Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Geno gets his night and the Penguins are going streaking!

Episode Date: November 22, 2022

Was that a perfect back-to-back or what? The Pittsburgh Penguins have won three in a row and five of seven as they are back in the playoff race. Hunter starts the show off with an ode to Evgeni Malkin and how it's been an absolute pleasure to watch him over the last decade and a half. He goes into what his top five Malkin all-time goals are and how much he's meant to this franchise and their fans and the city as a whole. He looked at how everything on Sunday was perfect, from the pregame warmup routine to his son Nikita reading the lineup, his goal, and then the win. After that, he looks at the Blackhawks game as a whole and how the Penguins were able to come out on top, despite not playing their best. He shouts out Sidney Crosby for another tremendous performance as he has bounced back in a big way these last few games. He also looks at how great Brock McGinn continues to play and why he should remain on the third line going forward, plus gives a stick tap to Ryan Poehling as his play has also improved the last few games as well. Finally, he recaps the win over the Winnipeg Jets and how the Penguins played one of their best defensive games of the season. Could that start get Jarry back on track? How does Jason Zucker continue to do it? When will Kris Letang get his game back? All that, plus much more on this episode of Locked On Penguins.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!SimpliSafeWith Fast Protect™️ Technology, exclusively from SimpliSafe, 24/7 monitoring agents capture evidence to accurately verify a threat for faster police response. There’s No Safe Like SimpliSafe. Visit SimpliSafe.com/LockedOnNHL to learn more.Athletic GreensTo make it easy, Athletic Greens is going to give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit athleticgreens.com/NHLNETWORK Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What's up Penguins fans? Happy Monday, November 21st, Penguins on a three-game winning streak and have also won five out of their last seven, the one point out of the wildcard spot, and two points out of second place. But today's episode, it's going to at least start with a big ode to Havgeny Malkin in his 1000th game. We're going to get into everything about that game against the Chicago Blackhawks. A lot of it from Gino's perspective, seeing how Sten was an amazing moment with his son reading the pregame lineup. Gino is scoring in that game, how he has 71, you know, how he has at least a point. And 71% of those 1,000 games, that's just so poetic. And we're going to get into at least my favorite moments of the Afghani Malcan era, just, you know, why he means so much to me as someone who grew up with him as a kid

and why I think he means so much to you all as well. After that, we're going to get into the win against the Winnipeg Jets and why the Penguins played lockdown defense. And of course, we'll get into the overall win against Chicago and how the Penguins were able to get their first win in Chicago in 13 years. And we'll look ahead to this week's actions. The Penguins try to continue this little hot streak. So that's all coming up right after this drop. You're Locked on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network. Your team every day.

Hello, welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. I'm going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can also follow the shows Twitter at Eleanor for Penguins. And, of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen of the day. Penguins 5, Blackhawks 3, but of course the main story of the night. Gennie Malkins' 1,000th game, a moment that we've been all been waiting for for a long time. Probably should have happened a lot sooner if it weren't for some of these injuries.

But a moment that I'm really glad I was able to, watch live and I think a lot of you all were you're all glad to able to watch live as well you know from the from the pregame warmups with everyone doing his routine you know they kind of did the same with with Sid for his 1,000th game last year

and of course Malkin's going to get honored on Wednesday when the Penguins play the Calgary Flames on obviously the day before Thanksgiving but seeing them do that you know Gina was loving it he was just smiling the entire time and then you know right before they're going on to the ice

after Warren Ruff's Nikita Malkins, seven-year-old son at this point. I mean, I remember, hell, man, I was 2015. I was pretty sure I was a senior in high school when that kid was born. He's all of a sudden seven years old now. I'm 25. Just feels really weird. Time has just flown by with that.

He's leading the lineup, and he looks so poised doing it. You know, says Pedersen's name, what Tang's name, Jason Zucker, Brian Russ. and obviously said his dad, and Gino's there just crying his eyes out. I mean, he was just a really special moment for him that he and that his son and his wife, Anna, were able to fly out for the game. And then, you know, obviously he scores in the game. He gets the second goal to make it 2-0 for a brief period of time. And Ryan Peeling really nice pass to get to Malkin.

