Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Looks like it's selling season for the Penguins!

Episode Date: March 4, 2024

The Pittsburgh Penguins have made things easy on Kyle Dubas for this week and that's what Hunter and Pat start with for today's show. They dive into what went wrong this weekend and how fragile this team is, starting with the game against the Calgary Flames. They analyze how the Penguins fell apart in the final 10 minutes of the third period and how that ended their season before briefly discussing the loss to the Edmonton Oilers. They discuss how the team showed no heart and no effort in that game and how it looks like Mike Sullivan can't be back behind the bench next season before ending the show with a trade deadline primer. Who should stay? Who should go? What type of returns are we looking for? All that, plus much more is on this episode of the Locked On Penguins podcast.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.FactorGet started on your resolutions with Factor, so you’re ready for the new year. Head to factormeals.com/lockedonnhl50 and use code lockedonnhl50 to get 50% off. IndeedIndeed knows when you’re growing your own business, you have to make every dollar count. Visit Indeed.com/LOCKEDON to start hiring now.RobinhoodRobinhood has the only IRA that gives you a 3% boost on every dollar you contribute when you subscribe to Robinhood Gold. Now through April 30th, Robinhood is even boosting every single dollar you transfer in from other retirement accounts with a 3% match. Available to U.S. customers in good standing. Robinhood Financial LLC (member SIPC), is a registered broker dealer.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 LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelGet buckets with your first bet on FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET! That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – if your bet wins! 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.

The Penguins showed us who they really are this past weekend, and Pat and I are going to discuss that, plus the week ahead with games and the trade deadline right after this. 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. joined by my co-host Patrick Damme. You can follow him on Twitter at Center for Wet, and you can follow these shows, Twitter, at L.O. Underscore Penguins, of course, thank you all so much for making this, your first listen slash watch of the day.

We are free and available on all platforms, and finally, today's episode is brought to you by Thanduel, make every moment more. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $150 if your bet wins. Visit fendul.com slash locked on to get started. So, Pat, this past weekend, I think the Penguins have given Kyle Dubus very little choice heading into this week.

It's time to sell and it's time to move some players to other teams. I said heading into this road trip in Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest, they needed to go at the very least, two and one in one, but preferably three in one, three oh and one, or in a perfect world, four, no. But none of those happened. They go one in three. They win the game against the best team on the trip in the Vancouver Canucks, but then they lose a heartbreaker against Seattle.

They lose another heartbreaker, even more of a heartbreaker, I should say against the Calgary Flames. And then they get absolutely embarrassed by the Edmonton Oilers, but obviously we're going to start with the game against the flames. A game of the Penguins were in complete control of Pat for 50 minutes. They were playing really strong hockey. They came out and played a tremendous first period, especially. They held the flames to without a single shot for the final 16 minutes of that first period.

They were getting goals from everyone in the lineup. They played a pretty solid second period as well. They increased their cushion to two goals in the third period. But then the final 10 minutes, they just stopped playing. And you saw just how mentally fragile this team was in the second half of the third period. Nazim Codry had a great individual effort on that goal, not taking anything away from him. But someone's got to stop him when he's coming down to ice like that.

I want to see a better defensive play there from Crystal Tang. who was absolutely dreadful in that game overall. But even when that goal happens, you still have to come out there and play on the next shift. And the Penguins weren't able to do that because they haven't been able to do that all year. When something goes wrong, this team just spirals. And this might be the most mentally fragile team I've seen in the Crosby era

since 2015 when Mike Johnston was the head coach, to be honest. It's ridiculous that everything just goes to complete crap when the smallest thing goes wrong. And they weren't able to recover for the rest of that game. And that was the game that I feel like really ended their season. Even though they got blown out by the Oilers, and we'll get into that in just a second. That was the game that truly ended any hopes,

I think, of this team going on a late season run. I said that a few weeks ago that, and it might have been on the pod. It might have just been on Twitter. I can't remember. But it's a mentally fragile team. They don't just lose. They lose in spectacular fashion.

