Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Marc-Andre Fleury RETURNS to the Pittsburgh Penguins!
Episode Date: September 12, 2025Marc-Andre Fleury is coming back to the Pittsburgh Penguins for one final game! Patrick and Hunter begin the show discussing the biggest news of the week for the Penguins, and that is legendary goalte...nder Marc-Andre Fleury has signed a professional tryout contract with the team, but it's more of a two-day deal. The Penguins' 2003 first-overall pick and three-time champion will practice with the team during a training camp session and then appear in the September 27 preseason game, finishing his career where it all began. Speaking of training camp, the Penguins officially announced training camp dates, and it begins next week. The Penguins will play seven preseason games, and while normally that would be too many, with a new coaching staff, it could be a blessing in disguise. Finally, it's Fan Take Friday, and the guys respond to takes and questions about Erik Karlsson, Marc-Andre Fleury's return, and the latest Crosby rumors. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnhl for 50% off your first year.FanDuelDownload the FanDuel app now by visiting FanDuel.com and win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins.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.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Training camp is just around the corner, and ahead of that,
Kyle Dubus signed a pretty interesting player to a professional tryout.
Hunter and I are going to talk about that and more on this edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.
Your Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on
podcast network, your team every day.
Welcome in to the Friday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.
I'm one of your host Patrick Damp.
You can follow me across all social media platforms at Synonym 4Wet.
Joined as always by the one and only Hunter Hodes.
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I said it at the top, Hunter.
We now officially have a Penguins training camp schedule, and we will get to that later in the show.
Before we do that, though, Kyle Dubus makes a pretty significant,
transaction on Friday morning, signing 40-year-old goaltender Mark Andre Fleury to a professional
tryout contract in Hunter. Do we think he has a chance to make the team this year? Pat, first off,
can we play Mama on Coming Home by the legendary Ozzy Osbourne? Please, amazing song, but that is
exactly what this is. Mark Andre Fleury is coming home to Pittsburgh on a
two-day contract. That's basically what this is, Pat. It's on a one-day contract, as we were speculating on
Thursday when the Penguins and Florey's long-time agent Alan Walsh were just posting cryptic tweets
throughout the day. It is going to be a two-day contract, aka a professional trial. He's going to
practice with the team on September 26th, and then he is going to suit up one last time for the Penguins
on September 27. Hey, Pat, maybe if he plays well in that game, they can try to sign him to a one-year contract
and he can try to outplay Tristan Jari during the season.
We're just messing around.
That's not going to happen.
He's going to suit up one more time.
And he'll get to ride off into the sunset and officially retire as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins,
as it should be, man.
He spent 13 years with this team.
He bleeds black and gold.
He never wanted to leave.
It only makes sense for him to return, even though it's not going to be a regular season game.
He's going to get quite an ovation for the Penguins Faithful.
that is going to be the biggest preseason crowd I think I've ever seen at PBG Paints
Arena. It would not be surprised if by the time you finish listening to this, that that game
will be sold out. The tickets are probably already skyrocketing as it is right now.
But he is going to get quite an ovation. He's probably going to be very emotional after that
game, even though it's a preseason game. But this is such a great move by the Penguins.
Like Pat, we speculated, oh, you know, one-day contract.
this beats that by a thousand two day thing he gets to practice in front of the fans in cranberry during camp
and he gets to play and he gets to retire member of the penguins come on man beautiful stuff by the
by the franchise there's there's no critique of this it's absolutely perfect the way they're doing this
because like you said we speculated on the show yesterday that it was going to be a symbolic
one day deal he signs right before the start of the regular season
and then his last day is opening night or whatever,
and he finishes his career as a penguin.
But this is such a unique thing that they're doing,
having him practice with the team at training camp,
and then having him get into game action against the Blue Jackets
in the preseason on September 27th.
And here's the thing, joking aside,
he's not actually going to play.
We said it on the show before.
he has said emphatically that he's done.
