Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Erik Karlsson and Rickard Rakell will take on their former Penguins coach at the Olympics!

Episode Date: February 18, 2026

It's going to be a matchup of former teammates in the Olympic quarterfinals when Team Sweden takes on Team USA! Patrick and Hunter get you ready for the men's tournament quarterfinals, which will feature Erik Karlsson and Rickard Rakell taking on their former head coach, Mike Sullivan, and Team USA! They also recap the play-in round, Latvia's choice to not start Arturs Silovs, and so much more! (0:00) Then, they do a full preview of the quarterfinals, which will also feature Canada vs. Czechia, Finland vs. Switzerland, and Germany vs. Slovakia. (12:43) Finally, the Penguins players who are not at the Olympics returned to practice at the UPMC Lemieux Complex, including Kris Letang and Filip Hallander! (28:08)Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!IndeedNow, you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 Sponsored Job Credit. Just go to https://indeed.com/podcastright now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelUse your Profit Boost on an NBA future and get entered for your chance to win a trip to the NBA Finals.Play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Visit https://FANDUEL.COMto 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.

Eric Carlson and Ricard Raquel have a date with their old coach at the Winter Olympics. Hunter and I are going to get you ready for the quarterfinals, make our picks, and oh yeah, the Pittsburgh Penguins were back at practice today. All that 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. Welcome in to the Tuesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your hosts, Patrick Damp.

You can follow me across all social media platforms at Synonym 4Wet. Joined as always by my co-host and good friend, the one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can give our show's account a follow on Twitter at LO underscore Penguins. You can find us on Instagram at Locked On underscore Penguins. and on TikTok at Locked-on Penguins. Of course, as always, we appreciate you making us part of your daily routine. Don't forget, you can find us wherever you get your podcasts as well as YouTube.

If you follow us on YouTube, one thing you should be doing is making sure you've got your notifications on. That way, you can be among the first to know when we drop our daily Monday through Friday episodes. Before we jump into it, today's episode is brought to you by Game. Game Time. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use the promo code locked on for $20 off your first purchase. More on our friends at Game Time later on. Hunter, you just love a good narrative. You love a good storybook matchup. And we get just that tomorrow afternoon at 3.10 p.m. when the United States takes on Sweden, meaning Eric Carlson, and Ricard Raquel will take on their former head coach,

Mike Sullivan in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Winter Olympics. The quarterfinals, they are fully set. Switzerland beats Italy three to nothing. Germany beats France five to one. Czechia defeats Denmark three to two. And Sweden defeats Latvia five to one. That is where we're going to focus this first segment. I'm just going to say it.

Cowardly behavior by Latvia, putting Elvis Mers-Leakins in goal. You're going to depend on a Columbus Blue Jacket goalie in a big game. Cowardly behavior, Arter Shilovs should have been in net. Would have been a completely different game. Just kidding. No, it would not have. Sweden woke up for the first time this tournament and looked like the Swedish team we expected them to be, including an absolutely filthy assist from Eric Carlson on Philadelphia.

Forzsburg's goal to make it three to nothing. The United States, they are going to have their work cut out for them tomorrow afternoon because Sweden, as I said, looks like the Sweden we expected at the start of this tournament. Yeah, the last two games for Sweden, they've been really good. They should have beaten Slovakia by three goals. They allow that late one. And then, Pat, you have all the goal differential tie breaks and all that stuff, you know, allowing Slovakia to win their group.

It was funny. You know, Sweden may have won that game. but Slovakia very much celebrated like they won it just because of course that basically clenched them the group because you knew that Finland was just going to annihilate Italy and that is exactly what they did in that final preliminary game for them. But again, these last two games ever since Sweden lost to Finland, they've woken up in a big way. And I know the Swedish coaching staff is taking a lot of heat and rightfully so just because they keep making very weird decisions like scratching yes for Brat for really no reason. Don't understand that. They were not really

playing Philip Forsberg earlier in the tournament. Sam Hallam seems to have fixed that after I think the media of the fan base for kind of bullying him into playing Philip Forsberg, which, hey, you should be playing him anyway because he's really good. He's been playing on a line lately with Elias Pedersen, Rickel. And speaking over Raquel, very quiet today, he's had a mostly quiet tournament on that third line. I think he played really well in that first game, but over the last three, he's just been really quiet overall. Carlson, though, also that second game against Finland, I felt he struggled during that game. the other three games he's been really good and especially today against Latvia.

