Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Let's get this thing started!

Episode Date: January 13, 2021

We've finally made it to the regular season as the Penguins kick off their season on Wednesday evening against the Philadelphia Flyers. Hunter goes into a big breakdown of them in the first segment as he talks about what the lines will look like, plus the keys for the Penguins to win the game. After that, it's NHL season predictions time! Where does Hunter have the penguins finishing? Who does he have making the playoffs in the other divisions? Finally, who does he have in the final four and then winning the Stanley Cup? In the last segment, Hunter takes a question from a listener about which jersey he would wear for the game and if there are any lineup decisions that look surprising.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus. Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You're Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day. Hello, everyone. Welcome to this Tuesday afternoon episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. Follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes.

Follow the show is Twitter at L-O- underscore Penguins. So it is the day before the season starts. And I think all of you are just been waiting for this day ever since the Penguins got embarrassed by the Can I? I mean, this city just needs something to cheer about after the Stewards just were terrible against the Cleveland Browns. It's leaving a lot of the fans with a sour taste in their mouths. I think the Penguins will be able to write that a bit. I'm higher on them today in just the last couple weeks than I was all offseason,

just the way, you know, Dom's preview has really convinced me, you know, listening to Chad's podcast with Eddie and Jesse Marshall. That's probably some of the best hockey talk I've ever seen. You know, everyone just has me really excited for this opening game tomorrow against the Flyers. going to get in all into that today with a big preview for that game and then the game on Friday. I'm going to talk about the Flyers lines. They're off season. Just how they've been doing because, you know, we haven't really talked about them in a while and I think it's time to talk about why I think they're a bit overrated going into this season. I am pretty sold on Carter Hart, but you know, just looking at their lineup, I like their top defensive pair,

but after that, there's just not too much there. But we'll get into all of that in this first segment. I'm in the second segment. We will be doing some season predictions, who I think will get some awards, who is going to make the playoffs out of the four divisions, who I have getting in the conference finals, who I have getting in the Stanley Cup final, and then in the end, we'll just answer some mailback questions going into tomorrow night's season opener against the Philadelphia Flyers on NBC Sports Network. So let's get into it. When you look at a team like the Flyers, there obviously are a good team.

I mean, you saw what happened this past season in the bubble. And they had their best playoff success in eight year, guys. So let's round of applause for the Philadelphia Flyers. First time getting into the second round since I believe. that's 2012 against the Pittsburgh Penguins when, of course, they had that most embarrassing series. That's probably the most embarrassing series I've ever watched for the Penguins. I know this one was pretty bad for the franchise, but that won against the Flyers, when they just lost their way and were just fighting every Flyers player that they saw,

and just Mark Andre Fleurie was getting lit up like a Christmas tree. It was just all terrible. And then, you know, the Flyers won that series and then got killed by the Devils in the second round and lost four games drawn to one. And then before that, I think their last time they got to the second round was when they went to the final with freaking Michael Layton and Brian Boucher. I still can't believe that goalie tandem actually got them to within two wins of their first Stanley Cup since 1975. It's crazy to me. But, you know, you look at the Flyers roster.

I mean, Carter Hart is awesome. You know, I'm going to eat a bit of crow on that. I wasn't really too sold on him coming out. But, you know, he was awesome in the bubble. And, you know, he doesn't have a lot of experience. So his numbers could go down this year. you know, it's kind of a situation like Tristan Jorai, too. He has a little bit more experience, but, you know,

goaltending is so volatile that you just, you never know what's going to happen. He'll obviously get the start for the flyers tomorrow. He's potentially going to be one of the best goaltenders in the league, but, you know, who knows. Their first line, it looks like Oscar Lindblom is back. Congratulations to him. You know, what a recovery that he's had.

I mean, the dude fucking beat cancer. So, I mean, that's just freaking awesome. I'm just so glad he's back healthy, so glad he's black playing. And I think everybody will, was Oster Strong this past year. So I'm really glad that he's back. So he'll be on the top line with Sean Couturey and Travis Cineckney. Kineckley really came into his own last year for Philadelphia.

