Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Opening up the mailbag part 2! Plus, Tristan Jarry is ready for a revenge tour!

Episode Date: July 15, 2023

Hunter wraps up the mailbag discussion during today's episode of the Locked On Penguins podcast and is joined by first-time guest Patrick Damp to also wrap up Season 4 of the show. They discuss questions regarding backup plans for the Penguins if they're not able to get Erik Karlsson, and that's where Hunter brings up Troy Terry, even though he's an RFA. He's exactly the type of player that Kyle Dubas would go after, even though he's not another defenseman. Hunter also takes questions regarding if this is still a playoff team if Karlsson doesn't get dealt to them, and even takes a question about a hypothetical Jake Guentzel for William Nylander swap. They also get into what their favorite Penguins games that they've attended, plus which is the best goal of the Sidney Crosby era to date before ending the show with some Tristan Jarry talk.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BirddogsGo to birddogs.com/LOCKEDONNHL or enter promo code LOCKEDONNHL for a free Yeti style tumbler with your order. You won’t want to take your birddogs off we promise you.AG1If a comprehensive solution is what you need from your supplement routine, then try AG1 and get a FREE 1-year supply of Vitamin D AND 5 free AG1 Travel Packs with your first purchase. Go to drinkAG1.com/NHLNETWORK.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Happy Friday to everyone out there. Today is part two of the mailbag opening up after you all sent me questions on Thursday. And for today's episode, I have a little bit of help with that regard. You're Locked on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network. Your team every day. Hello, welcome back to another episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast.

I am your host Hunter Hodes. I'm going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes follow the shows Twitter at Eleanorhospanglings. And of course, thank you all so much for making this your first lesson slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. I have a special guest for today's episode. This is this first time being on the Lockdown Penguins podcast,

and that is none other than Patrick Damp of KDKA and one of the co-hosts of the Dying Alive podcast with Jesse Marshall and Mike Darnay. They also had Sean Gentile on quite often. One of my favorite Penguins podcast out there. They started doing that show well before Locked on Penguins was the thing. But Pat, I figured I would bring you on to discuss some of the other questions that the listeners brought in today. Yeah, man, I'm excited.

You know, we talk a lot on Twitter and directly about just the penguins and life in general. So I'm excited to join the show as both, you know, one of your friends and a listener of the show. Appreciate you always listening. I appreciate everyone out there listening to. slash watching the Locked on Penguins podcast. So let's dive into some of the other questions here. Remember, I'm going to try to get to all of the remaining questions, but if I don't get to yours, it is not a slight on you. I just had so many questions come in, whether it was YouTube, Twitter, DMs, Instagram, text messages. I'm trying to answer as many as I can.

The first one here comes from M. Wallach, and the next two after this are kind of similar. so I'll go into them in just a second, but he asks Hunter, in terms of backup Eric Carlson options, any of the reports are true about trading one to two first-round picks along with former first-round picks and P.O. Joseph and Owen Pickering, should they be able to land someone else? It's pretty big. I would say so, yes, but you're probably going to have to attach more than just a first-round picker to an Owen pickering, a P.O. Joseph, if you're probably going to have to attach a pretty decent roster player that's not Jeff Petrie or McCall Grinland. And that honestly goes in hand with one of the next questions here, where from Scott the Oreo,

who asks, aside from the rumored Carlson trade, who else do you expect Dubless to target in a trade this summer? I can give you my answer, Pat. And that is Troy Terry of the Anaheim Ducks. Restrictory free agent right now made less than $2 million this past season. A little bit of a late bloomer in 2021, 2022 had 37 goals. 67 points in 75 games this past season, 23 goals, 61 points in 70 games. His underlines are insane this past season, ranked in the 87th percentile for 5-on-5 offense,

98th percentile for transition, and the 95th percentile for 5-on-5, even strength defense. The ducks don't have to move him, even though he's an RFA, but they'll probably want a King's ransom for him if they do. But this is a player who's 25 years old. It'll cost a lot, but if you can somehow get him on the penguins, he can play up and down your lineup on the right wing. That is someone who I would trade quite a lot for, to say the least. So outside, you know, the Carlson stuff, that is someone who I think fits the mold of a new trade.

