Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Is the Markstrom return similar value that the Penguins would get back for Jarry?

Episode Date: June 19, 2024

The Pittsburgh Penguins dropped some news on Wednesday as Kirk MacDonald has been hired to be the new head coach in Wilkes Barre. Hunter and Patrick start the show by discussing the new bench boss and what he brings to the table. They also look at how this is a hire that doesn't appear to have any ties to Dubas or Spezza and how he's been successful everywhere he's gone. After that, they discuss the Jacob Markstrom deal and how that could impact trade talks surrounding Tristan Jarry if the Penguins want to deal him this offseason. They look at how his stats are a bit similar to Markstrom's and how that return could be something that the Penguins get for Jarry. Finally, they recap Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final and discuss whether Connor McDavid has already locked up the Conn Smythe. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.Ultimate Hockey GMEver dreamed of becoming an NHL GM and managing your hockey franchise? Ultimate Hockey GM is completely free and playable offline, play on the go, as you want and when you want to. Locked On listeners get a 100% free boost to their franchise when using the promo LOCKEDONNHL in the game store. To download the game just visit hockeygm.app or look it up on the app stores. Ultimate Hockey GM - Start your dynasty today!PolicygeniusCheck life insurance off your to do list in no time with Policygenius. Head to policygenius.com/lockedonnhl to get your free life insurance quotes and see how much you could save.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET. That’s TWO HUNDRED BUCKS you can use to bet everything from the Finals MVP to who's going to hit one out of the park! Visit FANDUEL.COM/LOCKEDON and add a big win to your summer bucket list! FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Wilkesbury Scrant Penguins announced their new head coach on Wednesday, and Pat and I are going to discuss that right after this. Your Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunts or Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunts or Hodes, joined by my host Patrick Damp.

You can follow him on Twitter at Center for Wet. and you can follow the show's Twitter at LO underscore Penguins. Of course, thank you all so much for making this your first lesson slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. And finally, today's episode is brought to you by GameTime, down the GameTime app, grant account and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. So we did get some Pittsburgh Penguins-related news on Wednesday

as Kyle Dubus and Jason Spetsa announced that Kirk McDonald has been named the new head coach of the Wilkesbury Scranton Penguins. That is the HL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins McDonald for those who are unaware. He has spent the last couple of seasons as the head coach of the Dubuque Fighting Saints in the USHL. In this past season, his team went 41 and 13-8 in the regular season before winning the Eastern Conference Championship in the Clark Cup playoffs. He's been coaching for a little over a decade. And I really like this move just because it's a nice, fresh hire.

When I was reading through this announcement and just looking him up in general, there were really no ties to Kyle Dubus, no ties Jason Spetsa. They're taking a chance on someone who has done a fairly solid job coaching-wise, and they think he can do a good job now in Wilkesbury with the Penguins in their minor league team. So when you first saw that move, what did you think of it? I'm a big fan of it because, like you said, this isn't somebody that's tied to Kyle Duby. or Jason Spetsa. I know the meme is that Kyle Dubus loves his guys,

but that's every general manager in the national hockey league. Maybe not every, but most of them. I mean, look at Vancouver right now. They're becoming Penguins West with everybody Rutherford and Alvina bringing in. But you look at this guy's coaching record. He's 40 years old. So he's, everybody wants this organization to get younger.

There you go. You got a 40-year-old head coach leading the H. team now. But what stood out to me even more was not so much his success with Dubuque in the USHL. He spent a long time with the Flyers, ECHL affiliate, the Redding Royals. And in that time, that team never had a losing record. Now, a bit of a different situation. The Flyers have been sort of rebuilding, sort of not rebuilding. They've had prospects. So there's a little bit of a difference there and that he probably had a better talent pool with the Redding Royals than the he's going to have with the Wilkesbury Scranton Penguins,

at least initially. But by the looks of it, wherever this guy goes, he finds ways to win, he finds ways to keep the teams competitive. So this is on the surface a very solid hire. Now I want to see who they bring on to help him on the bench. Right. And I really like this hire also just because it's someone who can bring in fresh,

new innovative ideas. You brought up his age, he's 40, so you're not bringing in a quote-unquote old geyser here or anything like that. And they're entrusting him to develop this next wave of players that could impact the penguins a few years down the line overall. But those are like the main reasons why I really like this hire when I first saw. There were a couple of other names that were rumored to be in the mix that did have ties to Dubus and Spetsa, that they opted to go away from them to bring in someone who's fresh, new, innovative, and I think also a little more exciting. Another thing I think this move also should indicate to people, Mike Sullivan has a fairly long leash in this organization. Say he were to get fired at some point, I don't think