And his celebration was just a pure joy. I mean, you all had to know that Malkin was going to score in this game, right? I mean, you know, it's just, it's poetic. And Malkin, you know, one of the five best players in this franchise's history, probably a top 50 player in NHL history. And the best part about what I love about how Gino is playing this year is he's shutting up a lot of his critics on this past off season. This moment, it wasn't for those people that wanted to run him out of town, that wanted to put Vince Trocheck in or Andrew Kopp over him. No, it's for the people that have stayed loyal to him over these last 16 to 17 years and who have just loved watching him bring so much. much joy to their lives ever since he came into the league, you know, back in 2005 and back in

2006 and all that stuff. Obviously, it wasn't, you know, since rookie years right after that. But still, just an incredible, you know, night for him. And, you know, he's had so many great moments for this franchise over the years. You know, my favorite Malkin goal, I think if I had to pick one game two, Carolina, 2009, when Joe Betanati, you know, has, Afghani Malkin, spectacular for the hat trick, comes around the net, has Sidenbergh on his back,

no look backhand, roofs it past Cam Ward. I mean, that was beast mode Gino to a T. He will bet team to a victory in that series. He was probably, I don't know, I shouldn't even say probably, he was the best player on the ice that series. And honestly, that entire run, he played, like the best player in hockey. He was one of, if not the main reason why the Penguins won the Stanley Cup that year.

He was on another planet. My second favorite Malkin goal, if I had to pick one throughout his first 1,000 games, and hopefully there's many, many more to come, is when Malkin was cherry-picking against the Flyers back in 2008. He just got walloped from behind the net by Mike Richards and same thing, Joe Ben-Noddy. Malkin, basket hanging, in solo, wines and scores. Evgeny Malkin says take that.

And I have that call just itched in my memory ever since the last 14 years. And it was the perfect, just, it was just the perfect way to symbolize who Gino was because he got hit pretty hard, looked like he was hurt, was obviously pissed off about it. Cherry picks at the blue line,

gets the puck and says, I'm going to score and there's nothing you can freaking do about it. And I'm going to line up a slap shot. and he sure did on both those. And in the celebration he had was just a, you know, pure relief. I was honestly surprised he didn't give Marty Barron or Mike Richards the double bird after that. And because of the camera, it panned to Richards as he was on one knee being like, what more do I need to do to get him off his game?

And Malkin was just like, you know, nothing. You know, you piss me off. And this is what I'm going to do. Those are, I think, my two favorite Malkin goals throughout his career. Another one that comes to mind, you know, he goes one on five against the lightning. I believe that was 2011. He's galloping up the ice. Does it between the legs, dangold goes backhand, forehand, stick side.

Just a beautiful goal. I believe that goal made it 5 to 1 penguins over the lightning. Another goal that obviously comes to mind. He roofed it against the Edmonton Northern. There was about seven years ago. Hicks, I believe it was cleft bombs, pocket and comes into the zone, backs up, skates backwards, and then just fires a no look backhand barred down, past the Oilers goaltender, just a vintage Malking goal. And then the fifth one,

I think he scored this against the Avalanche, a very similar one of the lightning one, just, you know, was in the offensive zone, knives through two to three guys, goes backhand, forehand, and he gets tripped on the play. No penalty was called, still scored it. And he, he an amazing celebration. So, I mean, those are probably my five favorite Malkin goals. I could probably talk about so many other goals for two hours, if I could on this podcast. This guy came back on one knee in the 2021 playoffs. Six points in four games came back from really bad elbow surgery in 2015-16, had to miss game one of that series against the Rangers, comes back, plays the full playoff run, and was one of their best players. Same thing for 2016.

17 was just on an absolute mission that run could have easily won the con smith i know they gave it to sid but they could have given it to gino um but you know when he's excuse me when i will say this when he is on top of his game when we use in his peak no no one was better than him and that's someone who has you know said cindy crosby's been the best player in the role for most years of his career, but when Malkin was on his game and you couldn't get the puck off him, no one could touch him. I know sometimes that wasn't the case. He was maybe a top five, top ten point in the world.

But in his peak, in those prime years, when he was on his game, especially that season when Sid was out and he did it all by himself, he was the best player in hockey. And he has shown that time and time again throughout his penguin's tenure. And, you know, he's given this franchise everything. Heck, you all remember, it was a hassle for him to even get over here from Russia. There was a time where it looked like he maybe was not even going to come over here just because of that whole situation. But, you know, he was able to. And the penguins have been better off for it ever since.