What do you think of that and just the other question as well? Can I treat this like high school and just copy your paper? Because that's a great answer. Sure. Another one that I've had in mind, especially since last season when the trade talk for him picked up, I still like the name Jacob Chikrin. I don't know if Ottawa was going to be willing to move him so soon. I doubt it too. But, you know, I just started watching the show Tulsa King. And he has a great line in that where he says the answer is always no until you ask. So that's a guy that I think if you're not going to get Carlson, he's a good target number two. He's obviously not Eric. Carlson, who is other than maybe Chris LaTang and a handful of other players. But he's a guy, I think, could fill the same kind of need, put more depth on your blue line, giving an offensive push. And I think that's really the biggest thing right now that they need from the blue line is more of an offensive push.

We've talked about the bottom six. I've written about it for Penguins' perspectives on KDK TV that the bottom six was the biggest glaring weakness last year, not even just because they got caved in defensively. they just didn't add anything offensively. So you can take some pressure off your bottom six if you can get some production from the back end, which is why I think Carlson should be the main target and the guy that they should really push all in to get, whether it's just a simple trade with the sharks and trade in cap space or getting in a third team to retain some more salary or pick up some other assets that make San Jose happy.

but yeah, I agree with you. If they can open up the vault to get a Troy Terry, sign me up for that immediately because then not only do they have more offensive depth, they just have a lot more scoring punch up front. And if you've been a fan of the Penguins since the 80s, that's what they're built on, is scoring goals. And they don't win two-one games like the 90s Devils. They'll beat you 7-5 if they have to.

And we as Penguins fans love that. I keep making the joke if the calls and trade goes through, Pat. Every game, 8-7, 9-8, 7-6, 6-5. Just take everyone back to the 1980s if they go and get Carlson. I had a lot of Carlson questions for part one of the mailbag on Thursday, ranging from, oh, like, does this make them a contender who you have to give up? So I've already dove into that. But, yeah, in terms of backed up options for him, there's really not much out there.

I mean, I've been asked about Matt Dumbah. I think he's kind of just a little, his underlines aren't what they used to be anymore. don't think he brings much of an offensive punch anymore. Noah Hanifin. I don't think the penguins have room for him because they just signed Ryan Graves. I don't think he's going to play on his offside. And just moving on to the next question, funny enough, it contains Eric Carlson. And it's kind of similar to the Troy Terry answer I had, but this comes from the boss baby. Do you think that if the penguins don't land Carlson, that Dubus could attempt to put together a package for William Nealander to get more scoring to allow a player like Brian Russ to move to the bottom six?

Well, Troy and Terry would obviously do that. You can move Russ down to your third line and that will be pretty good. And I'll have more on Brian Russ a little bit later on in this episode with Pat. But William Nealander, yes, that would make sense. But that all comes down to what's going to happen there. I understand there's a lot of history with William Nealander and Kyle Dibis. Dubis was the general manager in Toronto when Neelander was kicking butt. He had 40 goals in 87 points this past season.

He's one heck of a player. but the Maple Leaf's priority right now is to re-sign him. They don't want to lose him. And I think a trade is the last resort. Like that's something they do if there's no deal to be made at all. And those two sides are so far apart that they're like, okay, we have to get something for him before he walks at the end of next season. But what do you think about that potential situation of getting loose?

Willie Nealander. And yes, everyone, I know. It is silly season. It's July 14th. Just bear with us here. Yeah, exactly. I made that caveat in a column, too, where it's July.