And you remember, to the early days of Mike Sullivan's tenure. And again, we're not going to have the Mike Sullivan discussion. It's pointless at this juncture. But you remember back where it should go at this point. I'm someone who I've been in his corner a long time. We can just briefly discuss it before going on. I don't see how you bring him back next year at this point, Pat. I think I agree. It's just time. I think he's a tremendous coach. He's going to be behind the bench for Team USA when we return to the Olympics. He's going to be a successful coach wherever he ends up because he is among the top tier. But I think it's just run its course here in Pittsburgh. That's no shot at him.

He won two Stanley Cups. He has gotten the absolute most out of this core. And he's for he's a hockey hall of famer as a coach in my opinion. But anyway, back to the point at hand, you remember back to the early days of his tenure, nothing phased this team. There was the infamous just play. It became shirts. It became memes. It became a mantra that this team followed for years. They didn't get caught up in the BS because I am a hockey nerd and nostalgia nerd. And just I work in the media industry. I went back and watched some of those episodes from the 16 and 17 run of Showtime's All Access Quest for the Cup. And there were multiple times through both those runs where he screamed at the team, just shut up and play. They'd start screaming about refs. They'd

start screaming about other players. And he was behind the bench saying, don't worry about it. Shut up. Play your game. Focus on you. Forget about them. And I know that this team doesn't, you know, get caught up in that stuff anymore.

They still don't. They don't get caught up in all the post whistle stuff anymore. They still don't yell and whine at referees. But it's just they, as soon as things go wrong, they fall apart. They give up a goal. They fall apart. They get caught in their own end. They fall apart.

And it's just, I don't know what to. attribute it to whether it's age and just they don't have the legs anymore and they're frustrated with themselves or if they just don't have a steadying force in the locker room outside of the core three or four they just they seem to when things go bad they just end up completely falling apart and we saw that on Saturday they give up one goal and you got it's the nashal Nazam kodry's been a great hockey player in the nchel for the last decade he's going to have his moments. He's going to score big goals. It's not, you know, it's not Monday night C league that I play in out in Delmont where you get frustrated because you give up a big goal.

It's the NHL. Everybody there at one point was probably the best player in whatever league they grew up playing in. They all have talent. They're all going to score goals. They have the ability to do it. It's going to happen. It's how you respond to those things. And the penguins just didn't. They completely conceded the game with 10 minutes to go. go, which is an embarrassment. They had that game under wraps. The flames had nothing for the first 50 minutes. I mean, yeah.

It's one of my old favorite sayings. They snatched a defeat from the jaws of victory. It was embarrassing. That's the way to say it. I mean, that's exactly what happened, too, because they really did have nothing through the first 50 minutes. Jari was playing really well. They were playing well defensively.

They were getting contributions from the bottom six, the top six, the defensemen. everyone was chipping in through the first 50 minutes. And then one mistake with a cadre goal, boom, they just will under pressure. Next shift, game is tied. And then late in the game, Pat, the power play has an opportunity to win them the game and get two crucial points. No, they take a penalty, not even 10 seconds in. Then it's four on four.

You're like, okay, just get this to overtime at this point. You can secure at least a point. And just seeing how you did an overtime against the Canucks, maybe you can build off that in the game against the flames. No, it's penalty expanse. and for some reason, Ryan Graves is out there with less than a minute to go. Why Mike Sullivan decided to deploy him in that situation? I have absolutely no idea.

He's deploying him on the third pairing at five on five every night now. Why is he out there in a high leverage situation? I do not understand that whatsoever. And he and Lettang just got together for a massive blunder. I think both of them are at fault for this goal. I think Graves definitely could have gotten the puck out there, but he chose to go back to Latang. and even LaTang, I know I was pretty critical of him on that goal against, and I still am.