McDonald is going to be the one that takes over for Sullivan, like Sullivan took over for Mike Johnston when he became the head coach of the Penguins. I think McDonald is going to try and be in Wilkesbury for the long haul. I think if there's a coaching change to be made at the NHL level and Sullivan goes out, I think it's someone with NHL head coaching experience would come in to replace him. I don't think it's going to be McDonald. It would probably be David Quinn. I know that hurts to hear, but again, I come back to, I know a lot of people don't like

David Quinn's head coaching record and I'm among them. But I also look at some of the situations he was in. he was right at the tail end of that Rangers rebuild when they were finally coming out of it and starting to compete. So you can give them some heat for that because while they weren't contenders yet, they probably should have been a little bit better than they were under Quinn. But then he goes to the San Jose sharks who are just god awful. So you can't really fault them too much for that. But at the same time, you're right.

You look at this guy 40 years old, ECHL experience, a couple years of NCAA experience, and USHL experience. This isn't a guy you brought in to turn the heat up on your head coach. And yes, I still have my questions and my issues with Mike Sullivan a couple of years.

But I still understand he has been dealt a pretty poor hand, between goaltenders, underperforming, and then having two and a half seasons of a management group that seemed like they were damn near actively sabotaging the team. There's a lot more than just, hey, this team is there, but they don't have the right coach. We have seen that a lot over the last couple of seasons. We see it right now with the Edmonton Oilers. They haven't made all that much of a change, all things considered, but they got a new coach and oh, he unlocked everything.

I think you look at Mike Sullivan and yeah, there's been some questionable moves, but the Penguins problems are multiple and I don't think the head coach is high on the list. I mean, I still looking back, I mean, I still probably would have moved on from Sullivan to soft season. I was very clear with that take heading into the all season.

I felt like it was time they obviously didn't. You know, I don't work with the organization. I'm not Kyle Dubis or Jason's best to hear people, but we obviously don't have to rehash that overall. But just going back to your point about Noblog, I know some people may point to that and be like, oh, well, maybe someone like McDonald could replace Sullivan.

Well, Noblock was fully ready to be an NHL head coach. He had been kind of getting groomed for that role over the last few years. I think McDonald, he needs to get at least a couple seasons under his belt to maybe three to four seasons before we can start talking about that overall. But again, I'm just really excited about it. And this continues to show that Kyle Dubus and company very much want Wilkesbury to keep being competitive for this year and years to come. They've invested a lot into that team.

And you're continuing to see it, especially with this hire. You do. And to kind of build off something that you were saying there a little bit ago, this could be a guy who could be a future penguins coach, but it's not going to be right away. This isn't going to be the penguins get off to a poor start. this coming season. They fire Mike Sullivan and McDonald comes up and replaces him. However, he spends three, four, five seasons with Wilkesbury Scranton.

Then maybe you can look at him as a potential head coach, because let's be honest here, the levels he's coached, minor major pro, ECHL, and college, way different beast when you get into the AHL, because AHL, you're dealing with legitimate top tier prospects. You're dealing with in a lot of occasions, guys who have had an NHL career and are on the tail end of it or trying to keep it alive. And it's just a much different business than what he's had experience in. So you want to see how he reacts to having those type of players at his disposal, how he develops them, how he coaches them, how he interacts with them.

because it is a much different business when you get up to this level. But at the end of the day, you look at his coaching track record, he's been successful pretty much everywhere he's gone. So he has an ability to work with younger talent and get them going. So I'm very curious to see what he does with Wilkes Bear this year. Yeah, and that's why you take a chance on someone like that, right? He's been successful everywhere he's been at. So why not see what he can do at the next level in the HL

and see what he can prove against some of the other coaches and the other teams in that league. So we're both fans of this higher. Hopefully it works out for Wilkesbury and the Pittsburgh Penguins, and that will officially do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, we're going to take a look at the Jacob Marksum trade and how that could be what Tristan Jari's value could be in a trade if he were to get dealt this off season. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about our first sponsor,

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Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code locked on NHL for $20 off. Download game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodies, joined by my co-host Patrick Camp. So I think NHLGMs thought the offseason started today because you know what they're saying to the Stanley Cup final? They're saying, you know what Edmonton and Florida? Screw you guys.

