Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Kyle Dubas gives us his thoughts on this Penguins season

Episode Date: April 19, 2024

Kyle Dubas spoke to the media on Friday and Hunter and Pat are here to give their main takeaways from the presser. They first start with what Dubas said about the coaching staff and whether there will be changes to it for next season. They then move to Ryan Graves and how Dubas sent him a strong message during the presser. If he comes back and stinks it up again, will they be ready to move on? They then hope for the best when it comes to Kris Letang since it was revealed he was hurt and then looking at how Dubas unfairly blamed Evgeni Malkin for Reilly Smith's struggles. Finally, they end the show with the main positives that came from this season before giving their first round playoff picks.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Monopoly GO!Get in the game and join your friends. Download MONOPOLY GO! now free on The App Store or Google Pay. The mobile hit twist on classic MONOPOLY.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.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.SleeperDownload the Sleeper App and use promo code LOCKEDONNHL to get up to a $100 match on your first deposit. Terms and conditions apply. See Sleeper’s Terms of Use for details.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning GUARENTEED That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – win or lose! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON 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.

Kyle Dubus has thoughts, and so do we. You're Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello, welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your hosts, Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Join by my host Patrick Damp. You can follow him on Twitter at Centum for Wet, and you can follow the show's Twitter at L-O-Huner. Penguins, of course, thank you all so much for making this your first list and slash watch

the day. We are free and available on all platforms. And finally, today's episode is brought to you by Monopoly Go. Yes, I admit it. I have a competitive side. It is a big fan of Monopoly Go. The mobile hit twist on Classic Monopoly. So join your friends and download Monopoly Go now free on the app store or Google Play. So Kyle Dubas had his end of year media press conference on Friday. It was about a 40 minute conversation between him and members of the credential Penguins media. We're not going to discuss everything that he said during that press conference because, if we did, we'd probably be here for over an hour. And Pat and I just don't have that kind of time for you all on a Friday.

We're going to give our main takeaways from this presser, starting with what Dubas had to say about the coaching staff. To me, it is very evident that Mike Sullivan is going to return as Penguins head coach for next season. I disagree with it. I've been saying that for a while, but I have no say in the matter. I know you kind of disagree with it a little bit as well. But he did stop short of saying that everyone on the coaching staff was going to return.

And I will say this for everyone out there. If by some divine miracle that the entire coaching staff returns, this is a very unsurious organization. You cannot bring this entire coaching staff back and then say to everyone, oh, yeah, we're in it to compete for a playoff spot next year. That's just ridiculous to me. I'm right there with you, and I will preface everything that we're going to say today with this, because this is where I stand overall. I'm going to judge Kyle Dubus by his actions, not his words, in a 40-minute press conference. Because I would rather see what he does rather than what he says.

Because we know how general managers are. We know how sports are. They say one thing, and then they do the other. We have seen it in all sports, across all leagues. You say one thing and go out and do the opposite the next. So that said, the way I at least interpret this, and I know again, this is going to contradict me saying judge's actions, not his words, the way I see this is they've pretty much said that Mike Sullivan's going to come back next year,

but the rest of his coaching staff is not. We have heard and seen reported that Volucci and Reardon, their contracts are up at the end of this year. And I think they're going to get a thanks for your service. best of luck in all your future endeavors. And from there, we're going to find out if the people that Kyle Dubus brings in to join Mike Sullivan on the bench next year, truly put him on the hot seat. Yeah. And to make a Steelers connection here kind of reminds me of Mike Tomlin's

end of your press conferences where some coaches on his staff, their contracts will be up and he will be asked about them. And he really wouldn't say too much about those coaches during his presser. But the news about their status for next season and beyond would come out. you know, a week or two or three later. And I think that's probably what you're going to see here with Dubus and the rest of the coaches as well. Another big thing that I think did come out of this press conference is what Dubus did say about Ryan Graves. I think that was one of the most honest answers about a player that I've ever seen overall. I mean, he even said there's basically

200-word answer overall from Dubis. And he came as close to saying that Ryan Graves sucked to the season without saying that he actually sucked. Like part of it, for example, he even said there's no dancing around it. I thought he was a good player in Colorado and New Jersey. He came in and from the beginning, I thought, you know, sometimes it happens when a player struggles. But did I expect it to go the whole year? No, part of that is on us as an organization.

