Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Evgeni Malkin wants to return to the Penguins, do they want him back?

Starting point is 00:00:00 If Gennie Malkins says he wants to play a 21st season in the National Hockey League, but will it be with the Pittsburgh Penguins? Hunter and I are going to talk about that and the rest of the tidbits from Locker Clean Out Day on this edition of the Locked On Penguins podcast. Your Locked on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. I'm in to the Friday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your hosts, Patrick Damp.

Starting point is 00:00:38 You can follow me across all social media platforms at Synonym 4 Wet, joined as always by the one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. We've got plenty to talk about on the Friday episode, including all of the quotes and sounds from Locker Cleanout. Dan Mews officially a finalist for the Jack Adams Award and the return of Fan Take Friday, a season long recap for Fan Take Friday. Before we get started, though, today's episode is brought to you by FanDle.

Starting point is 00:01:13 Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and get $150 in bonus bets. If that first bet wins, head to FanDul.com to get started. Well, Hunter, there's no way around it. It's going to be until it isn't the biggest story of this offseason. What does the future hold for Evgeny Malkin? He was asked at Locker Cleanout today if he expects to return to the Penguins for his 21st season in the national hockey league. I'm honestly just going to read verbatim the quote that he gave because I can't really say it any better than he did. He says, quote, hard to say right now, but we have time.

Starting point is 00:01:59 It's a long summer and I'll just do my same routine. Back to Russia, stay with my family, my friends, and we see what's going on. Probably I'll talk to Kyle today one more time before leaving, see what they think, talk to my agent, but right now, nothing new. I want to play in the NHL for sure, but again, I know it's not easy for Kyle. Maybe he wants new blood here. I understand it's a business and I understand he wants maybe a new team. see new faces here, but for me, I want to play one year in the NHL. I'm not looking to go back to the KHL or play in Russia.

Starting point is 00:02:33 But if not, Pittsburgh, I hope some team end quote. We will see what happens. I'm of the camp that I think he returns. But again, we will see. Yeah, I'm right there with you. I have said it throughout the season. I will say it here. My prediction is that he will come back to the Penguins on a one-year deal worth

Starting point is 00:02:54 around 5.5.5 million with a full no move clause. I'm going to stick with that. And if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. But I think Kyle Dubis is going to bring him back for one year. And to me still, I think it's a no-brainer. Not even just for, you know, nostalgic purposes. Pat, I know there's that take out there. But I look at his production this year. He was a point per game player. He was very versatile, played center, played wing. I look at. at the free agent market. And as expected, it's not very good. Free agency continues to get worse and worse and worse because a lot of these top players,

Starting point is 00:03:34 they don't make it to free agency. The best free agent this year, UFA wise four, I think, is probably Alex Tuck. And we'll have to see what happens with him. But you remember when we were looking at last summer, oh my God, the star studied 2026, UFA class is so great. Yeah, almost all these guys have re-signed with their team. That's just how it works now. So again, I don't think you're truly replacing that production via free agency.

Starting point is 00:04:03 So I think he's still going to come back. I read the other quotes as well. I was also up there in Cranberry for locker room clean-out day as well. I know some people are going to be a bit concerned. But again, they got two months to figure this out. I don't think it's going to go down to the 11th hour like we saw last time where, you know, admittedly, Pat, I do think it got a little ugly in a way where he told everyone, yay, I'm testing the free agent market and then hours after that, Ron Hextall's like,

Starting point is 00:04:33 you know what, I'm going to cave, I'm going to sign you to a four-year contract. He signed literally that night before everyone woke up in the morning because that was going to be free agent frenzy day on July 1. I don't think we're going to get to that point. I think one way or another, we will know before then what the penguins and Kyle Dubas and Nivgeny Malkin are going to do. But if I had to make predictions, I'm going to stick by it. I do think he returns. I'm with you as well. I think it's like you said, a no-brainer. The other part of it that I look at is there are a lot of takes and a lot of narratives out there

Starting point is 00:05:07 that the penguins do need to keep going with this rebuild. And I agree in principle. But when it comes to Gino, bringing him back for a year doesn't hurt anything. It's not going to significantly impact your. salary cap. He's not going to cost a ton. He'll cost, I think, anywhere between five to eight million depending upon how the negotiations go. And then there's really not anybody in the system right now that he would block. It's not as if you bring him back and you're keeping a blue chip player from getting to the roster and getting to the NHL. There's really not anybody that he would block, especially when you consider the rest of the UFAs and even the RFAs. Most of the players that are

Starting point is 00:05:53 UFAs are probably going to walk or they're just not going to resign. And the RFAs, they're already set in where they're going to be. It's not as if he takes up that spot. So I do think at the end of the day, it's an easy decision. I just think, as you said, they're not rushing it. And it's like Malkin said as well. There's a lot of time. July 1, it's literally two months away, to the day.

