Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Jesse Puljujarvi earns a spot on the Penguins opening night roster

Episode Date: October 5, 2024

If there was one standout this preseason it was Jesse Puljujuarvi and he made a statement to end training camp! Patrick and Hunter are back to close out the preseason talking about the Penguins' back-to-back victories over the Columbus Blue Jackets. They discuss a great preseason for Puljujarvi and how he has, in their eyes, solidified a spot on the opening night roster, what to do with Rutger McGroarty, and if Ryan Graves might be a lost cause at this point. Finally, they wrap up the show talking about the biggest question coming out of camp - should Harrison Brunicke make the team and get a nine-game tryout? Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelPlace your first FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - guaranteed ! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The preseason is officially behind us after two big wins for the penguins, and now real hockey is right around the corner. Hunter and I are going to talk about that and more on this edition of the locked on penguins podcast. Your locked on penguin, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. Hello, and welcome back to another edition of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host Patrick Damp. You can follow me on Twitter at Synonym 4Wet.

Joined as always on the road for this episode, the one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him at Hunter Hodes. You can give our show's account a follow at L.O. underscore Penguins. And of course, thank you so much for making this part of your daily routine because we are your team every day. And don't forget that we are free and available wherever you get your podcast as well as YouTube. And before we get started today, today's episode is,

is brought to you by Fandul. Place your first $5 bet, and you'll get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed. Visit Fandul.com to get started. Well, it was a very successful back-to-back for the Pittsburgh Penguins to close out the preseason in training camp, getting a 3-1 victory over Columbus on Thursday night, and then on Friday night,

just absolutely dismantling the Blue Jacket 7 to 3. and there was a lot to like from both games, Hunter. I was extremely impressed with both games. We kind of expected Friday night to go as well as it did because, like we kind of discussed, you got the Blue Jackets varsity team on Thursday in Columbus and then their junior varsity team on Friday in Pittsburgh and then flip that. You had the JV Penguins playing on Thursday. and then the varsity penguins for the most part playing on Friday.

But let's start with Thursday, a 3-1 win over the Blue Jackets. And it was not the best start for the Penguins, but they bounced back really well. We got some really good performances from some of the bubble players that we saw. And we might as well start it with the one player who looked great in both games as well as the entire preseason. and I think it's safe to say that the one and only Jesse Pooley-R-V is going to be on the Penguins roster come opening night. If Jesse Poo-Yarvey is not on the opening night roster, someone needs to be fired. And I'm not joking when I say that. Someone needs to be fired if Yossi-Poo-R-V is not on the opening night roster.

He looks like a completely different player throughout the preseason. His skating is miles ahead of where it was last year. His forechecking looks better. His release looks better. his playmaking ability looks better. Everything about his game looks so much better. And I understand people. I'm not trying to overreact to the preseason,

but he just looks like a different player right now compared to last year. I've been saying it throughout the preseason. This full off season where he's been healthy has helped him so much. He was coming off the double hip surgery last year, which again, it's not easy to come back from. And he looks like a completely different player. He needs to be playing on a nightly basis for this team. He was great on Thursday.

He was great tonight. There's no reason why he should not be playing on a nightly basis. And he'll have an opportunity to be one of their better depth players this year. He'll have an opportunity to score, you know, 10 to 12 to maybe up to 15 goals, something like that. If you play on the third or fourth line, I think you can play them on either one, to be honest. But, you know, that third line side at least with him, Eller and McGority was cooking. I mean, I'll get into the underlying numbers a bit later.

but the numbers very much matched the eye test overall. But he was great. These last couple of games, he was great all preseason. He very much deserves a spot on this opening night roster. And he deserves to play on a nightly basis this year. Absolutely. We're going to kind of take the first two segments of this episode to talk about both preseason games of the last two days because there is a lot to unpack from both of them with plenty of players in the way the team looked.

But rather than delay the inevitable here, let's jump right into something you mentioned. I joked about it on Twitter during the game. I said, I'm pretty sure that the Rutger-McGrorty, Lars Eller and Yessie Pooey-R-V-line could fix at minimum 99% of my life's problems. But this is a tough one to grasp because you kind of already said this. You don't want to overreact to preseason. We know that one of the biggest takeaways I had from the last two games, was, and it sucks to say because of all the tragedy that the organization has been through this past off season with the passing of Johnny Goddrow, but the Columbus Blue Jackets this year

are going to be a very bad hockey team. That was very evident on Thursday night when the Penguins were able to take over the game against what essentially was going to be their top team. that was most of their starters, and the Penguins were able to take that game over and get a victory. But the hardest thing for me right now is I am truly going back and forth on whether or not Rutger McGroherty is going to make this team. Because as we've been saying, he didn't look, I don't want to say this in a negative way. He didn't look great during the preseason, but that's not a negative.

