Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - NHL SQUAD SHOW: The Playoff Races Are Almost Over; Who Gets A Spot?

Episode Date: April 2, 2025

Welcome to the NHL Squad Show! Today our hosts Gil Martin (Locked On Islanders), Tom Callahan (Locked On Utah Hockey Club) and Armando Velez (Locked On Panthers) are here to discuss the playoff races in the East and West, whether there are any teams that can make a surprise push, if the wildcard race in the West is set, and whether Ottawa and Montreal can hold on in the East! 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.5-Hour ENERGYHead to 5-hourENERGY.com to find over 15 flavors to choose from, including Watermelon, Blue Raspberry, and Peach-Mango. Need one now? Grab a 5-hour ENERGY shot at your local grocery or convenience store—they’re everywhere! Stock up today and stay energized.Wonderful PistachiosGet snackin’ and get crackin’ with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.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 NHL season is in its last 10 games for almost every team, but which team has the most pressure on it heading into the playoffs. We'll talk about that and a lot more next 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 spooks, breakdowns, and comprehensive looks at all the NHL,

with plenty of trash talk to go with it. Don't miss the hard hits and love dropping hot takes on the Locked-on NHL Squad Show. It's time to drop the puck. Gilmartin here. Welcome, everybody, to the NHL squad. Sit back, grab your favorite beverage, and join us as we get you ready for another wild week across the NHL. We are part of the Locked-on podcast network, your team. every day. Today's episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account,

use code Locked-on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. I'm Gilmartin from Lockdown Islanders. I'm joined today by Tom Callahan of Lockdown Utah Hockey Club and the Mondo Man, Armando Velez of Locked on Florida Panthers. Gentlemen, great to have you on board today. We have reached April. This is it. Last month of the regular season, in fact, kind of the last half month, if you will. And one thing that I think is on a lot of people's minds as we get closer to the playoffs is which teams across the league have the most pressure on them heading into the playoffs? And Armando, since you are covering the defending Stanley Cup champions, how much pressure is there on Florida to repeat. I don't think there's as much pressure on the Florida Panthers to to repeat.

It doesn't mean there's not pressure for them whatsoever, but hey, they've proven themselves. And right now with kind of the injury situation for them, they're kind of hobbling right now. And they haven't had a regulation win since they defeated this one team in regulation just a few weeks ago that I'm about to mention of who actually has pressure. It's a Toronto Maple Leafs. The last Panthers regulation win came on. on March 13th against those same Maple Leafs. And for the whole situation with Toronto, it's the fact that Mitch Marner is a free agent.

John Tavares is, although he's probably going to take less money, he's a 30 goal score for the Toronto Maple Leaf this year as well. They finally have a tandem in Joseph Wall and Anthony Stolars, a coaching change, which their style of play has changed. Although they're maybe not the most flashy, entertaining as they were under Sheldon Keith, there's a lot of pressure on the Toronto Maple Leafs in order to not win more than two rounds for them.

And if they don't even win a single round, I think Mitch Marner is as good as gone. Them, I'm going to put the New York Rangers up there for them as well for maybe a coaching change that could happen. Could they bring John Tortorilla back to New York City? And another one, I'm going to go out west. I'm going to go with the Vancouver Canucks, who was one game away from advancing to the Western Conference final

and then the regression from that to just being on the playoff bubble for them, the injuries to their goaltender, the J.T. Miller-Elias-Pettersen drama that happened throughout the season. The whole Rick Tocket being connected to the Philadelphia Flyers as well, that's the pressure, the three teams that I feel the most pressure when it comes to making the playoffs or actually doing something in the postseason. So Armando, let me ask you, I want to dig into this. You say there's not a lot of pressure on the Panthers to repeat. Is that because of the sense of the injuries around the team right now?

Is it kind of, all right, we'll figure it out once everybody gets healthy? Or why are you saying there's not as much pressure to repeat? I'm curious. I would say that there's not a lot of pressure to repeat because it's the fact that they've already done it already for them. So it's not as much national pressure, maybe internal pressure there is for them because they have a lot of decisions coming up for what's going to happen with Aaron Eckblad and Sam Bennett. They're going to have to keep one of them, but they cannot keep both of them. So this might be, and the reason why Bill Zito went after the Brad Martians of the world, a backup goaltender in VTec, VT-Banichick, Nico Stern, who's a Stanley Cup champion with the Colorado Avalanche.