And then he did also say that he wants Graves to have a big summer. What I read that as, if Graves doesn't have a big off season in a big year or two, I think the penguins will look to move on from him after that season. For sure. I mean, you look at the way he, like you said, the way he talked about Ryan Graves.

He did, he barely minced words on that. I mean, he could have come out and said, oh, I can fix him. No, I really can.

But at the same time, he did not mince his words. I mean, there's a couple parts of it I was saying to you before we hit record. You know, he said, did I expect it to go on the whole year?

No. So he gave him that grace at the start of the year. Hey, new system, new town. all that, maybe some time to adapt. He never did. And he essentially, basically,

I wasn't included, because I have our good pal Josh Yo, he's recap up in front of me here. But there was a part of the Graves answer that he said, you can't blame it on system for the whole season. You just can't. And then you talk about how he said he's got to work on all that stuff this summer. He's sending a very clear message to Ryan Graves that if you don't get your stuff together here,

almost let the other word slip on that one. If you don't get it together here, you're going to have to find a new place to work and get on with your life's work. Agreed. And for as much as I would like the penguins to move on from Graves, just because I don't think he's going to be that good next season.

And yes, people, I will gladly eat crow if I am wrong on that, as I have plenty of other times, as long as I've been one of the hosts of the show. That just doesn't happen very often, not even just for the penguins, but when a general manager signs a player to, a long-term contract.

It's pretty rare when that same GM moves on from that player a year in. I mean, Graves still has five more years left on that contract. I think Dubis is going to give him at least that one more year to see if he can turn it around. Yeah. And I do think taking kind of a copium look at this, I do think the, the opportunity and potential is there because he is a solid mix of size and. mobility. He's a big guy who can move. And that's a good place to start. Now, I'm very pessimistic

that it's going to happen. But when there are players like him who have the mobility that he does and the size that he does, that's at least a good starting point. Again, very pessimistic that it gets better just because there's not a lot of evidence that it could. But as far as players go, you know, we're not looking at, and sorry to slander certain players, but we're not looking at a guy like Jack Johnson, who in the day you just knew nothing was there. With Ryan Graves, there's some solid play between Colorado and New Jersey. You know, this wasn't a guy who everybody knew was terrible, and they tried to tell us, no, don't believe you're lying eyes. He's actually very good. Again, all of that said, don't know how hopeful I am that he can turn it around.

but at the very least there's at least a small sliver of hope that he could become, and for his contract, this is a terrible thing to say, serviceable. I mean, I hope that he actually starts using his size to his advantage. Again, I said that on the show so many times. I've never seen someone with his size play so soft in his own zone. That has to change for next season if he wants to be serviceable on this team. Yeah, and play so small. The thing is, I don't need them to become a bruiser.

I don't need to become, you know, Scott Stevens, but he needs to be better. The biggest thing I notice, he needs to be better in front of his own net. I mean, you're gigantic. Just move people out of the way. If nothing else, just get guys out of there. You don't have to be a general in your defensive zone. But as soon as somebody takes up residence in front of Alex Nadelcovich, Tristan Jari, or even Joe L Blumquist next year, just move them. If you do that much and everything else falls apart, I can at least go, well, he got the guy out of the front of the net.

But this year, he didn't do that. Another thing I'd like to see him do as well, when I was diving into the film right after they signed him last year, I saw someone who had a shoot first mentality and was firing everything from the blue line. That went away completely this year. I want to see him get back to basics a little bit there because he was firing a lot more pucks when he was in Colorado and New Jersey. And that completely changed when he got here. He overcorrected is what he did because at the start of the season, the first month that I had. half, he shot literally everything. And he had shot attempt after shot attempts. And many of them were very dumb decisions with the puck.

And then as the year progressed, he wasn't shooting at all. And he overcorrected on that. And if he can find that sweet spot, that actually could help. If you have a little bit better shot selection, you're not afraid to take some shots from the point. That could help his game just because if nothing else, it's going to keep the puck in the offensive zone. and we don't have to worry about defensive deficiencies because he's not playing defense.

Right. I mean, I don't need some Cody C.C. shot 30 feet wide from the net that you've seen go viral quite a few times on social media. I just want them to be smart because he just really wasn't doing that throughout the season. But I think that would do it for this first segment of today's episode. Coming up in the second segment, we're going to discuss more of our takeaways from Kyle Dubas's press conference, including Chris LaTang and how he was playing hurt down the stretch, as well as the goaltending situation heading into next season. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about policy genius.