We're looking for everything and anything to talk about for the NHL and for the penguins. I think the Neelander thing's far-fetched. It's just along with the fact that I don't think even with new management in place in Toronto, they're not interested in losing him. And the other thing I look at there is the rumors are he wants somewhere in the ballpark of $10 million. And I love William Nealander. I have been vocal about the fact that I think what Dubas put together in Toronto and his time there was outstanding. It's just a cursed franchise.

It's to the point where it's almost silly why they can't win. you know, it's one thing or another. But I just don't think they have the cap space. And I also just, I think Dubus wants to move on from that era of his career. He stuck, I think it's something he learned. He stuck by his guys in Toronto, and rightfully so. They all produced. They were all elite level players and still are.

But this is a new chapter for Kyle Dubas. He doesn't want to just run it back. And I know he got Nolachari, but that's not a guy that he had for a lot. long time in Toronto. That was a deadline pickup last year. And overall, I mean, if tomorrow you said they found a way to swing a trade to get William Nealander, I wouldn't be tweeting about how it was stupid. I'd be over the moon about it because that's a great addition. But I just don't see, I don't see a scenario where he can be traded. It's like you said, that's, you know, DefCon 1 in Toronto. They can't come to a deal. There's so far apart that it's just a toxic

relationship. And I just don't see that. I think he loves being a Toronto Maple Leaf. He's one of their core three. I don't really count Tavares because he was brought in as a free agency signing. So similar to Crosby, Malkin-Latang, those are the guys, you know, Matthews, Neelander, those guys are, that's who they're putting the chips on. And he's probably not going to be outside of the blue anytime in the foreseeable future. I also don't think so. I'm going to call a little bit of an audible just for the, end of this first segment because there is another William Nealander question that I wanted to get to. And this comes from Caleb C.

What would you think of a potential one-for-one swap of Jake Gensel for William Neal? He says, I know it's very unlikely, which, you know, Pat and I just discussed, but I don't know if Neelander is going to resounder beliefs in both of the free agents after this year. I feel like Neelander could be a bit better offensively than Jake Gensel. And while that's an unpopular opinion, I think, I would take the risk. that is a really fun topic to discuss in the middle of July, Gensel for Nielander. My take on that is I don't think I would do it

because I think Jake is the better goal score. I do think Nielander is the better playmaker. He has been beat there and it's funny. You look at their numbers, just looking next to each other, Jake Gensel in 453 games, 197 goals, 414 points. And then for Nielander, in 521 games, 177 goals in 430 points.

That's very similar production right there. But as I said, Jake is he better goal score. I think in a vacuum, I'd maybe say yes. But in terms of real life, what we're talking right now, I would not do it because Jake is the better goal score. And because this is maybe a little lesser reason, I don't think you want to make Sidney Crosby mad going into the final couple of years of this contract

because it's very evident how much he loves playing with Gensel. Would that trade interest you at all? Yes and no. I like the thought process because they are very similar. You would get a little bit younger, which is a pet peeve of mine with this fan base. So you've got to get younger, you got to get younger. And everybody leaves out the second half of the sentence,

which is if you're going to get younger, you have to get better. Yeah, it's a young man's league now, guys in their. 20s are really starting to take over. But you have to get better. And I think that would be if you were replacing Jake Gensel, if the penguins were to walk away from Jake Gensel and not resign them and the leaves do the same with Nielander, I can see it. But at the same time, I do think Jake Gensel, not only is a better goal score, I think he

just plays a better game that's suited to Sidney Crosby's wing. I say it all the time. You can talk about how, oh, Crosby made this guy, that guy, whatever, better. But playing with an elite talent is a skill within itself. You have to know where to be. You have to be able to keep up. You have to be able to play the game on a similar level as that elite talent. And Jake Gensel, I say it about him all the time.

He is a true coach's kid when it comes to a player. You rarely see him out of position. And he has the one thing that despite being a coach's kid, you can't teach. He knows where to be to score. You either have that or you don't. And I'm not saying Neelander doesn't. He absolutely does. He's one of the more electric goals scores in the National Hockey League. But I just think overall Jake Gensel's the better player. He's a better 200-foot player. I know we had the debate after the Rangers series and the Islanders series that, oh, that he's too small. He's too small. You watch the way he plays. He plays well above his size.

