Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Geoff from thepensblog returns!

Episode Date: March 2, 2021

After losing the original episode on Friday, Hunter and Geoff re-recorded for today and there's no shortage of topics to touch on. They first touch on the big news of the day, as Sidney Crosby will be out for Tuesday's game against the Flyers due to being on the COVID-19 list. Are we going to see the Guentzel-Malkin-Rust line reunited? Who plays with McCann as he steps into the 2C role? Is this the biggest week of the season to date? After that, Hunter asks Geoff about the special teams and what he's noticing about both units as they continue to struggle. What does the PK need to do better? What do the numbers say about the PP in the last nine games? Finally, Hunter gets into some trade talk as the Penguins definitely have some needs that need addressed.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.IndeedWant your QUALITY short-list FAST? You need Indeed. RIGHT NOW, our listeners get a FREE SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLAR CREDIT to upgrade your job post at Indeed.com/LockedOn 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.

Your Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day. Hello, welcome to this Tuesday afternoon edition of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. Follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the show's Twitter at L-O-U-U-Penguins.

Excuse me. We were supposed to have the episode with Jeff from the Peds blog go up on Friday. You know, then my Mac decided to be a piece of garbage, and it just deleted the file after I tried to basically put it back up. So, you know, that's just what happens with technology. Sometimes, you know, it's almost as unlucky as Crystal Tane breaking his stick twice in the same game from last week. But we have Jeff here. Buddy, how are you doing? I am hanging in there.

You know, just doing about as good as you can here in the COVID world that we're living in. But I appreciate you having me on, man. Yeah, absolutely. I haven't had you on in a while. You know, I see light at the end of the tunnel, I think, for this pandemic. You know, there are fans, of course, back in the building tonight, 15% capacity for the penguins. You know, I said yesterday probably could have waited another month to do it because for more people in the country to get the vaccine. But, you know, the big news today, Jeff, obviously, as fans are allowed back in the building and we're still in the pandemic, Sydney Crosby is out for tonight's game as he's on the COVID list.

I'm unsure if he has the coronavirus. he probably just was close to someone that had it, but if he has it, you know, he's going to be out, obviously, for a lot longer. Obviously, you know, I know everyone knows, this is a huge loss for the Penguins in one of the biggest games of the season. And, Jeff, I think they need 2019 version of Evgeny Malkin to show up tonight. What about you? Yeah, I'd agree with that.

I think it's just, it is just so penguins to start allowing fans back into the building and then have the captain go out, you know, on the protocol. But yeah, you know what? I think Malkin is really kind of starting to look a little bit more like himself. You know, he's kind of starting to get more towards the high-scoring areas, which, you know, just something he wasn't doing in the first 14, 15 games of the season. But yeah, I mean, all eyes are going to be on him, you know, with sit-out, whether that be, you know, shorter or medium term here.

You know, he's kind of getting the two best possible wingers that he can't. with with Rust and Gensel, assuming that those are, that those are going to be his, his linemates tonight, um, you know, it's, it's tough. I mean, you know, there's still that kind of almost like kind of stink on him from the, from the first part of the season where he, where he really was not of getting Malkin. Yeah.

Um, so, so kind of hoping, hoping he lights it up maybe, maybe a little bit optimistic, but at the same time, I mean, it kind of has to happen at this point, right? I mean, no Crosby, you know, all eyes really are on Malkin here. Yeah, I think this is, yeah, the prime time for him to come out of his shell. You know, he's come out of his shell a little bit, but, you know, the prime time for him to fully come out of that shell. I think tonight, Jeff, he's going to be playing with Jake Gensel and Brian Rust. You know, that line played quite a few games last year. I think it was 21, 30 or something like that.