He looked like a guy who has a ton of potential. He's a very interesting prospect. the talent is there, the vision is there. But like Mike Sullivan said after the game on Friday, his biggest challenge is getting up to the pace of the NHL game. And we knew that was his issue. He was not the strongest skater. But again, not wanting to overreact to preseason,

more so looking at the process and everything underlying it, there does seem to be a lot of chemistry between those three. And depending on the health of guys like Brian Rust and Blake was that might be an opening for Rutger McGrody to at the very least start the season here if those guys aren't ready to go and maybe get an early look but I don't think he'll stick. I said it on something that we're going to roll out later this season called Friday 5 takes which we're going to do on social media. I said this and I think after tonight's game with some of the health of the players I'm going to alter this take a little bit but I think when the time comes for Rutger

McGroity to get called up, it's going to be the only call. up and he's going to stick. But right now, I think that might change. I think he may start the season here, get sent down and then come back later in the year. Hunter, what did you see out of him? And where do you stand on Rucker McGority right now? So Mugherty four points in the last two nights. I finally saw that big wow moment tonight in the final preseason game. That goal that he scored, that's a vintage Rucker McGority goal, you know, right around that net front area, you know, 10 to 12 feet out, really nice release there, had a couple of assists as well tonight. He played very well. He played very well. I thought he forechecked well. I thought, you know, just his all-around game, I felt like was

very much there. And I keep going back and forth on him too. I feel like if I had to make a guess or prediction, he might go down to the AHA before the season, but then he's going to get called up during the season. And that will be like the call-up where I don't think he ever goes down to the AHL again and just letting everyone know, yes, I am in a different location today. I'm actually 10 minutes outside where I went to college at Virginia Tech because we're here for a wedding. So if my connection's a bit, you know, crappy or anything like that, I apologize. But getting back to McGority a little bit, again, it's just, I keep going back and forth just because they have so many tough roster decisions, you know, Pliardi, he's played his way into a role.

McGority, he's right there. Valtre Pustin, he had a great game on Thursday. He's right there too, and I know he's a player in the NHL, but are they going to put him on the team? That's the big question. Cody Glass, I feel like he's had a good camp in a preseason. He's right there. is he going to get a spot? You have, I feel like

now it's three guys because priority should be a lock. He's 100% a lock for me. You have three guys battling for maybe one or two spots. We have to see what happens with Brian Russ. He didn't play tonight. He's day to day right now. Blake was obviously battling and concussion.

So there could be a chance that Marjority does at least start the season with the team, considering a couple of injuries to a couple of the forwards. But even if he does, I do agree with you on that that I think he goes down to Wilkesburg. after then maybe comes back up. But if they do decide to send into Wilkesbury, which I think I'm leaning towards right now

before the start of the season, I don't think he's going to be there for long. I think if he does get sent there, he's going to get top pairing minutes, he's going to produce. And I think eventually, you know, maybe November, December timeframe, he'll come up for good

and he'll be playing for this team full time. But I really liked his game tonight. He was tremendous. And again, I really like that third line with him, Paul Yarby and Eller. you look at the underlying numbers overall for this line. And they played about 10 minutes at 5 on 5. When they were on the ice, 65% of the shot attempts,

they also had four goals for, no goals against, about 55% of the expected goals. Overall, very strong numbers for that line. It was a really big night for them. And again, like I want to continue to reiterate, you don't want to overreact preseason, especially when you're playing a team. that not only when their NHL regulars get into the lineup are not going to be very good,

but also when you're playing what is essentially their JV team. So you don't want to overweight that performance just because all of those factors. But if there's one thing I can say about what I saw from Rector McGrory all preseason, it was a lack of timidness. He was not afraid to get into the fight. He was not afraid to go to the corners. He was not afraid to jump up into the play when he saw an opportunity. Definitely not afraid to go to the front of the net.

