Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - NHL SQUAD SHOW: How Important Is Goaltending In The Playoffs?

Episode Date: May 29, 2025

Welcome to the NHL Squad Show! Today our hosts Gil Martin (Locked On Islanders), Eddie Garcia (Locked On Kings) and Zach Martin (Locked On Hurricanes) are here to talk about what really matters in the playoffs: goaltending. Also, we discuss how to improve the regular season AND the playoff format, before swinging back to the playoffs to talk about the importance of physical players like Sam Bennett in the postseason! Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.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 TWO HUNDRED 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.

The conference final is heating up and the playoff action continues to get more exciting. We'll break down the latest. Plus, how important is goaltending in the NHL playoffs? All that and more on this week's NHL squad. You are talking puck with the NHL squad show, sponsored by game time. From the Oilers to the stars, Golden Knights and the Panthers, the Rangers, avalanche, and yes, even the Maple Leafs. The Locked-on podcast network brings together all. its local experts to provide the scoops, breakdowns, and comprehensive looks at all the NHL,

with plenty of trash talk to go with it. Don't miss the hard hits and glove dropping hot takes on the Locked-on NHL Squad show. It's time to drop the puck. Gil Martin here. Welcome, everyone, to the NHL squad. Sit back, grab your favorite beverage, and join us as we get you ready for another wild week across the National Hockey League. We are part of the Locked-on podcast network, your team every day.

Today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, use code Lockdown NHL for $20 off your first purchase. I want to welcome our panel today, Eddie Garcia of Locked-on L.A.Ks and Zach Martin of Locked-on Carolina Hurricanes. here to talk all things hockey. And let's start with the goaltending issue. I mean, we see the final four teams and goaltending is sort of a little bit of a different story for each of them. How important is gold tending in the modern NHL if you're going to go on a long playoff run and even win a Stanley Cup? Well, I mean, goaltending is always going to be important.

I think maybe the question is how much should teams invest in their goaltending these days? I think there's an interesting argument on both sides of it. But if you're looking at this year, obviously Sergey Broowski is the only high-priced goalie that is still around. I think Jake Ottinger, as far as average annual value, is somewhere like 26th in the NHL. And, you know, guys like Stuart Skinner and Frederick Anderson or even, you know, below that or, you know, So if you look, though, at who's won Stanley Cups recently, you've got Bobrovsky, you've got Andre Vasselisky, another big money guy. But then also, you know, mixed in there is a Jordan Bennington or Aden Hill or somebody like that. So there's a different argument to be made, I think, on both sides of it.

Goaltening is always going to be important. But for me personally, I would prefer my team not go all in on one of those big contracts for a goalie. I think it's just very fluid. you know, you can get a good enough goalie, I think to get you where you want to go, if you can surround them with a better team. So, yeah, goaltending is always important,

but the state of goaltending is really good in the NHL. I mean, they're, you know, I mean, look, I just, I still marvel at what Stuart Skinner is doing.

You know, he's obviously, uh, either amazing or not very good, but at the same time, they're, they're getting by with him. Uh,

and Calvin Pickard hadn't lost. in the postseason until he got hurt. Calvin Pickard. That's just a guy, you know? So like I said, I would prefer if I'm running a team, I'm not paying big money for a goal anymore. I think I can get a good enough goalie. I'd rather distribute the rest of that money around other parts of my team. I think I can still get it done.

Zach? Yeah, I kind of agree with Eddie for the part where it's like you look at where these teams are at now. I mean, look at the hurricane exclusively. You talk about Frederick Anderson. I mean, him and Coachcoff together make less than $6 million. million dollars and you know they're in the conference final and this is after a year where people thought that the hurricanes were going to take a step back so i think you can get it

done with some good net might if you get a good tim to do it or if you just got you know one guy that gets really hot at the right time i mean you look at you know what they interested you know before going to the conference final he was undoubtedly the best goaltender that you know and he's still doing good he still has a sub two goals against and then say percentage over 914 so it's just yeah you look at some of these goalies where it's like, okay, let's go get these high-priced goalies and pay them a buttload of money. But it's like, where do you go after that, especially with contract situations? Because even then, you know, they can be, you know, go to this up to a point where the team

in front of them is. And if they have bad games and the team in front of them isn't good, then you're kind of just noifying yourself. So, yeah, it's good to have elite goalies. But if they have off nights and the team in front of them just isn't there, then what do you really? Like, look at Igor Shirk and they threw him the bag. Rangers did they didn't even make the playoffs.