I remember their underlying numbers were ridiculously good. Their expected goals, I think they controlled almost 60% when they were there. Possession, they were insane. You know, there was a lot of people saying that they should have left Gensel on Malkin's wing going into the return to play. You know, I wouldn't have hated it just because Gensel has seemed to fit with both star players. But, you know, it seems to think right now that that's going to be the top line tonight, Gensel Malkin Rust, and then they can put McCann, that's his second line center, move him over there to his natural position, and maybe put cap in there with him on his right wing,

and then, geez, the forward death is just really lacking right now if I'll chase his hook around. I honestly don't even know who you put it left wing. I mean, you can't really move Zach Ashton Reese up from his line, can you? I mean, they may have to, to be honest. Yeah, I would, if I were a betting man, which, I mean, obviously, I am, but... Hey, you did good with the Islanders game on Sunday. I did go on Sunday, yeah, but you know what, I wouldn't be surprised to see

maybe Brandon Tanev up there just because they finished the game with Tanev playing with Malkin and McCann the other night that's probably the way that I could maybe see Sullivan leaning otherwise you're looking at probably like someone someone like

Seveyor or Angelo getting bumped up just to kind of see what they do but I would anticipate probably the Bluger line getting the bulk of the five-on-five minutes in that kind of second-line role. Not that they're necessarily a second line, but, you know, you recall earlier in the season, that's sort of what was happening was those guys were getting a bulk of those minutes upwards of, you know, 13, 14, 15 minutes a night.

Yeah, and I think I agree with you. They're probably going to get the bulk of the minutes tonight. I mean, they really only have, the Penguins really only have one elite line going into tonight. I mean, obviously, if they keep the Ashman's Booger Taneve line intact, which, you know, they may have to be paying a tandem up, like you said. It's going to take a hit, because, I mean, Sam Lafferty's going to have to move up the

lineup, and his numbers have been dreadful to start the season. And then you have the fourth line, which is just basically an HL's first line, because, I mean, Anthony Angelo and Drew O'Connor. I mean, of course, he went down to the taxi squad, Anthony Angelo, and you know just Colton Severe, everyone else that plays down there has not done a damn thing this season. And of course, Mark Jankowski is still day to day with his injury.

He will be out tonight as well. So, you know, just as it looks like the penguins are getting a bit healthier, you know, Brian Dumlin started to skate. Evan Rodriguez is still, you know, he's getting closer to coming back. You know, they get hate with Sidney Crosby going on the COVID list. And of course, Jason Zucker is going to be out probably for a couple months with that knee ankle injury. I'm not really sure what it is. Mike Sullivan's always really doesn't say a lot when it comes to injuries.

But, you know, as for this game overall, Jeff, I mean, this truly is one of their biggest games of the season. I think this week against the Flyers is their biggest week of the season. You see where they are at in the standings. I think they tie them with a win in regulation tonight. It will be peak Pittsburgh Penguins to win this game in regulation after not really not having a lot of regulation wins overall. Just because, you know, when Cindy Crosby or another player gets hurt, they just seem to play their best hockey and they simplify the game. So we'll not be surprised if they won this game. But just for the week overall, how big do you see this week for Pittsburgh as they finally have Buffalo in New Jersey coming up?

Yeah, you know, this week and really this whole month of March really feels like an inflection point for this team. I mean, you have every game except four in March are at home. And getting fans back might help that a little bit more. But, you know, they're finally kind of getting into what you have. to consider is the easier part of the schedule. I mean, you know, they, they haven't fared well against the devil's last couple of years, but getting, you know, seven games combined against Buffalo and Jersey is, it should be a boost for them to bank some points.

But, you know, you're absolutely right. Kicking this month off with three straight games against the Flyers isn't ideal, but it's going to really tell us a lot about the guts that this team has. Yeah, absolutely. I've said going into this week, they probably need to take four out of six points against Philadelphia. I mean, I would love all six. I mean, five out of six would be awesome, too. But they have to win two of these three games, I think, in regulation.

Sure, overtime wins. It helps, but, you know, you can't be giving points to the flyers, especially as these standings are so close. It's a five-team race. Four teams get in, one team that gets left out. Right now, of course, penguins are on the outside looking in. But it's just, this is, yeah, you said the best. I think it's just the really big pivotal moment in the season for Pittsburgh.