I think he was their best goal score, if I'm not mistaken. I know a lot of Penguins fans always like to go at Kineckney because he throws Fitz on the bench. It is funny to see him, you know, just cry on the bench sometimes. And then that's the same fan base that will just trash talk Cindy Crosby for stuff that he did back in 2005 or 2009. So, I mean, which is the hypocrisy is real there with Flyers. fans but still connect and he had a pretty good year for them 24 goals 61.66 games so basically a point per game player the year before that 49 points 82 games he's been a 24 25 goal score the last three years that's basically what you're going to get out of him you always have to watch for him on

the ice sean cuturier you know what you're going to get out of him he's awesome he's probably one of the best two-way forwards in the league claude drew on the second line he's not what he once was the decline has come a bit hard for him but still good player kevin hayes that contract's going to look bad for him in the next couple of years, but he put in a respectable first season with the Flyers, so I can get his numbers here real quick. I mean, he actually was pretty decent in the bubble, too. 23 goals, 41 points in those 69 games.

In the playoffs for Philadelphia, he had four goals, 13 points in their 16 games, so basically averaged a point per game. He was pretty good in his first year, but like I said, I wouldn't expect that to continue throughout his contract. I think it has like six more years left. Joel Farabee, I don't know that much about him. But he did have over 20 points in 52 games this past season.

That was a rookie season, of course. It looks like he's going to be getting top six minutes. It's an interesting choice that they're not going to put James Van Reevesdyke and Jacob Borritch up there. But it looks like that's going to be their third line, which I think is their second best line out there. James Van Reevesdyke had a good season coming back from Toronto. No one Patrick is back. Again, congrats to him. I think he was doing with a lot of migraines this past season, which is why he didn't play.

Glad he's back healthy and that everything is going on well with him. And then, you know, you got the modern-day caveman on the third line in Jacob Vorichek. I will never not call him that. The fourth line, Michael Raffles, Scott Lawton, and then Abi Kubel. I think Abi Kubal was a pretty big sensation for the Flyers. And, well, you know, point totals, they're not going to give it away much. Seven goals, 15 points, 36 games. It's a decent pace, and we'll see if he can continue that in the next season.

I think defensively his underlying numbers were pretty decent. I have to go double-check that, though. Defensively, Ivan Provorov is on the first pari. He is a stud. I have been very high on Ivan Provrov for a long. time. I think this is the year that he really comes into his own. He was pretty good for the Flyers last year, having 13 goals, 36 points in a nice 69 games. The year before that, 26 points, 82 games. And the playoffs was where he was pretty good too. Three goals, 8.16 games.

Drove possession at a 52.5% rate. He is the real deal and their best defensemen. So the Penguins are always going to have to watch off for him on the ice tomorrow. Justin Braun on that pairing as well. I'm not really that high on him. Travis Sandheim, Philist. but Myers on the second pairing and then Robert Hague and Gustavson on the third pairing. The Flyers defense just by on that top pairing is just not that good. I'm not really that high on Sanheim. I think Gustafson is basically a power play guru and that's it. His underlying numbers defensively are terrible.

Hag doesn't really move the needle much. Myers is all right. Sanheim, they just got to see more of him, I think. But, you know, ProVrov, of course, is a stud. Braun. We'll have to see how much he has left in the take. I'm not mentioned on there. Shane Gossespaer.

I think he's hurt for the Flyers, which is why he's going to miss Wednesday night's game. I don't know if he'll be available Friday. I'll have to check for an update from Alang Vig. No, but that will be the Flyers lineup tomorrow. The game plan for the Penguins is simple. You know, just don't fall into the Flyers trap. I know that hasn't been the case in a while.

You know, just don't need the Flyers to take them off their game. I think the Penguins are a better team than the Flyers going into this season. I think their, well, their top six is better. They may not be as deep as the Flyers, but I trust the Penguins defense a lot more. Goaltending, I would probably take harder heart right now just because of more experience, but I would not be surprised to see Tristan Jari outplay him this season. You obviously want to get pucks deep on them.

I don't really like their defense that much. Force them to work. Outside of Probrough, of course, I mean, he's going to be a force for the Flyers all night, tomorrow night. But, you know, outside of that, just force their other defensemen to work. Make sure he get some good looks on heart. I mean, his high dangerous eight percentage last year was pretty good. But if you can get a bunch of chances on him, I mean, eventually he is going to crack. I mean, you can say the same for any goalie.

I know, you know, all sounds cliche. It's the same little hockey talk. But those are the big keys just for beating the Flyers tomorrow. And I actually just thought of this now. Who do I think is going to score the first goal of the season for the Penguins on Wednesday? I'm going to go with Jake Gensel. He always has a knack for showing up in the big games. He also always owns the Flyers.