Starting point is 00:06:18 It's May 1st. You've got two months to figure this out. And I think they will. I just think there's bigger fish to fry, whether it's getting prepared for the draft or figuring out what you're going to do with some of these RFAs like Arder Shilov and Igor Chinikov. It doesn't mean they're not prioritizing Malkin. It just means this is an easier decision. You don't have to make it right away. Other than that, it was a pretty uneventful locker clean out day, not a lot of bombshells dropped.

Starting point is 00:06:46 There was one thing, though, that really stood out to me today. And it was a quote from Ben Kindle. Yeah. got asked about the final play in overtime against the flyers. And he said he's still sick to his stomach about it. And he's going to work to make sure that he's never in that situation again. And just another moment where that kid is showing for being 19, he is a lot more mature than most 19 year olds.

Starting point is 00:07:12 Yeah, when I saw that quote, Pat, I felt bad because it's like, Ben, it's not your fault. Like, it really isn't. Yeah, I know. You have the situation with that. icing, you lose the face off, no one is going to crucify you for those two things. Stuff happens. You're 19 years old. He's going to be completely fine. Now he's going to have a full offseason, you know, full of training, NHL training. That is because he's on this team, obviously,

Starting point is 00:07:39 for next year and for plenty of years going forward. And he's going to get stronger. He's going to get bigger. He will be totally fine moving forward. And hell, he's going to be an even better player moving forward as well. I just, when I saw that quote, Pat, I just felt really bad because it's just like, you don't need to blame yourself. I get why he's doing it. Like, he's taking responsibility. But come on, man. That's not on you. It's a seeing-eye shot. Artur Shilov's had no chance on it. There was a lot of traffic in front of them. You know, no one's going to crucify him for, you know, making that icing play or losing the face off. But, hey, I did love him saying, though, you know, he'll do everything his power to never let it happen again. My dog also agrees, by the way. But good take, it's a good take by the dog.

Starting point is 00:08:23 But the other thing that is a couple other things that are worth mentioning, I should say, you bring up she loves seeing eye shot, unable to see it. There was news with him saying that the last three to four weeks he was playing with a knee injury and he is going to need to get an MRI. I'll say, you wouldn't know it on based on how he played in game six, Pat just stood on his head. I didn't look hurt at all. Did not look injured whatsoever. So kudos to him for not only playing through it, but playing as well as he did with that injury. That's very admirable. And just another check in the box for a guy that I definitely think that they're going to bring back.

Starting point is 00:09:05 Also on the injury front, Crosby said that he doesn't think he's going to require surgery. He's going to meet with his doctors, see what they say about his rehab and recovery, because obviously he had the knee injury in the Olympics that he was out for a while with and came back. So we'll keep an eye on what happens with Sid. Other than that, not a lot to really report from Locker Clean Out Day. It does feel like there was a bit of a coordinated push, though, back to the Malkin stuff by a lot of the big names on the team basically saying, yeah, he needs to come back. Yeah, Sid made it pretty clear that he wants Gino to come back. No surprise there.

Starting point is 00:09:49 Same with Ricardo Raquel. He thinks that Gino will come back. Brian Rust talked a lot about Afghani Malkin as well. He thinks he's going to come back to Igor Chinov. Patty was asked about his relationship with Evgeny Malkin. His eyes lit up as soon as that question was asked. He loved playing with him throughout the year. So obviously, that's another reason to also bring back Malkin, Pat,

Starting point is 00:10:10 because those two throughout the regular season, had great chemistry. You have at least one of your linemates set in stone heading in the next season he wore Chinatom. We'll have to see what happens. Obviously, what Tommy Novak, you know, he's under contract for next season now whether Dubis decides to move him in a trade. Who knows? That's a discussion for way later in the off season.