That pass you mentioned, just the way that he was able to cut from the right side of the boards, cut to the middle of the ice, the middle of the point, I should say, and just deliver that pass right to Philip Forsberg. Merzleekins has no shot. There was basically a tap-in goal for Forzburg. It was a thing of beauty. I thought he was also skating, Carlson, that is, really beautifully going from defense to offense. He was setting up chances during other portions of the game as well.

I just really liked his game overall. Now he gets to go against his former coach after, as I pointed out on Monday, he's had some pointed comments towards the former Penguins bench boss throughout this season. But I think that's going to be the best quarterfinal of the four games tomorrow. And I'll also say this today, Pat. The four games overall weren't that good. You kind of expected that. I didn't think France was going to put up that big of a fight, same thing for Italy, Latvia. They're plucky. They're a cool team to root for,

but you just knew that they weren't going to beat Sweden unless they, everyone just had the game of their lives. The best game today was Czechia, Denmark. I thought Denmark was actually going to tie it late in that third period. But credit to Czechia, they were able to win that game, and now they will get another shot at Canada. But in terms of just pure penguins today, great performance from Carlson.

Raquel, a bit quiet. We'll have to see if that turns around on Wednesday. against team USA. And then as for Archer Sheelovs, yeah, cowardly move there in Latvia. Sheelves says it was, in my opinion, the better goalie throughout the preliminary rounds. Start him again. Come on, man. Yeah, that was a puzzling decision. I mean, again, I know I said it on our Monday episode that everything would have to go right for Latvia to get a win. And that would include one of either Sheelovs or Mersleekins ends up being Mersleekins having the game of their career in just really shutting the door.

But really, the thing that's that's a little interesting to me is that not playing Shilovs, he got them their first win in quite a while at the Olympics. And you would think that that would be enough for them to ride with them. But again, at the end of the day, it's really just arranging deck chairs in that game because Sweden just played a near flawless game against Latvia, and they just did not have the talent to stack up to Sweden. Speaking of that, I know you said it, and I agree with the point that it's been a mostly quiet tournament for Ricard Raquel, but the good news for that is it's not that big of a problem. You look at the amount of talent, especially at forward, that Sweden has. he is, for all intents and purposes, a depth player on team Sweden.

He doesn't have to carry the load. You look at some of the names on this team. You've got Adrian Kempe, who obviously we know what happened with that. And then you have Victor Headman, William Nylander, Lucas Raymond, Dahlene, Landisogues, Beneajad, Forsberg, Ilius Pettersen, who has shown up pretty well in this tournament himself. So it's not like the penguins where if he's on the top line and not producing, it's a problem. He has been involved in a lot of plays. He has driven some offense.

You would like to see him produce, but at least with the amount of talent on Sweden, if he's quiet, it's not that big of a problem. Yeah, I mean, he's been on the third line. They had Zabinajat on his line, but then they moved him up to the second line center spot. I think Landisog has had a really good tournament, had a really nice goal today, by the way, for Sweden, you know, winning that battle along the boards, kicking the puck to himself, and then just firing it past Merr's Likens. Rasmus Dahlene on the blue line has been fantastic. And I think, you know, part of the reason why he's been so good is because of how well the Sabres have been this year.

It's almost like a renewed energy. And yeah, I know you obviously, you know, representing your countries, it's the dream of a lifetime. But I do think, you know, at least a small part of that reason for why he's been, you know, even more elite in this tournament than he has been during the season, Pat, just because Sabres are playing in meaningful games. He's showing up, you know, the vibes are great in Buffalo. And he's showing up, you know, happy as ever. Obviously, he's going to be happy representing his country no matter what. But I'm just saying, like, the way the Sabres have played, I think it can potentially

play a factor into that and just the way that they're playing. But yeah, with Raquel, you know, I think they're trying to get him going a little bit more. Again, he hasn't been bad or anything like that. He's not out of place. He's not skating in mud. he hasn't been bad defensively. He's just been quiet. That's really the main thing.

But that can change at any time. You know, what if he scores a big goal against Team USA on Wednesday? That could very well happen. And, you know, I'll say that, I'll say this right now. I said at the beginning of the tournament, I picked Team USA to get to the final. Whoever wins this game, and I am going to take Team USA still. But if Sweden does win this game, they will go play for the gold medal. Whoever wins this game is playing for the gold medal.