There's not going to be an itching to come back or anything like that.
This is him just coming full circle, finishing his career where it began with the team he
was with the longest, the team that he won three championships with in a city that he
has completely endeared himself to and become part of the fabric of the organization.
I want to talk about that real quick, though, because this is going to sound like I'm trying to relitigate and bring back up the Flurry versus Murray debate, which is not what I'm trying to do.
But if you read Josh Yohei today, he did a little piece on this in the athletic.
It was not much more than what the Penguins put out in their press release about Mark Andre Fleury.
but he did throw a little nugget in there that I think a lot of people have forgotten about
when it comes to the end of his time with the penguins.
In the 16-17 season, it was pretty apparent that the team was going to stick with Matt
Murray and move on from Mark Andre Fleury.
And Jim Rutherford approached him and said, listen, we're going to stick with Matt Murray.
He's going to be our guy.
unfortunately just because of the salary cap, his age.
He had just come off a unbelievable playoff Stanley Cup winning performance.
So it made sense.
And he approached Flurie and basically said,
I will send you anywhere you want to go.
If I have to trade you for a used puck bag,
I will send you there and make it work.
Flurry says, no, I'm sticking around.
I am going to finish out this year.
I'm going to play in the playoffs or at least be part of the team in the playoffs, win another
cup, and then I want to go to Vegas and be the center piece of their team.
So as much as it broke our hearts to lose Mark Andre Fleury, that right there tells you that,
sure, he may not have wanted to leave, but he understood the value he had to the franchise,
the value he had to the city, and how much he loved it here, and was willing to.
willing to make sure the penguins had a legitimate second option in net.
If anything happened to Matt Murray, and sure enough, the first two rounds of the playoffs,
they needed Matt Murray and all the respect to Mr. Game 1, Jeff Zatkoff.
Penguins would have been stuck with someone like Zatkoff in the first and second round.
They probably don't win the Stanley Cup in 2017.
I mean, yeah, thank God they had him in 2017.
I mean, they don't win either of those two theories against Columbus or Washington,
and especially Washington without Flurry,
I will still to this day say,
I mean, Washington that felt like outplayed them for a good chunk of that series,
the penguins just got,
A, really good finishing, and B, elite,
and I mean elite goaltending for Mark Andre Fleury in that series.
And yeah, I know, it was kind of like a, you know,
a hurrah kind of, you know, his last dance with the penguins.
And then he was able to go to Vegas, play really well there, you know,
goes to Chicago, goes to Minnesota, all that good stuff.
But, you know, he, he,
did right by the Penguins, but the Penguins also treated him like royalty, which he deserves
because he was really, you know, when it was the big four pat, he was the first one.
Then you had the rest of the big three, Crosby, Malk, and Al-Latang come in.
And, you know, this is something that Penguins fans have been clamoring for ever since he left.
Like, it would be awesome if we got to see him retire as a member of the Penguins.
Well, the Penguins organization listened.
And, you know, you saw Kyle Dubas's statement, you know, he's doing right by Fleury.
and you're going to see a lot of signs at this game.
Again, it's going to be very emotional.
I think you're probably going to see Flurry cry a little bit.
I mean, you remember when he first came back the first time with Vegas?
I mean, they had that beautiful tribute, and I saw fans in the stands crying.
I saw he was even crying while watching it.
I think he's going to be in tears here as well when he sees the outpouring of love and support
for Penguins fans, even though it's a preseason game at the arena.
So job well done by the Penguins, and I'm really looking forward to this.
It's going to be an absolute.
beautiful moment. And I'm really looking forward to this. It's definitely the most I've ever
looked forward to a preseason game for the Pittsburgh Penguins simply to see number 29,
Mark Andre Fleury, finish his career where it all began by practicing with the team and then
playing in a preseason game. Speaking of that, we now know when said training camp will take
place. The Penguins released their 2025 training camp schedule. Hunter and I will discuss that
when we get back right after this. Before we do that, though, we've got to tell you about today's
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Back here on the Friday edition of the Locked on Penguins podcast, I'm Patrick Damp right alongside Hunter Hodes.