And you kind of see that in younger players. They play with a little bit of timidness in their game when they get that shot early on, especially in preseason or their first training camp. And you didn't see a lot from him. But I do agree overall with Sullivan's assessment that his biggest challenge right now is getting up to the pace of the NHO game. And we know full well that once we get to Wednesday and this starts for real, the tempo is going to get kicked up five times because not only are you opening up against a rival in the New York Rangers, but I wrote about this in a way today on my column Penguin's perspectives on Katie KAA. This is a quietly motivated team this year in the Penguins because they know they have fallen short of expectation. and the things that they have fallen short of expectation on are all fixable problems.

So this team is going to, I think, come out of the gate strong and motivated. And keeping up with that is not going to be the easiest thing to do, especially when you're playing a team like the New York Rangers. But we are going to take a quick break here. When we come back, we're going to keep the discussion going about these previous two games, some of the standouts that we saw in a few other news and notes. but before we do that, we have to tell you about our first sponsor, and that is Fandul. NFL fans, you can start the season with a big return on Fandul, America's number one sportsbook.

So when you get a hunch in the middle of a game, you can check out the latest stats, view live play-by-play, and so much more on the same page where you place your bets. And that includes this Sunday night when the Dallas Cowboys come to Pittsburgh. you know that those two offenses and those defenses are going to be going back and forth. So there'll be plenty of bets and lines for you to keep an eye on. And you'll get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. That's Fandual.com, America's number one sports book. All right, welcome back to the Friday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.

I'm Patrick Damp. That's Hunter Hodes in wedding mode. We're going to get them through this episode so he can go have. some fun, but we still have a lot of hockey to talk about because it was a very successful end of the preseason for the Pittsburgh Penguins with a whole lot to like. And let's pick it up here, Hunter. A lot of good bounce back performances, these two games and just this preseason overall. We got to start with the guy who was probably second man of the night behind Yesy Pooy Harvey, and that is Noelle Achari, an absolutely sublime performance from him.

this evening against the Columbus Blue Jackets, pair of goals. He was in the play all the time. And he looks like he's poised to have a pretty solid season with the penguins. Again, don't want to overrate preseason because there's so many other factors. But when you look at the fundamentals of his game, he was getting back to the things that have made him a successful NHL player so far.

He was, again, like so many other players, willing to shoot the puck. He was willing to go to scoring areas. and when he got his opportunities, he buried them. So I'm not ready to say that he's going to suddenly break out and be a star for the penguins, but you have to be encouraged by what you've seen from him in this preseason. His two goals tonight were half of the amount of goals that he scored last year, because he only had four goals last year overall. And Pat, I hate saying this because I know you're the president of the Jeff Carter fan club,

but he's starting to look like a different player because he's not playing. with Carter on a nightly basis. You're starting to see the offense come back on him. And don't get me wrong, people. I was very critical of a try last year because outside of his penalty killing ability, he really didn't do much on a nightly basis. I think he was okay defensively,

but he literally brought next to no offense last year. He only had four goals in seven points in 55 games. That's unacceptable for someone who has had multiple double-digit goal seasons, including one in 2019-20, when he scored 20 goals and 27 points in 15. 66 games with the Florida Panthers. We've seen him play at a high level in the NHL. Now, I don't expect him to score 20 this year for the Penguins.

I think that's a bit unrealistic. But if he can get back to the level that we've seen him play at in this league before, where he can score 10 to 12, maybe 13 goals, I think that's a fair ask considering that, again, he's not playing with Carter on a nightly basis, and he's also playing at wing. That's a big key for him. I think at center, he's just a bit weaker, in my opinion, at wing.

it just allows him to play his game a bit better. You can ask him to forecheck a bit better. He doesn't have to take those draws. And you can still play him on the penalty kill. Don't get me wrong. He's still one of their best penalty killers when he's healthy. But you're seeing the offense come more naturally to him throughout the preseason. And I can only hope that that carries over to the regular season because they're going to

need all the depth scoring they can get this season if they want to make the playoffs. So really happy with his performance. I liked Lars Eller's performance. quite a bit as well. I think they're going to potentially rotate between him and Hayes at third line center this season. I really don't, at this point, considering what they've done in the preseason, at this point, I really don't mind what they do with that one because Elear, I think, has been really

solid throughout the preseason. So we want to shot Elear out as well because I did think he had a good performance. We already talked about McGroherty, obviously, as well. Polyarvia's course, and that goal, by the way, tonight was just, wow. His hands on that goal were absolutely spectacular. The core players were also very good. And we should shout out. We'll get to him, I'm sure, in a second.

