Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Could the Penguins make a SPLASHY trade this offseason?

Episode Date: June 9, 2025

Kyle Dubas reinforced his desire to trade for and sign young RFAs this summer that could be part of the Penguins’ long-term future, so who could they be? Hunter and Patrick start the show discussing... Dubas’s comments to a couple of reporters as well as which players he might have been referring to that could be available this offseason. Then, they revisit the idea of trading for Vegas defenseman Nicholas Hague because some of the numbers could be a warning sign. Finally, with two games in the books, the Stanley Cup Final has been one for the ages so far. Link to Taylor's story: https://www.dkpittsburghsports.com/team/penguins/feed?page=0&content=penguins-kyle-dubas-trade-free-agency-rumors-tlhSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHLfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply. Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.Wonderful PistachiosGet snackin' and get crackin' with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more! FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new FanDuel customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins!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.

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 Could Kyle Dubus make a big splash via trade this off season? Pat and I will discuss that 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 and welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes.
Starting point is 00:00:28 You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, joined by my host, Patrick Damby. You can follow him on all social. media platforms at Sinnerver Wet. And you can follow the shows to order at L.O. Understore Penguins, of course, thank you all so much for making this your first lesson slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. Yes, people, I am back home, back in my home studio, have my wonderful mic here. It was nice getting away for a week, going to the beach, but it was also nice getting back home on Sunday after a week away,
Starting point is 00:00:58 not going away for another month and a half, two months. So I'll be here in the studio for quite a while now. But got some nice color, Pat. Got to go in the water. But again, it's nice being home. And we have a lot to get to for today's episode, starting with a couple of exclusive interviews that Kyle Dubus did over the weekend with Josh Yoby of the Athletic and Taylor Haas of D.K. Pittsburgh Sports. I want to focus on Taylor's article because I think she did a great job with this. If you're not following her and following her work especially, you're doing it wrong. She's one of the best Penguins reporters out there. We'll put the link to her story in the description for our episode both for audio and video.
Starting point is 00:01:35 But there was one big quote that really stood out to me, Pat, during this interview. And Dubas told Taylor, I think we're going to look at younger players that maybe are blocked out elsewhere or are having contract standoffs elsewhere. This is when it comes to players that he's going to look to acquire over the off season. And the main thing that's been in my thought since reading that quote is that he wants to make a splash for an RFA via trade and then sign that player long term. We've discussed a few of those players already on the show, you know, J.J. Paterka, Marco Rossi, Bowen Byram.
Starting point is 00:02:09 There's a whole bunch of others out there. You know, Mason McTavish is an RFA, even though that one is more unlikely than those other three because we think the ducks are going to pay him. But that's a player that still makes a lot of sense for the Penguins and a whole bunch of other teams as well. But it feels like to me he really wants to make a splash for that type of trade this offseason
Starting point is 00:02:28 and sell off a couple of those future assets that he has. remember this team has a crap ton of draft picks these next few years. They have a better prospect pool, but still not nearly as good as a lot of other teams, but they still have a lot of picks. They have a lot of cap space. They can utilize that to go get a big name RFA player to trade for and then sign to a long-term contract. This isn't going to be an offer sheet situation or something like that.
Starting point is 00:02:51 But that's been the main thing that's been really in my head over the last four hours ever since Taylor dropped that article. For sure. And you hinted at something there that I think a lot of people got to keep in mind is this isn't going to be like what the blues did last summer with offer sheets because we're not in that world anymore. The cap is going up. A lot of teams have the cap space to match offer sheets if they're signed by said players. So that's not, I know a lot of people are excited and think that this will be an off season full of offer sheets and all this stuff.
Starting point is 00:03:25 And it might be, but the only drama you're probably going to get out of offer sheets this summer is they will be offered. They might be signed, but teams will match. Right, because we're no longer in that world with a flat cap. There is a significant jump coming, and then there's significant jumps coming in the next two years. Now, if you're a team that wants to do RFA offer sheets, you're going to have to overpay. I mean, you're going to have to really give players way more than their worth in back teams into a corner to where they're not going to want to pay that player that much. But at the end of the day, if you're doing that, you're only hurting your own situation via the cap.