12 of their 16 games this month are at PBJ Paints Arena. They are 7 and 1 there overall this season with the fans coming back. Like you said, it could give them a boost. But, you know, hopefully that starts tonight, 7 p.m. on NBC Sports Network. Before we do get to a commercial break, the goal-tending matchup tonight, Tristan Jari-Carter Hart. Jari will look to have his like 8th or 9th good start in a row. You know, Jeff, I always been wondering. this about him this season is

is this the normal jari I guess from the last two and a half weeks where he just put up a 920, 930 save percentage or is the real jari we saw from the first couple weeks of the season who was like sub sub replacement level like bottom five in the league and goal save above the expected

where he was 840, 850 I think he's he's got to be considered somewhere somewhere in the middle and I know that's kind of might be like a little bit of a cop-out but you look at last season he had he had a lot of, a lot of ups and downs and then really finished the season right around league average.

And I think that's, that's about what, what he is. And frankly, that's all that this team needs. But, you know, like you mentioned, you know, over the last seven starts, he's got a 923 save percentage, stopping just under 85% of the high dangerous shots he's faced. You know, and he's saving, he's still saving over three goals above expectations. So, you know, those are numbers when the team isn't really playing all that well in front of him that, you know, you need to see. You know, and there have been times over the last couple of games, especially on Saturday night where, you know, he's kept them in games just long enough for them to make a comeback. And they've done that.

Now, obviously, you know, Sunday with the Smith, I feel like it's something that you can kind of just throw out. because it's the second of a back-to-back with the islanders, and you just know how they're going to play. But, yeah, I think Jari's kind of rounding in the form. He's obviously been a lot better than he has at the beginning of the year. And I think somewhere in the middle is probably a fine place for him to kind of, for him to thrive. Yeah, I mean, I've been saying all year they need league average goal-tending.

If he's 9-10, 9-15 every night, that should be good enough for this team. But, you know, they got to start getting some regulation wins going here, especially this week. And the next segment, we are going to touch on a whole lot of special teams, still a lot more to come for this podcast. Before we do that, it is time to talk about rockado.com. It's a family business serving auto bar customers online for 20 years. You can go to rockado.com a shop for auto and body parts of hundreds of manufacturers.

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All right, welcome back to this episode of the locked on penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hoodies. Remember to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins. Jeff, let's just talk about the elephant in the room. I touched on it on my regular episode yesterday. I'm bringing up with you. The Penguins pathetic special teams, because both of them are sinking their season right now.

The PK, you know, we'll touch on the power play after this, but the PK, I think, is the most alarming just because of how great it was last season. The personnel really hasn't changed. The same players from last year basically killed penalties, I mean, except for Jack Johnson, but he stunk at it anyway. The unit was still pretty good.

But, you know, I just, when I watch them play, you know, against, like, you know, the Islanders power player, the Capitals. But, you know, they've done a good job in the Capitals one somehow, but they can't stop the Islanders. But overall for this season, they're way too passive. They're not getting their stakes in shooting lanes, not really blocking any shots. They're leaving guys wide open near the circles. They're trying to cover the middle of the ice. Just what would you do if you were Mike Volucci to just get this penalty kill going? Yeah, it's, it's.

It's interesting, right? So you almost kind of get the sense that against teams that are, that are big on firing from that, from like, Ovecgen Street, they do well with, you know, they, they, they're, they know how to shadow those types of, of, of power plays. It's, it's interesting, though, because, you know, you look at, you look at the rate of unblocked shots that, that they're giving up. And only the Rangers and the Bruins and the division are giving up fewer than the penguins. They're kind of a middle-of-the-road team in terms of the expected goals. They're giving up while they're short-handed.