Harrison Brunich was great tonight. Once again, I really liked his game. He very much deserves a nine-game tryout, in my opinion. And I hate saying this as well, and I'm sure we'll get to him in a couple of minutes. Ryan Graves, buddy, it's just I hate overreacting the preseason. And I really don't want to come across like I'm doing that. But I just don't know what we can ask from him this year, considering he was not good throughout this preseason, man.

We have really focused a lot on the positives in this episode so far, so we might as well get to a negative, and it is Ryan Graves. I mean, I have said on this show that I was buying some stock. I wasn't putting all of my money into Ryan Graves stock, but I did believe that there was an opportunity for him to bounce back. And obviously there is because we've still got 82 games to go, because we haven't even played game one yet. But there were not a lot of signs in this.

preseason that a bounce back could be coming. And you have to keep in mind, this isn't a 23-year-old defenseman. He is pushing 30. This is a guy who is an established NHL player. He's been in the league for quite some time. And this might just be who he is now. And it's going to be an anchor on the penguin's salary cap on their blue line. And I mean, I know that a lot of his skating has just gotten worse. And I can't believe I'm also saying that, but at least throughout the preseason, his skating just looks like it's way worse.

Because he was stuck in the mud, I feel like quite a bit last year. And again, I'm not trying to overreact with people. We have a full, basically full season of, you know, sample size to look at. We have the preseason here to look at as well. And obviously he could revert back to the player that we've seen him play at for previous teams.

But it just looks like his skating isn't even what it was last year. I'm just a little bit concerned heading into the season, even if he gets minutes on the bottom pairing. I just don't want him to be an anchor on this team because I really feel like this is a make it or break it year for him with this team. And if he doesn't play well, you're either looking at a trade or they might have to buy out his contract. And I know teams hate miles, but they might have no choice if he plays bad. Yeah. And it's really, I know a lot of coaches. I know a lot of GMs really do buy into the sunk car.

fallacy in that if you're paying a guy this much money, you don't want to send him to the miners, you don't want to scratch him, you don't want to bury his contract. But it's getting to a point where you almost have to do this with him because he is just not providing any sort of value. Now, again, we haven't even started the regular season yet. He could turn it around, though it seems extremely unlikely, but it is a possibility you have to keep in mind. Now, a couple of players I want to get into, and these will be more positive. You brought him up a little bit ago. I really have been, I have really liked Kevin Hayes' game so far this preseason. He looked extremely good tonight. He was very smart with the puck. The thing I'm noticing about him is you know that

he doesn't have foot speed. He's not one of the faster players in the league. He never has been. But the one thing I noticed tonight was he was being very cerebral and deliberate with the puck. He was getting good looks. He was making solid passes. And if he can play that kind of game, the kind of game that you have referenced multiple times to where he's a solid playmaker, that could be a big asset for this team because you know he's going to be paired up with a couple of guys like, say, Valtery Pustin or Yesy Poolyarvy and maybe even Rutger Magrorty if he comes up and he's not playing on the top line. And if Magrorty goes up, he could be playing with Drew O'Connor.

So if he's able to dish the puck to these players and set them up, this could really work for them. And it's the bounce back they would hope for out of Kevin Hayes. Right. That's the big thing with Hayes. You want him to be a playmaker in the bottom six. He's not going to be this pure goal score that you might get from some of the other players on this team. But if you can get at least a decent bounce back from him, they'll be in a lot better shape. I feel like in the bottom six this year, maybe last year,

as well as getting some better value out of some of the other bottom six players. We already have seen Jesse Poo-Yarvey have a really good pre-season. And, I mean, again, we both hope that that's going to carry over to the regular season because he looks like a different player in the pre-season. You also have to consider Anthony Bavillier, with his former goal scoring ability, at least with the Islanders. I thought he did have a good camp in the preseason. I expect him on the team.

How many minutes he gets, we'll have to see. Cody Glass, I mean, I'm still, he's had a really good camp in preseason, but, you know, just with the way Pooey already played throughout the way Pustin played on Thursday, you know, they can really go either way with him as well. I mean, I want to see him maybe as a 13th or 14th forward. Heck, they might potentially take 14 forwards in the camp. they might go, you know, just with the roster, it's going to be a really tough call, at least for opening night, just because there's so many players deserving of spots,