Starting point is 00:04:07 So I think this is exactly where Kyle Dubus is going to go, is he will probably target some teams that have RFAs that are just about to enter into arbitration or they're at a standoff for whether it be a bridge deal or a long-term contract and offer up a veteran, a couple picks, maybe a prospect, in order to get someone. who that they can sign long term. The biggest name is obviously Marco Rossi. I've heard people talk about this, and I know I brought it up on the show last week, that people have said, oh, you know, there's always going to be a early 20s RFA who has a lot of talent.
Starting point is 00:04:49 Don't waste it on this one this year. The pushback I will have to that is this is a perfect situation for the penguins. Rossi fits into something they really need. not very deep at center, both on the NHL roster and in the prospect pool. He's shown he can be an effective center in the NHL with a lot of room to grow. And Minnesota is out of cap hell. All of their buyouts are coming off the books. And they are in win now mode.
Starting point is 00:05:19 They are a team that wants to win right now. And if you look at the penguins on July 1, Brian Rust's no move clause goes away. They can still move record. Raquel. And both of those guys are definite risks for Minnesota, but they're looking to win the Stanley Cup in the next two to three years. They're not worried about five, six, seven years from now at this point. They want to win the Stanley Cup in the immediate. And if you can get them guys who put up 20, 25, 30, 35 goals and can immediately slot into your top six, that's worth giving up of Marco Rossi, especially if you are at an impasse in contract negotiations and you can get
Starting point is 00:06:07 something for him rather than lose him for nothing or lose him for pennies on the dollar. So I know that there's some hesitancy around a potential Rossi trade, but if you can make it work, that is a player I would target right now. 100%. And we've discussed him quite a bit throughout the offseason already. there have been reports that he could be looking for a seven times seven deal on his next contract. For a second line center, especially with the cap going up, Pat, I would pay him at that every day of the week. I'm getting Malkin. This is going to be his last year of his contract.
Starting point is 00:06:42 If they want to experiment him at Winger and maybe have Rossi play second line center for a good chunk of the season, I could easily see them doing that. Hell, Pat, I could see them playing Malkin for the entire season if they get Rossi and maybe having Rossi on his wing before moving him to center for the rest of that contract. they'll have no shoulders of options for Rossi if they trade for him and then sign him to a long-term contract. I just don't think Minnesota wants to go to seven times seven right now. At least that's based off the reporting that's out there. Elliot Freeman and some of these other reporters that have been talking about it. There's also a report over the weekend that they may be looking for futures in return
Starting point is 00:07:16 and then using those futures to go get a replacement for him. We'll have to see, again, I think for the penguins, they can offer up kind of a win now package for Minnesota because they have veterans. You know, maybe does Minnesota want Ricard Raquel in a package for Marco Rossi? I think that's something that the Penguins would definitely consider as well. You're getting younger in that trade. Yes, Ricardo Raquel, excuse me, just had a great season, but he's also getting a bit older. And he may not fit the full timeline for getting back to Gendender.
Starting point is 00:07:46 You know, Marco Rossi more so would. He's also a bit younger. So I can see that potentially working out for both teams that they want to consider that. But we'll just have to see. We have three more weeks until July 1, a few more weeks until the draft as well. So hopefully we're going to start getting into high gear here for some trades. I know the finals going on right now. We know the league doesn't usually like a lot of other news being announced during the Stanley Cup final.
Starting point is 00:08:10 But I'm still itching to get some news announced here. One more thing from the article that I did want to touch on though, Pat. There is one pending free agent that penguins know they want to bring back per Taylor. And that is Bokoa and Mama. And Dubas told Taylor with Boko, we made it clear to him and his agent that we'd like to bring him back. And it's just a matter of whether we can work something out with Alwyn Walsh and Boko. We've talked about Boko a little bit during the off season.