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Tat was going through, but based on what he said, it seems like a lot. And he's going to get a second opinion on what he's dealing with. I just hope that this is not a major, and I mean a major surgery this off season. I think it might be. It might end up coming to that. We might not see Chris LaTang until November of this coming season, just because if he's going to have to get a second opinion and it's surgery again. There's very few surgeries that hockey players get that are quick, easy turnaround. So he may be out to start the year. Now, I think it also confirms what you and I discussed down the stretch with his play.

There was something, now we know, something hampering him pretty badly because the way they talked about this. And obviously with the health scares that Chris LaTang has had in his career, it doesn't rise to that level. But these were the kind of injuries that we, at this point, I think we can say, really hurt him in his play down the stretch. And you could see it on the ice. He was making dumb decision after dumb decision with the puck. He was overthinking it when he had the puck on his stick. And I'm like, okay, there's no way he's healthy after the first half of the season that he had. Something had to have happened. And sure enough, again, Dubis basically confirmed that today.

But I'm just hoping that he's able to get through this injury for next season because he really was playing lights out for a good chunk of the season before he had a miserable end of the year. He really was. I know that he's a classic whipping boy for a lot of Penguins fans, but I thought he slid into a second pairing role very, very well through the first half of the season. The thing that people rightfully got on him for years was his defensive game.

And his defensive game at the start of the year through the first half was very good. He played a very, very solid brand of hockey. And on the UK. Yeah. And then I think whatever ailed him, the way I would describe it was not so much overthinking, but overcompensation. Whatever he was trying to mask, whatever injury he had, he was trying to overcompensate for it and it led to mistakes.

Yeah, I agree with you. again, he was great on the PK to start the year, great in his own zone. He took playing on the second parable unit in great stride, and I just hope that he's able to get through this heading in the next season because the Penguins will very much need him for the start and the entire 2024-2020-5 season. Another thing that really caught my eye from this press conference is what Kyle Dubus said about Riley Smith. He said from mid-November on, I do think Raquel was hurt, and Malkin wasn't very good, and

I do think that affected Riley Smith's game. Then Smith got hurt. And then he did say that Smith with Ellerb Houston, the ESP line was the best fit for him. Okay. I do think the ESP line was the best fit for Smith. But where I have an issue with what Dubus said there was that Evgeny Malkin wasn't playing that well. Has he lost a step?

Sure. But Malkin was setting up Smith for chance after chance at the beginning of the season and the puck was not going in the back of the net. Heck, even after he came back, from injury and was still on Malkin's line, Gina was still doing the same thing, setting up for countless chances, but Smith was not putting the puck in the back of the net.

I just don't really know what he's saying when it comes to that. And I also have the data in front of me. Smith and Malkin played about 594 minutes of 5 on 5 ice time this season. 21 goals for, 20 goals against, close to a 52% coursey rate or shot attempts per 60 rate. But without Riley Smith, on his line. Malkin played 5163 minutes of 5 on 5 ice time. His coursey or shot temps per 60 rate was higher than it was with Smith on his line. And his goals for versus goals against was better

without Smith on his line compared to Smith on his line. 36 goals for 28 goals against with Malcon on the second line without Smith, 21 goals for 20 goals against with Smith on his line. So again, I really don't know what Dubus is trying to say there other than prop up his player to the media as he tries to maybe move on from him this offseason. I think that's probably what he's trying to do. But other than that, don't really know what he's trying to say. I also think he may have misspoke a little bit there as well because I do think there was a time where we saw it at the start of the year. Those two looked like they were going to be the new Malkin and Neil because they were just lights out to start the first month or so. the season. Smith was unable to miss with Malkin on his line and Malkin look rejuvenated.

And then Malkin and Smith kind of went cold and then Smith gets hurt. And I think that's also a bit of a chicken and egg moment because was it Smith getting hurt that made them go cold or was it just never a fit? So I think that was kind of probably what he was more alluding to rather than saying Malkin wasn't playing well. But at the same time, I do think. think it given what he makes given Smith's contract being on a third line is probably not the best place to have a guy making that kind of money because this isn't like Phil Kessel when you made the HBK line because that line happened and was great and you essentially had three first lines that season that's not the case now and maybe it will be going into next year maybe they

make a bunch of savvy moves and we're back to that. I'm again not that hopeful for it, but that's really the only scenario in where I can see they hold on to Smith and keep them on that line if you vastly improve your top two lines, but that's going to be very difficult to do. I agree. And I also just don't see them keeping Smith in the next season anyway. He was just a total dud throughout the season. If you can get out of most of that contract, maybe you'll have to retain a little bit. But if you can get out of that entire cap that he has, that would be huge for them heading in the next season and also open up more cap space to spend on July 1 or also for trades as well.