I feel like, on this roster that I feel like, again, you can make an argument for so many of these guys. Again, Pustin as well. So, but again, going back to Hayes, he definitely, again, he very much has a spot on the scene. He's going to be playing on a nightly basis. You don't just trade for a player like that and just put. in the press box. That's just not going to happen to your people. But, you know, if you can get him, I think, you know, somewhere in the middle of where he was last year, compared to where he was,

you know, a year or two before when he was with Philadelphia, I think the Penguins will gladly take that overall. Oh, absolutely. And it was a good showing from him real quick before we head to our final segment. Just want to make a quick note of the goaltenders. I thought Tristan Jari had a solid night on Thursday in the 3-1 victory. And it was a shaky start on Friday for Joel Blumquist in net. But again, like that has been the theme for him for the rest of this camp, he bounced back very well, put in a solid performance. And the, the blue jackets did out shoot the penguins, surprisingly on Friday night. So a nice little bit of work from him, a little bit of a rough start, but he bounced back early, was able to write the ship, and looked very good in doing.

so. That's encouraging, considering he'll likely be the backup as Alex Nodokovic recovers. But that is going to do it here for our second segment. When we come back, I'm going to talk about a few roster moves as well as some decisions facing the penguins as they head into the regular season, which it's just days away, people. We finally made it. But we'll do that right after this. All right, we're back on the Friday edition of the lockdown on Penguins podcast. Thank you as always for tuning in. We appreciate you making us part of your daily routine. And a lot of roster moves happened over the past couple of days that we got to talk about here. And we also got to talk about the fact that there are a lot of difficult decisions coming

ahead for Mike Sullivan and Kyle Dubas. But let's get into these quick couple of roster moves for the Penguins that happened on Friday afternoon. Few players just assigned right to Wilkes Bear. and that is Cori Andofsky, Tristan Bros, Vili Covenin, and Owen Pickering. No real surprises there. We pretty much figured all of those guys, especially Bros. and Pickering, we're likely headed to the HL to start the year. They also placed a lot of players on waivers. And there's one that I'm a little worried about, but not that much.

But those are Emil Bemstrom, Nathan Clerman, Jonathan Gruden, Yonacopinin, Philip Krall, John Ludwig, and Sam Poulan. That's the one that I'm a little worried about. I think he, I know a lot of people are down on him, including us, just because he hasn't really stood out yet as a prospect or in this training camp. But he is your classic young guy that might need a change of scenery. And I think that we might wake up on Saturday,

finding out he was claimed by somebody. Because I can see a GM and a coaching staff looking at him and thinking he's still pretty young, has some upside, hasn't worked in Pittsburgh for whatever reason. So let's take a shot on him. But overall, though, not at all surprised he was put on waivers and not a lot of surprises there for any of those moves. You know what's funny? I felt like Sam Poulan had easily the best preseason game of this camp and preseason on Thursday. I felt Poulan played a really methodical game on Thursday. he was great in all three zones,

but it just wasn't enough. I felt like he wasn't good enough in the other preseason games that he played in. And, you know, it costs him just with this. And I personally don't think he's going to get claimed on waivers. I don't think any of these penguin players are going to get claimed. I think there's a chance, well, again, I don't think any of these guys get claimed.

But if there's two that maybe have a small chance, it's Poulan and John Ludwig, just because I think there could be more to his game. game than we've seen, and I think maybe a team could look at that. I'd be like, okay, he brings that physical element that we would want, and maybe we could unlock some of the offense and defense in his game as also. Maybe someone takes a chance on him, though. Again, I kind of doubt it overall.

I feel like a lot of teams have a John Ludwig overall in their system, and kind of the same with same point. I feel like a lot of teams have that type of player. But I still could see potentially a team maybe just taking a flyer on him and maybe at least starting him overall, at least in the season. But I still think if I had to predict right now, he's not going to get claimed

and he'll be reassigned to Wilkesbury and start the season with them. But he just didn't do enough during camp in the preseason. And I feel like that was potentially his last shot with this organization. It really did feel like this was probably it for Poulan. Now he can do what he's done for the last year or so,

and that's go down to Wokesbear, be a very good contributor and make himself an option or a call up when the time does arise, but we'll see what happens if he goes unclaimed and does end up in Wokes Bear. But if not, we do wish him all the best if we lose them just because a lot of potential there. He definitely was a player that we were high on and thought that maybe he could turn into a solid NHLer. Still very much could, but the way it looks right now, this might be it for him in the Penguins organization. but we briefly touched on him in the first segment.

Let's talk about what feels like an easy decision, but could also be a very difficult one for the penguins over the next few days as they get prepared to open their season on Wednesday against the New York Rangers at PPG Paints Arena. And that's 18-year-old defenseman, second round pick, Harrison Brunick. He really was the star of training camp this year. It was pretty much him in Jesse Pooley-R-V as the two big standouts from training camp this, this, this, this, this, this, this, uh, this preseason. And this is got to be the, we've kind of touched on it on the show already, the most difficult decision that the penguins have in front of them because you look at the way he's played.