And you can just feel it, Hunter.
I'd say the weather's getting a little bit cooler, even though it has been for the last week.
But we're getting a little bit of a tick up in temperatures, but this isn't a meteorology podcast.
It's a hockey podcast.
But we're getting to that time of the year when the days are a little bit shorter.
The mornings are a little bit crisper.
And that means hockey is on the horizon.
Today, the penguins announced they will take the ice for the first time in training camp on Thursday.
September 18th at the Lemieux Complex in Cranberry.
They are going to be pretty busy in this training camp because we will save all the narratives,
all the expectations and breakdowns for a later date when we get closer to it.
But the penguins begin their training camp September 18th.
Their first group is on the ice.
Group A at 845 a.m.
Then group B follows at 1130 a.m.
and then group C at 2 p.m.
This is essentially how the camp is going to start three straight days of on-ice sessions,
workouts, practices, you name it.
September 21st, they have a off day where they will recover.
It's going to be off-ice workouts.
The public is not going to be part of that.
Then it all gets going at the Bell Center on September 22nd.
They will have their first preseason game at.
the Bell Center against the Habs.
So Hunter, this is a big training camp for the penguins.
We know they want to go young.
We know that they've got plenty of new faces,
but this is a pretty big camp with a new coach, new faces.
It's going to be a lot to watch.
First off, at least for me,
I actually have to be an adult and wake up at a normal time
instead of just waking up at 9.30 or 10 o'clock during some of my weekdays.
That's okay.
I'll wake up at 730, 745.
I'll switch my sleep schedule around.
I'm going to be at basically all those training camp practices,
especially those first three,
even though the first group goes on at 845.
I'll be there for basically all of those.
So if you're ever there, you see me, come and say hello.
I'll chat with you and all that good stuff.
But yeah, first three days, that starts at 845.
You obviously have that off day, which is nice because I believe the steward's also
play that day on the 21st.
So nice of the penguins too.
kind of accommodate all the Yinser Steelers fans who are all going to be trying to watch the Steelers
that day. But as for a camp as a whole, it's going to be competitive. Like last year's camp was also
pretty competitive. I think this year's camp is going to be even more competitive. You have some of these
younger players pushing for full-time spots in the NHL against veterans who have been there for a while.
Like players like Noah Chari, Kevin Hayes, Dayton, Hyatt, and I don't think anything is going to be
a guarantee for those players. I think, you know, some of those guys, you know, some of those guys,
could be on the outside looking in if some of these younger pieces really push again you know rucker
mcgrorty vile equivalent and tristan bros is going to push philip hollander and then on the left side
we've talked about a lot owen pickering he's going to be pushing a lot for a spot as well so again
this is going to be a pretty competitive camp in terms of you know young some of these younger players
trying to break through get some of these roster spots for opening night the backup goalie position
we talked about ad nauseum to archer she loves versus joe obloquist who will win there i've
given my take about I think she loves has the inside track but that's why you have the camp that's
why you have preseason and all that I will say again don't expect to see all the regulars in the preseason
games like obviously you'll see the big three play when flurry is there like if you don't do that
what's the point of signing him to a two-day contract here for a professional trial they'll play
probably a game or two like they'll have like a couple dress rehearsals pat like the main squad
but a lot of the preseason games it's going to be to see a lot of these younger
players that are trying to push for NHL jobs where some of these other younger players who may not
be there yet, but they want to see them get into some game action.
So the preseason is too long to begin with, but I do like watching those games for
individual performances just to see how a lot of these younger pieces do.
Like I already know how a lot of these other veteran players play, but seeing some of these
younger pieces play, that's what I'm excited about.
But camp goes from September 18th, excuse me, until October 1st, and then opening night
right after that six days after.
So also by the way, all practices free and open to the public at any cranberry.