I still feel like he had time to shoot that puck down the ice. They were just too cute with it overall, and they both screwed up. And then the puck was in the back of the net with less than a minute to go. Boom, game's over. You can't play patty cake with a puck like that when you are on the penalty kill. Just shoot that thing down the ice and secure a point. Yeah, that's the biggest thing for me is that, you know, everybody who wants to be anti-Latang found their red meat on that goal because they and that's not

to say he didn't screw up he absolutely screwed up it was bad in that game but he's also a great player and great players had bad games yeah and in that goal was a terrible blunder by him but it was more of the same from Ryan Graves there was a very simple play to be made and he just didn't make it now if there would have been less pressure I don't mind the the idea of lugging the puck a little bit and killing more clock to get you to overtime. But there wasn't, and there was pressure. If you're in that situation, and I know you get on, it goes for every NHL defenseman all the way up to the top at the best, all the way down to the bottom to the worst, that you get

put under pressure. You sometimes will make a bad decision. But we have seen this consistently all season from Ryan Graves. He doesn't make the right decision with the puck. He does questionable things with his positioning. And this was all that wrapped up in. one simple play. I know he had a guy in his face, but if nothing else, fire it out. If it hits him with it, he's going to have to adapt to that and it's going to give your guys

time to recover. Or you miss them and you clear the puck and we're talking about going to overtime. And he just did neither of those things. He made a low percentage pass to Chris Letang, which puts Chris Latang right in the same situation Ryan Graves was in, where he's under pressure and unable to clear it. Now, Le Tang could have done a better job of clearing it. I absolutely agree, but again, it was Tweedledee and Tweedledum making a bad decision once again. Just not good enough back there. And you got to have a better sense of urgency when you're in the final minute of a game that you already have blown in regulation. And you have to try to find a way to secure a point and then get the second point in overtime or a shootout, whatever happens in the extra session.

And they were just so, again, cute with the puck. And you can't do that in that situation overall. Yeah, I maybe would like a save from Tristan Jari there a little bit. I don't think he played particularly his best game in that one, at least in the end of the third period, the second half of the third period, I should say, excuse me, I thought he was playing well through the first 50 minutes, but I feel like I wanted him to make a big save on any of those three goals

to at least help bail the team out for how they are playing in the final 10 minutes. I don't think that's too unreasonable for me to ask, considering the level that he's played out most of the season. Oh, yeah. And again, it's another issue of both can be true. You know, he played very well through the first 50 minutes of the game. He was right there with everybody else and playing a very strong game. And then in the last 10 minutes, top to bottom, everybody collapsed. But you can also say, hey, that's a moment when your $5 million starting goalie should make you a save to bail you out. And then you look at this road trip as a whole.

You know, we're going to get into the Edmonton game here in the next segment in a little bit, but we talked about it Friday. The Seattle game, I know everybody wants to get mad at getting shut out, but again, that's a goaltender who has a history of playing well recently in the national hockey league. That happens. That is part of the NHL. It's going to happen. Sunday night, you're playing a legitimate Stanley Cup contender, a team that I would say is in the top three Stanley Cup contenders right now in the Edmonton Oilers. And then Saturday is the worst loss because you looked poised to bounce back from, you got to tip your cap, things happen lost.

And then within 10 minutes, you negate everything that you did through the first 50 minutes to not even get a point out of it. If they would have gotten a point and lost in overtime, I could forgive them. I really could because sometimes teams push back and then if you make the, if you at least make good to get yourself a point, hey, right now, Now we're at a time, not so much anymore, and we're going to talk about that later, where all points are precious, get everyone you can. But they just completely collapsed and conceded the game, which then leads into Sunday against the Oilers where they didn't have a popsicles chance in him.

And you know what they wasted in that game against Calgary? Goals from A, Jonathan Gruden, congratulations on his first NHL goal, by the way. B, Lars Eller, who has been one of the better debt pieces this year, and C, your man, big Jeff Carter. All three goals scored by players in the bottom six, and they wasted that game away because they couldn't finish a fragile flames team off in the final 10 minutes because that flames team is also really fragile.

They really have not been that good this season. Yeah, they had won four in a row coming into it, but they had been just like the penguins, pretty inconsistent, and they've also been a fragile team. And the fact that the penguins were able to let them get back into it and then win that came in regulation, and that's a game that non-play-all teams find a way to lose, and that's exactly what happened in this one.