So what does that really say that when you give a goalie that have much money and has a struggle season and then the team overall struggled? And then you look at the three Vezna finalists. They're not around anymore. So, you know, again, how important is it? Yeah, it's important. It's always going to be important to have good goaltending. But do you need to have that elite elite goalie to be able to get to you want to go?

I think there's some pretty good evidence that says you don't have to pay big money for those goals. I mean, I would love to know if you gave, you know, the powers that be in Winnipeg, Truth Surum, if they would still want to resign Connor Hellebuck to that contract. I would be guessing they would have a lot of buyers remorse on that. Well, especially because he seems to not keep his standard of play up in the playoffs. There are, there are goleys who are like, like Bittington is hot and cold in the regular season, seems to raise his game in the playoffs. Pellibuck, it just seems so far the track record is the opposite,

especially on the road. Yeah, no, there's no help. Yeah, and that's just kind of the thing where it's almost you're turning to a league where now it's more of tandems because we all saw how it was in the 90s and 2000s where these goalies are getting like 65, 70-something starts and their backups get maybe what, five games, and that's pretty much about it. But now it's just the level of competition. or across the board,

every team's got star players and guys who can score, you know, a lot of goals. Now it's like, it's harder on the goalies because now you can't expect these guys to play so many games because, you know, some injuries might happen or stuff like that. So now you almost have to have a backup that could be a 1B compared to your team's 1A. So I think now you're seeing that trend of. You don't have to have the elite of the elites. You don't have to have like a Patrick Waugh and some dude behind him or like, you know,

Martin Burrador and just some guy in pads. So I think it's, yeah, goal thing is definitely important. You need to get those guys that are, you know, above average maybe to start goalie levels. But if you're talking like one of the top five, which is hard to get anyway, at that point, like, you know,

you have to hope that they're that like that all season, not just the regular season. So it's a big gamble to allow one guy for everything. And yet, like, you do need at least a goalie who gets hot at the right time, but how do you know, your goalie can can do that. I mean, when you take a goalie making, you know, $3 million a year as your starter,

how do you know that goalie can turn it on and raise his level of play come April, May, and June? I mean, it's a good question. I guess if you look at a guy like Stuart Skinner, he's, he's one of those guys who, he does have some mental toughness to him, right? He has had his struggles here and there, but he always seems to be able to, if he gets another opportunity,

he bounces back pretty strong. So he's kind of shown that ability that he's one of those guys that he might have a couple of bad games here and there. But if he gets another opportunity, he usually makes the most of it. So there are certain guys who have kind of shown that. But you're right. I try to remind myself of this every year and I don't do a good job of it. The regular season is so insignificant when it comes to the playoffs.

and we try and predict these things and we try and look at, you know, who's going to be the teams to beat. And things change so much from the regular season of the playoffs. Just taking my own LA Kings, for example, the whole regular season, we wind and complained about how bad the power play was. And the power play was great in the postseason and it didn't matter. So it just,

it's so unpredictable, really is so unpredictable. And goaltending can be a big part of that too. Yeah, no, 100%. Yeah, because like you, like at the time about million dollar go. I mean, you know, Frederick Anderson missed pretty much the whole season for the most part, got 20-something starts. He comes in and just goes absolutely lights out. Even like, yeah, the conference spot where he had a tough couple of games, but you really can't

put that on him because the team in front just wasn't good making a lot of turnovers and stuff. But you used to look at a statue. Like if he was on any team that wasn't hit the hit the worst rough spot at the wrong time of the season, they'd be praising him a lot more. And I think he'd look at the fact that he's got two shutouts this playoff alone. It's, you know, if you know the track record of your guys who are calm, cool, and collected, like how Anderson's been, this playoff even back in 23, if you have enough evidence to go off of there are some guys who are like, hey, we'll give you this amount of money.