But only the Bruins and the caps are giving up fewer than them. And then when you look at when you kind of look at some of the location maps, they're allowing teams to fire from the right point a lot. And then the left side of the ice is a little bit hit or miss, but by and large, they're controlling the face-off circles. Where they're really getting beat is in the mid-slot and on either side of the goal. So it almost kind of strikes me as, you know, the teams that kind of operate down low are the ones that are really,

really giving them fits here. And along the same line, I mean, they're simply not getting saves on. on the penalty kill. Just in the division alone, only Jersey has a worst short-handed say percentage. And overall, the penguins are 27th. So it's tough for me to really get a sense here is really what's going on,

because about half of the division is worse than them on the kill. So it almost kind of makes me think that, you know, because they're facing teams that have historically had pretty good power plays, that this is just the nature of what it's going to be this year, that the really, really good power plays are just going to figure it out, and they're going to score goals. And, you know, you kind of just have to maybe get a little bit lucky and go on a five to ten game run where you just can't be beat on the kill.

And the Penguins just simply haven't been there yet. They haven't really been close to being there yet, Jeff. I think in 15 of 20 games this season, the Penguins have given up a power play goal. For anyone that is bad at math, that is 75%. So not good is the words there. Even just with the Islanders, I think overall, I think at a moment during a couple games this past weekend,

they were four for seven on the season and six games. On the Power Play, I mean, in contrast, the Penguins, the Capitals on the Power Play were only 2 of 19 before they got their third powerplay goal. That was the difference maker in the game last week. So it is pretty interesting to see them succeed against some good power plays, especially the Capals. They have a number one power play in the league.

But they're struggling against an Islander's powerplay that has been usually below average these last few years. I mean, they didn't really have a good power play, and yet they went to the conference final last year. It's just I think some power play units seem to give the Penguins fits. And like I said, they're giving up some areas on the circles, just one-timers and they're not really getting sticks in the way of passing lanes there. And, you know, I remember the Brock Nelson one was the one that really irked me this weekend, Jeff. He's basically just sitting in front of the net.

There's three players around him. And he's just basically getting a free ride there and gets a tip on a puck and goes past Jari. And I was just like, is that really what we're doing here? You're just going to let Brock Nelson hang out in front of your goalie? It's just like there's some weird strategies going on with it. and I want to see them be more aggressive, take away the front of the net more. I understand that they're trying to take away the middle of the ice, but you've got to take away the front of the net.

That's, I think, the most important thing for a successful penalty killing unit. Yeah, I would agree. And I think part of it, too, is it almost feels like every little mistake, every little hiccup that they have on the kill, it just ends up in the back of the net. And I don't know how you clean that up because, mistakes are going to happen, right? I mean, that's just, that's the nature of the game. And I think at those pivotal moments, you know,

you kind of have to have to hope that maybe the puck just hit your goalie and just sticks. Yeah, I think, I agree with that. I'm hoping that Tristan Jari can make some more saves to bail the penalty killers out in the next few games. But, you know, let's get to the power play now. Because, you know, I think some people would also argue that the power play has been a bigger disappointment than the penalty kill.

you know, probably a lot of the fan base would. You know, I'm kind of on the fence about it. I think both are almost as equally disappointing. But the power play, it just, you know, they reverted back to their early season, born and it looked good for a week. They were actually scoring on their chances. They were every three to four passes.

There was a shot on net. They weren't making stupid passes, whether the passing lane's not there. But now they just threw all of that out the window. And even the zone entries are terrible now. Malkin looks lost on there. Sometimes even Chris Lattang looks a little lost, though I do think his game has rebounded,

a lot better in the last week. Would you make any personnel changes to that power play? What are you seeing that's going wrong for that unit right now? I don't think that they have the bodies right now to make any change this. Yeah. You know, I think maybe the one you could have possibly considered was elevating Zucker or maybe Matheson, but with Crosby being out, maybe you'll see someone like Matheson on the point. I don't know.