Give me a break. Absolutely. I'm with you on that. And just, I think overall he's the better player, and I would take him maybe not on a longer term deal, just considering his age and where the penguins are as a franchise. But all in all, I'm sticking with Jake Gensel. I would as well. And honestly, Pat, I think Gensel is going to be cheaper on this next deal than Neelander. You discussed it.

You've seen rumors that he could get upwards of $9.5, $10 million per season. Nealander, that is. Gensel, if the penguins can lock him up at, say, eight times eight, eight times eight point five, heck even eight times nine, I would think that's a win because he's going to ask for quite a bit on this next contract and he's going to be well worth it. Well, I think, too, it's going to be very similar to Brian Rust in the sense that Brian Rust last year could have very easily hit the open market. I think he understood the advantageous situation that he was in playing for Pittsburgh,

having the chance to play with Sidney Crosby and of Denny Malkin. And that's not to say that he wouldn't do well elsewhere, but he complements those two really well. And that increases his production as opposed to learning a whole new system with a whole new center on a whole new team. So I think it would be a similar thing where he understands that he's going to get to play with an elite center, at least as long as they remain elite,

and that's going to increase his production if he stays. I would agree with that as well. And even with Sidney Crosby getting a bit older, his production really hasn't dropped off that much. And let's pray that it doesn't for this season because the Penguins are going to need him more than editor if they want to get back. So the playoffs, and speaking of Brian Rust,

we'll discuss a question regarding him in the second segment. But before we discuss that, our next partner is AG1, the daily foundational nutrition supplement that supports whole body health. I drink it literally every day, usually between 8.30 in the morning and 9.30 of the morning or when I just wake up and I usually drink it right as I'm making my coffee for each day. All great athletes have one thing in common.

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All right. We're back here in this episode of the Locktown Penguins podcast. I am Hunter Hodes. That is Patrick Damp of KDKA and Dying Alive. So Pat, Pat, speaking of Brian. Russ, as I tease heading into our second segment here, Lenny 9577 wants to know, do you think Brian Russ is expendable at the deadline if he plays similar to this past season? And that one is a bit interesting. I understand that Russ was not that good this past year, 20 goals, 46 points. Before this season, there was a three-year stretch where he scored at a 35 goal, 74-point pace.

It's very good. And the numbers he had that season, he scored well. over 20 goals in 55 to 60 games. He missed over 20 plus games during those seasons. This past season that was able to stay healthy wasn't the same. But I think part of that was due to his shooting percentage absolutely cratering this season. He only shot 8% at 5 on 5. The two seasons prior, 18%, 18.3%. His goals per 60 rate this past season, 0.68. His total assist per 60 this past season, 3.08, compared. to 3.49 the previous season.

So all of his numbers went down. It honestly looks like it's more of an outlier than what's to come. I expect Rust to bounce back this upcoming season. But if he doesn't, I do think you may have to look at potential other options, either moving him down the lineup or moving him out of Pittsburgh. But the tricky thing is, Rust has a full no move clause on that contract. Like he dictates where he goes for this upcoming season, and that may prove to be a bit hard to navigate if the penguins think that they can't get as much value out of him as they thought they would be. Well, you said it. Last year felt like an outlier.

It's that the way you explained it, in my opinion, is how you quantify luck to an extent. He, the puck just would not go in. He did mostly all the same things he's done over the past few seasons in regards. to his offensive play, the pucks just didn't go in. And that was kind of the story of the penguins last year in general. They just, the pucks weren't going in for them. I always say with players like Rust, I get worried when the chances stop coming. When they stop generating chances, then I'm worried.