But that will do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, Pat and I are going to do our best to recap this blowout loss against the end to others, but I'm sure it's going to turn into a discussion about what's going to happen this upcoming week and for potentially the offseason just because of how awful the showing that was for the penguins. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about Fandul.

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All right, we're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Honour Hodes. joined by my coast, Patrick Dam. So the Penguins get obliterated by the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday night, and they have gotten obliterated by this team four to five times in row at this point. The Oilers have owned them for the past two, two and a half seasons. And you can tell, honestly, right away, but the Penguins just didn't have it in this game, the first five to six minutes.

They were getting blown off the ice. And then it's funny, they get a pretty decent scoring chance at Edminton's end, but then what happens? On the Rush the other way, Connor McDavid leaves the charge. charge and nine out of ten times the puck is going to be in the back of the net. Sure enough, that happens. And the boat racing starts. And the Penguins lose six to one in a game that they really had no chance of winning from the opening

puck drop. I think everyone on social media, discord, wherever you wanted to look, was saying that this game was going to be a loss. I was not confident at all heading into this one. And they got blown out by a team that is a true contender for the Stanley Cup. I'm going to push back a little bit on Pat. I don't think they're one of the three Stanley Cup contenders. but I do think they're in that conversation, to say the least.

This is a very good Oilers team. And, you know, when you're giving up goals to guys like, you know, Corey Perry, who used to be a very, very good player, he's still serviceable now, but he's not nearly as good as used to be. But when you're giving up, you know, goals to him, Cody, C.C., of all people, that's not your night, to say the least. And this has made Caldubis's decision fairly easy to start the day on Monday. I mean, here's the thing.

There's two things I want to say about this game pertaining to the Penguins. One, my God, was I sad watching that game last night. Just because all it made me think of was the 2016 and 2017 Pittsburgh Penguins. Because the Edmonton Oilers are doing exactly what the Penguins did during that two-year window. They are fast. They have two of the best players in the world. they have a solid supporting cast they play a relentless system that gives you absolutely nothing and it was just like watching the past but for another team and then the other thing this made me think of is

why i'm starting to warm a lot more towards maybe it's time to move on from mike sullen because everybody and their mother wanted to crush Eric Carlson for the first goal against because he pinched, it leads to an odd man rush in the Edmonton Oilers score. But this is what the Penguin's system is and continues to be. They continue to tell the defense to pinch. They continue to tell the back end to put pressure up. This team's not equipped to do that anymore. Now maybe in the off-season, Kyle Dubus is going to make some moves to bring some youth and bring some speed back to the roster and it turns out to work. But this current iteration of the Pittsburgh Penguins is not equipped to do that, especially not against the Edmonton Oilers. The Edmonton Oilers

are a blazingly fast team. I talked about it on the show Friday. What makes Connor McDavid so great is that he does everything at top speed. He never slows down. The rest of the roster, yeah, they may have to slow down a little bit, but they're playing at a million miles an hour. They are pushing the pace to quote Mike Sullivan. They are dictating the terms to quote Mike Sullivan. That's not the Penguins anymore. It just isn't. I know that sucks to say. I know what hurts to say, but you have to adapt. You have to change to the roster that you have. And I love Mike Sullivan's system. I do. I think every team should build a team to play that kind of hockey and play that kind of hockey. And this game would become instantly the best sport on

the planet because it would be played at a million miles an hour with a focus on smothering offense and smothering defense. And it would be entertaining night in and night out. Problem is there aren't enough players in the National Hockey League to build 32 teams, soon to be probably 33 and 34 teams that can play that kind of hockey. There just isn't. So you watch that game last night and the penguins have to adapt their style. They have to play. play a more conservative game. They have to keep their defense back. They have to keep the third man high because this team in the Edmonton Oilers and a handful of others that they're going to see over the next month will absolutely crush you in transition. And if you get caught with one

defenseman below the top of the circle, they are going to take advantage of that and you're going to leave Tristan Jari, Alex Nadelcovic, whomever else might be in the net once the trade deadline passes, completely out to dry. So that was a game that really warmed me to maybe it's time for a new coach. And there was another sequence later on in that game. P.O. Joseph had a very similar pinch pat. He pinched way too aggressively. It leads to another odd man rush. And boom, the puck is in the back in the net. Alex Delcovic has no shot of stopping that puck. You can't pinch that aggressively in that situation. And Mike Sullivan has not been able to adapt his system to the past two teams that he's had.