But if you're willing to, you know, give us the flexibility to go surround the rest of the team with, I think you can find that good mix of having that really good goalie, but also having the really good team in front of them to have that nice combined grouping to where you could make. runs like this. Who do you guys think is the last goalie who kind of stole a Stanley Cup for a team? And it even could be a good team, a team that's really a quality team. But the goalie just stood on his head and they won a cup.

Well, I mean, Jonathan Quick was pretty amazing for my L.A. Kings back in 2012, won the cons my trophy and put up some postseason numbers that were amongst the best of all time. So from a personal standpoint, that one pops into mind. And remember the Kings that year were the eighth seed. So that's some pretty decent evidence of a goaltender. I mean, certainly, look, it's always a team effort, right? It's never just going to be one guy. But, you know, yeah, when a goaltender is, is that good, it makes a big difference. I would even say, too, even with the teams that, you know, that kind of went off on, off on with the Kings, I mean, look at Cory Crawford.

He gets very little recognition for what he did for the Hawks in the playoffs. And, you know, he lost two consmice to, or even his own teammates afterwards that he should have gotten it over to them. So I think if you're looking at a goaltender who really stole some series and stole some cups from teams even with the team in front of them was really good, I think that there should be a little bit more shine on Crawford for what he did in Chicago. Yeah, I think that's fair. Do you think Bennington fits in the category of?

a goalie who helped steal a Stanley Cup? I think his name deserves to be brought up. Yeah, I don't think that's, I don't think it's out of place to bring his name up for sure. Yeah, that whole 19 Blues team was just a an anomaly of how you can go from dead last to winning the whole thing in half a season.

So yeah, I mean, you definitely put Bington there. It's just after that's kind of like, is it really? Because the Blues haven't really, you know, shown enough evidence to be like, hey, this guy I can go do it multiple times. Right now it's just one hot summer, and that's kind of about it for the blues. But I can definitely see Bennington being there for the most part to be in some conversations.

All right. Well, we have got a lot more to discuss on the squad show today. Let's talk a little bit about playoff formatting because it's something that a lot of people have complained about. We'll go there. We'll talk about a lot more coming up on today's squad show. Today's episode is brought to you by Fandul. The NBA playoffs are in full swing and every night delivers highlight worthy performances, major momentum shifts, and can't miss moments. Whether it's a game winning shot or a breakout player, there's never been a better time to get in on the action.

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And if your first $5 bet wins, you'll get $200 in bonus bets. Make every moment more with Fandual official sports betting partner of the NBA. Eddie, I'm going to start with you on this one. I figured you would. I figured you knew. The playoff formatting and the way it's been done right now. Do you think they're better off going back to a one versus eight conference-wise? Because your L.A. Kings, for example, have played the Edmonton Oilers four years in a row and lost to them, unfortunately, four years in a row.

Is it time to mix things up a little bit in that respect? I think so. And I also think the regular season should mean a little bit more than it does in this current system. And as much as I was excited to see Tampa Bay, Florida in the first round and Dallas, Colorado in the first round, it's not really fair to those fans to have to face a team like that in the first run after the regular season they've had. plus, you know, maybe it would be different. I understand the reasoning behind it, and I can certainly say the amount of hate I have now for the Edmonds and Oilers is very high, which, you know, that's what Gary Betman wanted, right? He wanted rivalries.

And I get that rivalries can be made in the postseason or help to be made in the postseason. At the same time, I don't, I certainly know Kings fans don't want to see the Oilers again next year. and I'm guessing even Oilers fans probably don't want to see the Kings again next year, even though they've had all the success. It's just, we've seen it before. It's, let's mix it up. Let's have things be a little bit different.

And I know people will say the argument of, well, a lot of times if you look at how it is and you rank them one through eight, it kind of is pretty close. It's not as drastic as you might think it is, although this year maybe that's not a good example because of Dallas, Colorado and things like that. But I would be in favor of going back.

to 1-8. Like I said, I'd like to see the regular season be a little bit more beneficial to teams who have really good regular seasons and also with not having to see a situation like Kings Oilers for four years in a row and God forbid five years in a row. Because, I mean, look, it could happen again next year. I mean, I think the Kings and Oilers are both expected to put playoff teams again next year. You never know. But I would say that that's not an outrageous statement to make. And if it happens again, I don't want to see it.