I remember that four-goal game in 2018 when they won those series four games of two in game six. He was also just a force in that whole playoff run. I think it was basically averaging over a point per game. He's back fully healthy now. He's not going to be rushed back or anything. He's at a full training camp. I do think he is going to get the first. first goal the season and then the assists will go to

Sidney Crosby so I think that top line is going to do some real damage tomorrow night for Pittsburgh and I'm just excited to get rolling you know the Penguins lines were the same today it looks like we are going to see Mike Matheson and the top four against the Flyers which on Marino Pedersen with CC CC was always going to win that number six job I've been talking about that

for the last couple weeks in case some of you guys are new listeners I wanted Chabrewoodle to get that number six spot but you know with CC just signing it and only being like 1.1 million for season. They were always going to give him a full opportunity to not only win the number six job, but to keep it throughout the season. But, you know, if he plays bad, I've said it a lot of times, they can just take him

out and put Chad Ruey don't win. And then for matchups tomorrow, I would like to think that they're going to put Pro Vrov a lot on Crosby's line. For Gino's line, they're probably going to put a lot of Sandheim on there. For vice versa with the Penguins, I imagine you're going to see a lot of Dumont-Latang against the Kuturier line. Marino Matheson will probably go a lot against the Drew line, the Vorich line, and then probably for Pedersen and C.C., they're mostly going to get the bottom two lines minutes.

I mean, probably against the Aibu-Kuba line, and then maybe they'll get some minutes against the Van Rebes-Dike line. We'll have to see how they're playing and what Mike Sullivan will do. But usually he deploys the bottom pairing against the fourth line, sometimes with their line. They're probably only going to get, like, what, 11, 12 minutes during the game. So we'll have to see what he does with that. Kuturier-Krosby is always fun to watch. I mean, Sid, obviously, arguably the best player in the world, and then Kutriere, one of the best defensive centers in the league.

he always deserves to be right up there in the Selky voting. I mean, he's just that good. But I think that does it for this segment. Really excited to get into tomorrow's game. It has just been way too long. Remember, guys, it's a 5.30 p.m. start. So if you guys have schoolwork, do it before then. If you guys have to get out of work early, do that too.

But before we do get to our next step and we're going to do a bunch of standings predictions and all that, it is time to talk about rock auto. It's a family business serving auto park customers online for 20 years. You go to rock auto. dot com to shop for auto and body parts from hundreds of manufacturers they have everything from engine control modules and brake parks to tail lamps motor oil and even new carpet whether it's for your classic or daily driver you get everything you need in a few easy clicks delivered directly to your door best of all the prices at rockado dot com are always alive below and the same for professionals

and do it yourselfers you go to rock auto dot com right now and see all the parts available for your car truck we can write locked on there how did you hear about us box so they know we sent you amazing selection rely below prices all the parts of car will ever need that is rock auto dot com. All right, welcome back to this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. The one thing I did forget to say in the last segment, I am going to miss the Flyers fans doing the Crosby sucks chant because you know what?

They have not gotten past 2005 and every time they do the Crosby sucks chant, Sid just ends up scoring on or having an amazing highlight with a pass or something like that. So I am really going to miss that. And when it's safe to do so, hopefully we can get fans back in the arena and then he can hear the Crosby's sucks chance, and then Sid can just toy with them again and just make Flyers fans just hate him even more. But I just wanted to get that out there.

It's just, I love every time they do it just because Sid always just makes them pay for it. But going for some standings predictions. In the East guys, I have Boston winning it, that division. They have the best line in hockey, Marshawn, Bergeron, Posnerich. I mean, you go read Dom's preview. I mean, that whole line, 3.5 wins for, I think,

Marshawn, 3. something for Bergeron, and then like four point something for Posternak or something like that. They are just elite. All three of them are great. Posternaks the goal score. Bergeron's the distributor. And then, you know, Marshawn's the goal score and the distributor. They're just, they're that good.

And then you have Tuka Rask and Nett, Charlie McAvoy on your top pairing. He's one of the best defensemen in the league. And they're also a pretty deep team. I know that they didn't have the best offseason, but they did sign Craig Smith. He was on a bargain of a contract too. I mean, he's getting, what, three years, 3.1 million per? something like that. I mean, that's a steal. And he's going to drive play a lot for the Bruins, slotting him on the third line. It's just not fair to play with Charlie Coil, I think. You know, their

second line is good. They have Debrusk up there. David Craycheek is still humming along. Like I said, Coyle, Craig Smith, you know, I think they have Brandon Carlos still down on their defense. You know, also Matt Grizzling, he's probably one of the more underrated defensemen in this league. His underlying numbers were really strong last year. Outside of those three on their defense, though, it's a pretty bad unit. Of course, they lost Tori Krug. They lost. and Dano Chara. Those bottom two pairings are not good, but their forwards are going to carry them. Tuka Rask is going to play well, and they will win the East.