We're going to get started on our off-season moves. And that's what you've seen today. There's been a lot of action around the league, including J. of Markstrom being traded from Calgary to New Jersey. I really like this move for the Devils. They only are sending back a first round pick in 2025, which is top 10 protected, by the way, and then defenseman Kevin Ball.

And the flames are retaining 30% on Markham so that knocks down his cap hit by a significant amount. I think if Markstrom gets back to the level that we've seen him play at numerous times in the league, I think that can really turn the Devils into a playoff team next year. especially if they stay healthy. They're great up front.

Defensively, they're strong. And even with Sheldon Keith as head coach, I don't think he's that good of a coach, but I still think he would be good enough to get that team back to the playoffs. He has the high end town in place. They're deep, they're mobile on defense, and they finally, hopefully now,

have a number one goaltender. With the flames, I just really don't like this return that much for them. I'm sorry. Kevin Ball is just the standard run-of-the-mill, number four, number five defensemen. I don't even know if he's the number four, to be honest. I kind of think he's just a bottom-peering defenseman in the league right now. In my opinion, you're retaining on

Marksum's contract. And that first-round pick, yeah, it's a first rounder, which is fine and dandy. But if the devil's season next year is successful, that's going to be a very late first rounder, which almost turns into a second rounder. So as I said earlier this week, if I am basically every contender, even the Penguins who I don't think are a Stanley Cup contender heading into next season. I am still calling Craig Conroy every day just because I don't think he's that good of a general manager. Now, how does this play in a Tristan Jari? Well, this is the type, I think, of value that you could look to be getting for someone like Jari. Just when you compare his stats compared to Markshams, they're very similar overall. And yeah, I mean, I would like to get a first back

for Jari, even if it's next year. I think that makes sense. But, you know, you probably are also going to get back a standard run-of-the-mill bottom-pearing guy. And then you very well might have to retain on that contract just because it's for a lot more years. It's $5.3.75 million. So I think if Jari does get moved this offseason, you're probably going to look at an underwhelming return, as I said, a couple weeks ago when we discussed this. Boy, what a difference about a day makes because I said I wasn't totally sure about your

Craig Conroy put him in the column of bad GMs who you should call all the time. You look at this trade and just woof. I mean, I'm not, I understand that they have a bit of assorted history here with Markstrom, where they got him to waive his no move and then didn't trade him last season. And that really soured their relationship. And it was really, hey, Calgary and New Jersey, get it over and kiss already. because we know this is what the trade is going to be for Markstrom,

but you look at that return, and you figured you could get a little bit more, and then you get it retained a little bit by Calgary, and that's just a rough deal. But I like what you're saying here. I like the fact that this actually kind of maybe gives Kyle Dubus an opening if he wants to move Tristan Jari. He's still got four seasons left.

It's 5.375, which is, going to be a little bit tougher to move, given how a lot of teams don't want to spend that much on goaltending outside of having the truly elite goaltenders in net. I hate to interrupt you, but they probably will have to retain a little bit on that contract if they move him. I mean, the flames just did it here with Markstrom. I think he's better than Jari. I know he's a bit older.

He's been more experienced in the playoffs. But if you asked me who I would take compared to the two, I would take Mark Trim, even though he's a little bit older. Yeah, in the last couple of years, he's been down a little bit. but I think he can be a bit better in New Jersey where the teams a contender, I think they play better defensively. I think Sheldon keep will have them playing more stingy in their own zone. But just getting back to the overall topic,

you're going to have to retain at least a little bit if you move Jari there. For sure. And the one thing I want to address is because when this trade became official, you know, the clarion call went out for a lot of Penguins fans of, oh, Kyle Dubas, get on the phone, resign Ned, and get rid of Jarry to. You know, trade Jari and get Ned back here and bring up Blumquist. I want people to remember something. Yes, we all have that high of Alex Nadelcovic coming in and taking over at the end of the season and going on a run.