Excuse me. Sorry about that. I had to meet my mic for the cough. But just, I mean, I have run out of honestly, I've honestly run out of words to just describe the feeling Malkin at this point. And yeah, I know some people will say, well, you know, this just means the end is coming. And sure, you know, it is. But, you know, we're also taking the time to celebrate what a great career he's had. And we did the same for Cindy Crosby last thing.

We're going to do the same thing for Crystal Tang later this season because he's only about 40 games away from his 1,000th game. But he's given this franchise and you fans everything. Three Stanley Cups, Hart Trophy, a Calder Trophy, an Art Ross trophy, so many other awards that he's won, he's done it all. And he'd obviously want to be the only rushing to win a fourth Stanley Cup,

and he's working towards that goal. But right now, it's hard to argue that, you know, he hasn't given everything to this franchise. And so, Gino, congratulations on 1,000 games. You've played your tail off all season. you played great last night and you know from bottom of my heart as someone who has watched your career ever since i was a little kid in elementary school you know here's to hopefully 1,000 more games man i really i really appreciate you know just watching you do your thing on a nightly basis and

i think the fans that listen to this show you know they they also appreciate it as well so just a great ceremony i'm sure wednesday night is going to be awesome he's going to be up in the rafters at pbjpg paints arena one day and I will surely be at that game for that. I'll say the least. So again, congratulations. You know, 1,000 games. That night was yours and, you know, it was great that you scored and it was also great that the Penguins got the win. So that wraps up this first segment for the show. Coming up in the second segment, we're going to get into the Chicago game as a whole and how the Penguins were able to withstand a barrage there at the end from the Blackcocks.

But before we get to that, did you know that over the holidays, crime like burglar lease and package death spike nationally. That's why our friends at Simply Safe Home Security are offering 50% off their award-winning security system so that more families can feel safe and secure this holiday season. You can order your Simply Safe System for half off today and enjoy advanced security and greater peace of mind this holiday season. They were named the best home security system of 2022 by US News and World Court. That is a third year in a row. In an emergency, 24-7 professional monitoring agents use fast protect technology exclusively from simply safe to capture critical evidence and verify the threat Israel so you can get priority police response.

It's whole home security with advanced sensors for every room, window, and door. You also have AXU security cameras for inside and outside your home. And you have smarter ways to detect motion that alert you only when a threat Israel and even hazard sensors that attack fires, floods, and other threats to your home. Do not miss your chance to say big on the only security system that I recommend. You can get 50% off any new simply safe system at simplysafe.com. slash locked on NHL today. This is their biggest discount of the year,

so don't wait. That's simplysafe.com slash locked on NHL. There is no safe like SimplySafe. All right, I'm back here in this episode of the Lockedon Penguins podcast. I am your host, Honour Hodes.

You're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the show's Twitter at El Norsal Pranglins. And of course, thank you so much for making this your first listen of the day. So let's get into that game overall

outside of Juno's 100th game and his goal, a five to three win for your Pittsburgh Penguins three wins in row. Again, they've won five or their last seven. I will just say this. I think the demise of this team was a little bit exaggerated by some people. They've clawed their way back into the thick of things. Yes, they're out of a playoff spot right now, but obviously there's still work to be done,

but they've righted the ship. They've gotten 11 out of a possible 14 points. In their last seven games, they're also two points out of second place. Everything is mostly okay right now. You still want them to keep winning games and get back into a playoff spot, but they've saved their season, at least for now. This was badly needed. And they got their first one in Chicago in 13 years.

They were up 3-0. Squandered that 3-0 lead. They've been having trouble with leads all season for some reason. It's never a good look when you blow a three-goal lead to one of the worst teams in the league, a team that's legitimately tanking for Connor Bedard. The Blackhawks are utterly atrocious. But the Penguins were able to get it back. Sidney Crosby was like, you know what?