And yeah, I understand you look at the rosters for these past two teams. They haven't been close to the greatest that he's had throughout his tenure with the Penguins. I totally understand that. Management is also at fault for this. But he still hasn't been able to adapt. And that is what I think is also killing him right now. But to go off your point about Mike Sullivan a little bit more, I again saw a team that

it looked like quit on him last night. It looks like Mike Sullivan is out of answers. it looks like to me the players are stopping listening to him overall whether it's before games intermissions after games at practice that's what it looks like to me when i've been watching this team for the past several weeks especially in that game against the oilers it just looks like his message has gone stale it's not getting across anymore and i feel like at this point even though he has that extension that hasn't even kicked in yet i feel like you have no choice but to move on and give him a fresh start with another organization and you can bring in a new

coach that can bring in a little bit of a new system that can inject some life into this team because it hasn't been working out for the past couple of seasons especially not this season it's the last switch you haven't turned on yet i would say for this and it's one that i think they're going to have to again turn on if they want to contend for next season i just don't think they should bring him back at this point for next season whether they do or don't, that's Fenway ownership group's call. That's Kyle Dubus's call. But in my opinion, I don't see a way how he comes back this year,

especially after how this road trip ended and how this season has gone as a whole. Because you're looking at two straight seasons of missing the playoffs. No playoff series wins since 2018. What coach survives that in the NHL? It's tough. And I will give Mike Sullivan this for last night. there ain't a team in the world that's going to win that game last night. There just isn't.

You have a collapse. And again, that's not, I want to make sure this is very clear. I'm not absolving him. I'm not making excuses for him. What if you show up in that game? Show up and show some fight. Show some heart. Right.

Damn you, Hunter. Always making my points right before I'm about to make them. But like, again, like you have that absolutely monumental collapse against the flames. even if you tell yourself mentally, it's in the past, I'm going to do better, it's in the past, I'm going to move forward. We've got another game tonight. That's in the back of your mind for all game long, that you just had that collapse. And there's not a team or a coach or a player in the world that realistically is moving on from that.

But it's also just a culmination of a lot of things. This team has not been consistent all year. this team has not made necessary adjustments, meaning the coach has not made necessary adjustments to adapt to the roster he has. And it's just, they're in a unique position right now. And we're going to get into the week ahead, which means the deadline in the next segment. But they have a unique opportunity in front of them to where they have four extremely talented players that are locked up for the foreseeable future.

and you're going to have cap room and you can get some assets over the next week. This ship can be righted for the next two years, but a lot of decisions are going to have to be made and they're going to have to be the right ones. You're going to have to get everything right, whether it's this week or whether it's when the offseason starts May and April, just because at this point there's really no shot that this team is going on a late season run with only all over 20 games left in the season.

But I've seen so many takes about, oh, the demise of the Penguins and everyone's enjoying this. And I get it. You know, this team's been on top for so many years. But the demise of this team is twofold. The coaching, I think, again, the message has gone stale. They're not listening to it anymore. And B, the last couple of management groups

have built really bad teams around the core. and they've made really bad decisions player personnel-wise. And this even goes back to not even the Hextall era pat. Late JMJR, he made some baffling decisions at times. Yeah, he also made some, I would say, good decisions toward the late stages of his tenure. But he also made quite a few really bad decisions. And that carried over into the Hextall regime where he continued to bungle this team. And then Kao Duba was during the all season when I gave him a C on July 1,

he bungled this team a little bit more, changed out quite a few players. and while a good chunk of them went out in the Eric Carlson deal, which I really loved, he brought in a few other players who just haven't been able to get the job done. And now with a lot of the moves that he's made over the all season, they now had a worst team this year compared to where you looked last year. I didn't see that coming at all. I mean, I'm just as stunned as you are. I'm as stunned as every fan of this team that's out there,

everyone that I think covers this team as well. And I know it's been a bit disappointing this season. I would say very disappointing. to be honest. But I also will say this to you all. Just remember all of the great times this franchise has given you over the last, what, 17, 18 years now. And I think every NHL franchise maybe outside of Chicago would trade for that success, to be honest. So I know this organization is down bad right now, but it has the opportunity to get back to at least potentially being a playoff team if they make the right moves this week and make. the right moves in this upcoming off season.