One more thing, though, before we do head to break. Dubus did come to the defense of Tristan Jari. I know, shocker, he's not going to destroy his number one netminder to the media, especially after he had a pretty downstretch to end the season. But he also did praise Joel Blumquist as well. They're really excited about this kid heading in the next season. season and they seem to think that he has a shot at making the team for the 2024, 2025 season.

And I agree. I mean, his numbers in Wilkesbury this season have been great. He's going to get these starts for Wilkesbury in the playoffs. If he's able to play really well in those games, that's going to make them that much more confident in his abilities heading into next year. They will. And similar to the way he talked about Riley Smith, he sent a clear message, I think, to Tristan

Jari about figuring it out when he. said we have a situation where we have a young goaltender who is pushing. That's a pretty clear message of if you don't figure this out, we have a guy that can very much take your job going into next year if we feel he's ready. So maybe if Jari feels that pressure, maybe if he feels that goalie creeping up on him from behind in the system, he steps it up. And if Blumquist comes up and shows he can hang, that might be bad news for Tristan Jari. Yep, I agree with you.

I don't think there's really too much else to say when it comes to that. But is there anything else that he discussed that we haven't gotten to that you would want to dive into to end the segment? The one thing that was a little weird to me, and I just want to bring this up real quick, is that he didn't really say yes or no when it came to is getting back to the playoffs a priority next season. I mean, obviously we know that it is. He doesn't have to come out and say it. But you kind of feel like you should probably say that. just say like, hey, we didn't get to the playoffs this year and next year we have to make the playoffs. So I don't know, that just rubbed me a little weirdly.

Like I don't think it's that big of a deal, but you would think that he would come out and say, yeah, next year we have to be in the playoffs. But maybe he's setting expectation. I don't know. With the cap space that they have and with potentially more to open up, I'm sure their goal is to return to the playoffs next season. That would be ridiculous if it wasn't, especially when Sidney Crosby had almost 100 points this past season.

you're going to try to at least compete for a playoff spot every year that he plays like this. But I think that I'll do it for the second segment overall. Oh, I did forget one thing. He kind of threw cold water on the quote unquote full-blown rebuild. If you are someone out there that wants this team to fully blow it up, you are not going to get your wish this off season. The core is going to remain in place and they are going to tinker with other players on the roster outside of the core three. and I'll include Eric Carlson.

The way Dubas talked about Carlson today, I do not see him being moved at all. But that'll do it for the second segment. Coming up to end the show, we're going to get into some positives from this season. Plus, make our picks for the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. But before we get to that,

we got to touch on Monopoly Go. I've been told I'm a competitive person. Pat, do you think that's true? Fact check quickly says, yeah, I would say that's true. Yep. he's right. I do have a competitive side. We all do. And my competitive side is a big fan of Monopoly go. I'm sure you've heard of it. It's been downloaded over 150 million times. It's a great twist on Monopoly where you can play on not one, but hundreds of monopoly boards and crazy

locations, building up amazing cities that bring you big money. But the best part, I can mess with my friends while playing with that game. But it's not even just my competitive side that loves it. you can team up with friends and people from all over the world in time tournaments to earn huge rewards. So get in the game and join your friends. Download Monopoly Go now free on the app store or Google Play. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes. Join on my host Patrick Gam. So let's get into the positives that we took away from the season. Number one, very obvious. Cindy Crosby is still that dude and is still a top five player in this sport.

Finish the season with over 90 points, would have had over a hundred if the power play was just average this season, was doing everything in his power to carry this team into the playoffs. He made amazing play after amazing play on a nightly basis, and I will just never take his play for granted. He was amazing yet again for this team. A thousand assists into the top 10 all time, in points and did all of this when we're still expecting a decline.

Maybe not a severe one, but we're expecting him to slow down eventually, and yet he continues to laugh in the face of Father Time. So there's really not a whole lot left to say. I mean, he again proved that, yeah, there's a great crop of young talent on the way up that's making their mark on the National Hockey League. And he sat there all season long and said, hey, don't forget about me just yet. Agreed. Another positive I have, Drew O'Connor is very much here and has very much arrived. A breakout year for him overall, overall 16 goals, 33 points, establish himself as a great third liner on this team and also someone that can play in the top six when needed. I've said it a lot on the show. I wouldn't have him on the top line to start next season. I think they need a bit of a better winger overall. But if that player were to get hurt, they have O'Connor. there as kind of a safety net that can come up for 10 to 15 games and really play his tail off.