Starting point is 00:10:31 As of right now, he has his two linemates going into next season. There's another reason to bring him back. But, you know, Chinikov also said that he wants to sign an eight multi- how your contract extension with the penguins. And I expect that to happen. The biggest question will be, Pat, whether they bridge him, whether it's like two to three years or whether they want to give him some term. And I'm thinking, you know, five plus years, something like that.

Starting point is 00:10:55 That's going to be the question about what they decided to do with him there. We'll obviously talk more about Chinikov's contract and everything throughout the offseason because like I said, we still got two months until July 1. So we got plenty of time. And there are more decisions than you've been. think coming around the bend for the Pittsburgh Penguins this off season. So make sure you're sticking with us. Make sure you're subscribed, following us on all social media. Because just because the penguins are out doesn't mean that we are done. But that'll do it for our opening segment.

Starting point is 00:11:29 When we come back, a very, very well-deserved nomination for head coach Dan Muse. He is officially a Jack Adams finalist. We'll dive into that when we come back right after this. But we've got to get to our first sponsor before we do that. And it's our friends at Fandall. The NBA and Stanley Cup playoffs are here and in full swing where every possession matters. If you're looking to get even closer to the action,

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Starting point is 00:12:39 FanDuel, play your game. We're back here on the Friday edition of Locked-on Penguins. I'm Patrick Damp right alongside my pal-hunter hodies. And applause and congratulations are in order for rookie head coach. Dan Mews announced today that he is a finalist for the Coach of the Year Award, the Jack Adams Award, right along with Buffalo's Lindy Ruff and Tampa Bay's

Starting point is 00:13:09 John Cooper. Let's just begin here. I don't think Dan Muse wins it. I think this has to go to Lindy Ruff. The turnaround of the Sabres from December to the end of the season was truly unbelievable. They basically went from the basement to winning the Atlantic Division. That turnaround is just absolutely bonkers. So I do think this is Lindy Ruff's award, but If it weren't for that Sabres turnaround, it probably would be Dan Mews. I'll start here. I do think Lindy Ruff wins it based on how they were left for dead at the end of November. They went on that crazy run in December, and then they kept it up through the end of the season,

Starting point is 00:13:56 and they're now one win away from advancing to the second round of the same. Like a playoffs, he helped, and basically their decade and a half playoff drought this year. He did a fantastic job. But I do think Dan Mews is also very deserving. of this award took over a team that had very low expectations coming into this year and exceeded them tenfold. He brought them into the playoffs. He got them whole mice in the first round. Yeah, I know they got eliminated by their biggest rival, but he pushed every right button throughout the season. Definitely some learning curves in the Stanley Cup playoffs. And I do think Dan is going to

Starting point is 00:14:31 learn from a couple of those. But during the regular season, he was fan-frickin-tasted. multiple players had career seasons under him, including Anthony Manta, at least during the regular season, 33 goals and 64 points. Eric Carlson had almost 70 points this season. I was very close to hitting that bold prediction. And we're going to go over those here probably over the next couple weeks to see how we did. I was really close with a lot of mine. But, Air Carlson, again, Anthony Manta, I thought Blake Lazzat was great under him. Connor Dewer, though, the list can keep going.

Starting point is 00:15:02 Ryan Shea obviously was fantastic under Dammeuse. So very, very well deserved that he is a finalist. I think he would deserve this award as well. I just think Lindy Ruff is probably going to win it based on everything he did in Buffalo. And I think Mews would get second. John Cooper, I think that's kind of almost like the Lifetime Achievement Award because he's never won it before in Tampa Bay is always very good. Though if you wanted to argue that someone like Rick Tocke could have been a finalist or even, you know, it may sound weird to say, but even Jared Bednar considering how the avidaville, considering how the avalanche lit up the league this year you know that's fine andre tournay from

Starting point is 00:15:41 utah i think that's also a potential consideration they're considering how well utah did this year so just throwing a few names out there but i do think you know the top two for this i think it's going to go lindy rough and then i think it's going to go damn mus but even if muse does not win very much deserving of a finalist what a great first season for him as the head coach of this franchise it is genuinely surprising. I will say this about Cooper's nom. This is the first time because Tampa has been really good for the last decade. They have consistently been one of the best teams in the NHL. And you obviously know all the big names that are there, but there has been a ton of roster turnover with the Tampa Bay Lightning outside of their biggest contributors. And they just continue to

Starting point is 00:16:28 hum along is one of the best teams. And that really is a testament to how good of a coach, John Cooper, is so kind of stunning that this is a first, I think a first time non, if I'm not mistaken. No, he's been nominated before. He's just never won back. Okay. Then yeah, then I should say never won it. But still, end of the day, I think you're right, rough, then Muse, but everything for Muse does line up with how this award usually goes. Yeah. The narrative and the statistics. The narrative, the penguins were supposed to be terrible this year. They weren't supposed to make the playoffs. They were supposed to be the only team that was selling and what do you know.