Starting point is 00:08:33 He's probably a 13th, 14th forward, really good vibes guy in the locker room. But I don't think he should be playing 82 games during the season. I know his teammates love him very much, but I don't think that's someone that you should be playing 82 games, even though you're going to be rebuilding. Again, fine if they bring him back. It's probably going to be a two-way contract if I had to guess. but I don't think he should be playing that much during the season, especially if they make quite a few moves over the offseason,
Starting point is 00:08:59 and I do think they will. Right. And you said it. He's a vibes guy. And it all comes back to the culture you want to build in Pittsburgh that Kyle Dubas wants to not only build, but build upon. And if you're a team that's in transition,
Starting point is 00:09:15 in a rebuild, whatever we're calling it, you need vibes guys. You absolutely need them because just go a few miles, more than a few miles, but you get the point up the road to Buffalo. The vibes in Buffalo are rotten, absolutely rotten. Players don't want to go there.
Starting point is 00:09:31 The players that are there are miserable, and it hurts the development of their top prospects because it's a toxic environment. It's a team that people don't want to go to. It's a team that can't win. It's a team that can't get out of their own way. Is Boko and Mama going to make a difference one way or the other? No, but when you have a high energy positive guy
Starting point is 00:09:51 who is going to be a workhorse, it helps your team's chemistry. It helps your team's vibes. And again, he's not going to play 82 games. He's not going to take minutes away from anybody that they want to be a part of the team in the future. But if it's a guy that is upbeat, is positive, works hard, that rubs off on other players. So if you get him on a two-way deal for a year or two and he goes up and down from Wilkes Bear, he gives the team a little bit of juice when they need.
Starting point is 00:10:21 it, I have no problem with that. Right. If he's your 13th or 14th Ford, I don't think anyone's going to complain about that. We're definitely not going to complain about that, though. If he's your 12th Ford, I think we'll complain a little bit just because you can do quite a bit better than that. But if he's playing some games during the regular season, good vibes guy in the room can come up and down from Wilkesbury, I guess I'll take that. But that would do it for this first segment.
Starting point is 00:10:44 You can check out the rest of Taylor's article on DK. Pittsburghsports.com. Remember, we will be posting the link to it in the description. box for YouTube and for audio. But again, that will do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, we're going to continue this conversation surrounding Kyle Dubas and the potential for him to make a splash. And we'll we discuss Nick Hague a little bit after there was a report last weekend or this
Starting point is 00:11:06 past weekend that the Penguins could be interested. Stay tuned for that. Before we get to that, we have to tell you all about our first sponsor, and that is Monarch Money. Ever check your bank account and wonder, where did all my money go between dining out, online shopping and entertainment, it's easy to lose track, and that's where Monarch Money comes in, your personal CFO giving you full visibility and control over your finances. Monarch Money isn't just a budgeting app. It's a complete financial command center. You can track all your accounts,
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Starting point is 00:12:11 That's monarchmoney.com code locked on NHL for half off your first year. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Locktime Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes. joined by my host, Patrick Damp and Pat. Over the weekend, there was a report on social media from Nick Kiprio saying that the Montreal Canadians and the Pittsburgh Penguins are interested in Vegas Golden Knights Defensive Nick Hague. I put an emoji out and I screenshoted our episode from last week with the, oops, we did that
Starting point is 00:12:43 because we did talk about Nick Hague during an episode last week and why we think he could potentially be a fit on the blue line. I will say this. The numbers these last three years, they are concerning. his first three years in the league were much better. He has gone downhill these last few years. I did say last week that he definitely could use a change of scenery. Maybe Dan Mews could really work with him to get his game back on track.
Starting point is 00:13:06 But even digging into more data over the weekend, I continue to get a little bit more spooked. Honestly, his on-ice expected goals. He ranked ninth among Vegas going night's defenseman last season in that. 47% behind, you know, players like Noah Hanifah, Brayna Mcnapp, Alex Petrangelo, Zach Whitecloud, Shea Theodore, even Ben Hutton, etc. The underlines, Pat, they're a bit spooky. Like, I get it just because the Penguins will think it's a reclamation project,
Starting point is 00:13:36 but I think what I'm trying to say here is there are other defensemen ahead of him that I would target first. Heck, I even have concerns about Bowen Byram, for example, and why you would need the right partner for him. I would still take trading for Bowen Byram all day over Nick Haig. also Anaheim Ducks defenseman, Pao Mentecov. He's not an RFA yet, and I know some of his underlines are a bit rough, but the Ducks were one of the worst defensive teams in the league last year. He has shown quite a few flashes in his first couple of years with the Ducks.