Does not look out of place. Does not look like he any moment is too big for him. He played a lot of minutes with Marcus Pedersen, who is one. of the team's better defensemen looked like a natural fit. He has a lot of elements that you want to see in a young defenseman. He's not afraid to jump into the play. He's very responsible defensively. And most importantly, the thing that stood out to me, great, great vision.

And I don't mean just passing. He's able to escape pressure. He's able to make the right reads with the puck or without the puck. And I do think he really has earned that nine-game tryout, but at the same time, eventually this blue line's going to get healthy. Eric Carlson is waiting in the wings. You know that you still have Jack St. Ivany. You've got Ryan Shea. And I think at this point, they may just look at it as, you know what, we don't have room for him yet.

and we don't want to burn them out as an 18 year old defenseman. So maybe you give them four, five, six games and then say, hey, you got your taste. You know what's waiting for you. Now go earn it. I think that's fair. And if and when he does get sent down, I don't want people to be upset about that.

Because no matter what, this has been a gigantic win for the penguins. You don't see this type of player with where he was picked in the draft play this well at camp in the preseason and be this close to a roster spot this quickly. Usually it takes this type of player at least a few years before he's ready for the NHL. Usually this type of player gets sent down pretty quickly in a training camp. But this just goes to show how miles ahead he is of anyone,

that really scouted him, you know, watched his tape, all that. He is just about ready, if not fully ready for the NHL. And if he does get the trial and he does get sent down, I do think next year we'll be having the conversation that he could be fully ready for an 82 game season. I personally think he deserves the trial. I think he deserves nine games to see what he can do. But you're also right, this blue line is going to get healthy. You have Krista Tang.

Eric Carlson is getting healthier. participated in the skate today. I think right now it looks like he's going to be healthy for Wednesday, but we'll have to see next week if he starts taking contact and all that, because he hasn't started taking contact yet. Matt Grizzlick's going to be the opening night lineup. You have Jackson and Ivaney there. You know, you have Sebastian Aho, Ryan Shea, obviously Ryan Graves,

with everything that's going on there. But I do think you've got to give Brunick some reps to start this season to see what this kid is made of. I felt like even though he played with Graves on Friday night, I felt like he equipped himself very well. Graves had a couple of bad mistakes that Brunick was not at fault for. You really can't blame him at all, especially for the goal that one of the opening goals that Graves just did not look well.

I believe in my notes here, yeah, it was the opening goal that he just got kind of locked. And again, that's not Brunich's law and all here, people. But his underlines, for the most part, I felt tonight were very solid. and you give him a shot. See what he can do on the bottom pairing next to whoever you want to put him with. If you want to put him with Ryan Graves, okay, I understand just because they want to try and get Graves to game backed up if you want to put him with someone else like Sebastianahoe,

Ryan Shea, Jackson, Ivaney, something like that. You know, you can do that as well. But in my opinion, he very much deserves this shot. And I'll be curious to see just because, you know, you can make an argument that they can, you know, do 14-4, seven defenseman two goalies. You can make an argument that they can do 13 forwards, eight defensemen, two goalies.

It's just because I feel like, you know, with the two goalies, they might put Nadelcovic on a little, you know, IR to start the year because he's week to week with his injury. So, you know, same with, you know, maybe Lazot, something like that. So they'll have to do some roster moves, you know, once those guys are ready to come back. But they're going to have plenty of options here over these next few days

to figure out what they want to do, you know, you know, again, 14, 7, 2, 13, 8, 2. So I'm curious to see what they do, man. Yeah, it's going to be very interesting to see if they ultimately decide to give him the shot. I would like to see it for a handful of games, maybe not all nine, but I would like to see him get a little bit of an opportunity. But we'll see what happens with that.

And with that, we are going to call it on this Friday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. We appreciate you guys tuning in and taking this ride with us and sticking with us through the dog days of the off season in the summer and now through the preseason. But Hunter and I will be back with a brand new episode on Monday. We're going to start our season previews as well as start giving some of our bold predictions for this upcoming year. And then on Wednesday we'll have you set for the home opener at PPG paints arena when the penguins take on the New York Rangers. at 7.30 p.m. But until then, for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp. Thank you, as always, for tuning in, and we'll be back on Monday.