I think I would agree with that. I mean, it's the best of the first of the, four matchups going on tomorrow. And we will talk about all of them in depth when we continue the show here. But this is really going to be a test for Team USA in the playoff round because now you have no easy outs. There is nobody there that you're looking at in thinking, okay, this is the team that they're going to be able to beat.

They're going to be able to walk through this first game. And then it gets real because you're going to have this quarterfinal. Then they reseed. for the semi-final. And then you got to make your way to the gold medal game. So there's a chance that they could play some really good teams past Sweden. And I'll save this for the second segment. This will be my little tease here.

Chequia always gives Canada fits. They always do. Now, granted, different team. But again, today's games on Tuesday were kind of anticlimactic. tomorrow though, four really good games coming up. And Hunter and I are going to talk about those when we get back right after this. But first, we've got to tell you about today's first sponsor, and that is indeed. Workplace chaos, deadlines stacking up, inbox is overflowing,

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Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire. You need indeed sponsored jobs. Back here on the Tuesday edition of Locked on Penguins, I'm Patrick Damp right alongside Hunter Hodes. And here we go now. It really matters in Italy. We've got four games on the.

men's side coming up on Wednesday. We start the day at 6.10 a.m. So Hunter, get your espresso ready. Get your iPhone alarms set because you, my friend, are going to have to get out of bed to watch Slovakia and Germany at 610, as I said. Then our second game of the day at 10.40 in the morning, Canada versus Czechia. Then at 1210, you've got Finland versus Switzerland. And the day closes out with the United States.

against Sweden. Let's start, though, where I ended the last segment. Canada versus Chequia. Historically, Canada and Chequia have played some tight games. This tournament, not so much. And as I have said on this show, this feels like an inevitable Canadian team. They are just operating at a level that we have not seen in quite some time. But Chequia did have a great quote today. I don't have the player in front of me. So you're going to have to excuse me. It was Marty Naches. I was Marty Naches. I couldn't remember if it was him or Posternak. I didn't want to misquote them or misattribute them, but basically saying they let Canada win their first match up because it would be really hard to beat Canada twice. But I do think Canada comes out on

top here, but it would not shock me if Canada got the slightest of scares. I mean, when the first time these two teams play, Chequio was playing them fairly tight in the first period. And then Canada got that late goal at the end of the first, which kind of just blew the game wide open. I felt like that was Chequia's best chance to really, you know, punch them in the mouth. And they were playing them tight to start,

but then once they got that goal, it was kind of curtain. So they're going to have to play Canada really tight during that first period. But I think the opposite has to have a bad. They have to get the first goal to really, scare Canada because you're right. It feels inevitable that Canada is going to win the gold and I'll keep saying it. I'm going to pick Canada to win until someone dethrones them.

That's just how good this roster is overall. The full quote from Marty Natchez, though, was fantastic. We let them win the first one because we knew we were not going to win two in a row against Canada. So I like that quote going into this game. I do like this Czechia team. It's just I don't think I've seen their A game yet. Even today against Denmark. I thought they were a little sloppy, especially in that second period.

I think this game can be a bit closer, but I'm going to take Canada to win by at least two goals. I think Canada is going to move on to the semifinals. But I think for Chequia to upset them, Pat, David Posernock has to have one of the games of his life, because, you know, I think his tournament's been good. We just haven't seen him, in my opinion, on his AA level. So that has to come out for Chequette to have a big chance here. Nate just has been good, but I want to see him up his game a little bit more as well. And Lucas Dostal is also going to have to just be flat out God and that.

And I know there's a lot of teams out there that probably wouldn't want to face him in a one-game playoff, considering how talented he is, how he can, you know, really just, you know, stand on his head whenever. But just with the talent that Canada has, I think it's going to be too much in the end. Give me Canada by at least two goals. The first period in that game is going to be. the crucial moment. Yeah. If Chechia can get out of that either down one goal,

tied or even up one, it will plant a little bit of a seat of doubt in Canada's head. And it'll give them some confidence. It's got to be tied or they got to be up. Like at the end of the first period in the last game, I felt like that was Chechia's best chance really punched them. They allow that late goal and then they never recovered. I think it has to at least be tied going into the second.