I'm not going to lose on the night that we're on. my best friend. I'm going to wheel this team to victory, and he did exactly that by notching his tent goal this season to make it four or three with three minutes left. Jeff Carter was able to add on the empty net goal. I thought this game, the Penguins, they were playing fine for a majority of it before I think the Blackcocks kind of started to pull away a little later on. And yeah, were the Penguins a little bit gassed? Sure, again, another situation with three games and four nights. They're going to have to deal with that again later this week when they play Calgary on Wednesday, Philly Friday, and then Saturday,

they'll host Toronto before, you know, that's actually the start of a five-game homestand, which is really exciting. But, you know, they've been having a lot of these three games in four nights, even against a bad team like Chicago, it's hard to, you know, have those full 60s, but, you still, Penguins are able to get the win, and that's all that matters. When you look at natural stratrick, it was about 50-50 in terms of shot attempts. The Penguins did lead in scoring chances, 54.5% at 5B5. high danger they led 73% of those and then expected goals they did have 53% of those but still i thought

the third period they kind of got outplayed a little bit even if the numbers don't say that um they're just i thought there was too much time in the defensive zone and that obviously led to the black hawks time the game with only a few minutes left just a really bad goal i thought from casey to smith to allow but this team also did a lot right you know they get the first goal just a minute into the game brockmigan just another goal. I mean, he's had the goals in five of his last seven games. We've seen goals in almost three straight now. He's playing Exxon Hockey.

Andrew, I know you listen on the YouTube page. You were pumping up Brock's tires when I was kicking him down just because he wasn't playing that well, but you said, you know what it's going to turn around. And he did, you know, he's turned it around in a big way. So, again, I will gladly eat crow on this. I have no problem with doing that. He's playing like the Brock McGinn we saw in the first half of, last regular season and sure could Ron Hexel look to trade him for a premium return?

He could, but again, I don't really think he's going to at this point. You know, just keep him on the third line right now. He's playing really good hockey. His shot is on another level right now. He's also shooting 20%. Is that going to be sustainable? No. But, you know, you ride that until that falls off.

But, you know, this is some of McGinn's best hockey that I've seen him play. And he's giving this team some quality depth scoring. that they weren't having a lot during that seven game losing streak. But since then, you know, he's been one of the team's best players in his, you know, top five, top six in the team in roles right now and again, has goals in three straight game. So really nice job from McKin overall. And, you know, Ricard Raquel, he gets another goal. I think he's been one of their best players all season.

I was someone, I was fine with like the first half of the extension. I wasn't happy with the AAB that he got. Again, I'm eating Crow on the Raquel deal. he's been one of their best players so far. I thought he would be good after coming over. I didn't think he'd be this good where he'd be playing top-paring, top line minutes every night

and being a better option than Brian Rust. I still would have him on the top power playover Rust at this point, but he's making those minutes count, and he's playing very well, to say the least. Sid, what more needs to be said about Sidney Crosby? You know, he's been phenomenal. And I knew that he was going to turn it around

even after I criticize him a little bit because I did say, you know, not playing his good brand of hockey right now. But it's it. You know, this is what great players do. They're off for a few games, but then they come back and they play great for the rest of their season. Last three games, 10 points.

He's top 10 in scoring right now, leads the team in scoring by a wide margin. This is what an all-time great player does. When your team needs a goal, especially in that situation last night, directly after the Black Hawk's tied it. It looks like it's going to overtime. who else is going to step up but sid he was a man on a mission these last three games and he has

just done his thing and you know i'm obviously feeling really grateful that he is on the penguins and i think you all that listen to the show you all are feeling really grateful as well so another great game from a great game excuse me from sid and i'm sure he's going to continue this throughout the rest of the regular season carter was able to get the empty netter i thought outside of that didn't really play that well but you know if he's not making bad plays. I think he's fine at this point. Also, I will say this, Ryan Paling, another really strong game. I think that's three to four good games in a row from him at this point. He's starting to intrigue me a little bit. I think he's someone that,

you know, if he's on his game like he's seen these last three to four games, he can provide a scoring boost to this team, had that great pass to Malkin for the Penguin's second goal, which is a really nice job for checking there as well. So I've been impressed with him these last few games, it looks like they could have a player in him, but, you know, I still want to see more consistency from him overall. Teddy Bluger, he continues to be great. The penalty kill continues to be very stellar. It's in the top half of the week now. That was one of the biggest keys to getting this thing turned around in. It was at the bottom of the league. You cannot have both special teams units at the bottom of the league and think you can win in this league. You have to have

at least one of those units playing well. And right now, it's the penalty kill. There's time to get the power play back. Maybe I'll talk about that a little later. on in this episode, but right now, penalty kill, it's killing off basically every power play with ease. They're back to being aggressive. They're not sitting, playing back, playing passive and all that. I know they do the little diamond thing, but, you know, right now, it's actually looking like the unit we saw last season where even when Trist and Jari was not billing them out,

you know, they were still killing penalties off with ease. So I've been really impressed with that unit these last two and a half weeks. See, it was starting to turn around a little bit towards the end of that losing streak. It's really turned around these last seven games. The Blackhawks power play didn't do a thing. Last night, neither did the win in back power play on Saturday. And then the game in Minnesota, nothing happened there either. So, you know, just a lot to like about that performance.