It's more internal pressure for them that they feel as opposed to national pressure for them. And I'm just mostly talking from a national perspective when it comes to that. As far as the Maple Leafs are concerned, here's a team that hasn't won a Stanley Cup since 1967 hasn't been to a final since 1967. Note to everybody, there were six teams in the NHL the last time the Toronto Maple Leaps won a Stanley Cup and now there's 32 teams. You talked about Marner and Tavares and sort of that window possibly closing on them. How big is the pressure? I mean, Tom, how tough would it be to be a Maple Leaf right now? well, I grew up 90 miles from that media market.

And I can tell you it's insane at the best of times. That is, I mean, even when the Blue Jays were winning World Series in the early 90s, that was nice. But all the talk, all the time was about Toronto, Toronto, Toronto, and maybe police, how are they going to do this? So the pressure is intense. And as you mentioned, so there's been a couple of interesting things along the road to this, right? remember how awful this John Tavares contract was in the beginning, according to everybody. And they decided to keep him, interestingly enough.

And I think he's been a very underrated part of it, but he had to deal with that pressure in the beginning. And then Austin Matthews, well, why isn't he scoring 174 goals this year? Well, he's got to deal with that pressure. Mitch Marner is always being traded. What's going on with him? They've signed some bad goaltending contracts, right? I mean, we remember the Jack Campbell fiasco.

like they have really struggled. And now they're like, oh, Joseph Fools the man, if he's healthy. So Toronto has so much pressure on it right now. And if you look at how bunched up in Armando, you know this, how bunched up the top of that division is. You know, Tampa could do it. Florida could do it. Leifes could do it.

Does it matter to them to win the division? I think there's even pressure to do that. But this team has got to show at some point they can hold a 3-1 series lead. They've got to show that they can score. or enough goals to get past in opposition when their goal tending isn't great. But they also conversely need great goal tending. And the defense is always under question. So, um, Gil to me, I mean, what isn't pressure in Toronto right now?

Probably out of all the markets in the NHL, the most pressure is on the leaves. And I think first place is important because you come in second place, you're going to face one of the three teams that are contending for that division. you come in first place, you're probably getting Ottawa in the first round and no disrespect to Ottawa. But they are not in the same class as of right now as Florida, Toronto, and Tampa Bay. But they have Allmark and if Allmark gets hot, he could steal you a series. They improved the deadline. They picked up a Dillon Cousins. Like Ottawa, Ottawa is sneaky better. Do not look past Ottawa.

I'm not looking past them, but if you give me a choice out of those four teams who I want to play, Ottawa would be my first choice. Yeah, there's, it's, it's almost no good opponent, right? Right. Yeah, well, it's the playoffs. Yeah, and it's crazy a week ago, even before the Panthers started falling behind in the division standings,

which we're recording this on a Monday. The thing is that of all the three teams fighting for the top, the one who has the biggest advantage is the Tampa Bay Lightning, actually, because they have no sets of back-to-backs the rest of the way, while both Toronto Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers have multiple back-to-backs the rest of the way. The Florida Panthers will have two sets just this in the next six days alone for them. So it's going to be a scratching and clawing to the finish.

And the thing is that these teams all play each other. The Panthers play the Leafs twice and the Tampa Bay Lightning once before the end of the regular season. So it's going to be earned. It's going to have to be earned for the top of the division for them. And then you're going to get those dreaded three points. games in there where it goes to overtime or it goes to a shootout and both teams end up with points. How about two teams in the Metropolitan Division that I sort of wanted to contrast? You have the Washington Capitals who have surprised everybody with their success this year.

And then the Carolina Hurricanes, who always seemed to be in the mix but never seemed to be able to finish and win the cup in recent years, how much pressure is on each of those teams as we head down the stretch. I feel like Washington's the ultimate example right now of we're not supposed to be here. So they, and they've done it the right way. They've built quietly. And it does help that Ovi is having the year he's having because he's chasing that record, right?