And speaking about that, Pat and I are going to discuss what the Penguins should do this week, who should stay, who should leave coming up to end the show. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about game time. Should not have to worry when you're buying tickets to your next big event. Game time is the fast as an easiest way to buy tickets for all the sports, music, comedy, and theater events near you. With killer last minute deals, all in prices, juice from receipt, and their price price guarantee, game time takes the guesswork out of buying tickets.

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Download game time today. last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, join on my host, Patrick Dam. So we all know what's coming this week when it comes to Kyle Dubus. This team is going to sell. It's the only right decision to make at this point. We figure that Jake Gensel is going to be on the move.

I've made my thoughts perfectly clear about that numerous times on the show, but it looks like he's going to get moved. They just have to get a good package back for him at this point. outside of Gensel, though, we've had this discussion a little bit on the show. If I am Kyle Dubas Pat, I am looking to move Lars Eller, Alex Medelcovich. I am also looking to move Riley Smith, and I'm potentially looking to move maybe Solmicraqar Raquel, if you can get out of that contract. Those are the ones that really jump out at me overall outside of Jake Gensel.

I mean, you know, you can maybe put Chad Ruehdle in there. If you want to, you can throw. P.O. Joseph in there if you want to. But those are the players that I'm really looking at for this week that I think Kyle Dubus could move. I mean, Ryan Graves in a perfect world, you get out of that contract somehow. Maybe you have to eat a little bit of his cap hit. But I would still look to get out of that one. But those are the players that really come to mind for me in terms of who Kyle Dubis should look to move on for this week. I think it's a little unlikely that Jari gets moved. I would say the same for Marcus Pedersen. Also, I would not try.

trade Marcus Pedersen to say the least. But the players that I mentioned, those are the ones that I would look to, for the most part, move this upcoming week. Did I miss anyone in that one? Not that I can really think of. I mean, my thing is at this point, I've been saying it all season, well, last couple months, not all season, all season. I was hoping this team would go on a run. But this has to be a stockpiling trade deadline where you are just getting everything and anything that you can so you have as much ammo as possible this off season to really start making some moves. And I think salary retention is going to be Kyle Dubus's biggest weapon. If you can retain some salary on Jake Gensel,

I know I said on the show before that he's not making that much, but if you can get a little bit more out of a team by holding on to some salary for Jake Gensel, you do it. If you can hold on to a little bit of salary for Lars Eller, same deal. You do it. And the biggest thing is, you have to make it clear that you're open for business. You have to make sure other teams know that, listen, we're punting on this year. We still don't think we're done.

We still think we've got a shot because they do. Like the thing that I will push back a little bit because you started saying at the end of the last segment, like, oh, be happy for everything that this franchise has done for you over the past two decades and all that stuff. I'm not ready to write the burial yet. Now, this team is walking a very fine line because this could be it. This very well could be over. But Fowal Dubus makes some savvy moves in the next week in the next few days to get rid of some guys like Jay Gensel, to get rid of Riley Smith, to get rid of Lars Eller.

And I do think a dark horse name is Chad Rue Aedle because he has played very well as a bottom pairing defenseman this season. And one thing that every single NHLGM wants at the deadline is defense. They're always going to try to bolster their defense because there are always injuries in the Stanley Cup playoffs. And having an extra defenseman who is rock solid positionally and is very good on the defensive side of the park, it's worth its weight in gold. Now, does that mean I think they're going to get some gigantic return for him? No, but when every team that is trying to win the Stanley Cup wants defense, you have to play that to your advantage if you're Kyle Dubas. And here's the thing.