Yes.
Well, I'm glad you brought this up because normally and we'll get more into our expectations
exactly what we're watching for and all that at a later date next week when we get ready
for camp to open.
But I'm glad that you brought up the preseason length because in most years, I would agree
with you that the.
preseason in training camp in the
NHL is way too
damn long. The Penguins are going to play
seven preseason games
this year. Most years,
I would look at that and go,
do we really need
seven preseason games?
This year, however,
I think this could be a
pretty nice little advantage for
this club, because one,
as we've said, as we've read, as we've heard,
they want to go younger.
this year. So now you're going to get more time to get a look at some of these younger guys,
some of these prospects, some of these in between guys who you don't know if they're
quite ready for the NHL or if they got to get some more seasoning in the AHL. You also
have a brand new coaching staff. And with seven games in the preseason across a pretty long
training camp, he's going to get some solid runway to put his stamp on this team.
And of course, these games are for the most part meaningless.
They don't matter.
It doesn't matter if they win, lose, tie, go to a shootout, go to overtime, whatever.
But he's going to have seven opportunities to tell this team, this is the system I am employing.
This is how I expect you to play in it.
and they're going to have plenty of film from the preseason to say,
okay, did you do this right?
Did you do this wrong?
Here's what we got to work on.
Here's what we're doing well.
So in most years,
I'd look at a seven game preseason and be like,
this is ridiculous.
Get to the regular season already.
But for a new coaching staff with a bunch of new faces,
I think this is a small advantage for the penguins.
And the prospect pool is also bigger now.
So there's more reason to watch.
I think for some of these preseason games.
Like obviously, you know, a lot of them in years prior
have been a chore to watch just because like,
for the most part,
like you knew what the roster was going to look like
because they're in win now mode.
Now, even though there's still a surplus of forwards,
nothing is going to be given, as I said,
to some of these veterans.
So I do think it gives more of a reason for more fans to watch.
And also, again, just because the prospect pool,
it's better now.
Like, is it top 10 in the league, in my opinion?
No, I think it's average to maybe a little bit above average,
but that's going, I think, get more fans to watch
because they're going to be pretty excited about some of these young pieces
that even though some may not be ready right now,
they could be ready a year or two from now.
And they also want to see how the new system looks.
Like, you're not going to fully see the new system in preseason.
Like, they're going to be hiding some things.
Like, you don't want to put all that on tape in the preseason.
That would be kind of weird.
But you're still going to potentially see some things that you may see during the regular
season. The big thing is you'll see the main system once, obviously they open the pocket
against the Rangers, but you'll still get to see, ooh, maybe there's a new little opening
wrinkle here. Maybe there's a small wrinkle here. Just a couple of things that they might,
you know, tease some fans about potentially. For sure. And no, you're right. In no world are they
going to tip their hand entirely in the preseason. But again, I keep coming back to
normally a seven game NHL preseason is just ridiculous,
but given the state of the Penguins organization right now
with a bigger prospect pool, a brand new coaching staff,
it really could be a bit of a hidden advantage for the penguins
with that much time to get them up and running,
or at the very least, more familiar with what Mews and company want to do
once we hit Madison Square Garden for game one of 80,
too. But that is going to do it for this middle segment. When we come back, it's Friday.
So you know what that means. We got to hear from you, the locked on penguins community in fan take Friday.
We will do that when we come back right after this. But we got to tell you about our second sponsor before we do that.
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Back here on the Friday edition of Locked-on Penguins, I'm Patrick Damp right alongside Hunter, Hodes, and it's Friday.
So we got to hear from the people, Hunter.
We got to hear from the locked on community as part of Fan Take Friday.
if you're new here. Every Friday, we put a call out on social media for your questions,
your hot takes, and everything in between. It's a series we're going to keep going throughout
the season because you guys are an awesome community. We love talking hockey with you guys.
So without any further ado, let's jump right into it with our first one from YouTube.