But at the end of the day, I'm still riding with Canada. I don't know if I'll go as far as to make a specific prediction is by two goals, but I do think Canada gets out of this one. Slovakia, Germany, the first game of the day, that's going to be a really fun one. We talked about this yesterday that Slovakia has kind of been the story of the tournament. I would say behind Italy and only because Italy was better than I think anybody expected. I don't think anyone's going to say Italy was good, but we all kind of expected them to basically just be a dormant.

They put up some good fights. So it was a really fun story. But right behind them is Slovakia, who as I said on Monday, they are the country and the team that threw this tournament into chaos. And they've got another chance to do it against a talented German team. But really, the odds put it on Germany. But the way Slovakia has played throughout this tournament, forget saying that Germany has the odds to win, I think Slovakia actually pulls the upset here and gets a win over Germany.

I've been going back and forth on this one throughout the day. I think it's arguably going to be the closest game, if not potentially easily, the closest game outside of USA versus Sweden. Slavkovsky has been fantastic once again for Slovakia during this tournament. I would expect the same again. I think their goaltenders have also been great. That was the big question mark for me with Slovakia going into this tournament was how is their goaltending going to hold up? So far, Pat, they have gotten really good goaltending overall. And that very much has to continue in this game against Germany if they want to go through the semifinals and at least have a chance to play for bronze.

That's another thing, Pat. One of these two teams is going to have a chance to at least play for bronze. That's pretty awesome, considering, you know, where, you know, again, USA versus Sweden. One of those teams is guaranteed to go home. I mean, I had the U.S. Sweden and Canada all getting. medals in this tournament. I'm going to be dead wrong on that. There's a chance I get two of the three, but I'm not going to get all three. It just goes to show how chaotic that group was with, you know, Finland, Slovakia, and Sweden, of course. I'm going to take Germany by a goal. I think that game

goes to overtime, and I do, I'm going to go on a whim here. We'll see if I get this right. Give me Leon Drysadl for the overtime winner. I think he's going to show up in a big way for Germany. I think Stutzla and Petrka and Sider are also going to be great. And I think they'll just get a smidge of better goal tending to get past Slovakia. I won't be surprised if Slovakia wins this game just because of how fun they've been to watch during this tournament, especially Slavkovsky man. He has been great. Martin Vibor Harvey has been really good.

Eric Chernak has been good for them. But I'm going to go Germany in overtime with a Leon Drysidal goal. I think they pull this off by the skin of their teeth. Hunter's calling his shot for the bridesmaid to finally be the bride. But yeah, I mean, I think for me, it's basically just, it's no stats. It's no analysis. It's just vibes. Slovakia has been the vibe team all tournament.

And I think that continues against Germany and which will suck because I think there's a lot of talent on Germany. But I really think Slovakia's got this one. Let's keep it moving here. Finland in Switzerland. This is another one, much like Slovakia, Germany, where I look at, at it and the odds on favorite is Finland with most forecasters putting the probability at 70% for Finland, but it's a word that I keep using because it's the most appropriate word for a lot of these teams at the Olympics this year. Switzerland's plucky, man. They keep hanging around.

They keep hanging around. And you know what? I still think Finland takes this one, but this one, unlike what I said about Canada, Chechia, I think is more appropriate. Finland is going to get scared. This is going to be a very tight game. And Finland's going to come out of that one and go, we got the win, but not by a lot. Yeah, I'm going to take Finland by one goal in this one.

I think they do go through. Switzerland is going to give it everything they have. Of course, they're playing for Kevin Fiala, who suffered that awful injury earlier in the Olympics. I feel really bad. for Theolog. It was just a freak accident. I know Pat, some people are going at Tom Wilson. And yeah, it is fun to go at Tom Wilson, especially here on the Lockdown Penguins podcast, because you and I are not really big fans of him, of course, because he plays for the capitals and throughout his history

with, you know, big hits. But that was an accident. Like at the end of the day, there was nothing he could have done there. And I feel awful for Fiala. There, again, Switzerland is playing for him. I just think I trust UC Soros in goal a bit more. And he's had a fantastic. classic tournament. I think he has gotten better in goal as the torment has gone on. Give me Finland by one goal in this one. And then for USA Sweden, I'm going to take the US by one goal. I think they're going to win this game. I don't think it's going to be very pretty. I think this is going to be a classic back and forth game for the last goal wins. I will take the US in a nail biter to win this one. But I also, again, I would not be surprised if Sweden does win this, considering the talent

that they have overall, but I will take the U.S. The U.S.'s depth has to show up and show out in this one because we were talking about this before we hit record. The most comparable position for the U.S. and Sweden is defense. The United States defense is elite. They probably have the best defensive core in the entire tournament. Agreed. Sweden is not far behind them.