Starting point is 00:17:05 They finished second in the Metro. They make the playoffs. You got your narrative there. And then the statistics. This is courtesy of the penguins themselves. The improvements are fantastic. 34 wins last season, 41 this year, a plus seven. 80 points last year, 98 this year, 18 point improvement.

Starting point is 00:17:27 Point percentage last year, 488, 598 this year, a more than one. 0.100 increase. Regulation wins, increase of 10. They had 34 this year, 24 the prior year. Goals per game increased by nearly half a goal. They had 3.54 this year, 2.95 last year. And then the penalty kill was significantly increased from 77.8 to 81.4, 3.6%. And I know that sounds small, But when you look at power play and penalty kill percentages in the NHL, a more than 3.5% increase is the difference between finishing in the bottom half of the league and finishing in the top half of the league. So everything lines up for Dan Mews to be a finalist for the Jack Adams Award.

Starting point is 00:18:23 Yeah, easily. And again, the job that he did on the penalty kill throughout the season and in the playoffs was also. so spectacular. I expect that to continue for the 26-27 season. You know, the way that this team finished third in the leaguing goals during the regular season. Just awesome. And again, they were also so fun to watch such a, you know, a magical season, despite the rough ending against the Flyers. It would have been crazy if he was not a finalist for this award. Time will tell if he does win and beat out Lindy Rough. Again, I still think Lindy Ruff is going to win it, but, you know, we'll see.

Starting point is 00:19:00 But he had one hell of a season. As anyone said, coach, and I'm excited to see what he does in year two when we start back up again in October. And to end the segment, in typical hockey fashion, did not take any of the credit, credited just about everybody else saying, quote, it's a credit to the players. Number one, they're the ones on the ice playing the game. It's also the coaching staff as a whole. There's so much that goes into it. So many people behind the scenes. my name is on it, but it's an organizational thing more than anything else.

Starting point is 00:19:35 So typical hockey guy can't take credit, can't tell everybody what a great job he did. But we will do that for you, Dan. You did one hell of a job with this Penguins team this year. So we'll keep an eye on that, though we both do believe he is going to be the runner up. When you have that kind of turnaround that Buffalo did, it's pretty hard not to give it to Lindy rough, but at the end of the day, very well deserved for Dan Mews. We're going to keep this middle segment a little bit shorter than usual because we're bringing back fan take Friday and you all delivered.

Starting point is 00:20:13 We got a lot of hot takes, a lot of responses and a few questions. So stay tuned for that. We're going to jump into all of it right after this. But we've got one more sponsor to get to. And that is game time. There is nothing like playoff hockey live. the intensity, the rivalries, the crowds. It's just different when you're in the building.

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Starting point is 00:21:48 Download on the GameTime app today, last minute tickets, lowest prices guaranteed. Closing out the Friday edition of Locked on Penguins, I'm Patrick Damp right alongside Hunter Hodes. We figured no better time than the first Friday after the season comes to its conclusion to bring back fan take Friday. The question was very simple for this one. The season is over. How are you feeling overall about how this season went? And scrolling through the bunch of responses that we got, it's pretty simple how people feel about this season. And it's pretty much how Hunter and I feel about.

Starting point is 00:22:33 this season. The season itself was a lot of fun. It was deeply satisfying. The playoffs, they were disappointing. But that's what happens when you lose to a bigger rival. So let's start with this one from Tony P. Do you think when Sidney Crosby retires, parenthesis, hopefully no time soon, end parenthesis, will the league retire his number or will Gretzky be the only player they ever retire league wide. Now, I get the point of the question, but I'll just say this. Sidney Crosby is going to be at the end of his career, a top five player of all time. The difference is Wayne Gretzky was both so good at what he did that not only was he the best player at the time, he changed the way the game was played. And as much as I love Crosby, and he is always going to be my all time favorite,

Starting point is 00:23:32 he didn't really change the way the entire sport was played. So I do think that is more a testament of what Gretzky did for the overall game than anything else. Yeah, I think it'll still remain just Gradsky's number, retired league-wide. Obviously, the Penguins will retire Crosby's number whenever he decides to stop playing. It'll probably be literally the season after he retires. Like, okay, you can just come back here and we'll retire your number. Literally as soon as possible, it'll be the same, I think, for if he got any Malkin, when he decides to stop playing.