Starting point is 00:14:06 If they want to move on from him, I would want Kyle Dubis to be all over him. He's still only 21 years old, very much coming into the league. Nick Hague, he's 26. Yeah, he's still a bit young, but he's also been in the NHL for six seasons. Mentecov, it's only been two. So that's someone that I would also very much go after from Kyle Dubis if you want to make a splash and go get a younger player that can help your blue line and all that. But going back to Nick Haig, as you talked about last week, Pat, it makes sense acquiring that as a younger piece. But there's a little bit more buyers beware right now than I had last week after digging into a little bit more of the data.
Starting point is 00:14:42 I don't want to seem like a flip-flopper. I just want to caution people some more of the data. I'm like, ooh, it's a little rough. Well, let me say this, Hunter, and I know this might be a sin to say as somebody in sports media, but finding out new information and changing your opinion isn't flip-flopping. It's evolution. That's something we all should try to do in many areas of the world. But I digress.
Starting point is 00:15:10 Here's the thing I'll say about Nick Hay is, one, you went through that list of defensemen that have been on the Vegas Golden Knights the past couple years. Low key, they have an unbelievable defense. It's very, very good. And he's going to get put in some less than advantageous situations, just considering who's ahead of him on the depth chart. That said, he's 26. He will turn 27 this season. He's at a very crucial part of his career.
Starting point is 00:15:43 This is where you find out as a defenseman, where you stand and what you are as a defenseman at the NHL level. We know this from watching hockey as long as a lot of us have. Defensemen take longer to develop. They take longer to go into their prime because it's an incredibly difficult position in the National Hockey League. You're up against great competition. A lot of the time, the game flows through you because you're retrieving the puck in the defensive zone. You're making the first breakout pass.
Starting point is 00:16:15 You're making pinches. You're making decisions in the offensive zone that can lead to transitions, the other way from your opposition. So it's a very difficult position to play. What I'll say about Nick Haig is I agree on buyer beware because those numbers are concerning. There's no two ways about it. And it shows it could potentially be a downward trend
Starting point is 00:16:38 for a player who started off very promising. On the other hand, let's keep this in mind with the penguins right now. Defense is a great need at the NHL level. however, they are starting to build up a nice stable of defensive prospects. You still have a lot of players who are going to make NHL debuts, who have had a cup of coffee in the NHL. You've got Harrison Brunick, Finn Harding, you've got Emil Pian and Emmy. You also have Owen Pickering.
Starting point is 00:17:10 These are a lot of players who, should their development continue the trend upward the way it has, you're building a pretty nice future defense. defensive core. And if you add Hague to that and you get them for, let's say, four to five years, by the time some of these guys come up, the penguins aren't trying to be good this year. They're probably not even trying to be good next year. So by the time these guys hopefully develop and become usable, consistent NHL defensemen, add in you've got a coach who has done a really good job at developing defensemen, he could be in a third pairing role or a second pairing role and you don't have to use him in high leverage situations and he starts to
Starting point is 00:17:58 become what he looked like early in his career, which is what he was, a second and third pairing defenseman. So if you, the, the thing I would caution is don't overpay for him. If you're going to go get him, you know what Vegas is trying to do. They're going to try to make a big splash this summer like they always do, and they will sell players off for pennies on the dollar. If you can get in on a pennies on the dollar deal for a 26-year-old defenseman who's got some good NHL experience under his belt and you can find a way to utilize him correctly, you make that deal. But if they're going to make you pay more than what you want, say thanks, but no thanks. I think they're probably going to be looking for a mid-round pick for him, something like that.
Starting point is 00:18:40 But again, I get spooked that he might be looking for a four to five-year term. I think you give him, just throw this out there, you know, four to five million per year, and it keeps that downward trend going, especially these last few years where he's not the same player that he used to be. Like, even though the cap is going up, that might be a hindrance.