I'm not too worried about Brian Rust. I also don't think he's someone you want to move on from just yet. Plus, it's a hockey Twitter joke. people say it all the time. We can't just do trade all our bad players for all their good players. And if Brian Rust falls off a cliff, unfortunately, he falls into that category. It's why I was a little bit disappointed at the Kyle Dubas Presser when he said there's more creative ways to move a player than a buyout in regards to Michael Granlin because he's no shot at him for that. But he's just, he's making too much in regards to his production.

So that's going to be really hard to move. But back to Rust, I think it's going to come back this year. Maybe not to the same level just because of the aging curve. But last year, just shooting percentage plummets. The pucks aren't going in, but he's creating chances. So long as he's a positive in driving offense for the Penguins, he's doing his job. That's what he's here to do.

He's here to be a good play driving winger that chips in 20, 25, hopefully 30 goals a season. And as long as he's playing the game that he's played, the last few years. I'm not too worried. Hopefully it rebounds, but with a no move, too, it shows that they've committed to this player. And even under new ownership, it does feel like one of the things the Penguins have staked their claim on is when they have their guys, they commit to them. They don't throw the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak. They don't pull a Vegas, which you can debate whether that's good or bad. But I think Rust is a guy that they're going to hold on to, and he's due for a pretty big bounce back season.

I sure hope so, and it looked like he was taking this past season really personally. He could tell when he was going to the bench, he was really frustrated with himself, especially not even just scoring, but on the penalty kill, he even said, like, I'm not doing my job out there. It looked like he was having a hard time, and I'm really excited to see him, hopefully have a much better year. This year, even though he is getting a bit up there in age. shifting gears a little bit to the next question.

This has to do with Drew O'Connor. The Black Coup from Penguins Twitter asks, why does Mike Sullivan want Drew O'Connor running wing versus being a center after how well he performed during the World World Championships? So he had eight points in 10 games, 14 USA, during the World Championships during the Stanley Cup playoffs, was one of their best players, to be honest. And he's someone that I'm really excited about heading into the season.

If you're asking me, I think it's because the Penguins want their body. two centers to have more of a defensive focus and then maybe on the wing that's where more of the offense I think per se could come from now do I agree with that I'm like kind of indifferent I don't think Lars Eller should be the team's third line center I've been discussing that way too often on the show but that's where I think Mike Sullivan and Kyle Dubis are going with this bottom six. They want two defensive-minded centers outside of Sydney Crosby and Gini Malkin and then on the wings you can have someone like Drew O'Connor to drive you some

offense. Maybe someone like Alex Nielander if he makes the team. If you can get 12 to 15 goals from Noel Chari, that would obviously be great. But that's how I look at it personally got. I also think there needs to be the caveat of the disparity that happens in the world championships. the best players in the world are still playing in the NHL in the Stanley Cup playoffs when that time comes. You know, granted, there's years like 14 and 15 when someone like Sidney Crosby gets knocked out of the playoffs in the first round and jumps over to play for Team Canada. But the competition is a little bit lesser at the world championships, which gives players like Drew O'Connor a chance to shine. I also think that he's a good player to have in your lineup. he reminds me of a younger Brian Rust in the sense that he's a Swiss Army knife.

You can play him at wing. You can play him in the bottom six. For a short period of time, if you need him at center, you can play him at center. And he's another player that I have marked this year to take a big jump, just because he's been effective when he's played for the Penguins. And, you know, I think having him on a wing is the best place to have him, A, just because it takes a little bit off his plate. And like you said, the Penguins do want.

some defensive accountability from their third and fourth line centers. You think back to the back-to-back championships in 16 and 17, Nick Benino wasn't a guy who lit the league up offensively. He chipped in when he needed to, but he was a great two-way player. The same could be said for Matt Cullen, same deal. Guy who wasn't an offensive juggernaut, but chipped in from time to time, but was a great 200-foot player for what he brought to the team.