I don't want to see it again. Not in the first round, please. Yeah. I mean, I agree with that. I mean, and not just because it's the King's Oilers every year. It's just even for, you know, if we're going for our particular teams, I'm tired of seeing the same group of guys that we keep seeing every year, Devils, Rangers, this year of the capitals for the first time in a little bit.

It's just the, you know, no offense, Gail the Islanders. It just gets so mundane after a while. Like, all right, let's just talk about these teams once again after how many seasons in a row. And it's nice to have that one V8 backing because you have to manufacture rivalries. If you see the same team at different points in different rounds, and that rivalry is going to be there regardless. And I think that's what you kind of saw for a lot of the years before they went into this divisional matchup. And like any said, it just the regular season doesn't really matter because you can kind of just walk your way into a

third place in the in your division and get in if the rest of your division is not that great. So then it's like, yeah, you might have some drama at the very end, but that's more for like wild card status. But even you could still have some drama going for the seven, eight seeds and figure that out. Then you're still getting the top team against number eight because, I mean, the kings were an eighth seed and they made the cup final. I mean, the national predators, you know, beat the Blackhawks when you're in the playoffs. I think it was the 16 one and they were in eight seed as well.

and they still went on to the cup finals. So it's, you know, you can have really good series even past the first round. Yeah, you see a lot of these teams get bounced so early that could have had, you know, longer runs. And that's just tough for fans seeing their teams have great regular seasons. And they're, right, go against this other great team in the first round rather than like a, you know, conference semifinal or a conference file. Now it's like, hey, here's your first round exit against a team who you really shouldn't be seeing for at least another round. but it's just one of those things, unfortunately, where it's, you know,

if there's teams who had a really good regular season, but they missed out because they missed it by a point or two, but they finished better than some other team did, then that's just the unfortunate part. So I get the argument of having divisions, the format so they can have more rivalries, but you don't have to manufacture that. Hockey fans can make rivalries, and even the players make it, take it to another level as well, without having to be like, all right, we're going to force it. where you can potentially have the same matchup back to back to back to back seasons.

After a while, it just cuts kind of old. And you're running the same story lines of, while this team's beating this team three years in a row, can they finally do it? It just runs into a, you know, you're recycling the same things over and over again. Now, there is some talk again, surprise, surprise, about more expansion in the NHL.

Atlanta may get a third shot at an NHL franchise. we've heard Houston mentioned, a few other places as well. Do you think the NHL, if they do add two more teams, do you think we see a play-in round to the playoffs, much like the NBA has done? And is that a good idea? I'll let you go first on this, Zach. Absolutely not.

If you want to get an expansion, fine. It's just, like, luckily, the talent's a little bit there now where you can kind of spread it to other teams so that it is possible. but playing rounds like the NBA, then your regular season doesn't matter. Like, you should, the NHL should never take anything the NBA is doing because you saw the All-Star game this year was the absolute worst.

I think the, it's just the play-ins makes your regular season mean nothing. Because, okay, now you have two other teams that could get, so here's your 9-10 seed fighting to get in to do what exactly. Because then now you're 7 and 8 have to play the 9 and 10, and now you've got more teams making the playoffs and air quotes. And it's like, what's the point then? Because then you got teams who were slightly out now getting it. It's almost like the bubble season without the bubble part of it.

And it was fine for that one year because, you know, you didn't want to have to figure that whole situation out with a bunch of teams that were close. And they wanted more rounds to make more revenue. But if you're talking long term, playing rounds for the NHL makes no sense. Because then you're going to extend the playoffs a lot longer than what you can do with the regular season. Because now you're going to have to add in a lot more games, even if it's a best of three. That's still a lot more of extra hockey to kind of figure out TV-wise, ticket-wise, and stuff like that.