Starting point is 00:18:59 Like that might be a contract that you have to potentially get out of. You know, like we're seeing right now with Ryan Graves. Like that's the one thing that spooks me, man. And I like some of Graves' tape when they signed him, but he completely fell off a cliff in that first year with the team. And now we're trying to come up with, countless ways to get him off this team going into next season just because he hasn't lived up to
Starting point is 00:19:20 any expectations these last couple of seasons. So with Nick Hague, again, I like to start, was really promising these last few years, though, and I said this last week, it's a bit of a downward trend. He needs a change of scenery. There's a, there's the chance that he can get back to that level, but do the penguins want to take that risk? That's going to be the question. I would have other players over Hague. I think Hague could maybe be a just spitballing, you know, fourth, fifth, even a sixth option. But compared to what I said last week, I'm not as crazy about acquiring him right now, just digging into some more of the numbers over the weekend after seeing that report, you know, again, seeing his on ice suspected goals. Because, heck, you even compare that
Starting point is 00:20:01 to his off ice suspected goals, Pat, 47% on ice expected goals percentage. When he's off the ice, it's almost 56%. So that's a stark different. man it really is so i think that's everything i've been needing to say about nick hagg we'll have to see about that do you have anything else to add about him or any other targets that you can see jubis going after over the next few weeks because i think it's going to start getting pretty busy here soon well just to build off what you just said i think he has gone like it's kind of similarly to his number he's physical those are very much elements of the penguins need but if you're going to pay that guy for four to five years, four to five million per while the rest of his game
Starting point is 00:20:43 potentially starts to go down even more. That's probably a bit of a hard pass for me. Again, I'm not trying to be a flip-flopper. I'm, I just dug into even more of the data over the weekend just because last week I was on vacation. I didn't get, I didn't get to dig into as much of the data as I wanted to. So it's just spooking me a little bit more. But kind of similar to his numbers the past few years. As a target for the penguins, he's probably falling. down a little bit. I think so. Especially with some of the younger defensemen that we figure will be available or at the very least, you could talk a team into making available.
Starting point is 00:21:18 He shouldn't be your first option. But if you strike out on a couple and you can get him again for pennies on the dollar, I think at the very least, it's worth a try. Because remember, what have I been stressing about this penguin's offseason and maybe even next off season? There are going to be deals made that make. you scratch your head. They are not going to make a ton of sense in the immediate, but they are going to have to field a team and they're going to have to take chances on some players who
Starting point is 00:21:48 on the surface might not look like slam dunks, but you take the risk to see if you can turn them into something while making sure you shore up your prospect pool and you get those more, more established, more, I would say, more likely to be better young players. So that Nick, could fit into that where he might not work out all the time he might not work out into the medium term future but you have to take as many shots as you can and find what works and move on from what doesn't that's fair and i'll just say this to end it make sure you get the eval right you don't want to have another situation where you think you're getting the eval right with someone like ryan graves and you've got it completely wrong so i'll say it again make sure you get the
Starting point is 00:22:33 Eval Wright, especially if you're trading for someone like Nick Hague, after everything we just discussed during this episode and then our episode last week on Nick Hague that was put out early last week if you want to go check that one out on our podcast feed. But that'll do it for the second segment coming up to end the show. This has been one heck of a start to the Stanley Cup final. And Pat and I have to talk about it. That's coming up right after this. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penglands podcast.
Starting point is 00:23:06 I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-host, Patrick, And Pat, this might be the best start to a Stanley Cup final in 10 plus years. Honestly, this has been electric hockey every single shift. There's no doubt that these are the best two teams in the league. And they are trading blow for blow every single shift. That Oilers are giving the Panthers, everything they can handle. Connor McDavid is going God mode once again. He absolutely cooked Sasha Barkov and Aaron Ekblot in game two.
Starting point is 00:23:40 And it's like, dude, that's Sasha Barkoff. That's the best defensive center in the league. And he turned him into a pie one. Just the way that he knifed around him, knifed around Ekplod. It was just ridiculous. Drysidl is on another level right now. Evan Bouchard is playing crazy. For the Panthers, you have Sam Bennett being his ratty little self right around the net,
Starting point is 00:24:01 just bumping into Stuart Skinner whenever he can. He doesn't care, man. He's going to get so much money once the season is over. It's going to be crazy. But this final is everything you want in a final and more. I will say this too, man, watching these two teams, Penguins are still so far away from being even close to a contender like this. It's before we, I dive quickly into the penguins.