He was great at 5 on 5, great on a penalty kill, great basically any situation this year. And I'm super excited about him heading into next season. I do think great is a little bit far. I mean, I think for what he is, he was very good. I have been referring to him as Brian Rust Light all season long to where he's on a similar trajectory where you kind of expect him to be a utility bottom six player. but he has shown that he's got some hands. He's got a little bit of scoring touch.

And he's very versatile in the game that he plays. I don't know if he would ever get power play time, maybe on a second unit with a few, with a minute or less left on the power play. But you know he can kill penalties. You know he can fill in in a pinch on the top six. And he brings a really rugged element to the bottom six, which is something that I think this team has been without for quite a bit.

You brought up Brian Rust. And speaking of him, That is also one of my biggest positives from this season. In only 62 games, he had 28 goals in 56 points, basically almost a point per game season for him. And he needs to have a letter on his sweater next season. I think it's time because he's one of the top leaders on this team outside of that core leadership group. Whenever he says something, all the players on this team follow. He played his tail off nighted and night out.

he was also doing everything in his power to lead this team into the playoffs. If he is fully healthy for next season, he could have a 30 goal campaign in him, even though he's starting to creep up there a little bit in age. I don't think he needs a letter on his shoulder. He knows he's a leader. I don't think it's required of him. And again, I don't think it would be a big issue if either of Latang or Malkin lost a letter. But I think it's well known in that locker room that he is one of the leaders.

He's not in the same class as obviously Crosby, Malk, and Erlatang, but it's well established. That is one of the leaders of this team. Those are the four guys left from the last Stanley Cup. And everybody knows this is a guy when he talks, you listen. And he continues to be just a very steady presence on this penguin's roster. And I've said it all year long. I know that you could probably get something for him if you move them. but why move what you know for a question mark?

Because we saw that. I know we didn't move anybody of consequence to bring in Riley Smith, but that was a question mark. What if it doesn't work? And it didn't. You have Brian Rust right here and you ride him until the wheels come off. 100%. And another big positive for me,

timely saves from Alex Nadelcovich this season. I felt like he was really steady throughout. Yeah, his play dipped a little bit down the stretch as I feel like he was gassed a bit at times, but even at times in those games where he was even allowing a couple of weak goals, he was still coming up with massive timely saves for the penguins at a time where Tristan Jari really wasn't giving them that type of save, especially down the stretch before he got replaced.

And this was a dream season for me when it comes to Dadaikovic. I did not expect him to be this good. You looked at his numbers heading into the season, And it was like, hmm, you know, he wasn't that good at his last stop. But he went right back to Carolina form for a lot of this season. And he gave the Penguins some really strong goal tending overall. One year prove it contract. And he absolutely proved it.

I don't know what it leads to in the future. He kind of spoke yesterday about how much he likes it here, how well he fit in. If they can bring him back on something affordable, I would definitely take a flyer on that. But overall, you cannot be angry with. what he brought this season given the role he was thrust into. Agreed. I just got two more before I'll hand it over to you. And if you want to add any more positives from this season, Michael Bunting and Jack St. Ivaney. In my opinion, I think St. Ivany is ready for the number six role heading in the

next season. Yes, it's a very small, simple size, but he still very much reminds me of Chad Roo-Weedle, but maybe a bit better version of Rubey because I think St. Ivany can bring a little more offense than Ruehiel did. And I think there's an argument to be made that he's a bit better in his own zone than Rueita was, especially down the stretch this season. I just saw someone who was really comfortable at the NH level. They weren't feeding him to the wolves. They were also giving him pretty easy deployments.

But if you can keep doing that into next season, you're going to get good play out of this kid. He's ready. Yeah, you took the final two away from me. Those are the others. I was going to add Jack St. Iveny, nothing left to really say, you said at all. He's going to be a very solid, I think, bottom pairing defenseman for a while. And then Michael Bunting, I mean, everything this team has missed. He's rugged.

He's tough. He plays in front of the net. He plays in a million miles an hour. It doesn't matter if they're up. Doesn't matter if they're tied. Doesn't matter if they're down. You know what you're getting from them. And that's a guy that can energize a lineup and bring a team back to life.