I'm second, guys, I'm going to put Pittsburgh there. I think Pittsburgh is going to finish ahead of Washington and Philadelphia this year. I've just gone higher on this team that I have been for a lot of the offseason. Just like I said, listening to some podcasts, reading some articles, the big one from Dom, which is with the data. I'm just really high on the top six. I think if the bottom six can contribute at least a bit, and Ajari gives them average goal-tending, they finish top two in this division. I really believe that I have the Penguins at second. At third, I'm going to go with the Washington Capitals. I know they're the oldest

team in the league, but, you know, Ovechkin is still the best goal scorer in the league. Backstrom is still great. T.J. O'Shee, still humming along. John Carlson is one of the best defensemen in the league, at least offensively. They have some decent depth on their team, too. The big thing, though, I just don't trust their defense outside of the Orlov-Carlson pairing. I think their bottom two pairings are terrible. You're going to put Justin Schultz top pairing minutes with Berendon Dillon. I mean, good luck with that. I mean, you're going to play as in Dano Char on the bottom pairing. It should be

fine for him, but I mean, we're going to play with Nick Jensen. I mean, eh, okay. And then in goal, Ilya Samsonov, not a high sample size. It's very similar to Tristan Jari. How is he going to be in his first full season now starting? That's a big question for Washington. At fourth, I'm going to go with Philadelphia.

I think they're deep enough to get in. I love Sean Couturee. Claude. is still good, no his decline has come a bit. Jacob Vorichick, James Van Reeves' dike, getting Nolan Patrick back is huge for them. And I think Carter Hard gives them the goal tending that they will need to get in. I have the Islanders just missing out. Yes, I'm betting against the Islanders at my own peril, but I think that they will miss out by a point this year. I think Philadelphia is going to edge them out.

I mean, one good team is really going to miss the playoffs from this division, and I think it's going to be the Islanders. I mean, the Rangers, I don't think you're going to get in. Their defense stinks. And then the bottom two teams, Buffalo, they're probably going to have to Taylor Hall at the trade deadline and then New Jersey felt really bad that they signed Crawford. Then he retired. Though, you know, I do wish Cory Crawford the best of luck in retirement.

But they do have McKenzie Blackwood in that. So he's always a good backup option. And I do think the devil's made some improvements over the off season, but it's not going to be enough for them to get into a playoff spot. Jumping around the Canadian division, guys, I just, I don't know who's going to win this, man. I think Toronto is going to win it. They should win it. They have the best roster.

you know, their top six is loaded, their defense is better. Frederick Anderson's coming off another fine season, not nearly as good as his season before in 2019, but he's still one of the better goaltenders in the league. If they don't win this division and at least get to the final four, they're going to make a change. There's no excuse to not come out of the Canadian division. I think they have the team to do it. They obviously need their big guns to show up and have, you know, musin on the back end,

Morgan Riley there. T.J. Rody all showed up along with Frederick. Rick Anderson. And like I said, I mean, the NHL is giving one Canadian team a spot in the final four. So if it's not the Leafs, expect some changes. I do think they will win the Canadian division, though. Second, this is where it's going to get tricky. I honestly don't know, but if I had to go out on a limb and say who will get second in this, I'm going to say Vancouver. You know, that's not going to be a popular pick among people, but I'm really high on the Canucks going into this season. Love me some Quinn Hughes. I think Braden Holpey will be good

enough for them that they can get second in this division and their top six is loaded. I know they have some debt problems. I mean, Adam Goddette, Brandon Sutter, Tyler Mott. I mean, thank God they waived Louis Erickson because he stinks, but I mean, Brock Besser, Beau Horvatt, Elias Petterson is probably going to win a Hart Trophy sooner rather than later. J.T. Miller is really good still. I mean, their top six is loaded. I think they can get second in this division and they just signed Travis Hammondick.

