Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Marshall Thursday: Who should the Penguins pick at the draft?

Episode Date: February 27, 2025

Do not adjust your podcast platforms; it may be Thursday, but Jesse Marshall joined the show to talk all things NHL Draft and who the Penguins could realistically target this summer. Patrick and Hunter begin the show talking to Jesse about some of the most intriguing players in this year's upcoming draft and which ones would best suit the Penguins should they get the chance to pick them. After Jesse departs, Patrick and Hunter get you set for the second game in a home-and-home with the Philadelphia Flyers, this time in Pittsburgh. Finally, they close out the show with a quick look at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and the development of Rutger McGroarty. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!IndeedNow, you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 Sponsored Job Credit. Just go to Indeed.com/LOCKEDON right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply.Trade CoffeeGet 40% off your first order with Trade at drinktrade.com/lockedonnhl. Wonderful PistachiosGet snackin’ and get crackin’ with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more! FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new FanDuel customers can get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR 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.

Ladies and gentlemen, do not adjust your YouTube feeds or your podcast platforms. It is in fact a Thursday, and we are joined by the one and only Jesse Marshall. We're going to talk to Jesse about a myriad of things, including if this team is cooked and who we will like to see the Penguins get in the NHL draft. All of 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. Hello and welcome back to another edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.

I'm one of your host, Patrick Damp. You can follow me across all social media platforms at Synonym 4 Wet. Joined as always by my co-host, the one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can give our shows Twitter a follow at L-O-U-U-Score Penguins. And of course, we appreciate you making us part of your daily routine. Don't forget that we are free and available wherever you get your podcast. as well as the Roku channel and YouTube.

Plus, if you follow us on YouTube, hit the notification button, especially since it's trade deadline season. So you'll be among the first to know when we drop any of our episodes. And of course, as I said in the intro, do not adjust your television sets, your podcast platforms, or wherever you're listening and hanging out with us because it is a Thursday,

but we are joined by the one and only Jesse Marshall. And Jesse, let's just jump right into it because it's the question everyone's asking. We might as well ask it. It's right there in the rundown. Are the penguins just cooked? Yes. Like, they're like if they're like one of the, yeah, it's well done.

It's like a tough steak at this point. I'm not sure you can call it meat. I mean, we've progressed beyond the point of meat and we've turned into like hardened leather or a hardened leather. By the way, we can't have this show without. acknowledging, you know, in the old days of dying alive, I used to call Pat one take Pat because he was so good at doing everything in one take, just did it again. Some things change. Players come and go. Eras change. Pat doesn't need two takes. Just saying,

people need to know. People need to know this. All right. So Jesse, since that was just a very simple answer. And we all know that a lot of people who follow your work know you are all about drafting prospects the whole nine yards so hunter and i later on in the show we'll talk about the present we'll get you set for the flyers game tonight and anything else that's been going on in penguin lands so let's jump into this with jesse now since this team is looking like it's more than likely barreling towards another year without the postseason you're looking at this upcoming draft who do you like and we'll do it this way who is your ideal pie in the sky if they can get them, you would love to get them.

And who is your realistic, this is somebody who is in their range that they could get out of this upcoming draft in the first round. Yeah, I mean, let's assume for the sake of the conversation today that they just sort of continue to lose on a pace that's similar to what, like, we've experienced. I mean, like, you know, people, I think one mistake, if you play, if you have an NHL franchise that you play, like on your Xbox or PS5 or PC or whatever, and you try to win the lottery, you know how hard it is to do it. It's really, it's really hard to win the lottery, right? If you're the worst team, right? If you're the worst team, you don't have the odds above everyone else to win. Like, I think that's like a misnomer that people have about how. this process works, right? Like, so the reason I bring this up is if the penguins are in the bottom

four, five, right? They've got a legit chance. Like, that's crazy to say, but they've got a legit chance to move up and, like, get, you know, like, first, second overall potentially here. So we'll talk about today as if they're not going to end up first or second overall. Because, like, the obvious answer to your questions are Matthew, Matthew Schaefer and the, the, youngest of the Mesa's, who has cracked, by the way, 100 points and 50 goals this season, which is just ridiculous. And he is, those two individually, Schaefer obviously being a defenseman, Mesa obviously being a forward. I'm not going to go out and say that they're generational.