They said that they want, according to Elliott Friedman, they want prospects, not picks for Jake Gensel. There are a handful of teams atop the standings right now that actually do have pretty good prospect polls. Carolina comes to mind, and I know a lot of people, don't want to trade in division, but they have a deep prospect pull. And they're not exactly a franchise that loves spending money. So there's a very real chance.

They take him as a rental and give up some prospects and he doesn't resign there. So if you can get a couple of good prospects that can help you in the next year or two from Carolina, you take that call all day. Carolina just tried to trade for Ilius Pedersen from the Vancouver Canucks. they're trying to go all in this upcoming season, which, or this actual season, I should say, excuse me, I don't know why I said this upcoming season. Pauldeys on that.

But with the fact that they just tried to trade for Pedersen, they should be at least trying to see what they can do for Gensel, and you're right. They have the prospect pool to get this done. A team like the Oilers, however, they do not. I do not want Gensel going to Oilers because the Oilers have nothing to offer in return. Same for the Vegas going nights.

I keep seeing these takes online about Vegas' prospect pool. Newsflash people, it's not that good. This isn't the same prospect pool that they had a few years ago. It's not even close to that anymore. You want to trade Jake Gensel? I'm looking at Carolina. I'm looking at Vancouver. I'm looking at maybe even Florida a little bit as well.

Those are the teams I'll be looking at for a Jake Gensel trade. Not selling like Edmonton or Vegas because their prospects are just not nearly as good as say Vancouver's or Carolinas, for example. When it comes to other players, I think Eller can fetch you a pretty decent asset back, maybe a second of prospect, or maybe just a pretty solid prospect coming back. I don't think it's going to be anything more than that.

I don't think it's going to be like three pieces coming back for Lars Heller, for God's sake. But if you can get one to two pretty decent assets coming back, that's good for someone like Eller, who is double-digit goals this season. Ricard Raquel, that's a bit tricky. I think you're probably looking at a piece. computer hockey trade for someone like Raquel.

Nadelcovic, I would say it's similar to Eller, Pat. It's maybe a pick in a prospect or just a prospect or even just a pick coming back for Nadelcovich. And then for Ryan Graves, I mean, that's probably a quote unquote hockey trade as while you're eating some of that cap hit a little bit too. I'm not really sure how much you're even going to be getting back in that type of deal. But what you will be getting back in that deal, honestly, is just getting out from not

having him on your team anymore, to be honest. to Chabar-R-Weedle, you'll probably get a mid-round pick for him back, something like that. And then the scene for P.O. Joseph, I think outside of that pinch and the Edmonton game, I think he's been playing pretty decently ever since he got back in the lineup. And I think at this point, you could probably entice a team to give up maybe a mid-round pick or something for him, just because I don't see him in this team's long-term plans overall. As for Lars Eller, I mean, we're talking about a centerman with double-digit goals. And a lot of teams need scoring and they need depth centers.

and that's something that the penguins can dangle out there. Hey, this guy's got, I think it's 13 goals on the season. Let me confirm that real quick. 12 goals. And he can be your fourth line center. If you have a fourth line center who's been able to score 12 goals this season, that's a pretty good asset to bring on. And this might be a little bit of a galaxy brain overthinking it take here.

But if I'm Kyle Dubus, you know who I'm calling about Ryan Graves? New Jersey. because their defense has been very suspect this year. Their defense has struggled. Yes, their glaring weakness is goaltending. If they had a goal, like I was watching them play the Kings yesterday. And my only thought was, man, if the power play sunk the penguin season, goaltending has sunk the devil's season.

I have another thing for how, or what has sunk the devil season coaching. Lindy Robb should be out of there. But I watched that game. And I think, I think L.A. had like four goals on four. 14 shots. And all I could think was, man, if they had a goalie, they'd be a good team. But their defense has been suspect. And Ryan Graves fit in with them very well. And maybe there's a world where they take them back. Now, at the same time, they may look at that contract and his performance this season and say, no, thank you. That's your boat anchor to hold on to. But I think

there might be a world there where they can work something out with Ryan Graves. And then outside of that, like I said, Chad Ruehle, that can get you something for a depth defenseman. I think a fresh start for P.O. Joseph would be very welcomed because he has looked better, but he's never been able to put together more than a handful of games where he looks good here. So there's, there is potential there for him. At the same time, you look at this team and you think, okay, just get back as many assets as you can, picks, prospects, even roster players that you don't want to hold on to. And then this summer at the draft, right before free agency, go to work and facelift this team. Right. Because again, I'll say it.