I think he's always been underrated throughout his career. I know he's had some run-ins with Evgeny Malkin, but I really do think Vancouver gets second. Third guys, I'm going to go Calgary. I think Calgary gets in. I think they have a bit of a bounce back. I think you see Johnny Goodrow and Sean Monaghan have much better seasons. Remember in 2019, Goodroo was honestly playing at almost a heart trophy level,

and then this past season kind of fell off a bit. And then they also got Jacob Markstrom. So there's a big upgrade in goal there. Then fourth place, I'm going to go Edmonton. I don't know why everyone is picking Montreal to finish in the top four. Well, I guess I can kind of see it. they improved their forwards this offseason. Carrie Price can still be Carey Price at any moment,

but I'm not going to pick against Connor McDavid and Leon Drysidle. You saw how good they were this past season. McDavid is arguably the best player in the world. They also made some good depth additions throughout this offseason. I know they're not going to have Oscar Clefbaum, but I do still see Edmonton getting in just because McDavid and Drysiddle are awesome. And you can't forget about Ryan Newton Hopkins too. So that's from the Canadian Division.

From the Central Division, obviously Tampa Bay is going to get first. to me, we can basically move on from that. They don't honestly even need Akita Kutrov. Second place, Carolina, I think this is the year that they show people that they are for real and that they're a contender. I mean, we all know they're kind of for real, but I think they show everyone that they're a contender. Andres Fashikov is going to be a top 10 player in the league very soon. Dougie Hamilton's one of the most underappreciated defensemen in this league.

Sebastian Aho is awesome. Jordan Stahl, I can't say enough great things about him. They're going to get second place. Love Rod Rendamore as the head coach. And for third in the division, I'm going to go Dallas. I know they're having some injuries. Sagan's going to miss the start of the season. I know Ben Bishop's not going to be there, but they did have Anton Kudobin back.

He was awesome in the playoffs. Jamie Ben is still good. Alexander Radulov. Miro Heskin is going to win a Norris before you know it. John Kleenberg is still good. And their forwards are honestly not as bad as some people make them out to be. And we'll see how Joe Povilski is this year too. But I'm going to have Dallas at third in the central.

And then honestly for fourth, I'm going to go. out on a limb. I'm going to put Nashville there. I mean, it's a toss up between Nashville and Columbus. Either one will get in. I just think Columbus at some point is going to trade Dubois, just because he doesn't seem happy there, and that's going to be a big loss for them. But Nashville, I expect Duchenne to be better for them. I think UC Soros is going to take over the starting job full time now. We all know Pec Arena is just not good anymore. And then I think Philo Forza will be good for them. They have the best defensemen, well, arguably the best defenseman in hockey and Roman Yose. Ryan Ellis is also great, too. Victor Arborz.

Arvinson needs to have a bounce back year. We'll see if he can do that. And then Ryan Johansson will see how that happens as well. I think Nashville gets fourth and they squeak out that final playoff spot. As for the West or the Pacific, I guess, you all know the top two teams in the division. I'm going Colorado at number one, Vegas and number two. And honestly, guys, you can just, I can put it up third place right now, St. Louis. I mean, those are going to be the top three teams in the division.

I'd be stunned if those were not the top three teams in the division. Fourth, though, is where it gets tricky. I'm going to go Minnesota. I think they're a better team currently constructed than Arizona. I know Arizona has the better goaltending, but I mean, Minnesota, they just need average goaltending to get in. Well, I shouldn't say average goaltending. That's the penguins.

That's a mistake to say that. They need above average goal tending to get in. But I didn't really mind the wilds offseason. I still think they have a good enough roster to get in. And I'm just not really sold on Arizona's. I'm just really not. But, you know, I wouldn't be surprised that Arizona gets in either. The rest of the Pacific Division is just a joke.

You know, they got the three California teams down there who are just knocking it all. But those who I have, the teams making the playoffs for the top four, and then for the final four guys. From the East Division, I'm going to go Boston. I don't know. I just do not think Pittsburgh is going to be Boston in a seven-game series. Boston, from the Central, I'm going to go Tampa Bay. From the Canadian, I'm going to go Toronto.

And then from the Pacific, I am going to go Colorado. I think this is the year that Colorado makes it out. Sorry, Vegas fans. You know, Petrangelo's not going to put you over the top just yet. And for my Stanley Cup final pick, give me Tampa Bay and Colorado. I'm going to go out on limb and say that. Tampa Bay, Colorado, that would just be an awesome Stanley Cup final. You could have two East teams in the Stanley Cup final.

That would be awesome, too. There's going to be matchups in those final fours that you will probably never see again, guys. That's just how great the last two rounds of the playoff format are. I don't really care for the first. two rounds because it's just division stuff in what they did back in the 80s and 90s. But the last two rounds, the Stanley Cup semifinals and the Stanley Cup final, that's going to be a ton of fun. For some awards, Hart Trophy, Bold Prediction, Cindy Crosby.