I mean, Schaefer's borderline. I think Schaefer is the best defensive skater we've seen come in the league since Kael McCar, for sure. Um, probably throw that in with like, I put him in that bucket with, with regard to like his ability to create, right? Um, I, I think he fits the mold of the modern player who is sort of positionless, if that makes sense. Um, he's not bound by being a defenseman. He's got that Carlson sort of vibe about him. Um, everything he does is very end to end. He likes to have the puck

on his stick. He is the commander on the ice. Everything goes through him. The shot is lethal. Vision's lethal. I Q's lethal. So I put him on that like, I don't know, McCar tier, right? Like,

I think Matthew Schaefer is that good. I think Michael Mesa is really good. I don't know that he's going to jump right into the National Hockey League. I, he could. But I mean, just dynamic, man. Like,

got the hands, right? You could watch his stick handling montage for 25 minutes and you'd be enthralled. You could watch his shot montage for 25 minutes and you'd be enthralled. You could watch his four. checking montage for 25 minutes and you're being fraud. I haven't put the YouTube video of them out yet because it's like 17 minutes long.

Like I can't, I don't know like what to take out, but like it's that much. Like he does that much. He's involved in everything. And he's not the biggest guy in the world, but he plays like it. Right? He's got that Kuntit's chip on his shoulder where he wants to, you know,

inflict a little bit of punishment on you as he's going. Those two are the gold standard for me. Like, put them up on a pedestal. If you get one or two, that's who you're taking. One of those two, flop the order.

It doesn't really make a difference. If you need a defense, when you're taking Schaefer, if you need a forward, you're taking Mesa, that's really it. And if you ask me who the best player is between the two,

flip a coin, man. Like, I really don't. I don't know. That's that close. Moving down the list from that, right, is where I think you start to, where I start to view some of the more,

like, realistic possibilities for the penguins. Like, James Higgins was number one going into this season. I wouldn't say by any stretch of the imagination. he's been bad. The other two guys that I just mentioned are so much better than him, though, that they've put themselves on a level that clearly, I think, defines them as number one and number two.

I think from a forward perspective, guys, James Higgins is the best skater available outside of, you know, Schaefer is, I think the best overall, but I think Hagen's is in a second. That's really what I predicate his game on. I don't think that, I think that in terms of his peers, the offensive skills don't pop as much. That doesn't mean they're not there. I just think they're raw, maybe less refined and still developing. He's just an unbelievable skater.

He's so good. It's like watching water. He's fluid in ways that are difficult to define. His transitions, the way he moves laterally, his crossover, everything about it is he's got this light on his feet approach and is really,

really difficult to keep up with him. And the rest of his skills are so good that that creates a nightmare scenario for everybody. forwards, defensemen, it doesn't matter who. You got in his smarts, his brain. He's an excellent two-way player. He's active in all three zones. I think he's like a second line center,

I think is what you get out of James Hagan's in his future. Is it a good, reliable second-line center? I don't know that you're building an entire franchise around them right now. Also, maybe next year things change in like we see this bigger uptick and point scoring, right? I'm not concerned about Higgins. I think he's just clearly number three right now. And I think he's being nipped at on the heels by Porter Martone. Porter Martone is the player I want the Penguins to take personally, if they have a top five pick.

Moxie. That's the word. Porter Martone has moxie. He looks like a hockey player. He's got attitude, just swagger. He's a good leader. He's the kind of guy who leads by action. and word. You see him chirping all game long. Like he never shuts up. His mouth is constantly

running. And I think he does a really good job of, he's not going out there and fighting like he has. Like he fought Mesa earlier this year, which was hilarious and like sort of like their own sort of like vendetta settling, I guess. And it was a good bout. It was a good even scrap. But he doesn't, he's not going to go out and do like a Marshawn thing, right? But it's more of his mouth. I think his mouth just throws people. It's like a Shoresy thing, right? Like it's just all game you hear from him. And then when he's dangling you and like just dunking on your goalie on top of that, what do you like that's just drive, you know, those beer league guys drive you crazy. Like that's like, you know, the worst kind of player to play against.