The numbers between Jari and Nadelcovich are very similar, and Nadelcovich played 13 less games. So you don't really know if Nadelcovich is a starter. I like Ned. I think he's bounced back. I think he's going to get a payday, but I still don't have confidence in him being a starting goaltender. And I know everybody is excited about Joel Blumquist. I am too,

but we have very recent memories of this exact scenario. You have a goaltender who lights up Wilkesbury Scranton, comes up, plays well for a season, season and a half, maybe two, and then flames out. Matt Murray.

Tristan Jari. So maybe that doesn't happen with Blumquist. Maybe he is the real deal. Maybe he develops into a true blue starter. But for where this franchise is right now, you are going to have to get something solid in net if you want to go where this team claims it wants to go. So I'm not against them finding a move for Tristan Jari

to open up cap space, spend elsewhere, but you better be very certain what you have in net is going to work. or else none of the other moves are going to matter because if you don't have a goalie that can stop a puck, go look at the devils. I know they had a lot of injuries this year, but their biggest problem was they could not get a save. So they had no way to even reinforce themselves behind those injuries. Right. I mean, anything they do in net for next season is going to carry a big risk. If you bring Jari back, that's a risk. If you trade him and you resign Adelkevich and you have that tandem with him and Blumquist if he's ready. That's a big risk. Say you also maybe bring back

Ned, Trey Jari, and you sign a backup to go behind Nadelcovich. That's also a big risk. Or if you let Ned walk Trey Jari and you bring in someone else, that also carries a risk. I feel like there's no true, easy answer to this situation for the Penguins. I mean, as I've said on the show a lot, I would love someone like Linus Allmark, but I'm not sure the Penguins have what the Bruins would want for that type of trade. I also don't know if the Bruins would want to send him to the Penguins in general. So anything they do in net is going to carry a risk for next season. Yeah.

And you also brought up a good point that goalie trades are weird. That you never, you rarely, if ever get any sort of big time value out of goaltender trades just because most of the time, it's a team moving on. It's not a team acquiring a goalie. So they're actively trying to get rid of the goalie. I mean, you even look at the Kings and Capitals trade today for PLD and Darcy Kemper. That was more or less L.A. just trying to get rid of PLD. That wasn't the Kings going out to try to get Darcy Kemper.

So that was really two teams trying to move on from certain assets. And then you look at the Markstrom trade. and it was a team that needed a goalie, but a goalie who, wow, good isn't exactly amongst the league's elite, but it's a lot better than what the devil's had. So if there is a jari move to be had, like you said, and I agree, there is likely to be some sort of salary retention, though that should give the penguins pause because they still have one year left of retained salary from Jeff Petrie, as well as they've still got two seasons left of just under a million to pay Jack Johnson from a buyout. So they have some dead cap they have to deal with.

And I don't know if they want to add on to that. Right. I agree. I'm not really sure they would want to retain money on that deal for the next four years. If they were to move, Jari, I think in a perfect world, if they were to move him, they want to get out of that entire salary. They don't want to retain any sort of that contract for the next four years. But, you know, this offseason might get wild no matter what.

It's been very busy today. You brought up that Dubois trade for Kemper. And I was going to bring up, if you didn't, Pat, I mean, the capitals were very much trying to get out of that Kemper contract. It did not work out for them. Charlie Lindgren, very much outplayed Kemper this season in Washington. He's going to be the starter for the caps for Dubois. That's a big risk for Washington, man.

I just don't really know. I think Dubois, could he work out there? Sure. He's still young enough. But from what I've seen in his career so far, I don't know, man. I just think it's too risky for me. But, you know, maybe I'm wrong. I've been wrong plenty of times.