It is from Michael Gregorich. And he says, controversial take.
this team will go as far as Eric Carlson will take them.
Two things on this.
It's going to be more like two and a half, I should say.
First and foremost, if he's still here, that's the first thing.
If the penguins hold on to him, that's a big question mark.
We'll see what happens if they're able to move them before training camp or into the season.
We still don't know if there's any suitors out there or if even Dubus is still working on it.
the other thing I would say to this, and it's the two and a half part of my response,
I agree with this, but I also disagree with it in the sense that it's the correct take about
Eric Carlson, the player, but it's not the correct take on the penguin's current team.
If the penguins were a fringe contender or a solid playoff team, yes, Eric Carlson would be
the straw that stirs the drink.
Problem is, it's not a very good roster.
And Carlson could be great, and it could definitely give this team a bump,
but it's not going to put them into playoff contender status.
I think he is semi-right.
They will go as far as the big guns take them.
And I'm talking Crosby, Malkin, Latang, and Carlson.
Carlson is part of that if he stays here,
the entire season, which is no guarantee.
He's going to be here opening night at this point, Pat.
I mean, training camp starts in less than a week.
I think it would be kind of weird now if they just traded him before the season.
I just don't think that's going to happen at this rate.
I think if he gets traded, it's probably right before the deadline.
But I think he's semi-right because what have I been saying all offseason?
He is the only defenseman on this team that can carry the puck up the ice at an elite level
and also drive offense from the blue line.
He is very good in both of those areas.
He's not as good of a power play quarterback anymore.
That's why you saw Matt Griswick replace him on that last year.
But he is still very good at driving offense at five on five.
I've discussed some of the numbers a lot on the show.
Again, he was top five among all defensemen and five on five points last season.
So I think he's partly right.
If they don't get him at an elite level this year or a higher level than what we've seen in the last couple of seasons,
you're going to keep seeing more of the same, if not worse,
just because this team on paper is not very good.
But even also outside of the big guns playing,
like I will say this again,
they'll go as far as they take them,
but they also need some other things to go right as well.
The goal tend to be better.
Their special teams have to be better.
You've got to get the depth scoring.
There's a lot of things that have to go right.
So that's kind of where I stand on that.
But I don't mind the take, that's for sure.
No, it's a solid take.
I think it's just slightly off.
In concept, totally get it, totally understand it.
I just think it's a tad off.
Let's go to our next one, and this is a good one from Drake Barrett on YouTube.
Flowers should sign a contract for the whole season and send Jari to the miners.
Okay.
Everyone, get your tomatoes ready.
start getting ready to chuck them at me because I'm going to say this.
I love Mark Andre Fleury, one of my all-time favorite penguins.
He was not much better than Tristan Jari last year.
Mark Andre Fleury played 26 games and had a save percentage of 899.
Tristan Jari played 36 and had 893.
10 game difference and the other difference, Mark Andre Fleury's 40.
I love flour and I would love it if there was some kind of renaissance, but it wouldn't really be an upgrade this year.
It'd be fun, man, but he's retired, guys.
We're going to send him off into the sunset with one more preseason game.
That'll be enough for as fun and as chaotic as it would be to get, you know, one more season of the big four with Flirty and Crosy Malkin and Latang.
It's just not going to happen.
And, you know, I only see Jari going to the minors if he,
really and I mean really struggles again but hey that is a distinct possibility just considering what we saw last year and then at that point you could have a tandem of she loves and blumquist or something like that but we'll have to see and then pat the final one this comes from penn 68 says guys i'm going to say this i don't care what comments were made last this past week by pat person until you're something from sending crosbie himself i am not buying into any of this and that's a totally fair take to have crosbie kind of danced around this to media i was listening to 32 thoughts in the interview i mean he even said multiple times
Matt. He's not there yet. He even said, like, I'm not at that point where I want to go to the
Penguins and say, hey, I want to be traded. Like, I don't agree with the direction that we're going.