And that's Porter Martone. Ultimately, he's very confident in his ability, very confident in his ability and willing to take chances. Maybe not, you know, he's not putting up the Mesa numbers, right? I think he's not as good of a skater as James Hagan's is. I think that in every category you could draw up, he may be like a half step behind some of the other guys. I mentioned, but they don't have that swagger, man. They just don't. They don't have the Porter Martone swagger.

And I think that's a player that, like, if we're talking about realistically crazy possibilities here, like, Jesse, what's your, you know, the Penguins, they finished fourth and draft fourth, Porter Martone, easy. That's what I was going to ask you. Yeah, I'm not going to cry about James Higgins. You know, I'm not going to be upset about that. I know a lot of people love Anton Frundel. I think he's a great player.

I like Victor Eklund more than him. I'm in the minority there for sure. I know that's not a popular. Like, I think Scott Wheeler has Frondell at 6 and Eklund at 9, so it's not a huge discrepancy, but it's big enough that, like, you know, I've been getting a lot of flack on Twitter for, I think, recently. But, yeah, that would be my, that's my long answer, right?

I think Portermark, and then there's another player I put right behind him and Caleb Des Noeer. who is a big, a big kid, 6-2-180, not as big as Porter Martone, but he plays in the queue, right? And like, the queue is not in a good spot right now. Let's just be honest. Like, it's not super competitive.

I think there are a lot of the forwards that come out of the queue of bad habits. I think it's an offense first league that focuses on scoring. You know, doesn't really, you don't see a lot of, like, ardent defensive efforts. So Desnaue is like He's got a lot of people scared, I think, and nervous about him because he's coming out of the queue. But look, man, like, what's on tape is what is on tape, right? Like, you could talk about environment and you could talk about, you know,

trends and leagues and styles of play. You can't teach some of the stuff Desnauday does. Like he's just a big, strong power forward who has a sharp. that most power forwards can't boast about. It's good. It's really good. It's borderline elite. I think he's extraordinarily creative offensively.

I think he uses his size in extraordinarily creative offensively ways. That's another good possibility. I share the concern that the queues down right now. I get it. There's no doubt about that. But he comes from a hockey family. He's got good genes. And he's competitive.

That's the thing, man. At the end of the day, like, the reason I like Des Noe and Victor Ecclin is their compete level, you know, in Bartone, too. A lot of these guys are talking about, they're opportunistic as heck. They get out there. They create turnovers with their play. They're not relying on other people. They're the kind of players you could put out there on a line with two other pieces of garbage.

And they're going to get a scoring chance just because they're out there punishing people and they're chasing down the fencemen and they're going to get them. So the penguins are going to get a really good player here. They are. I think if they're picking in the top seven, they're getting a good player that's going to undoubtedly change the trajectory of their franchise. Not in a way that like pivots them immediately out of this phase, but in a way that provides legitimacy to their prospect pool and gives them a person that in that pool you can rally around, which right now that's Rutger Magrory. Right. That's it. That's your him and Owen Pickering and Sergey Murshov are probably the Mount Rushmore of the prospect pool. and I think that the player they get here will be better than all of the aforementioned. Yeah, no, I think that's totally fair.

You answer my question. I was going to ask, who would you take if they had the number four, number five overall pick? You basically answered that. Though, Jesse, real quickly, do any of these players, would they have a realistic shot to make the Penguins next season right away? Yeah. As good of a shot as Harrison Brunick had. You know, I think that's, that's fair.

And I don't think the Penguins forward group is particularly enthralling right now. And I see forward because that top, Matthew Schaefer is the only defenseman. Right. That you're going to consider until you get down, you know, to Radammerka, who's, for my money, eighth, ninth, tenth, in terms of best player available, right? So, and I wouldn't be upset if they got him, but like it's, you know, the forward pool here is just so intriguing. And it, you know, you look at it as, as, like, you know, you look at it as, like pick your poison all of these forwards do things really well in similar veins but they're all a