but you know i'm trying to i'm trying to look at the power play um through the lens of um when they had that close to a week off right so they played the first 11 games they were dreadful the last nine games they're shooting the puck roughly 50% more than they than they were in the first 11 they're scoring about one more goal per hour um and their expected goals rate in the last nine games is over two times that of the first 11th. So the pieces are kind of all there. I mean, you can see a lot of the movement. You know, it's, it's certainly not anywhere near as stagnant as it was in the first, in the first 11 games. The possession time in the offensive zone is there. Now, the zone entries for me have

been a problem since they traded Phil Kessel. You know, it's, it's been one of those, they've been one of those units that if they can establish their possession off the, off the face-off win, they're in good shape. But as soon as you clear the pop, and they have to get into the zone, it kind of becomes a bit of a nightmare. What's really stuck out to me, and you kind of run into this, especially with an Islander's team

that is so disciplined in their own end of the ice, and especially in the Caps game on Thursday, when Tom Wilson lost his stick, that four-man unit just collapsed. They stayed compact, they just protected the slot, and they just kept the pens of the outside. Now, part of what the... penguins were trying to do, and I'm going to put overpass here in quotes.

But, you know, they were overpassing, they've been overpassing a little bit. And I think that's because they're trying to draw the penalty killers out to kind of open up some of those lanes. But again, when you run into a more conservative, strict penalty killing unit, it becomes a little bit more difficult for you to draw them out. You know, that said, I think, you know, if they can continue to keep the puck in the offense zone and kind of create the way that they've been creating the last nine games. And, you know, look, they've created nearly three times as many high danger chances in the last nine games they have in the first 11. I think if they can continue to do this, especially against teams that are a little bit more aggressive on the penalty kill, you know, we might see the floodgates open here this month. and see them go on an absolute run. I mean, you know, like I said,

the devil's penalty kill is not very good. I can't imagine the sabres are going to be in any better shape when they run into them. So, you know, you could probably expect the Bruins to shut them down. You can expect the Islanders probably shut them down a little bit. But seeing games as much as they're going to against the sabers and the devils and, you know, hopefully the Rangers, you might see them

see this power play start clicking here, you know, sooner rather than later. I sure hope so because, you know, this team's not going to win games with both you, these units being bad. You know, you can win, you can still win games being great at 5A5, getting good goaltending, you know, your power play's average and your penalty kill kind of stinks, or with vice versa, you know, your power play being bad and your penalty kill being great, but you're not going to win many games when both of these units are just, you know, the way they are at right now.

It is interesting that they're creating, you know, three times more high danger chances over the last nine games. You know, it certainly doesn't feel like it sometimes, as you watch them, just kind of flutter into the zone and just it almost feels like it's a momentum swing for the other team. But, you know, this week it's going to be a lot harder for them, I guess, to break out of it just because Sandy Crosby's not going to be on that unit now, especially for tonight.

We don't know what's going to happen for the next games. And then you're just going to have to really have the power play go through, of Gunny Malkin. Also, Jeff, I really think this unit is missing Patrick Hornquist. He's been a force in Florida on their top unit this year. Obviously, you know, Kessel not being on that half wall, you know, with the playmaker that he is, obviously he had a great shot. That stings, but, you know, the Hornquist one, I think that's really the big absence that they're feeling right now. They just don't have that true net front presence that can clean up the garbage. I would actually like to see this year's power play with him on it because I feel like the numbers

would have been a hell of a lot better than they are right now. Yeah, I would agree with that. And I think they're missing Hornquist at five on five, too. But, you know, you look at, you look at where the penguins are kind of exceeding, you know, the league average here on the power play. You know, they're doing well down low, below the circles on either side of the net. You know, Malkin's obviously been a trigger man on the half wall. And then, you know, as Lattang kind of drifts over to kind of. the left side of the ice he's been he's he's been really really shooting the puck well from from there

you know the the the big issue has been um you know the the high in in middle slot yep um you know they're they're just not getting that penetration but down low they're they're generally doing okay but you know you're you're kind of the same kind of uh the same kind of issue you have at five-on-five where um you know directly in front of the net it's been um it's been kind of a a little bit of a black hole for them. But, you know, I'm with you there. I think Hornquist probably, I think losing Hornquist hurt a little bit more than anyone, I think, really realized even as he does kind of decline as he ages.

Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, just for some peak chaos, Jeff, you know, I said yesterday, I think it's time they put Mike Matheson on the top properly and have him quarterback it. You know, what else can you do at this point? You said it on your Twitter. He's the most entertaining player that this team has right now, just with how awesome he is at one end of the ice, and how ridiculous he is at the other end of the ice.

So I just feel like, you know, you put Matheson to one of his strengths and you let him quarterback it. I think the unit would get better. I really think that. Do you remember back when Golgoski was running the power play, and they switched him to letting him be a bit of a rover? where he just kind of drifted anywhere that he wanted to go in the offensive zone. I almost wonder, you know, how Matheson would kind of thrive in that role.

Because, I mean, he is total chaos. You know, he's a true kind of 200-foot defenseman that, you know, don't really exist in large numbers in this league. But I wonder just knowing that, knowing his ability to kind of navigate the entire offensive zone, whenever he feels the need to. I almost wonder how he would do in sort of that in that role. You know, letting Letting letang run the center point, putting Malk in, you know, on his half wall

and letting the other three kind of just dictate play down low. Yeah, I feel like if he would be in a rover, he can just honestly do whatever the hell he wants. You know, I think the unit would be a lot more fun to watch. I think they would get a, I think, a few more goals at the very least. But, you know, always great power play and penalty kill talk with Jeff. We'll see how the units do tonight. The Flyers have two pretty decent units with their special teams.

And for the Penguins to solve Carter Hart, you know, I know he hasn't been as good this year as he was last year. He still, he can get hot at any point. So that's going to be an interesting matchup. But before we do get to the next segment, it's time to talk about bet online. It's the fastest and easiest way to bet on all your sports action. Football might be over up at the NBA. college basketball and it shall learn full swing. Bet Online even covers awards, TV shows,

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on your first deposit with a promo code Locked On. That's Bit Online, your online sports book experts. All right, welcome back to this episode of The Locked On Hangman's podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. So, Jeff, you know, we're getting closer to that time. And by the time, you know, trade deadline season, one of my favorite times of the year.

Every time, you know, in a normal year, we would have had the trade deadline by now. We would have been, you know, just kind of refreshing Twitter at work or in school or whatever for the last hour, half an hour, just honestly all day. But, you know, we're still about a month and a half away right now. Do you think Ron Hextall should be more inclined to go after a top six-four to maybe push captain down the lineup when this team? team is wholly healthy? Or do you think this team needs more of like a third or fourth line player to play with

Jared McCann and just let the Astrooose Blue Ratanof line be their total fourth line? Before the Zucker injury, I would have said probably a top nine forward. Now with Zucker being out and Capitan really kind of coming back down to earth and being the player that we all kind of expected him to be, which isn't a knock against him, but his ceiling's a top nine winger, probably a third line winger, period. And, you know, I think, I think leaving him there is probably the right move going forward, regardless of how long Crosby's out. You know, but, you know, to kind of answer your question,

I think a top six forward is probably the way to go at this point. You know, if you land on, on, you know, a guy that can play anywhere in the top nine, I think, you know, that gives you more the flexibility that you need, especially with this team getting injured as much as it does. But, yeah, I think a top six forward is probably a way to go. Now, that's not to say that they even have the pieces to get it done, but Hextall has proven over his career that he can be that kind of general manager that, you know, gets things done.

you know, with little resources. Yeah, I think he's not going to really overpay, like, a certain someone would. Though, I think, you know, for a top six player, you know, someone like Kyle Palmary, obviously I saw Danny for your site, wrote about that, Victor Arvinson from Nashville. I mean, basically everyone in Nashville is being up for sale right now. He can basically just call David Poyle and ask about any one of his players, except for a select few. If getting Daddanov is on my list, Jeff from Ottawa.

