called up, you know, sometime during the season when they need a little spark or whatever it might be. But, yeah, I think they're right there in it. And they had a chance, you know, they were in overtime in game four against the Panthers. They score there. They're up free games to one. And you'll drive yourself crazy thinking about, you know, what could have happened after that. But it was right there.

I mean, they were right there on the doorstep. And they ran into a buzzsaw. And people kind of lament the fact that the Reader stars didn't do enough against the Panthers. Panthers shut down everybody. They shut down every superstar that they went up against in the playoffs. So I think they'll have another great season. I think certainly they'll be back in the playoffs and I think there'll be a threat. The odds are against any one team winning the Stanley Cup because it's just too competitive

and it's just too difficult to predict. But I think they'll be right there in the mix with a lot of the other elite teams in the league. And hopefully I'm right about that. And we'll get that first look on opening night when the Penguins and Rangers face off in the opening game. And this is obviously we're way too early. It's mid-July. We can't give our thoughts on an opening night game that is still months away.

But there is one thing I want to get your take on real quick because Hunter and I have talked about this on our show is that the penguins in the Rangers and then you add in the capitals in the flyers and even for a couple years, Columbus and Carolina. the metropolitan division is no stranger to being just a house of rivalry for everybody involved. And I think Hunter and I agree on this that as of the last 10 or so years, the penguin's biggest rival has not been the Flyers, has not been the Capitals. It's been the New York Rangers. And I got to say, like, I remember growing up as a Penguins fan in the 90s, you know, my parents would always say like, oh, my big, like, forget the Flyers.

I can't stay in the New York Rangers. I can't stand in New York Rangers. And I would be like, oh, no. No, I dislike the Flyers way more. I think we're finally, I mean, grand, we're at the tail end now because of where both franchises are going. But the last 10 years, it's been a pretty heated rival between our franchises. Yeah, absolutely.

It feels like, you know, for a while there, it felt like they were playing each other in the playoffs every year. And, you know, you always get, you know, emotions are going to run high then. We get situations where the fan bases are at each other's throats. And for any Reinder or Penguin fans watching this, listen to this, try to be nice to each other on social media. Okay, just try. So try to take that same vibe into your comments, okay?

Yeah, yes, absolutely. So yeah, no, for me, it's funny you mention that, Patrick, because I actually did an episode, I think it was last off season, where I ranked the top five ranger rivals, and I put the penguins at number one. For me, you know, the old school ranger fans will always tell me, it's always the Islanders. Islanders are the biggest rival that I'll never change.

but for somebody who was barely alive when the Islanders were last winning the Stanley Cup, that has never really resonated. I mean, Readers and Islanders haven't played each other in the playoffs in 30 years. And, you know, they've, you know, emotions run high, but I just don't think it's been on the same level as like Rangers and Penguins. I mean, playing each other in the playoffs every year. And, you know, certain players on each side become, you know, so ingrained in the rivalry. Certainly Crosby and Malikin. And for you guys, probably Truba is kind of in your cross air, so to speak.

Lundquist, obviously. So yeah, man, I mean, for my money, it is the best rivalry. I mean, would you guys agree? Oh, absolutely. Definitely right now. It's funny. With the Penguins, it kind of goes in the cycles. Yeah, I kind of want to amend a little bit with what Pat was saying, you know,

2012, I feel like that was very much the Flyers as the Penguins top rival. Then you fast forward four years later, I would say it's Washington, especially from 2016 to 2018 with how they played in the playoffs. And then that one kind of took a back seat for a couple years. And then the Rangers came along, especially these last. few years. And I think right now, especially these last two, three years, I would say the Rangers are the top rival, especially with how he did those games get. And it's not going to be any different opening night in Pittsburgh. It's going to be a really fun atmosphere overall. Yeah, fair enough. So I

figure we can call it there. And, you know, we'll do this again before opening night. We'll save our predictions for them. Because to your point, Patrick, it's a while away. You know, what is it, like two or three months at this point? I think three months, give or take. So yeah, but that's going to be a lot of fun. We'll do another crossover episode. And thank you guys for doing this and giving us some intel on Riley Smith and just talking some hockey. Of course. Absolutely. Total blast.

All right. Have a good one. Ranger fans. Penguin fans. We'll see you next time.