Yeah. And for the United States, they have to lean on their forward depth. They have to be able to keep getting contributions from two thirds of that fourth line. I don't know why we're still talking about J.T. Miller. But overall, that line has been better than we could have expected. The United States, the other thing I'm going to say that the U.S. has to do. This is very cliche. It's very stereotypical to say.

It's extreme coach speak. but it's true. They've got to play a full 60. They have to show up from the drop of the puck to the final buzzer. Throughout the preliminary rounds, yeah, they go undefeated. They get all the wins they need to get. But they had some games where for the first period, you went, is this team going to screw this up?

Is this team going to lose a game they shouldn't lose because they only played two out of the three periods for the U.S. We haven't seen their A game yet, Pat. I think that's probably what you were building towards. I don't mean to interrupt you. You beat me to it. You're right. You haven't seen the true A game yet from Team USA.

We've seen it come out in spurts. I don't think we've seen it for a full 60 minutes. You've beaten three teams that you are supposed to be. You are better than all three of the teams in your group. Now you're going up against a team that, in my opinion, is good enough to win gold, especially if that team is humming. Let's see how good they are. Let's see if they can bring out their A game for a full 60.

We haven't seen it yet. So yeah, end of the day, I do think the United States pulls this one out, but it is going to be a nail biter. This is going to be an extremely close game because as we have said throughout this entire episode, Sweden has woken up. And that is a very, very good team. So they are going to have to play a full 60. They're going to have to earn it.

Before we go to break, here is once again the full days schedule for Wednesday. Slovakia and Germany kicks off the day at 6.10 a.m. Then Canada, Czechia gets going at 10.40 a.m. Finland and Switzerland at 12.10 p.m. And then the U.S. in Sweden at 3.10 p.m. But that's enough Olympic hockey talk, even though we can do this for hours and hours. Because this is just, it's so awesome. We love it so much.

But our Pittsburgh Penguins, we're back at work today, Sands their Olympians. Hunter was in the building. He's going to give us a recap of what he saw today at practice when we come back right after this. But we've got a couple more sponsors to get to before that. And first is game time. There is nothing like being in the arena for an NBA or an NHL game. The crowd, the energy, the moment. Getting tickets, though, that has always been the part that is not so simple. That is why GameTime, as you all know, has become my go-to app for scoring tickets fast. Without the hassle, it puts the advantage back where it belongs with the fans. Set it a bunch of times since we've had Game Time on as a sponsor.

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Play your game with Fandul, an official sports betting partner of the NBA. Closing out the Tuesday edition of Locked-on Penguins. I'm Patrick Damp running right alongside my pal Hunter Hodies. And believe it or not, there was hockey at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex this morning. And it wasn't just youth hockey or high school hockey. It was our Pittsburgh Penguins. They are back and working out at the UPMC Lemieux Complex while the Olympics play. out and Hunter, I'm going to let you do the big reveal for anybody who may not know.

Somebody returned to practice today. Oh, not somebody, Pat. We got two people that returned to practice today. Defenseman Crystal Tang and forward, Philip Hollander. We'll start with Hollander. This was his first full practice with the team since suffering that blood clot back in November. He hasn't played since that November, early November game, I should say, against the Maple Leaf

Pat. Remember, they went up 3-0 going into the third period, and then they choked and lost a regular that was his final game before. Again, it was announced that he was going to be out for a few months with a blood clot. He had been skating a lot before practices over the last few weeks, but this was his first full practice, full contact, looked good, talked to the media after, discussed, you know, how the last few months have been in all that. He was doing regular line rushes today. I still don't know when exactly he is going to return, but when he does, I have to think he's going to get a conditioning stint in Wilkesbury just to get some games. and then once that's up,

they'll figure out, you know, what they're going to do with him if he's going to be the 13th forward, you know, get in for a few games down the stretch or whatnot, but really good to see him out there considering, you know, everything he's been through with, that blood clot for the last few months. And then Chris LaTang, he was a full participant in practice today, was on a pair with his usual defensive partner,