Like, he even said he's not there. And there's no guarantee he's even going to get there.
If I had to bet right now, I don't think he's going to get there. And I still think he is going
to retire as a member of the Penguins. Do I think Brassan is trying to put some pressure on
Dubus to speed this up? Sure. But, I mean, good luck convincing him of that because he wants to do what's
right for the longevity of this franchise.
He wants to bring them back to contention as it
as it'll generally as possible, but
you can't just rush it for the sake of it
and hand out bad contracts that
you are going to instantly regret.
That's exactly what you did a couple off seasons ago
and look where those contracts are now.
The Jari contract stinks. The grave's contract stinks.
No, et cetera, et cetera.
So you just, you got to walk a fine line
with all that. So those are
kind of my thoughts. I still don't
think anything is going to happen unless something
drastically changes. Yeah.
So a little peek behind the curtain here for our listeners.
Hunter and I briefly discussed and then decided not to do an entire episode on this after Brasson's comments because obviously we're in that one last little dry period before training camp starts and we need stuff to talk about.
I'm going to go with a little condensed outline of what we were potentially going to do an episode on.
here's the thing i'll start with the comments i know everyone's interpreting it as brissonne and crosbie
softening the ground for a potential trade and while that is not untrue i do think it's a little bit
more of a coded message to the penguins and it's the message isn't you have to speed this up
or trade me i think it's saying we need to see a little more progress we need to see that we need to see that
this is going in the correct direction. And we're not going to know that until the end of the year.
We're not going to know that until the end of this season. We're not going to even know that until
training camp of next year, depending upon what moves they make in free agency, who they draft and
where they finish. So that is still a long ways away. The other thing I want to get out there,
and I'll blow through this quickly, is everybody is lining up to come up with these ideas for
trades for Sidney Crosby. And the two most common places are Montreal and Colorado because of
Nate McKinnon and because of Crosby growing up a Canadians fan. The thing is, when you dive deeper
than just Nate McKinnon plays in Colorado and Crosby grew up a Habs fan, there's not a lot there
for this to work. Colorado both does not have the cap space, nor do they have.
any real prospects that Kyle Dubus would be interested in.
They're also very devoid of draft picks over the next two years.
So there's really nothing there for Colorado to offer either in their system or even off
the roster for the penguins.
And then for Montreal, their biggest weakness in a pretty strong prospect pool is
it center.
They don't have any good young stud centers to send back because they're already
on the roster and you're not going to give those up because you want them to play with
Sidney Crosby.
So I look at this and I think it's fun.
It's fun to play GM and come up with big blockbuster trades.
But those fan bases it is.
Just in general, we love doing this.
It's part of why we do this show.
But at the end of the day, I think it was more them sending a message to management of
we need to see some more progress.
We're not unhappy, but we want to get him a couple more kicks at the can before he retires.
It wasn't them saying, we're done, we hate it here, we want out.
I think it was just them saying, we want to see some progress, we want to make it so he gets a swan song.
And we're not going to know that until the end of this season and into next training camp.
So the end of the day, I'm with Penn 68.
until Sid directly says it or Brasson directly says it,
I'm not losing sleep over it.
But Hunter has to get to watching this Prospects tournament,
which speaking of,
when we are back next week on Monday,
we're going to drop our episode a little bit later than normal on Monday
because we're going to watch all the games,
and we're going to bring you a recap of what we saw
at the Penguins Prospect Challenge.
And being of that, by the way,
Billy Coivinen just had a nasty goal to open.
in the scoring against Boston.
And this is what we want him to do.
You are probably too good to be here.
Go out there and dominate.
Nice start for him so far.
But Pat, go ahead and end this one.
There it is.
There's your quick preview for what Monday will be all about when we return.
But for now, have a great weekend.
Here we go, Steelers.
For Hunter Hodes, I'm Patrick Damp.
Thank you, as always, for tuning in.
We will be back on Monday afternoon.