He has extra inspiration, even though it's personal and selfish. It's winning them hockey games. So everything's kind of aligning. They have two fantastic goaltenders. They've done a lot of good things. They have a great coach. They have a system. he's bought into. They're having a year that every time I look at the standings, I can't believe it.

But I don't think there's as much pressure on Washington because they're not supposed to be here. I think there is a ton of pressure on Carolina. That is a team that, let's be honest, every year, people nationally, not just locally are picking them maybe first, maybe second, yes, a deep cup run, look at this roster. How could we not make a difference? We went out and got this guy. We went out and got that guy. Things don't seem to work out. Players don't. don't stay, Jake Gensel. You know, I'm wondering what is going on in Carolina. Yeah, I'm with you on the Washington front.

Thankfully, they've been able to retool and also just be so great with developing players as well. Lane Hudson's brother, Cole Hudson, is in the system. They just signed Ryan Leonard to a three-year entry-level deal. So that transition for post-OV is actually going to be great, in my opinion, and also getting Jacob Chikrin to a long-term extension as the John Carlson future replacement it for them on their blue line. But when it comes to Carolina, aren't they exactly where we thought they were going to be

at the beginning of the season based on everything they lost? And then there was that quick spurt of getting Miko Ranted into the mix and then him not wanting there and then right back to square one when it came to that. So I think Carolina is exactly where we thought they were going to be. And the thing is, there are multiple points behind Washington, but multiple points ahead of New Jersey. So they're kind of like locked in and just in this, It just middle in when it comes to the Metropolitan Division.

I expect, and honestly, I would be surprised if they represented of the Metropolitan Division into Eastern Conference final based on the Capitol's lack of experience with their role players outside of Obetchkin and Tom Wilson. But I just think that when it comes to Carolina, as far as like winning at all, I don't, I don't see it. I don't see it for them. But they do have a lot of expiring contracts coming off the books. And it's mostly guys in their 30s that are going to.

be coming off Orloff, Brett Burns, Jordan Stahl. So they're going to be able to use their their cap space in order to get younger guys into the mix. So I think this was always going to be a gap year for the Carolina Hurricanes. We shall see how that plays out as we head down the stretch. A lot more to talk about here on the squad show. Other teams facing a lot of pressure or a little bit of pressure or maybe playing with house money.

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said, oh, the rebuild's over. We're going to be we're going to be in. And to think that even in the beginning of Michael N. Lauer's tenure as the owner of the Ottawa senators, they get fine due to the two mistakes that happened with the previous management for them. So it's a little bit of a setback there as far as like what they're able to use as far as trades for them. But also what they've been able to do with getting getting on the deadline with Dylan Cousins for Josh Norris. And then the moment that Josh Norris is traded, he gets hurt with the Buffalo Sabres. So you're thinking, and then they get a draft pick along with that. And then just up and down when it comes to the centers,

which is that's how you win in the NHL with Stutzla, Dylan Cousins. Shane Pinto is back after missing half the season due to his suspension as well. So I think that Ottawa is really built for at least winning a round or two, getting a Vesna goaltender. Jake Sanderson's a number one D there or at least getting on his way to being one. So I think it's a, it's a, this is exactly for Ottawa. It's like about, about time for them to, to make the playoffs.

And it's actually manifesting on the ice. And yeah, Montreal, maybe a year ahead of schedule for them. They, they're, they got guys bought in. Slavkovsky has, has definitely developed well, even though there were some bumps in the road for them. Lane Hudson, my goodness, leading, leading, all rookies and points. I know Macklin Salarini missed a little bit of time, but still, Being a leader as a defenseman, you got to be, you got, there, there's no clear cut winner of the Calder Trophy this year.

It's a little bit of a challenge of a race for that. So I think it's a really great situation that Montreal finds themselves in. And Lane Hudson, he was a second round pick. So that's another thing for how he's been able to carry that blue line, especially on, especially when they're on the power play, which how he can run it. It was not that long ago when we were looking at Montreal and saying, what a. reach to get Slavkovsky first. What are they going to do with Kerry Price? This was recent, right? A couple of seasons ago. We were wondering all these things and all this money that was hanging over their heads. And the pressure was still there on them to try to figure something out.