I thought Casey DeSmith was good. Outside that third goal, that one can't go in. I think he's playing too deep in his net there. But, you know, overall, a really sound win for the Penguins, was it pretty? No, but you know, not all wins are going to be pretty. Sometimes you're kind of going to get a bit lucky to win. I think Soder Blom made some good saves in the third period, but he also let up a couple of hours.

You take that. He doesn't even have 10 games of Manantial experience. Penguins, they use that to their advantage and are able to get the win. You have to beat the bad teams. Even if it's on a back-to-back, the penguins were able to do that, and they're better off for it. They swept the weekends back-to-back. That's the first time I've done that all year.

And now things are looking up again, and I think the fan base is starting to not freak out as much anymore. So fine performance. Was it their best? No. But again, you banked at two points. They've won their last three. There are two points at a second in the Metro.

I think there's not much else you can ask for right now. So good win. That's what I'll have to say about the Chicago game. Coming up in the next segment, we'll talk about the Winnipeg game a little bit because I was really impressed by the Penguins and Mack. a lot because that is a good Winnipeg team that they beat. Now, before I get to that, though, Benline.net is your number one source for sports betting info stats and use an analysis.

You can get the latest odds and trends for every professional and amateur league out there. From football to basketball to soccer and e-sports, we've got it all at that online. Dot net. And if you love sports podcasts, you can find those at that align as well. We're always the fastest and easiest way to get your betting fix. You can head to the website today or use your motivation to know more. That has been online where the game starts. All right, I'm back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast.

I am your host, Honored Hodes. You know to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, all the shows, Twitter, Eleanor Sour Penguins. And of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen of the day. And yes, for those that, you know, are not on Twitter, I do have big news. I'm officially moving to Pittsburgh next week. My girlfriend and I will be going up.

We'll be moving in next Thursday, Friday. We got a place about 15, 20 minutes outside the city. And there could be some potential, you know, things, podcast related. could be coming a little later on. I'm not going to get into them, but I'm hopeful, to say the least, but I'm fired up. I can't wait to move to the city.

I can't wait to hopefully go to some practices and, you know, just check out what they practice, especially on the power play, just because the power play has just been so bad this year. And I hopefully can't wait to go to a lot more games in this year, too. So I wanted to start all this segment by touching on that. And, you know, hopefully I can meet more of you at games and such. I think I kind of feel isolated down here during the podcast and the northern

to you less central Virginia, but as for the game against Winnipeg, I thought the Penguins played a very sound game against the Jets. Did not really give them anything. Oh, if I can find that game here. I went to the wrong thing on natural statics. Whoopsies. I didn't really think the Penguins gave the Jets anything throughout those 16 minutes. Trishon Jari had to make some good saves, but I didn't think you have to like flat out

raw any Jets players. Kyle O'Connor had some good chances, but, you know, he's Kyle O'Connor. he's going to get those chances. Jari, turn them aside. DuBois had a couple good chances. Shifley, Blake, we allered. But, you know, in the end, Jari was able to out duel Hellebuk, and the Penguins were able to get that 3-0 shutout win. It was looking a bit dicey at times in the third period. I do think the Penguins were defending well until Connor Hellebuk just gave the Penguins a goal for free. He was having what heck of a game, too.

I mean, I said this on my preview episode. He's the top three goaltender in the league, and you all saw that in the Saturday game, just making some dazzling saves when the penguins were carrying play. Honestly, for the last three to four years, he has been the main reason why the Jets are in so many games and why they're in the playoff hunt every year. He is a difference maker at that position. And to me, only Igor Shusirkin and Andre Vasselovsky are better than him.

You can maybe make the argument that UC Soros is better. Personally, I don't think he is. I think Helibuck is kind of in that 1A, 1B, C range as one of the best goaltenders in hockey. He was making some ridiculous saves. But in the end, the Penguins were able to get the win and skate away with it. You know, overall Penguins, they controlled the shot at temp share, 54.5% at Indian strength. Scoring chances about 50-50.