Brett Kulak. He looked good, man, was skating really nicely, full participant in drills, and even did a small little, shootout at the end of the practice as well, which was a lot of fun. But, you know, I even tweeted it was a pure guest before he talked to the media, but I felt that he was going to be ready by next Thursday pretty easily. Again, only one practice, but they still have nine more days until they play that game. And then Pat, he did confirm to the local reporters after that his plan

is to return next Thursday against the devil's. Really good news, considering that when the Penguins announced his, you know, fractured foot, they said it was going to be a minimum of four weeks. he's a little bit ahead of schedule right now. So if he does return next Thursday, it's going to be before that minimum of four weeks, just a little bit before. But that's still big news. I know he's had a bit of an up and down season,

but when he's on, this team really does need him in the lineup. And I think, you know, Kulak has helped stabilize him in some games before he got hurt. So really nice to see both of those guys back in, the practice, as usual, you know, highly spirited, competitive. everyone was having a blast on the ice, all that good stuff.

It ran for over an hour today. You saw other wine rushes. Kevin Hayes was on the top line, filling in for Crosby, of course. And actually, Hollander was on that line with Brian Russ filling in for Raquel. So usually that's where Raquel and Crosby are. Then you saw the usual second line,

the usual third line, the usual fourth line. Ryan Shea was filling in for Parker, not Parker Watherspoon. Ryan Shea was filling in for Eric Carlson, who usually plays with Parker Watherspoon. Words are hard sometimes. people, but Stuart Skinner also full participant.

Everyone was there except for the Olympic people, as expected. I think Ardor Shulov would probably back at practice this weekend. Don't think he's going to be back for tomorrow or Thursday, maybe the earliest Friday, but if not Sunday, Monday next week for sure. But really, you know, fun practice today. Yeah, Mews said after practice that they're kind of taken it day by day when it comes to Chris LaTang. It's encouraging that he's back ahead of schedule.

But as we have discussed on this show, this team has built itself enough of a cushion in this playoff race that if I'm Kyle Dubis, Dan Mews, the Penguins medical staff, I'm waiting for Chris Latang to be 100% before putting him back in. And I know that sounds like I'm being a little overly cautious. But the thing is, you said it. They are going to need that Ku Klak-Latang pairing moving forward as they push towards the playoffs. and you don't want him to not be 100%. You don't want him to reaggravate the injury.

You want him to be ready made when it is time. He goes and he goes because this team, I know he's been up and down this year, but in the stretches before he got hurt, he was playing arguably his best of the season. So needing that guy back is crucial. And if you're the penguins, if you can take a little bit of short-term pain,

say the first two games back against the Devils and the Rangers, and you don't have them, not the worst thing in the world. And then you get them back for that hellish March schedule that you have coming. I think that's okay. I don't want to see him rushed back in. As for Hollander, just from the human side, great news to see him back.

Yeah. We obviously, as Penguins fans know, blood clots can end a career. Pascal Dupuy was looking, like he was ready to play a few more years, blood clots ended his career, which was terrible to see. So really good to see that he has worked through it.

He's on his way back. And I'm curious to see what happens with him because I don't think he was a standout early in the season, but the organization likes this guy. This guy really seems like somebody there interested in being part of the solution long term. So I'm really curious to see what he does when he's given the opportunity to return. Yeah, I'm the same with you.

You know, going four points in 13 games before it was announced that he was going to be out for at least three months where the blood clots. Again, I think he's going to get that conditioning assignment, go down to Wilkesbury for a little bit, get some games in and then he'll be called up. I still think just though when this team is healthy and assuming Pat, none of these forwards go out at the deadline, not even someone like Anthony Mantha, of course, just don't really know where he fits in when the team is healthy. Now, obviously, you know, if an injury happens, so on the bottom six, for example, even the top six, he'll come back in when he's ready to go. But when healthy, I think he's the 13th forward for this forward group, at least in my opinion. That's about where I would have him to. We'll see what happens because this is first time in a while.

Good problem for the Pittsburgh Penguins to have. They've got plenty of forwards who can realistically fit into the lineup as they push towards the playoffs. But that is going to do it for our Tuesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. A programming note, our Wednesday episode will be out around the same time as this one. We're going to let the quarter final round play out in the Olympics, specifically the United States and Sweden. Come on this show, do a recap of the day. Talk about our Penguins at the Olympics and what comes next in any other news that might happen between now and then. But for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp.

Thank you as always for tuning in. And we will talk to you guys once again on Wednesday.