different taste they're all different flavor none of them are they're not the same copy carbon cut uh you know thank you cut copy of each guy down the line right i mean if you have nuance you're looking for you could get it i think meese is the closest just because of he's he's the most complete forward of the group without question and i don't think i'm not concerned about his size at all. It's not, it's not really like problematic for me in a way that like makes me think that it's a, you know, it's preventative from him playing next year. You know, I think he probably could. 50 goals. Yeah. It's, it's all it's, he's just doesn't stop scoring ever. It's just crazy. And if he's not, if it's not the goal, he's got a primary assist. Like his point shares. Well, we certainly

know that is a lot of what the penguins are missing right now. And we still got a little a while to go. We still have the trade deadline coming up in about a week. And we got the rest of this Godforsaken season to get through. And the Penguins will be right back in action tonight when they take on the flyers again. Hunter and I will be back after this break to recap that or get you ready for that game. Excuse me. And before we go, though, Jesse, anything you got coming up, you want to plug. Thank you as always for joining us.

Flo is yours, my friend. Just more draft videos coming out. I keep telling everybody I'm finishing that Mesa video. Then every time I think I get close, I find 92 more clips that I have to upload and curate for it. So I have him. Hagen's is almost done. I'm going to apologize in advance. A lot of NCAA video doesn't have sound.

So just going to warn you in advance that when you watch the video, you're going to have to follow my prompts on who James Hagan's is because you're not going to hear it. You know, here's the thing. I don't dislike Roger McQueen. I just don't know enough about Roger McQueen. but since 99% of every mention I get on Twitter is about Roger McQueen, I'm going to just throw the video out there. It's not going to be very long because he's not playing, right? And we don't have a lot to go off of.

And I'm going to reach back into last year to try to, like, really fill it out. But people want to see McQueen tape. So we got that coming too. And man, like, I'm holding off on the Harrison Brunick mix because he's like, I'm going to let him cook a little longer. This one's turning out to be pretty sweet as well. Like he's tearing him to shreds down there. So it's a men's against boys to quote Michelle Darien.

We love, we love to see that, don't we? Jesse, thank you as always. We'll hopefully get you back here once again soon, hopefully on a more regular schedule, but we know life happens. As I said, Hunter and I will be back to get you ready for the Penguins and Flyers game, and we will do that. So stick with us.

We'll be back right after this. All right, thanks as always to Jesse Marshall for joining us. Hunter and I are going to break down the Penguins and Flyers game. But before we do that, we got to tell you about today's first sponsor, and that is trade coffee. If you're like me, your mornings have to start with a good cup of coffee, but I got tired of settling for grocery store brands that just weren't cutting it. That is why I turned to trade and let me tell you this coffee right here, it's next level. Trade is the number one specialty coffee marketplace in the U.S., bringing you fresh coffee from over 50 of the country's top roasters.

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And they matched me with a roast that was fresh, smelled incredible, and tasted even better. I can't wait to try what they gave me. I'm still working through my free trial, but I've already previewed what they sent me and it smells awesome. I can't wait to start my mornings with it. So right now, trade is exclusively offering our listeners 40% off their first order at drinktrade.com slash locked on NHL. That's drinktrade, t r a d'e.com slash locked on NHL for 40% off your first offer. one more time. That is drinktrade.com slash locked on NHL. All right, welcome back. It's the Thursday edition, not a Monday edition, even though we just spent some time with our good pal Jesse Marshall. But now it's just myself and my co-host Hunter

Hodes. And here we go again, Hunter, this time in Pittsburgh 7.30 p.m. start. It is an ESPN plus game for those of you wondering where you can catch penguins in flyers tonight. And I mean, realistically, there's no other way to put this than this has to be a grudge match for the penguins because just two days ago, you went out to Philadelphia, you're looking to get a win after two disappointing losses to the capitals and the Rangers. And then you just get run out of the Wells Fargo Center by the Flyers after a very poor effort. So tonight, for me, at least personally, I want your take on it. It's not about the X's and O's tonight.

It's not about who's in, who's out, anything like that. This has to be a raw emotion game. You got embarrassed by this team 48 hours ago. You have to show some pride and try to get a win tonight. I need to see some more emotion. I want to see some more fight as well. Again, I'm not going to sit here and say these guys don't care because that will be foolish.