High-danger chances were 50-50. That said the Penguins did lead in expected goals at 59.4%. And the game winner did go to Jason Zucker. Early on in the third period, what a rip of a slap shot with a give-and-go from McGee Malkin and Zucker. continues to have his torrid pace going this season. He has been ridiculous. And I'll keep saying that this is the version of Zucker that the penguins thought they were getting when they traded for him

and he's at a point-per-game pace now. He works extremely well with Malkin. And I think by the end of this season, if he stays healthy, he's going to score 20 to 25 this year. But what a rocket that was. Hellebuck, no chance at all on that shot. And then the penguins were able to make it 2-0 late in the third period when for some reason, Hellebuck decided,

to give the puck to Siddy Crosby. Don't know why. I guess he just panicked because he thought he was going to have a penalty. Ryan Russ is able to bury his first goal in what felt like in a trinity to make it 2-0. And then the MT net master, Jake Gensel scores to make it 3-0. Overall, Penguins defended very well in that game. Tristan Jari had an excellent game. I think that was his best start in about two or three weeks. And if he can continue to build off that, you know, that makes the Penguins that much more dangerous this season.

I'm hoping that he does. you know, it's one start, sure, but again, it's definitely one that he could build off of, to say the least. I don't really have much more on that game against Winnipeg. PK was good. Powerplay continues to be. I mean, there really hasn't been that many negatives to talk about with the team lately. The power play, though, man, it stinks. Just nothing doing at all.

I would love to see them make that change with Ross for Raquel. Zone entries continue to be bad. The overpassing continues to be annoying. Whenever they get a shot on it, it's just one and done, the pup goes back the other way. They're just not getting any sassane zone time on it. And it's just, it's very frustrating to watch. Chris LaTang, he still needs to get his crap together. I'll say it.

He's been bad. And Josh Yowie put out a very disturbing tweet. And I am also someone who does not like plus minus. I think it's a very useless stat. But when you're minus 10 overall and we're 20 games in the season, that's not good. And when you've had ample time away from Brian Duman, who we all thought was the main problem. on that pairing and you're still a bad minus player, that's not good.

You know, it seems to me right now that even with Pedersen up there, really not making a difference. I don't know. It's weird. But he needs to find his game again if this team is going to make any noise this season. He is too important to this team to keep playing like absolute dog water. So as soon as he finds his game again, the better off this team will be. Again, keep saying in time right in the face.

I do think he is going to find his game again. I just think, you know, for some reason right now, he's just not at the top of his game. And, you know, he's playing like crap at both ends of the right. But, you know, that's just my opinion on that. Otherwise, I think everyone on the team right now, for the most part, is really humming. To end the show, I will say,

I did listen to the 32 Thoughts podcast from Elliot Freeman. And he did say that Ron Hextall is potentially working the phones to make a trade. If I had to guess, he's probably trying to dump Kaepin'an's 3.2 million cap it. You don't want to keep. scratching a guy that's making 3.2 million. I mean, you're just wasting cap face of that like that. I think he probably knows deep down he made a mistake with that deal. I've got to think so.

It's just when Mike Sullivan has basically lost him, I mean, sorry, I'll repeat myself, when he's basically lost Mike Sullivan, who's really gone to bat for him over these last couple of seasons, and he really hasn't been getting in the lineup lately, and I don't really know what else there's to do for him. I mean, are you going to waive him? and, you know, if someone doesn't claim him, then you're sending him down to Wilkesbury,

and that's $3.2 million, that basically dead cap. So I got to think he's working on a trade for him. If not him, then maybe they're looking for another forward to come in to really balance out the lineup. But, you know, it's good news that he's still looking into a trade even when the team is playing well.

He's not just looking for a panic move or anything like that. But that will do it for this episode of Volta on Penguins podcast. Wanted to end the show with that. Coming up later this week, so for Tuesday's episode, we're going to preview that game against the Calgary Flames. and maybe try to see if we can get Jess Belmasta or Nick Serrara us on because he's one of the new correspondents for Locked on Flames.

Wednesday we're going to we're going to recap the game against the flames. Thursday, there might be an episode for Thanksgiving. Haven't decided yet if there is. We're going to preview the Friday game against the Flyers. And then 40 Flyer game on Friday, that will be a recap episode of that. And then we'll also preview the Saturday game against the Maple Leafs. So again, that'll do it for this one. Hope you all enjoyed listening to it.

I'll be back with you all on Tuesday.