He's going to get over 90 points in those 56 games. He's going to win the Hart Trophy. Art Ross, I'm still probably going to give it to McDavid, though. I think he leads the league in points this year. Rocket, I'm going Ovechkin until he retires. Norris, I'm going to go Roman Yose. He is, I think he's the best defenseman in the league. I know a lot of people will say Victor Hedman, but I'm going to go Yose.

Vesna, you see, this one's tough because there's a lot of pretty good candidates. I'm going to go Tuka Rast this year. I think he's going to be good enough to win the Vesna. I'm expecting a pretty big season at Arasca. I think he's going to show a lot of people that dumped on him for leaving the bubble because he had a family emergency back home that he's one of the best goaltenders in the league, and I expect him to put up some pretty good numbers because I think he's mad at a lot of those idiots that just, for some reason,

crucified him because, God forbid someone has a family emergency. back home that he had to leave. Let's see here. Calder. I'm going to go Alexei Lafranier. I think he's going to be pretty good for the Rangers this year, though. I don't expect the Rangers to make the playoffs.

And that's basically it. I'm just going to do those awards. I'm the King Clancy. You'll see later in the year when the nominees are up. And then, oh, for the Selke, I'm going Patrice Bergeron this year. I think he wins that award back.

So that's basically it for this segment. Before we do get to our little bit of a mailbag segment for just the last few minutes of the episode, It is time to talk about betonline.ag. There's only one place that has you covered in one place we trust. That is betonline. ag. You can have NFL games of the week.

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Follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins. There's just basically one question for mailbag, well, just one question going into the season that I figured I would ask on the Twitter account for show. Alan Tiotr asked, which jersey should I wear tomorrow? Gino 2017 Stanley Cup.

Prosby's White Consul Energy Center inaugural season patch, Latang's yellow alternate. Gensel, Holm, Jersey, or Mario Diagonal, Pittsburgh. God, man, those are all tough calls. I'd honestly maybe go Gensel because I expect him to score the season opening goal for the penguins. But those are all some great choices. I know I'm going to wear my Gino-Pittsburgh reverse retro diagonal tomorrow.

I'm just going to rock that because I think that jersey, it's just, it's been growing on me. And then he asks, any lineup surprises, line combos, power plate, PK, I think they're all what I expected. Yeah, it's basically what all I expected to me in. I mean, I didn't expect Mike Madison to be in the top four going into this season, but, you know, I guess Mike Sullivan's going to roll with it for the first game or two. If Matheson stinks, I mean, they can just put them back down.

on the third pairing and playing with CC, but they want Pedersen there with CC right now. As for the power play, I mean, it was pretty expected. I think that Russ was going to get the first crack. We'll see if Kaplan and can get a crack when he returns to the lineup. You already know the other four players were going to be able to power play. PK, I think that's mostly expected.

I mean, you're going to see what, Bluger there. Brandon Taneff killed a lot of penalties last year when Aston Reese comes back. I think you're going to see a lot of him on there, too. I think you're going to see in the can. I mean, they may put Krosby on the PK at times. I mean, he's been playing a bit more on the PK the last couple of seasons.

I think Sullivan has really liked him and Gensel on there because they can create some two-on-ones. I'm not really sure how many minutes you're going to see, though. I'm going to have to track that on Static and a couple other websites. But all the lineup decisions right now seem pretty straightforward. I mean, there's really nothing. There's no, there was just no big training camp battles, which was just the big thing for this camp. Everyone knew who was going to play where. I mean, you just had to figure out what was the bottom fix going to look like.

I mean, I guess I'm maybe a little bit surprised that Jeremy McCann's not the third-law. line center because I think he works better there but I guess Mike Sullivan doesn't see it that way they're going to try Jane Kalski there and if that doesn't work just move McCann there and keep it full time I think that's basically the best way to do it and then you know Colton sevior brand and tannad I guess they're going to keep Tannib on the third line wing until aston Reese comes back and then they can just reunite that fourth line that we all know and love from last year when they were just so good at suppressing chances but that's basically it for the lineup can't wait to get the season underway guys appreciate you guys listening for the next episode I will do it after the

530 game tomorrow. Remember, guys, it's at 530 NBC Sports Network. I think Kenny Albert is calling the game with Eddie Olcheck. I'm going to double check that, though, but I do know Kenny Albert is calling. I just don't know who the analyst is. But thank you guys so much for listening. I really do appreciate it. And we have finally made it, guys, look for a big recap episode tomorrow. We'll talk all things from that, hopefully, first victory or the first loss. So stay tuned for that and hope you all have a great rest of your day.