I personally would not have made that deal if I'm Washington. That's seven years, man. That's seven years. And this isn't a guy who just needed a change of scenery because he already got it. And you know what you're getting here. This is officially a troubled asset. And getting out of that at this point, if you're the cat, capitals and it doesn't work out over the next year or two,

the only option you're going to have is buyout because no team is going to touch him at this point. Now, like you said, there's a very real possibility he could work out. He's 25 years old and he's had some success in the National Hockey League. He very well could turn it around in Washington, but we said that about L.A. So we will see. I don't know if I like that move. That is truly a day of I don't like it.

but I can see it working out in some way later on down the road. Yeah, I agree with you. And just going back to the goaltender discussion for one more thing before we head to our final break, I said on Twitter today, I'll say it again here. A lot of times with goaltender trades, you get below market value back. There's been some cases where a team will overpay for a goaltender. It can happen. But in more cases than not, you're going to see a trade kind of like this one where,

I mean, yeah, again, it's cool that before. flames got a first, but in a perfect world for the Devils, it's a very late first round pick, especially if they make the playoffs next year. And right now, if I were a betting man, I would bet for New Jersey to bounce back and make the playoffs next year. And, you know, you get that running the mill defenseman, the retention. Again, it's just really not that much coming back. I mean, I think for the Penguins, yeah, it'd be coin a vacuum if they got a first and 25 back for Jari. But I also know that that first rounder, if they get it back and he goes to a bona fide contender, for example,

it's probably going to be a late pick in the first round. But I think that I'll do it for this second segment. Coming up to end the show, Connor McDavid, we are not worthy after that performance on Tuesday night. Pat and I are going to recap game five of the Stanley Cup final and see if the Oilers can send this back to sunrise all tied up. That's all coming up right after this. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast.

I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my host, Patrick Gamp. So, Pat, Connor McDavid, this is what I'm doing right now. Really? Like, people that are watching can see, we are not worthy. Just an incredible performance, once again from Connor McDavid,

eight points in his last two games. And I have some history here for you. First player in Stanley Cup final history with eight points in a two-game span. He's been on the ice for 53, of the 80 goals the Oilers have scored this postseason and has a point in 42 of them. That comes from Demetri Filipovich. He does a great job with hockey content.

He is playing on another level right now. And if he's able to finish this off and lead the Oilers to this historic comeback, he will already be a top 10 player of all time. That might be a hot take to some people, but to me, it's not. I think if he's able to finish this off and continue to put, this team on his back. He will already be a top 10 player of all time. I just, I'm out of words.

I really am. It's incredible to watch. And do you hear that, Florida? Do you hear it? Do you hear the footsteps? It's getting a little hot in here, isn't it? Tugging at the collar a little bit. All I'm saying, to win in seven, you got to lose three.

And I did say Oilers in seven. But here's the thing. that I will say about this other than putting aside how great Edmonton has played over the last two games, especially McDavid, especially Stuart Skinner. He let's not lose sight of that fact. The last two games, Stuart Skinner has been really good. This wasn't Edmonton absolutely running Florida's show for two straight games. And Stuart Skinner had the time to make a sandwich and hang out in his crease.

He's had to make some huge save. But I will say this. Last night, you watched that game from about the 7, 8 minute mark of the second period to the end of the game. Florida came back to life. And that could be a little scary for Edmonton. Florida kind of found their footing again. They started playing that high intensity, heavy four check, all systems go kind of game. and if you're Edmonton, you're very happy that you're getting it back to Alberta for game six.

But the Panthers are coming, man. They know they have completely screwed up. The pressure has completely shifted from Edmonton to Florida. Now Florida has to close this out. And I don't know if they'll do it in game six. I think there might be a little bit of a momentum swing and a momentum lift for Edmonton on Friday. But still, liked a lot of what I saw from Florida in the second half of the game.

If they start on time on Friday, it might be curtains for Edmonton. I mean, I do agree with you. I think Florida was the better team in the second half of the game. I thought when Ekman Larson made it four three early in the third, I'm like, oh, Florida's going to tie this up in the next five, ten minutes. I was kind of surprised when the Oilers got that MD Netter at the end that they went on to win that game. Skinner was just that good the rest of the third period just because the puck was mostly in the Oilers own zone for that entire third period. But Skinner was just that great in net.