and I think that's kind of where I don't totally differ from you with the Lars Eller thing. I do think it's a bit of a risk, but I do think for what the penguins try to do, the system Sullivan tries to play. Eller will suit that, will be suited for that a little bit better. So I think Drew O'Connor on the wing is the right place to have them. And as we've seen with Mike Sullivan, outside of a Crosby line or maybe even a Malkin line, he's not afraid to put his lines in a blender. So if Drew O'Connor's playing well on the wing,

maybe he gets a shot with Malkin. And if he keeps producing, why not? If it's not broken, don't fix it. Yeah, the thing with that, and I haven't seen people argue for O'Connor to be in the top six. I think D.K.'s daily shot he has, he's been riding that train for a while about O'Connor playing in the top six. I understand if maybe you need him there for a few games,

but I want to see him score a bit more in the bottom six before I'm like, okay, let's take more of those training wheels off per se and let's have you run with some of the big boys up there. And I'm getting Mulk and Riley Smith or Carver Cal, all those other guys. But I am. It's an 82 game season. Like there's going to be a stretch in December or January when it's dark at 5 o'clock. We're all wanting to go to bed come 6 o'clock. We don't want to watch a game against the Arizona coyotes on a Thursday in January.

And in the, in that stretch of season, that, That's a guy who can provide a spark when you're down in the dumps just in the doldrums of the season. And I think that's why they're going to keep him up this year and the role that he's going to play on the team. I agree. And I keep saying this too. Training camp is going to be fun seeing him go up against players like Andreas Janssen, Vinnie Hinojaroza, Alex Neelander. Probably going to be one of the best four competitions we've seen in quite some time. One or two more here before we go to our final commercial break.

RDPW Life asks Hunter, do you think the Penguins are still good enough to make the playoffs, even if they don't get Eric Carlson since the East is so tough? I got a similar question for the Thursday edition of the mailbag, and I'm going to say yes, I do think the Penguins are a playoff team heading into the season, even if they don't get Eric Carlson, because if they don't get Carlson, Dubus is not going to be done no matter what. I don't think the team that you see here on July 14th, is going to be the team that you see on October 10th when the Penguins face off

against the Chicago Blackhawks in the first game of the regular season. I think the teams below them have not done enough to leapfrog the penguins. And I'm also, again, not a huge believer in the Islanders. I love I love Elias Sorokin, Matt Barzell, Anders Lee, Pelican, Pellick, and Poulock, but I mean, but a whole rat outflow in there, too. But I don't like the rest of their depth, to be honest. I don't think Louie Merello has done that bit of a job. So I do think this is a playoff team right now, even if they don't get Carlson,

but it'll still be a pretty good race in the Eastern Conference. Simply just because of the improved bottom six, even though it's kind of marginal, that was their Achilles heel last year. They just did not have an effective bottom six whatsoever. I think that pushes them into playoff contention. Plus, like you said, the disparity between the, the, the big teams in the metro and the bottom teams in the metro, it's so deep right now. The thing I always think about the Islanders is for as great, and I don't want to downplay it,

as great as the general manager as Lou Lamarillo is and was, he is still a little bit behind the times right now with the Islanders. The league is trending towards a much more up-tempo, offensive pace kind of league, and he's staking his team on a great goaltender in Sorokin, who genuinely is becoming one of, if not the best goalie in the National Hockey League. But he doesn't, like eventually you do have to score. You can play one-nothing hockey all you want, but if you give up a goal, are you going to be able to get the second or the third?

And looking at the Islanders roster, I don't see it. Unfortunately, for us Penguins fans, Daniel Breyer has, has finally said the dreaded R word in Philadelphia with the flyers and rebuild. So they're down at the bottom. Columbus, I don't know what they're doing at all, but they're in no world a playoff team. They have a GM who is making moves to save his job. Pretty much. And then from there, it's the devils, the Rangers, the hurricanes, the penguins, and we'll see.