I think he's a UFA after this year, if I'm not mistaken. and he's put up some decent numbers, you know, for a buy-low candidate maybe. You know, Bobby Ryan, I don't think he's a top six player, but, you know, you stick him on the third or fourth line. He can probably produce a hell of a lot better than Sam Lafferty, Anthony, Angelo, Colton, Severe, or Drew O'Connor. But then, you know, I also wanted to get your thoughts on this. You know, I saw, Hextel had his media availability after he announced the hire of Chris Pryor. And I think someone, I think was Mike DeFable of the Post-Gazette that asked him about, you know, the Wilson situation, you know, are you going to like acquire a player that will, I guess,

you know, be tough towards him or make sure they don't take runs at the star players or, you know, are you more like Mike Sullivan who just says, you know, just play, beat them on the scoreboard, you know, his answer was interesting, you know, he said he sides more with Mike, but he says in the short term he would like to bring someone in who's a bit more physical. I'm hoping that it's nothing like Jim Rutherberg would do with Ryan Reeves. I'm hoping maybe his little physical talk is someone like a Blake Coleman because people say he's physical but as a really good player. I'm a player like Matthew Kachuk, you know, just of his ability, he's not, he's a physical player, but he's also a really good offensive player. What are your thoughts on that? Yeah, I mean,

no amount of goons are going to stop Tom Wilson from doing what Tom Wilson does. And I think, I think if you're going to bring in someone that's, that plays more of that physical game, you know you you kind of have to have to go after someone that that kind of hits with the purpose not just hits to hits doesn't just like fight to fight so guys like Coleman like you mentioned

you know obviously Chuck is is cut from that same cloth you guys like Josh Anderson not that he's ready he's gonna be available or anything like that but those are the type of guys that you know you could you would kind of expect From a sandpaper perspective, as long as they can play.

I don't care. I don't care. You can have the big long-pants hockey guys come in. As long as they can play, who cares? Yeah. Yeah, exactly. You don't really want to have a repeat of just trading a first round for Ryan Reeves. Exactly.

The Jamie Alexiak situation where they acquired him. And then he lost to Tom Wilson and fight. Then Jim Rutherford said, the hell with you, you know, if you're going to do that, I just don't want you on my team anymore. and he shipped him back to Dallas for that same pick that I think he traded. So, yeah, I would rather have someone

who actually can put up decent offensive numbers. It can be a little bit physical. You know, just, you know, to have a play like Cody Sisi did on Wilson. Completely clean hit, you know, that was the message in response. And then afterwards, you can laugh in his face that you won the game. You know, just going back down that rabbit hole is not going to do anything. Because prior to that game in those five meetings, he hadn't done anything. I mean, he scored a couple goals in one game,

but he hadn't, you know, taken a run at any penguin player, so I just, you know, there's no need to even have it crossing so many people's minds. I just really don't understand it. But, Jeff, I don't think I have anything else to ask you for this one. This team definitely is in dire need of results right now. This is the month where they need to go on their run,

12 to 16 at home. They have a healthy dose of the sabres and the devil's coming up. I know the penguins have played down to shitty competition in the past, but with 32 points up for grabs against those two teams, they have to maybe take at least 25, 24, 24 and above. I want 24 higher, probably 26 or higher, to be honest, if they want to make the playoffs.

But, Jeff, where can they find you on Twitter? And where can they find your work? You can find my work on the pens blog.com. And on Twitter, I am Jeff with N-O, all one one, I guess word, spelled G-E-O-F-F. Yes, he changed his Twitter. again because I think that's the third time he changed his Twitter. Oh, it's only my second.

I had to give him crap for that. But thank you all so much for listening to this episode. We'll have another episode tomorrow on Wednesday with the listener takeaways and recapping the Penguins game. If you guys are not in the Pittsburgh area, it is on NBC Sports Network. Of course, if you are in the Pittsburgh area, you'll get it on AT&T Sports Network. So I hope you'll have a great rest of your day. to you all on Wednesday.