Starting point is 00:24:03 And I do think it'll be the same for Crystal Tang as well. I think 58 is going up into the rafters. Not a hot take at all, of course. But I don't think it's being retired, 87, that is, league-wide. I don't think you'll see a lot of players wear it, but I don't think it's going to be retired or anything league-wide. No, it'll be a long time, I think, before another player wears 87, the same way that you rarely see players everywhere 66.

Starting point is 00:24:30 Yeah, that's true. Because I think we're still for the next couple of years in an era where right or wrongly, if you wear 66, you better be great because you will get relentlessly chirped if you wear 66 and you're not great. But eventually that memory and that legacy, I don't want to say will fade, but it won't be as deeply embedded in the memories of the next generation of players because they didn't watch it live. So that'll be a little bit different. But let's keep it moving here.

Starting point is 00:25:06 I like this one from Brandon Rickner saying, I think the HL playoffs and how well Wilkes-Bair does is going to make a lot of the decisions for Dubus for him. I'll always say that we need to get younger, but I just wasn't impressed with two guys in the Flyers series, Mantha and Novak. And I think this is right. You want to see what some of these prospects do

Starting point is 00:25:28 in higher leverage. situations because if they perform well and go on a deep run, it kind of tells you they're going to be ready for the next stage. But if they go out early, some of these players don't perform as you would expect. It probably changes your draft strategy, your free agency strategy, your trade targets. So we will see what happens. They're up one nothing. They got a big win in game one against the Hershey Bears. So we'll keep an eye on that, obviously, on the show. But yeah, I think that hits the nail on the head. What the baby penguins do in the Calder Cup playoffs is going to really help what the offseason looks like.

Starting point is 00:26:09 Yeah, I agree. I mean, Avery Hayes, I right now, and this is very early, I expect him to have a roster spot next season, had five goals and 16 NHL games this year, looked at the part of a solid bottom sixer, at least to start. I think he is going to be on the roster. But again, we have to see how he does for the rest of the season. and then training camp, which is obviously a few months away. But, you know, Rucker McGority, Pat, obviously, Billy Coivanin, Tristan Brose, Tanner Howell is going to, I think, potentially make a push.

Starting point is 00:26:38 Mikhail Ilien is now here full-time from Russia. He finished the KHL season. It was reassigned to Wilkesbury. He's now playing in the playoffs for them. We talked about Harrison Brunich, and we can keep going down the list, Orge Mureshov, et cetera, et cetera. So I do think some of these players could make Dubus's life easier, but I still think he is going to be fairly active this summer overall.

Starting point is 00:27:01 And you did mention Wilkesbury 4-2 win last night in game one of their semi-final series against the Hershey Bears. Really nice job to get that one. And also, Pat, we should shout out the Wheeling Nailers up 3-0 in their series, and they have a chance to take the brooms out tonight for a sweep. So both the nailers and the baby pens are off to great starts and their playoff runs. We do love to see that because, as I keep saying, and you want your organization at all levels playing meaningful hockey because it helps with the development of these younger players.

Starting point is 00:27:33 And did you see what Taylor Gaudier say it's percentage is right now? It's, oh, I just looked this up. Why did I forget? I know it's well over 900. Oh, yeah. It's 98 in three games. He is going off for the nailers. Just awesome stuff.

Starting point is 00:27:50 And Murshov last night, by the way, made a couple of insane sprawling saves. Great night for him last night. 31 saves. Really fun game to watch. That team, I think they're going to get through Hershey. And who knows, maybe they'll play Providence in the next round, which that would be a fun series. But again, both teams looking really solid so far. Yep. And let's keep it going here. Here's a good one from Landon Bartle's question for you guys, maybe outside of acquiring a Jason Robertson or Robert Thomas in the offseason, who is one guy the Penguins would realistically trade for whether that is forward or defenseman that isn't being talked about much,

Starting point is 00:28:27 if at all. Don't know if this would happen, but maybe a guy like Brandt Clark or Nicholas Robertson just to name a couple. Here's a name that I'm going to keep bringing up that I think fits the profile of a player that Dubus would want. Shane Wright out of Seattle. They're turning over their front office. I think they're starting to accept that right.