for the 1,000th time on this show. I think next year is their last big year of this era and their last opportunity to go all in for another potential playoff run. And overall, when I look at this week, the players that are untouchable for me are as follows. Cindy Crosby, Evgeny Malkin, Crystal Tang, Eric Carlson, and Marcus Pedersen.

everyone else is fair game I will listen on any other player on this team including Brian Russ I know I believe it was Elliot Freeman that said on 32 thoughts this morning that they went to Russ and said you know we're not even going to ask you to waive your new move clause like we value you and all this stuff

I get that but I also do think Brian Russ could probably fetch you quite a decent haul back again that's just me speaking I know they're not going to move him that's their call but outside of those players that I just mentioned everyone else on this team, I would at least take a call on or listen to. I agree.

I think as it relates to Pedersen, I've said it before. If you get a very good offer, you have to listen. If you're going to get something back that is really going to aid you in the next two years, like immediately and seriously aid you, you probably take the call. As for Brian Rust, I agree with the decision to hold on to him. Now, there's a very real world he could fall off cliff because we've seen this season, has been the worst case scenario. Literally everybody except for Eric Carlson and Lars Eller that Kyle Dubus brought in completely

tanked, which sucks. But at the same time, he still has foot speed. You can play him up and down your lineup. He's got a scoring touch. That's just a versatile player that if you're going to win, I don't want to say the Stanley Cup, because we got to start smaller than that, if you want to get back to the playoffs and win around, that's a guy who helps you win around. So you have to keep him unless, again, similar to Marcus Pedersen,

somebody calls you with an offer you can't refuse. It's funny. Your stance on Pedersen is a stance I think I would have on Rust. I would prefer to keep him, but I would still listen on him to see if a team would really pay out the wazoo to try and get him. For Pedersen, though, I'm not really listening at all. I know he only has a year left on his contract. I'm looking to extend him.

Real quick. Real quick, and I just thought of this. You know who we didn't bring up in the Gensel ideas? Detroit. Yeah, that makes sense. They have a very solid prospect pool. Stevie Y is general managing like a guy who was told it's time to make the playoffs. And they are a playoff team.

That is a good hockey team. They'll make it this year. And they have some assets that they could really send back Pittsburgh's way that would help them both in the immediate and the long term. So if I'm Kyle Dubas, I'm calling Stevie Y today and saying, hey, You want Jake Gensel? Let's make it work. Yeah, they have some pretty solid prospects in their system as well. So I definitely hear you on that. But overall, this should be a very fun week, my friend.

And just to end the show on the right note, whenever a trade is made for this team, Pat and I will have a small emergency episode for the podcast and then we'll have a full episode the next day, breaking everything down. So once a trade is made, we will come on here for probably about maybe 5, 10, 12,000, 15 minutes, just recap it a little bit, give our immediate thoughts, and then we'll have a full

breakdown and analysis of that trade the next day. That is going to be our plan for this weekend. We're potentially thinking about going live at 3 p.m. Eastern on Friday for a trade deadline special on the YouTube channel. We'll have to see if we can make that happy. But that's our thinking right now, to say the least. But this should be a lot of fun. In a way, I'm kind of looking forward to this. This is something that I have not really experienced in my lifetime as someone who's followed this team for 20 years, I haven't really experienced them full on selling at a trade deadline very often.

So I'm kind of looking forward to this in a way, even though I know this team is not going to be making the playoffs this year. But I think that would do it for this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this one. Pat and I will be back with another show for you all on Tuesday to get you all set for Penn's jackets. Plus, recap any trade that is made potentially on Monday, knowing us, we'll have this episode posted and Kyle Duvus will make a trade just because that's just how things work in this industry. But again, thank you all so much for tuning in.

We'll talk with you all on Tuesday.