I know everyone in that locker room cares. But I did not see the fight or the emotion from the Penguins in that game on Tuesday. They got pushed around. They were a mess in their own zone. They weren't generating anything offensively. You got to push back. Like this is the last time you're going to see one of your biggest rivals until next year. They're right with you in the standings right now.

They're not very good. They're still doing this pretty big rebuild right now. You need to push back against them. Yes. Is the rivalry not what it used to be 100%? Like this isn't 2012 bad. This isn't even 2018 when these two teams last played in the playoffs. But I don't care.

You need to send a message saying like, hey, that was not us on Tuesday and we're going to go out here and at least try to play better, even though we know our season is really not going anywhere right now. That's what I want to see from the Penguins in this game. I want to see some fight. I want to see some emotion. Like that's, I know that might sound like a boomer level take. but that's what I really want to see tonight. And I think you're going to see bounce back performances from both Crosby and Malk

and Malkin has really had his leg since coming back from injury. Crosby, we all know how great he's been since coming back from the Four Nations faceoff, had a bit of a down game against the Flyers on Tuesday. With how dominant he usually is against the Flyers, I would expect that to continue at least tonight. I know, again, wasn't good on Tuesday, but I think he's going to bounce back tonight on Thursday. Also want to remind everyone, this is a seventh third. 30 p.m. game, not 7 o'clock. Also, I will be there with some of my friends. So if you're going to the game

tonight, you want to say hello, hit me up. I'll come and chat for, you know, five, 10 minutes during intermission, something like that if anyone wants to is interested in that or whatever. But again, man, that's what I really want to see tonight. Penguins, though, they will be without Michael Bunting. Tonight, he had his appendix removed, so he's going to be out for a little while. No really big timetable from Mike Sullivan. So he's out indefinitely. Also, Alex Nadelcovich, at getting the start tonight. I don't really know what we're doing here unless I'm going to make a joke. Tank commander Mike Sullivan might have just taken over this team, Pat.

That's all I got. I don't know why you're starting Alex and Delkevich tonight other than if you're just have the tank commander joke. But that would be a perfect opportunity to put Yuel Blumquist in. But they're continuing to start Ned. I do not get it. I don't either. I mean, I get it on this level.

Mike Sullivan, loyal guy, Alex Nadelcovic, very popular locker room guy. And I said it on yesterday's show. I have to give him all the props in the world for completely owning his performance the last couple games because it would have, as I said, it would have been very easy for him to break out the cliches and everything. Instead, he just opened up and said, listen, I sucked. He's a bro. He's really easy to root for as well. Yeah, that was a really good quote from him. Like he's very aware of how poor he's played lately.

I mean, of course he has to be. But the raw emotion from that quote was very evident. Yeah. So if I if I can at least try to justify this, because I'm still in the camp that it should now be Blumquist net for the next couple weeks just to see what you have, see if he can bounce back. And if not, go let him try to get some more seasoning again in the H.L. Even though you could argue and I don't think it would be a bad argument,

that he's kind of done all that he can in the American League. So now it's time, but that would also feed into it's time to see what he can do in the National Hockey League, but I digress. So I can get it to an extent that he owned his performance. He's a popular locker room guy and they want to give him a chance to work out of the funk. But when you have Yo-O Blumquist up here, it's probably time to see what you have in him. But not our decision to make. So that's who's going to start tonight.

Another thing to keep an eye on here tonight from morning skate, Ryan Shea and Vinny Day Arnae came off with the regular group, even though this was an optional skate. That tells us that Ryan Graves will also play because he did not skate at all. But Vladislav Kolachanuk and P.O. Joseph both stayed on late. So it appears the two of them will not be playing. I would P.O. Joseph coming out because he was really bad on Tuesday. And honestly, for the last couple of weeks,

I have really not liked his game. I thought he was fine when he first came back to the Penguins in the Trade Room Blues. But lately just hasn't been good. So I understand Mike Sullivan with that. But why are you not playing Koliathana and seeing what you have in this kid? I really don't get it. Ryan Shea, it's good that he had that good game against the Rangers, but we all know what his ceiling is.