Starting point is 00:28:53 out of the gate, they caught themselves in the mushy middle. And I think this would be a better environment for someone like, right, because he had so many expectations placed upon him with an expansion team. And it didn't really pan out. And he's a Penguins legend. He always will be. But it's really starting to show that Ron Francis is not a very good general manager. and I think in a better environment where he's in a lesser role,

Starting point is 00:29:28 he can grow into a pretty solid impact player. Yeah, I mean, Jason Bottrell, I think, runs the day to day now in Seattle, but that's still a team that is, you know, falling way short of expectations. I hear you on Shane Wright, though. I also potentially think they might try to dangle him to get a big time score on the roster. That's something that they're really searching for. Like, they want their next big game breaker.

Starting point is 00:29:49 Those players are obviously very hard to find because they don't get made. available very often. I'll give you two, and they're both 24 years old. We talked about this one player at the trade deadline if this team wanted to move him. They did not. Dawson Mercer, if the Devils want to start over with him, fits the profile. Again, young, 24 years old. Could potentially use a change of scenery. The Devils have a new front office led by Sonny Meta as the GM. No more Tom Fitzgerald. He could be a player that potentially look to move. He had 20 goals in 42 points and 82 games this season. He has 320 goals. season so far in his career. That's someone that I would look at.

Starting point is 00:30:27 And one more from the Winnipeg Jets, Culper Fetty, first round pick in the 2020 NHL draft, finished this year with 12 goals and 32 points in 68 games. His career high in points was 50, which came last year. Again, this is someone who, again, also Fitzs-Dill. He's only 24 years old. You can play him up and down your lineup. Again, these are two players that I think would interest Kyle Dubus because these are the type of players that, you know, he has shown that he's willing to go after before in the past where it's players that, you know, maybe could use a change of scenery. They're still young.

Starting point is 00:30:59 They have showcased their talent. And they can give them opportunities here that they maybe didn't have on their other respective teams. So those are just two that I'm keeping my eye on this all season. There's plenty more that we could discuss, you know, mentioned Robertson. Robert Thomas is going to be out there. I'm sure there's going to be plenty of others that make their way. and two trade rumors, but those are just a couple 24-year-old players who I'm keeping my eye on.

Starting point is 00:31:26 Yeah, those are good options. And I think that's a good transition point for our last couple of fan take Friday submissions here. Let's start with this one from Harrison Baldwin, who says, I'm scared of Dubus making an all-in move. I think they should continue to get younger and collect premium picks. The season was magical, but it showed they're not close enough to the perennial contender. Dubus has said he wants the goal to become, and they aren't a Robertson or Thomas away from becoming that. Here's the thing that I think is right. The second half of that is right. I do think that is what they're

Starting point is 00:32:00 going to continue to do. They are going to continue to collect reclamation projects, younger players, draft picks. And I don't think making the postseason in a surprise year is going to knock Kyle Dubis off, of course, because a lot of things also went their way, especially at the end of the year. We talked about it going into the playoffs, that you're triumvirate of Detroit, the Islanders, and the blue jackets just tanked themselves away. They look like they should have been playoff teams and they just folded down the stretch. The penguins weren't terrible down the stretch, but they started to run a little bit out of steam. So I don't think Dubus is going to look at this year and say, oh, here we go.

Starting point is 00:32:48 It's time to push all the chips in. I think he's going to keep doing what he's doing. So end of the day, if you can get a Thomas or a Robertson, you do it because they're young enough that you can keep them around for a while. But I don't see him going out and taking any massive swings this summer unless it's for a said younger player that you can keep around for a long time. Yeah. Like the thing with Robertson is now the Star season just ended. I think they're going to do whatever it takes to sign him overall. I mean, you saw how well he played in that series.

Starting point is 00:33:23 The Stars also could not score a five on five goal to save their lives. I don't know if you saw that iPad, they went over 200 minutes without a five on five goal. Wasn't great. Going into that game, they had only had five players in that series who had scored for them. They just were completely shut down by Minnesota. Kudos to them. but I think Robertson showed them that you really can't move on from him. So they're going to do everything in their power to sign him.