And I think the East right now is an arms race. And that's why I think the Carlson deal needs to happen because if you're going to go out, go out shooting. So try to get them, beef up your blue line. And like we said in the first segment, they don't ask how you win games. They just ask how many you win. So if they win every game, 8 to 7, 7 to 6, 9 to 5, who cares? Just win. Yes.

at the end of the day, any kind of win is a win, of course. And one in the show here with a opposite question about Eric Carlson. This comes from Gear the Armands, I believe, is how you say it. I apologize if I somehow messed that up. But he says, Hunter's, let's assume Eric Carlson does come in. Is this team ready to win another Stanley Cup? If not, what else is needed? And can you name some players who might be available and can fit that need?

this is so tough to answer because yes Carlson I think does bring them closer to a Stanley Cup but no I still don't think they're all the way there we discussed Troy Terry a little earlier on as someone who could really just transform this forward group he's 25 years old he'll get a bunch of money you'd have to figure that out cap wise maybe you can bring in someone like a Tomas tatar who is still unsigned he's a 17 to 20 goal score you can put him in your bottom six for some reason he is he gets going around by all these other teams and I don't understand because he's a very good middle six player and I just don't get it. You have Pew Suter who is still out there, really good player on the penalty kill,

really good bottom six score. I think that makes sense. So to answer your question, I think with a couple other moves, they would be ready to be a Stanley Cup contender. I don't think Carlson gets them quite there, but he gets them. them close. I try my hardest not to do Stanley Cup predictions just because I always call hockey organized chaos. It's a sport that is entirely unpredictable. And that's not even just going into what happened this past postseason. Florida barely sneaks in. They get two wins from the

Stanley Cup. Boston runs rough shot over the league and then loses in the first round. And if nothing else, Florida shows us, showed us this year. And there's been a ton of examples in the past five, ten years of just get in. Because if you get in, anything can happen. And I do think Eric Carlson puts them closer to cup contention. I land mostly on your side of, I don't think that's the silver bullet that makes them cup contenders. Because again, you go back and look at the back-to-backs in 16 and 17, they could roll out three. and a half lines. Their fourth line wasn't juggernaut style, but that HBK line might as well have been

the first line. They didn't have a first line those two years. So they're not deep enough at forward. I don't think to be true Stanley Cup contenders. And we kind of saw that with Florida. Similar to what I was saying about the Islanders. They had a really good defense. They had a great goaltender, but they didn't have anybody who could get them over the hump goal-wise. So you have to have more of an offensive punch and they don't really have that right now. Yes. I definitely do agree with that. And I like some of the changes to the bottom six.

They're definitely going to be a lot better defensively this upcoming season. But still, we like to see maybe a 16, 17, 18 goal score down there. That's for sure. But that will wrap up this second segment. Coming up to end the show, we have just a few more questions to round out the mailbag. Plus, we'll dive into how Tristan Jari looks ready to prove a lot. lot of people wrong this upcoming season based on some of his comments made to the local media on Thursday. So stick around for that coming up right after this. All right, I'm back here in this

episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am Hunter Hodes. That is Patrick. Am, Patrick. All right, Pat, we're just going to roll through these final three questions here. Benfeller asks Hunter, what is the best Penguins game you ever attended? Oh, man. I'm still heartbroken to this day that I have not been to a playoff game at PPG Panthers. arena. It makes me very upset. Same with now in an arena. I was supposed to go to game five of the 2013 Bruins Penguin Series. Thanks a lot, Patrice Bergeron. Thanks a lot, everyone up in Boston. That was, I had just gotten out of school for the summer. I was a freshman high school that year. Oh God, I'm so old. I was watching Game 4. And when they lost, I had like, I'll fully admit.

I definitely had a couple tears running down my eyes as someone who was 16 years old. And no, I don't do that now. Obviously, I'm way too old for that crap. And my mom came downstairs so upset. And she goes, yeah, we were hiding from you the entire time. We were going to take you up and you were going to go to game five months. I was, well, I was, she kept denying that they got tickets. But yeah, sure not, they got tickets.