Playing arounds for, if the NBA wants to do that, fine, because that's whatever. But when it comes to hockey, no, just keep it eight-and-eight, figure out the format, plans just, it will just dilute the regular season, which it doesn't need. Eddie? Yeah, I totally agree. Look, I don't think they should expand. We've got enough teams now, but it's going to happen because owners want the money and players want more opportunities at jobs. So I've made my piece with the fact that this is going to happen. We are going to add two more teams in the near future. So good for Houston or Atlanta or wherever else they may end up to go. I have nothing against those people getting hockey. I love to see hockey expand into other areas. Obviously, we've got Carolina representative here. LA was not a traditional hockey market way back when,

even though they were an original expansion franchise. So I'm all for seeing hockey in different places. I love that. But I would prefer they don't, but it's going to happen. Again, like I said, I've made peace with the fact it's going to happen whether I want it to or not. As far as expanding the playoffs or having a playing around, I completely agree with Zach. I sincerely hope they don't do that. I just talked about how I would like to see the regular season be more important

when talking about the matchups. So that the same thing follows with this. Make the regular season mean more. Don't make it easier for teams to get into playoffs. I know that also means more money. So that's the way things always are going to land. But I'm very much against it. And also even more so would be against some sort of playing around.

or any kind of an in-season tournament that the NBA is doing as well. No, let's look, let's have, let's not, I know Gary Betman once upon a time came from the NBA, but obviously that's long pass now. Let's be our own, let's have our own identity. Let's not copy everything the NBA tries to do. And it's kind of ironic that with the, you know, with the success of the four nations now, maybe maybe the NBA wants to copy something that the NHL does or do something different because as Zach mentioned that their All-Star game is, and most All-Star games have become very uninteresting.

So expansion will happen, but let's not expand the playoffs. Let's not have any kind of a play in tournament. Let's keep it where it is. Everyone universally agrees hockey playoffs are the greatest of all the playoffs. Don't change it. Don't mess with it. It's fine the way it is. Keep it that way.

All right. We have got more to get to on today's show. We are going to talk a little bit more about physical. in the playoffs and its role in team's success. We've got that and more coming up on this week's squad show. So guys, we are now roughly halfway through the conference final round, maybe a little more than around the two-thirds mark of the Stanley Cup playoffs overall. Zach, I want to start with you on this one because the Florida Panthers are the defending Stanley Cup champions.

and they play a very physical style of hockey. It seems to have gotten off to a good start in their series with the Carolina Hurricanes right now. How important is physicality to playoff success? I see it's definitely important, especially when you want to try and impose your will and impose your system and the other team because you really don't want to be bullied

and you want to control the tempo. And Florida in the first three, games definitely did that they made the hurricanes uncomfortable you know just being able to do what they needed to do got into their skin made them frustrated got them out of their game and you know physical physical and that kind of leads into the mental game too because if you're physical and you frustrated the other team then it turns into a mental warfare too because then they're going to start you know doing things they're out of character making you know unnecessary turnovers you know take unnecessary an unnecessary penalties if I don't to speak English um it's just one of the

the things where, yeah, it's very important. Now, of course, there's only a certain line you hit to before you start going into, okay, now you're just hurting your team type of territory. So I think you find a good balance that's definitely there, and that's kind of what you saw from the Panthers. And like it for the hurricanes, they kind of stopped getting bullied themselves and kind of impose their will. And that's, you know, kind of what you saw, you know, after game four.

And now it's, it's now a battle of wills, battle of who's going to blink first and what's system is going to fit back and whose system is going to work better. So yeah, I think physicality does go a long way. Some teams have to match that because if you don't match it and you just kind of get imposed on, then yeah, your series is going to be very tough for you because now you're having to fight not just the physicality, but then, of course, the mental game that goes against you because now you're not playing your system and you're making the mistakes and you're exacerbating all the stuff that's going to get you exposed. Eddie? Yeah, it's absolutely crucial. And I think Florida certainly has shown how important it is to be physical to, you know,

also it's, you know, to wear down your opponent, you know, the playoffs are such a war of attrition, such a grind and, you know, to make it all the way just in the Stanley Cup final itself is, you know, such a grueling thing to do. If you can be the more physical team and wear down your opponent and if you can use your depth, if you've got four lines you can use and those guys can all have a physical part of their game. I mean, it just wears another team down. You know, look, Sam Bennett might be a $10 million a year player because of what he brings in the postseason and because of what he can do physically.