And then, of course, you remember in the bubble, they had an amazing run that was a little bit of luck, right? I mean, they brought their horseshoe. Good for them. But, you know, in the intervening years, it's interesting to see how Montreal is really in a hockey culture not known for patience, tried to exude patience and say, look, this is now a process for us. We need to rebuild this franchise and come back from all this stuff. And I do think, Armando, to your point, new ownership helps in certain cases with like an Ottawa or whatever. But if you're Montreal, I don't think there's any excuse in the world that fans can come up with, well, figure it out, you know, that you need to get this going right now.

But for whatever reason, I think it's a little crazy right now that they're all like, oh, yeah, no, eighth is good, eighth is good. And we're doing okay. We're doing okay. I've never seen this before. And so I think for those reasons and we talk about the young players developing and all of that, I think it's actually helping this team build confidence. Yeah.

Which is easy to shatter in Montreal. So I'm curious to see not this year, but next year and the year after that, what this team is going to be like because in this weird, maybe we're in a parallel hockey dimension, people are actually letting them grow into a team, which should be interesting. And then the other two teams in the East I wanted to touch on, I think Columbus is playing with House Money in their underdog quest for the playoffs. I think there's a lot of sentimentality behind that team, whereas Detroit is in what, year 27 of the Izer plan now without a playoff birth.

I exaggerate for effect. But is Eisman going to start feeling some heat if they don't make it? I feel so. And the thing is, like, Steve Eisman, he's one of those guys also who doesn't, when you ask him a player of how he feels about someone, he'll immediately shut you down. He doesn't, it's one of the quietest front offices in all the NHL when it comes to just information not leaking out of there.

But he's also not going to give you an expectation on how, on where he thinks a team is going to land. And that could be frustrating for fans and there may be a lack of transparency when it comes to the direction of the team. But, I mean, it's a beautiful arena that they have and they still haven't hosted a playoff game there. I mean, thankfully, they've gotten a little bump,

especially on special teams with Derek Lelon being back in the mix. But you got also find a way to win these games at five-on-five, which has been a real big struggle for the Detroit Red Wings. And I think for the Columbus Blue Jackets, it's just, it's not, the thing is for them is, eventually you run out of gas for, for, for, for, for them. And the, there is a big emotional boost, especially from the stadium series at the horseshoe, but it felt like they put a lot of that emotion there and it was hard for them to maintain it after. So, so that, I feel like for them, they're just running out of gas.

But hey, Zach Rensky's having a great season. Elvis Mersleekins is the number one goal tender, but I just think when it comes to the other teams in front of them, I think it's going to be too much of a hill to climb. I want to give Columbus credit for being a better team than I think people thought they were, especially in the wake of, of, you know, offseason tragedy and coming in. They could have easily fell right to the bottom and no one would have blinked an eye. Yeah. So I give them organizationally a ton of credit for even being where they are. But what I pegged them a playoff team, no. And I think they've, they've overachieved a bit this. year and it's something to build on. When it comes to Detroit, I think it's interesting that we

kind of cast an eye at teams that miss on signings and wonder, okay, and it seemed like Eiserman never missed before, right? But all of a sudden now in year 74, I think, Gil, not 72, of the Izer plan, we're at a point where it seems like you're missing on signing. you need to nail like a Villahuso. You know, things like that that you need to absolutely get right in order to advance the team and they're not. And it's setting you back sometimes a season when you don't get these things right. So that's why I think patience in Detroit is going to start to wear thin, even for an organizational

great like Steve Eiserman. And here's the other thing. The fact that as Armando pointed out, he shuts everybody down, doesn't tell you what he's thinking the whole thing shrouded in mystery. Guess who doesn't like that? Fan bases. They hate that. You know, it's just information to pours a vacuum.

It's like there's going to be talked then. There's going to be questions. There's going to be all the stuff. And when there's no answers coming from the top, people are going to invent their own. They are. And Steve Eisenman may not like the answers that people end up inventing. So we'll see how that plays out.

Little pressure, though, in Motown. right now for the Detroit Red Wings who have missed the playoffs. What do they make it? 25 years in a row and now they've missed it. I think it's seven or eight years in a row. So it's been a long time by Detroit Red Wing standards. All right, the Western Conference. Who feels the pressure out there?