So I'm really excited to see what he does over the next couple of years for this penguin's team. Agreed. And if I did want to add one more, Lars Eller, exceeding my expectations with 15 goals and 31 points this season, I did not think he had another 15 goal season in him. But I'm glad that he was able to prove me wrong. But that's not it for today's episode. Pat and I are now going to give you all our first round picks for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Do you want to go first? Yeah, I mean, I figure I'll just go real rapid fire here since we're running a little bit long.

today. I'll go through the east here. I think I'm going to give Tampa the win over Florida. I know Florida's great, but Tampa looks like Tampa. Again, they've got the likely heart trophy winner. And again, they just have a group of guys who, again, make them one of the best teams in the playoffs. As much as I like Florida, I think that's going to be a seven-round battle, but I'm taking Tampa in it. I think this is the year Toronto exercises the demons. They beat Boston, but again, going to be another tough series. The Rangers are going to sleepwalk past the capitals. The capitals are not good.

Carolina is going to do the same to the islanders. The islanders are not good. And then in the West, Edmonton, if they can get through the boring defensive system, LA plays, I think that's a win for them. Vancouver, Nashville, give me Nashville in that one. I know that Vancouver's good, but Nashville has been playing very well lately.

And I think Vancouver's still a tad young, and they've got some guys who need to learn some lessons. But that's a team that's going to stick around for a while. Colorado, Winnipeg, it's going to be Winnipeg. I like Colorado a lot, but Conor Helibuck's going to be the X factor. And Colorado has not had good goal tending for the last couple of months, and that's always a problem in the playoffs. Finally, sorry, Vegas, no back to back for you this year.

You're going out in the first round. I think Dallas might be one of the biggest cup contenders. in the league right now and in this postseason. So those are my quick picks. My picks, I agree with most of yours, but I also disagree with some as well. I'm taking the Rangers in five over the Capitals. Again, the Capitals are probably the worst playoff team I've seen in the last 20 years. I think they're going to get destroyed. I just hope I don't get old take exposed by saying that. I also have the Hurricanes and Five of the Islanders. I just don't like this match up for the Islanders in general. They got destroyed by

Carolina last year. They're lucky that series didn't end in five games. to be honest, I think the hurricanes do end it in five this year. I'm going the cats in seven over the bolts. I think Cachuk and Barkov are going to be too much to handle for the lightning. And I just don't really like the lightnings defensive group outside of headmen. Yeah, their power play is great, but I think at five on five, the cats are just a better team. And I think Bobrovsky is also going to play really well in net. I am going to take the Bruins in seven over the Leafs.

I'm sorry, but until Toronto can actually beat the Bruins in a seven game series, I am going to take the Bruins. Dallas Vegas, give me Dallas and seven. Vegas is going to give them a hell of a fight. Stone is probably going to come back at some point in that series. But with how Dallas is, they're so deep. I think there's an argument to me that they're the deepest team in the league. I think that's going to prove to be too much for the Knights.

And I think Ottinger is really going to wake up in this series as well. Aves, Jets. I mean, I would like a best of nine, best of 15 or something in this series. I'm going to go Aves and 7 over the Jets. If HeloBuck does go God mode, I don't think he allows the Jets to lose the series, but I'm not sure he's going to get to that level, considering how good Colorado is. I have them as my top Stanley Cup contender heading into the playoffs. Playoff McKinnon, playoff McCar, two completely different beasts,

and this team is absolutely loaded. Canucks Predators, give me the Canucks and Six Baby. I've been riding with the Canucks all year. Their high-end talent is better. Demko's been one of the best goaltenders in the league. Quinn Hughes is going to win the Norris this year. Give me the Canucks in six. And finally, Oilers in six over the Kings.

I've seen that series too many times already. I know how this is probably going to go. I don't think the Kings have the horses to shut down, make David or dry a saddle. But those are my picks for the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Let us know what you think of those picks down the comments and who are you picking to win the first round and get to the Stanley Cup final. But I think that will do it for this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this episode. And just for your information, we will be daily until early July. So Monday through Friday for the rest of April, all of May, all in June, including the draft, and then for free agency, and then right after the 4th of July, at least in the States, that's when we're going to scale the showdown to three episodes per week. So just giving you all a taste of what to expect for off-season content. But again, thank you all so much for tuning in. We really appreciate it.

We'll be back on Monday.