So money talks. And if that report is true that there's some team out there willing to give him $10 million a year. And I'm not trying to knock his skills. He's certainly a very good all-around player, but you don't think of him as a $10 million year player, but it's about the playoffs. It's about postseason, right? I know my LA Kings could use somebody like that.

We haven't had a player like that since Dustin Brown back in the day. So I know they would be looking to probably get somebody like that. They went out and got a guy like Tanner Geno in the off season to try and fill that role. Unfortunately, he was hurt, didn't play in the playoffs. I'm sure that didn't help the Kings as far as their chances to advance as well. And you look at some guys that are willing to embrace that role and how it's helping them. look at Zach Hyman for the Edmonton Oilers. That guy is not thought of as a very physical guy.

He's been hitting everything that moves in this postseason, and it's helped his game. He's become an impact player. He's been more engaged in what the Oilers are doing. So if you're willing to pay that price, if you've got guys that are willing to do that, I don't think there's any question. It really, really can help your chances in advancing in the playoffs.

Eddie, I wanted to start with you on this last question. You talked about making the regular season mean more, and part of that was doing the 1-8 thing. Is there anything else you think the NHL can do to make the regular season and success in the regular season mean more to the teams that get it? Well, they, you know, they're already rewarding your conference champions, right? So I don't know that there's anything else that they could do there. I think the 1-8 is enough.

I don't think it needs to be anything more than that. I'm not sure what else it would be. I'd be willing to listen to any ideas on that. Nothing wrong with having discussions and things like that. And Zach's rubbing his hands together. Maybe that's a universal sign if I have an idea. But at least at least 1-8, at least get to 1-8, and then I'm willing to listen to something else.

Zach, what else you got? No, I completely agree with the 1-8. Keep it as it is. That's what you need to do if you want to go into that. direction but if you want to make the regular season more meaningful how about the 321 point system nullify the guys who are going to be the merchants to get into the postseason based on how many overtimes and shootouts you lose nothing against you in your team gill but you guys are very good at merchant just getting all those overtime losses and getting like 11 12 extra points than that but

i think you've seen you know the pw hl's done it perfect with their 321 system and you see other leagues do it the same way too and I think that would be you know now you're rewarding teams who actually go get it done in the regulation instead you know in the you know overtime and stuff did they do that in four nations as well poor nations did that this year is there i believe so but i'm not 100% on that but i want to say yes but don't quote me on it but it works i mean you've seen some other leagues do it where it's like now you get the teams who actually win in the regular season mean more in regulation rather than be like okay you know if we just take it to the over time so be it you're really going to lose that on one point we're still going to be close

but now it's like no if you want to get the extra points to get a little bit yourself a little bit more ahead then yeah you want to pick up those full three rather than then you're getting zero then you're really going to have to push for that because it just doesn't make sense to me how we still have this yeah i've always been in favor of that but i also know the reason it's not going to happen and that is or it's unlikely to happen yeah the league likes to artificially keep the standing close. So, you know, if you get a loser point and the other team gets two points, so you get to like March 15th and there's 12 games left and you're only six points out of a playoff spot. Now, it's almost impossible to make up those six points, but it sounds

close and so you can sell tickets based on the fact that your team is so close to a playoff spot. Or how about this? How about this? Just make a better roster so you don't have to worry about all those points. Too logical. I'm sorry. Yeah. Yeah. If you want, if you want to get more points, make a better roster.

Actually do something. Blay. Stop just being like just middling around and just, you know, gathering draft picks like you're going to do something with them. Like actually try. So if you want, yeah, I think the 3-21 would work if teams would actually just try to make rosters. Makes too much sense.

I don't think we'll see. Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot what league we're talking about for a second. Logical doesn't really. We don't do that here. There you go. There you go. All right. Well, I want to thank everyone for making the squad show your first listen today. For your second, listen, check out the all-new Locked-on NHL game night. Every game, every night until a Stanley Cup champion is crowned. Get local analysis on a national scale. You could find NHL game night on Lockdown NHL on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. It's part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day.

I'm Gil Martin. I want to thank Eddie Garcia and Zach Martin for joining us today. Have a great week, everyone. We'll be back next week with another exciting episode of the NHL Squad Show.