He's a number seven defenseman in the NHL. Koliathanaq has really good underlings. He's played well in the past. His sample size isn't that big. You need to see what you have in him. I understand it hasn't been that long since you claimed him, but it has been a few games now. Like you've gotten to see some of these other players that are playing.

Yes, I know you're still showcasing Matt Grizzlic. You haven't dealt him yet. There's going to be an open spot once he probably gets dealt in the next week. But you can still play Koya Chonuk, man. I just, come on, Mike, put him in the way. You can. I also think, too, they might just be, and I know it's not a monumental lift because these guys are pros.

you might just be getting him acclimated to the organization and the team. And then once Grizzlick is gone, he's going to enter the lineup and barring an absolutely catastrophic performance, probably not going to come out. So at this point, you're just getting him the workouts, getting him familiarized with the facilities, getting familiarized with everything that goes on in the organization, as well as his teammates. So from that perspective, I can see it because there's going to be an opening for him more than likely sometime in the next week.

And once that opening is there, the spot will go to him. So at the very least, I can also see it from a risk management standpoint. If he goes out and plays against the Flyers tonight or the Maple Leafs over the weekend or Boston and takes a bad hit and he's out and then you deal Grizzlic, then what do you do? So at the very least, I still want to see what they have in him. I want them to give him a shot, but where the team is right now with the trade deadline just about a week away, I can at least give some of a wide berth on letting him just get acclimated to everything in Pittsburgh before you throw him in the lineup.

One last other thing to note before we had to break, Boko and Mama is available tonight for the penguins. He was part of the morning skate still has to be activated off of injured reserve, but the big thing there is what happens with Matt Nietto who was placed on waivers yesterday and something to keep in mind here. Just because he gets waived, does if he clears waivers, nobody claims him. He doesn't have to be sent down. He just clears waivers. So we will see what happens with that situation.

Yeah, I'll be curious to see. I don't think anyone is going to claim him, especially with the year that he's had again, the injury that he suffered, I think, is really just hampered the rest of his career, in my opinion. But I still don't expect him in the lineup tonight, even though what you just said is true. So again, we'll just have to see what happens after two o'clock today. Yeah.

Penguins Flyers, 7.30 tonight on ESPN plus. Again, remember 7.30, not 7 p.m. as usual. So just make sure you're prepared for that. And you don't get confused when you flip on the TV at seven. And there's no Penguins game. you'll have to wait another 30 minutes. But that'll do it for this second segment. When Hunter and I come back,

we're going to try to do something we've been trying to do more frequently lately, and that is taking a look down on the farm and take a quick look at the Wilkes-Barre Scranton penguins. We will do that. So stick with us. We're going to do that right after this. But first, we're going to tell you about today's last sponsor, and that is Fandul.

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Just visit Fandul.com to join today. That's Fandle.com for your shot at $150 in bonus bets. Make every moment more with Fandul, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. All right, welcome back. It's the Thursday edition of Locked-on Penguins. I'm Patrick Damp, alongside Hunter Hodes, as always. So let's take a quick look at the Wilkesbury Scranton Penguins Hunter because there's an update on somebody that everybody wants to talk about. And that was the offseason's big acquisition, the one and only Rutger McGroarty.

Big week for him. He did quite well over the past week, notched. And he had a very good week. They had a one one and one record. And he had two goals and one assist in those games in those three years. game. So big week for him. And one of the things we saw in those two goals from McGority, which is very encouraging, his shot is really starting to show. And obviously, it's the American League. It's not quite the NHL, obviously, but you're seeing a professional NHL shot being used in the American

hockey league. And that's extremely encouraging for him. I know some people will look at the box scores, they'll look at, you know, counting stats him earlier, and they'll be like, oh, he's not having that good of the season. If you even watched him for five to seven minutes of film this season, you could see that he has been really developing this year for Wilkesbury. He has been fantastic, especially as of late. He scored last night for Wilkesbury. I know Wilkesbury lost.

Tristan Jari, really not a good start last night for Wilkesbury, by the way. He was really rotten in that game, but he scored to try and get Wilkespray back in the game. Wilkesbury ended up losing, but it was still a really nice school from about 15 feet out, really nice shot as well. I think his skating has been improving down in Wilkesbury. I know that still, in my opinion, the weak link of his game. I think everyone also shares that opinion as well. But I do think I've seen improvements in that area as this year has gone along.