Starting point is 00:33:49 If they can't, only then would they put him on the trade market. You're not offering something like this. By the way, Pat, if you've seen what the parameters are, it would have to be a sign and a trade. Robert Thomas, you saw the report at the trade deadline that Elliot Freeman was talking about how the penguins took a swing at him. I think that'd be a bigger package than Robertson, to be honest. so. I think Robert Thomas, you know, as a center, like those go for more usually. And for someone as good as Thomas is, in my opinion, I actually think it would cost more to get Thomas than it would Robertson. It may seem like a weird take to some. But again, when a premium center goes on the market like that, all these teams flock right to it.

Starting point is 00:34:34 Because a lot of teams always need centers. So, yeah, you're, you're bang on with that. It's a center trade. So that's a more premium position. And especially a player like him is going to be hard to get. Even though Robertson scores a lot more, he's still at the end of the day, a winger. So that's a little bit, it's seen as a lesser position. So let's finish with one of our favorite frequent flyers,

Starting point is 00:34:58 our friend Penn 68, who drops a few hot takes that we can react to. First, Igor Chinikov will hit the 40 goal mark next season. Secondly, Kyle Dubus is going to make an impact trade this summer. He's going to inquire about Jason Robertson, and he's going to revisit St. Louis about Robert Thomas. And now that Alex Steen is taking over for Doug Armstrong, he will also inquire with Seattle about Shane Wright. Those are the few players. So we brought that up. And finally, Ben Kindle hits the 50 plus point mark next season and gets between 20 and 25 goals.

Starting point is 00:35:37 We did the middle one already with the trades and everything, but I did want to get that in there. So let's talk about the other two. I don't think 40 goals is out of the question for Igor Chinikov. If he continues to develop at the pace he has, the shot and offensive mind that he has puts him in position to do something like that. And Kindle, I don't know about the 20 to 25 goals, but I can see him flirting with 50 points because he plays a game that transitions well from defense to offense. So I can see him putting up some big assist numbers. The goals on the other hand might not be as big just because he's going to be the first pass out of the zone kind of guy. Yeah, I mean, Chinikov, just with the Penguins had 18 goals. He finished the season with 21.

Starting point is 00:36:23 You know, if he starts the season red hot and continues it, I could definitely see him getting close to 40 goals. We'll have to see. But I don't think that's too hot. I think his second one talking about a big swing. I don't think that's that hot of a take either. I do think Caldubis is going to look into you know, everything possible in terms of making a big swing this summer. Now, whether he does it, that's to be determined. They have a ton of cap space. It's just whether or not you have the assets to go and get that type of player because other teams are also going to be going for that type of player. And these teams, even though the Penguins prospect pool is better, their draft situation is better. Some of the, you know, a team like the Blues or Stars may like some of these other

Starting point is 00:37:04 teams prospects better, for example, just spitballing with that. But we can talk way more about that later on this month into June, once the season is over. Again, that's when more players will go on the trade market, we'll have the draft and all that. And then, yeah, I mean, for Ben Kendall, he almost hit 20 goals this year as an 18 year, 18 year old rookie, excuse me. I think he definitely is going to hit at least 20 next year in his second season. And I could still see 50 points as well. I think, you know, maybe it's not next year. or potentially the year after in this third year,

Starting point is 00:37:37 I have them hitting right around 60-ish points during that time. I think, you know, if you can have a second-line center hitting consistent 65 to 70 points, you're set there. I think his peak is something around, you know, a point per game, 80-ish points, maybe 85 to 90. Again, that's like his true peak. But right now I see him as a 65-to-70-ish point player

Starting point is 00:38:01 who can be on your second line. And that is damn good for an 11th overall pick. Anything more than that, I think that's a pure bonus. But we'll see. He's already elite defensively. You saw his shot this year. You saw his playmaking ability. He's only going to continue to get better.

Starting point is 00:38:17 I can't wait to see what he looks like when he's 21 to 22. He's only 19. And he's already insanely good. Yeah, really excited for Ben Kendall's future. But thank you guys, as always, for your submissions for Fan Take Friday. We'll keep it going throughout the office. season because we love hearing from you guys and we know it's going to be an active one. So you're going to have plenty of takes, plenty of questions.

Starting point is 00:38:40 We love hearing from you. And that is going to do it for the Friday edition of Locked-on Penguins. We will be back next week. Daily episodes continue apace. We're going to keep an eye on the baby penguins, the Wheeling Nailers, the Stanley Cup playoffs, and anything else that happens 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 once again on Monday.

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