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We've got three teams in the Central Division that are just absolutely contenders and fighting tooth and nail. You got Winnipeg, Dallas, Colorado. You add the whole Miko Ranton and drama in it and there's a little bit more juice, maybe even the normal to this rivalry, especially Dallas and Colorado. Let's start with the Jets. How much pressure is on this team, especially considering it could be some players not back next year in Winnipeg. Winnipeg is interesting, Gil, because they have been they've been under pressure since they got there, quite frankly. They were initially told, I think there was patience in years one through four,

which I remember when they came in. I was still with Nashville then. There was patience for them to get the ball rolling, get things going in it. Right about year five, people started to go, okay, it's time to win a cup. But that's the kind of pressure that's been there since then. This year, when you're having the regular season you're having,

you have, in my opinion, the best goal tender in the NHL. you have really good depth up front. You have a really nice defensive core. And look, we've talked about it, this whole show, teams face decisions every year on big time names. But this is the year of all years for Winnipeg to get it done because they seem to be able to handle anything thrown at them. They've gone about their business.

They are one of the best defensive teams in the league. They have pretty darn good five-on-five scoring. They have a pretty good special teams. Everything seems to be together right now. now. And I think that anything less than showing up in the Stanley Cup final and hoisting that cup is labeled a crushing disappointment. Yeah, it's funny because after Aaron Eck Black got suspended, and even after the St. Jones trade, I was looking at one of the defensemen that the Panthers could sign in the

offseason. One of them was Neil Pionk. He's going to be a free agent for the Winnipeg Jets. So that's also a player that could possibly be gone if they don't advance further in the postseason. And this is since 2018, since they made the Western Conference final, out in the first round, out in the first round. Second round sweep against Montreal Canadians in the shortened season, did not, didn't make the playoffs. Out in the first round against the Vegas Golden Knights after winning game one. And then last year, losing to the Colorado Avalanche in five games after that seven to six game one last year, which Conor Hallibuck even spoke publicly that he couldn't see the pucks like he did in the regular season. So there's a lot of that pressure, even another free agent for that. them is Nikolai Eilers. He's going to get quite the payday this coming off season.

So it's a, it's the bills coming due for the Winnipeg Jets for for them. So I think that there's a lot of pressure, especially with how they were able to start off this season. So I mean, they've created themselves a cushion. They're, they're going to get home ice all throughout the Western Conference playoff. So the whiteout is, it's, it's exciting to be a part of, but you got to produce some wins along with that. Guys, you know, what's interesting is color. Colorado's resurgence in Winnipeg's dominant season has allowed Dallas to slide right under the radar. The most exciting thing they did was ranting. And once the hubbub died down around that, they're right back under the radar again.

And Dallas is always, they worry me. They're sneaky. They're good. Again, one of the best goaltenders in the game. They're primed. And I think they will catch teams unaware, which is weird to say about the Dallas stars. I feel it's all going to depend on if Muir Hayskinin is even going to play. because there's also talk about whether he's actually going to play,

whether or not he's actually going to play in the first round. And I know that the Dallas Stars hasn't necessarily gotten, had the best records since they traded for Miko Ranton. But, you know, the playoffs are a whole different season. And my goodness, you've got to give a lot of credit to the Colorado Avalanche of how they've remade their roster from night one all the way to now, switching up their goaltending, getting a middle six center in Brock Nelson. and bringing back Eric Johnson, a seventh defenseman for them,

who was part of their Stanley Cup run just a few years ago. So Marty Natchez, who was having it exploding at the beginning of the season with the Carolina Hurricanes, which I want to make a correction from my first segment, Jordan Stahl's contract does not expire, by the way, this coming season. There's another season after that. But still, for Colorado to turn over their roster the way they did, they are one of those teams where you don't have to, I don't think they have to have home ice advantage in order to go into another barn and win consistently in the postseason.

One team you touched on, Armando, earlier was the Vancouver Canucks. Vancouver, Calgary, both right now on the outside looking in, but still in the hunt. Which team has more pressure and why? Well, six points behind for both for Vancouver, seven for Calgary. And once again, it's the Canucks with how they've got. one game away from the Western Conference final last season and all the drama. But honestly, even for the Calgary Flames, Jonathan Huberto has had a little bit of resurgence.