And we also should shout out McDavid's defensive play. That's the best I've ever seen him defend, man. That was Selky trophy level stuff from McDavid in his own zone. It was a treat to watch. Yeah. I mean, that's the biggest thing is we're all obviously fawning over. over the offensive brilliance of Connor McDavid in not just this final in this playoff, but underrated, he has been a tremendous 200 foot player all throughout this postseason. And yeah, he's getting his cookies. He's getting his points. He's going after a playoff scoring record that if this goes seven, wouldn't shock me if he

breaks it or at least ties it. But at the same time, he is effective in all three zones of the ice. not just Connor McDavid picks a pocket, skates past everybody goes in and scores. No, he's covering guys down low. He's taking the body. His positioning is immaculate. And he is committed to playing a 200-foot game, which we have seen right here in Pittsburgh. It's from the 1991 Stanley Cup video.

It's the dance of champions when the best players who put up the most points can also kill in the defensive zone, they become damn near impossible to beat. I think we also have to ask this question. Has he already locked up a cons mith? I think so. It's really hard to argue against it at this point. Because we often forget the consmite trophy isn't a Stanley Cup final MVP. It's a playoff MVP.

It's for all four rounds. I, like, I, I'm obviously, a big proponent and participant in the Phil Kessel should have won it in 2016 debate but I tell people go watch that entire playoff. The first two rounds, yeah, it's Phil Kessel's Kahn Smythe.

But from the conference final to the Stanley Cup final, it's Sidney Crosby's because Crosby elevated his game to an unbelievable level those final two rounds and he still played pretty damn well in the first two rounds. That wasn't a lifetime achievement award for Sid. That was Sid winning it in the final two rounds throughout the entire course of the playoffs. However, when you look at McDavid's performance, he has been head and shoulders,

the best player in this playoffs. And I think if this goes to seven, he can win it. I think if Florida wins it in six, it's going to be a lot harder to give it to him just for the sole fact that they were eliminated in six, but I don't think it's going to be an easy vote. No, I actually would not be upset, even if the Oilers lose on Friday, if McDavid wins the Kahn-Smith in general. I know I pick Barkov at the start. I think right now it's between those two overall for the Kahn-Smith. But I feel like you can easily make the argument for McDavid to win no matter what, just because

he's breaking records that I never thought would be broken in the Stanley Cup. playoff history. Like the way he's playing in these playoffs has just been insane. He's been the best player in the playoffs. I know the voters hate giving it to a player on the losing team, but I feel like they really might have to make an exception here, man. I also want to say this. And again, I know this is getting almost into hot take territory because I'm not denying

his greatness. He has been head and shoulders, the best player in these playoffs. I don't care. Go argue with a wall. but if he has a, you know, one goal, one assist, two points in a losing effort on, on Friday, I think it's going to be a lot harder. But if he goes off again and gets three, four points, you have to give it to him. But I think it's going to be contingent upon him having another transcendent game

because you think about the last guy to do it, J.S. Jaguer in the Stanley Cup final. Yep. without him that they don't even come close. But this is kind of a little bit of a different scenario to where the first couple of games of the series, I don't want to say he was a non-factor because he wasn't, but he wasn't as dominant as he is now. But if he puts up another dominant performance, I can see him winning it even in a losing effort. I agree. I honestly just wouldn't be surprised by anything at this point in this series.

I mean, I pick the Panthers in seven, but there's just so much pressure on them right now. I really won't be stunned by whatever happens next in this series. We fully have a series now, my friends. And Game 5 scheduled for Friday, then Game 7. If there is a Game 7, we'll be on Monday. NHL, I hate you for this schedule. This series should not be over by Monday. It should be over before then, but I digress overall.

And also for the Panthers, if they want to close this out on Friday, but Brofsky's got to be better. The last couple of games, he's reverted to Columbus playoff Bob a little bit again. It's time for him to revert to this year, playoff Bob and last year, playoff Bob, as well, the Panthers want to close this out. But I think that I'll do it for today's episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this episode. Pat and I will be back with another show if you all on Thursday.

And who knows, maybe Kyle Dubis will join the party and make a move either the rest of the day on Wednesday or on Thursday before we'll have to see on that. But for Patrick Damp, I am Hunts or Hodes. Thank you all so much for tuning in. We really appreciate it. We'll be back on Thursday.