Starting point is 00:24:27 I will say this. If you are a diehard hockey fan and you have someone in your life who doesn't like hockey or doesn't understand why you like hockey, show them games one or two, one and two of this final because they are. everything that is great about this sport. I was talking about this with a co-worker after game one. This is a perfect encapsulation of why this game is so good, because neither team is sacrificing anything for something else.
Starting point is 00:24:58 Both teams are playing extremely aggressively, offensively, and defensively. Both goaltenders are playing very well. They're not sacrificing offense for defense. they're not sacrificing defense for offense. They are just two totally complete teams going head to head in giving the other all they can handle. There's physicality, there's speed, there's talent, there's offense, there's great defensive
Starting point is 00:25:27 play, and none of it takes away from the other. Sam Bennett, I'm just, I know he's going to get paid. I just, he's lost the benefit of the benefit of the defense. doubt. There's a lot of accidentally on purpose. And, Hey, that last one, that one wasn't his fault. He was tripped there. I'm sorry. That one wasn't his fault. I said it. He's lost the benefit of the doubt. Like, I get it. It probably wasn't his fault, but golly gee, it happened again. What do you know? But I digress. As for the penguins part of it. Yeah. They're pretty far away. But again, this is why I like and am willing to
Starting point is 00:26:09 let Kyle Dubus do what he wants to do. Because let's be honest, if they were to tear this all down and start over, they'd be even further away from what these two teams are. And you look at what both of these two teams have done over the past five or so years. They haven't done one specific thing. They didn't just try to build through paying a bunch of free agents, although Florida has done a good job of that. at least in in the past five years they pick and choose which ones they do and then a lot of other
Starting point is 00:26:45 moves they make via trade and that's what happens when you have a top five front office and a top five gm bill zito very much is that dude he knows what he's doing down there both teams have done all of it they have homegrown talent that they have made sure has developed and become big time parts of their organization they've made big trades and they need to make them They've made big signings when they need to make them. And again, it shows that there is no one way to build a championship team. You have to be willing to be aggressive on the free agency market when it calls for it, aggressive on the trade market when you need it,
Starting point is 00:27:22 and making sure that you have homegrown talent that can come up and be a big part of your organization. This is a perfect two-game Stanley Cup final so far. you need the high-end talent. It doesn't matter how you get it. It just matters that you get the high-end talent. And that's going to be once the big guns are out here in Pittsburgh, Pat, that's going to be Kyle Dubas's biggest challenge. How do you get that next wave of high-end talent into this organization?
Starting point is 00:27:51 Again, it doesn't matter how you get it. It just matters that you do. Because without the high-end talent, you're not going to be a Stanley Cup contender in this day and age in the NHL. But, you know, you see instances where the Oilers are dominating, playing play and then the panthers will punch right back and the oilers will punch right back and then it'll be the panthers again it really is two very evenly matched teams just going right at it for the best trophy in sports and what more could you want as a hockey fan connor and leon they're
Starting point is 00:28:20 trying to break through it might be their time and you're going up against the champs to be the best you got to beat the best and this has been everything i've wanted in a final and more again this is probably the best final, at least the best start to a final I've seen in 10 plus years, if I'm being honest. This is hockey at its best. Both teams are running four lines. It's chippy. Both teams are playing well defensively. The goaltending has been really good. You know, shout out to Stuart Skinner. He's playing his tail off so far in these two games for the Oilers. Bob, he's letting a couple speakers for the Panthers, but mostly he's been very good. And then both coaching staffs are doing a great job. Game three is tonight. And I can't wait
Starting point is 00:28:58 to see what happens in the series now that it shifts to some. sunrise in Florida. But that'll do it for today's episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this episode. Pat and I will be back with another show for you all on Tuesday. Remember, we're daily throughout the rest of the month. And then the first couple weeks in July. And then we go down to three days a week starting in mid-July.
Starting point is 00:29:20 It's going to get busy pretty quickly here, people. Damme, who speaks to the media this week. We'll have our thoughts on what he said to the media once that happens on Wednesday. And then if they make any moves this week or any news next week are going forward, we'll have some breaking news episode out for you guys as soon as possible. So for Patrick Damp, I'm Hunts for Hodes. Thank you guys so much for tuning in. We appreciate it. We'll be back on Tuesday.

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