And Justin Wolfe, after winning two HAL MVP's, has been the greatest story for him. He's going to be in the Calder conversation as well. I don't think he wins it. But giving them a chance to win night in and night out. And just unfortunately, he's not getting the goal support that he needs there. But for Calgary, a little bit of pressure for them, at least to do something next year now that those guys,

Nazim Kodry and Jonathan Hubertow are getting on the older side. For them, it's just really about surrounding those guys with more of a scoring punch. So I don't think they make, I don't think they end up making it this year. But they were playing a lot better than expected, but I never expected for the flames to bottom out neither. I got news for you guys.

The West is set. Yeah. It's not going to change. And Vancouver, schedule does not allow them to get back in, even if they suddenly found the recipe. But Vancouver's going to melt down. Mark my words. In two weeks, this team is going to melt down.

They already are internally. And externally, the pressure cooker is finally going to blow. So, yeah, the pressure is on them, but it's too late. And you've got to give credit to St. Louis for what they've done. I mean, without Colton Pereko for a while there, they've been able to still find a way to win. I mean, just the amount of guts it took for the management of the blues to put those offer sheets for Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway for them. And then they've developed into the players who could help a team that's on the playoff bubble for them. Because even going into last off season, the talk for St. Louis's blue line was look at all these defensemen who have like no trade or no move clause.

But if you look at their Puckpedia page, a lot of those no move clauses go to modified no trade clauses in the coming season. So they're able to still transition and retool things for them coming up. And with the scoring punch of Jordan Kairu, the Speedster, and Robert Thomas, a playmaker, I think they're a dangerous team. And let's give our flowers to Jordan Bennington, who we've doubted so much, even before Four Nations, even though he's a Stanley Cup champion and still able to, to, perform when the lights are brightest. And as of right now, they're going to be that team who's going to go to Winnipeg for

round one. And I don't think it's going to be, for the expert analysis, analysts who will pick the series, I don't think it's going to be a clean sweep of people just picking Winnipeg. I think that St. Louis could possibly sneak up on them. Two teams that seem to face each other every year, who has more pressure? The L.A. Kings to finally beat the Edmonton Oilers, with the Edmonton Oilers to finally win Stanley Cup. Oilers have more pressure. It's not even close because the Oilers are supposed to win the cup this year, remember? And they're nowhere near. They're not good enough this year. I'm sorry,

Edmonton. But the Kings, I don't think it's so much the pressure to finally beat the Edmonton Oilers. It's the pressure to finally show everybody that you're the team that you've been selling to your fan base that you are. So Los Angeles is better than I thought they'd be this year. but Edmonton, who I would not want to be in that locker room after a first round loss. Yeah, and the injuries aren't helping for them right now. Stuart Skinner, Leon Drysadle and Connor McDavid, even though Leon Drysadle is closer to 50 and getting there and helping carry that team for them. But this is LA's best chance to do it. They barely lose at home.

They're likely going to have home ice in the first round. So if it benefits any team, it's going to be the LA Kings. And they also own the tiebreaker in regulation wins with nine games left for both of them. So this is their best chance. If it's not now, then when for the LA Kings? And Ante Coupatar is aging like fine wine. Darcy, look at a win-win situation for a trade in Pierre Lou Dubois and Darcy Kemper. Now look at what's going on with both teams in just a better situation for them.

And you got to give Rob Blake a lot of credit for admitting to a mistake from signing that contract and then being able to make up for his mistake before it got even worse for them. So credit to the L.A. Kings for making that happen. And also, there is more pressure on Edmonton, but we'll see if it finally manifests for the L.A. Kings in a round one with this is their best chance. going to be a fun stretch drive, no question about that. And of course, we will have coverage of it across the Locked-on NHL Network. I want to thank everyone for making the squad show your first listen today. For your second listen, check out the Locked-on NHL podcast, bringing you the daily league-wide stories that matter with the local coverage you love from Lockdown. Find Locked-on NHL on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts.

I want to thank you, Tom, and you, Armando, for joining me. today. I'm Gil Martin. Have a great day, everybody, and thanks for listening to and watching the NHL Squad Show.