There are still some people that I think that are a little bit upset that, oh, he's not all the penguins right now. It's this failure of a trade and all that. It's like, no, this was still a really good swing to take. and I do think he is going to be on this team next year. Sometimes a prospect just needs a little bit of time. You know, he's playing against professional players now, and he's acclimating himself really well.

Like he's been playing great these last couple of months, and now the production is starting to show that as well. Honestly, he's been so unlucky in a lot of games prior to these two months, Pat. He could be well out of point per game or over a point per game right now if he had just gotten a few more of those chances to go or some of the chances that he had set up had gone in the back to the net. Like he's been producing offense all year, and it's really nice seeing him play well, especially these last couple of months.

We'll have to see if he gets called up after the deadline next week, but I'm excited by his progress right now, that's for sure. Yeah, he's developing quite nicely. And if you go back into our archives of this show near the start of the season and through training camp, we both were beating the drum of don't expect. expect McGrady to be on this team, this current season for the majority of it, because realistically, he needed that time in the American Hockey League to become a true pro, and it's not an indictment of his game. The difference was in Winnipeg, there was really no

spot for him in the foreseeable future to come up and be a consistent NHLer. There really weren't any open spots and that was his biggest gripe. It wasn't, oh, they don't want me. They don't want to play me. He just did not fit into their timeline that well. In Pittsburgh, yeah, he probably understood. I'm probably going to spend a good amount of time in the American League, but once I come up, chances are I'm not going back down. So that is probably what made that trade enticing for him to come to Pittsburgh. As for the baby penguins, this has been a really, really good season for them. And we know that HL success does not always translate to NHL success. But when you look at their record right now, they are 28, 14, and 6, and they've got a couple games in hand as they sit in

third in the Atlantic Division with 63 points. They're two points behind the Providence Bruins. They're four points behind the Hershey Bears, but they have games in hand on both teams. They've got the best goals per game rate at just a tick over three, which is the best in the HL. So this is a team with some talent. And it comes back to something I've been saying that Kyle Dubus and Jason Spetsa and Amanda Kessel want to do with this organization is they don't want the Wheeling Nailers and the baby penguins to just be a stop on players' development.

They want it to be teams that play meaningful games. These guys are going to have a pedigree of playing in meaningful hockey games once they get to Pittsburgh. And they want that to continue once those players make the jump to the National Hockey League. 100%. And you've seen Kyle Dubus in the front office do a really good job with Wilkesbury, especially since Dubus got here. And this is going to be one of the top teams that can potentially win the Colorado Cup this year. Like that's how deep Wilkesbury is now. If they get the goaltending from, you know, Larson or Blumquist, as they,

because obviously the Penguins aren't going to make the playoffs. So I'm curious to see which goalie starts in the playoffs for Wilkesbury. That's going to be a lot of fun. But this team is super deep, man, and it's going to be a lot of fun to see. Also, does Wilkesbury get even more reinforcements? For example, Pat, after a lot of junior seasons. We saw that at the end of last season with Wilkesbury in the playoffs, Pat. They got some more reinforcements.

I know it didn't lead to like a big playoff run for them, but it was still nice seeing some of the other prospects get their first taste of HAL hockey. curious to see if we get that here. My dog very much agrees downstairs. Also, Emil Benstrom's gear is in the dressing room, according to the Immaculate Seth Rorbaugh, so it looks like he is here in Pittsburgh for tonight's game against the Flyers.

Yeah, we will see what happens tonight, especially with Matt Nietto as well as now without the services of Michael Buncing after an appendectomy. But that will do it for the Thursday edition of Lockdown Penguins. Thanks, as always, to Jesse Marshall for joining us in giving us as much time as he possibly could to talk about some prospects that the Penguins could potentially draft this upcoming summer. But for now, for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp.

Thank you, as always, for tuning in. We will be back on Friday to recap this Penguins Flyers game and get you set for a weekend back to back against the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins. But as always, thank you for tuning in. We will be back on Friday.