But the best game I ever been to what the best game I ever have been to so far, December 19th, 2018, Penguins Capitals in Washington. to one final, but you wouldn't know it based off how many chances each team had. This was at the peak of the Penguins Capitals rivalry of this era. And it was so much freaking fun. Going to the steps after the Penguins win that game, who won, seeing Marcus Pedersen dive to save a goal. I believe Lars Eller shot it with about six minutes left in the third period.

seeing the Caps fans just all around me getting so upset whenever Cindy Crosby would do something. It was such a fun game to go to. I also went with one of my best friends who was still one of my best friends to this day. And that, I think, is still the best game I've been to. I easily could say the game in March of 2017, when the Penguins came down from three goals to beat the Sabres. They scored five on-inser goals to win that game.

Or I could say this past season when Evgeny Malkin stole the puck from Center Ice and won the game against the Capitals. That was obviously Anthony Mantha with a horrible turnover. That saved the season for a time. I could have said that, but I'm going to go December 19th, 2018, Penguin's Capitals. Pat, which one's yours? We were both at that game where he stole the puck from Mantha.

That was a fun atmosphere that day. That game was fun. For me, oh, this is tough, because I have somehow been lucky to, like, end up at some of the most fun games. to speak. But I would have to say my favorite was probably game two of the Eastern Conference final in 2017, where they beat Ottawa 1-0 on a Phil Kessel goal. And I don't know if I've ever been in a louder stadium or arena in my life when that goal went in. Because if you

remember that game, the Penguins played very well. They were all over the senators. that game. It wasn't a one-nothing stalemate, even though that's how Ottawa played that postseason. The Penguins barraged the senators that whole game. And when Kessel finally broke through, it was just the cap getting let off. A runner up for me, though, because I can't really count it as a game, was that same playoff, the cup winning game in 2017. I went to PPG Paints Arena to watch it on the scoreboard with Mikey and Bob as the in arena MCs. And same deal. Like one nothing game, well, two nothing because it's hanging up the

empty netter, but just almost 60 minutes of scoreless hockey and Patrick Hornquist scores the cup winning goal. And that place just went bonkers. And the way they set that up too was they treated it like the game was being played there. So when Hornquist scores, the goal horn goes off, all the animations. start playing. Ryan Mill comes over and announces the goal. So that was a ton of fun. But favorite game I've been to was 2017 Eastern Conference Final game two.

I remember watching that at home with my mom. And she went absolutely nuts when Kessel scored that goal because he kept having a fit on the bench towards Evgeny Malkin. Chris Kunas was just laughing, drinking the water every five seconds. The famous gift. Yes. That game was awesome. It just got the stench out of game one because I think the Penguins should have won game one as well. A couple more here. Theo Belmont asks, hey, Hunter, love the show. What is your favorite single goal during the Sydney Crosby era? He says his is Talbot's second goal in Game 7 of the 2009-Sum the Cup final to make it 2-0 at the time. This is such a good question because you could name probably about 50, 60 goals of this era. I'm going to go, though, the, just the goal.

2009, Cynley Cup final, game four, the two-on-one with Crosby and Malkin. When Malkin dishes over the pass, it gets blocked, dishes it over again. Crosby scores past Ozga. That came right after Jordan Stahl tied the game on a short-handed goal. Right when the Penguins scored that one, I said to myself, and I was, I was only 11 at the time, but I remember it's like it was yesterday. I was like, okay, this feels different because the way the igloo was so loud, the way the fans were outside, just getting riled up at the watch screen,

seeing the way the team had that swagger right after that goal was scored. And they had that swagger, honestly, throughout that run. But especially after that goal was scored, I was like, they're not losing this. They're going to win this series. even after they lost 5-0 at the Joe in game 5, I still had that confidence in that belief. That, I think, is my favorite goal of this era because I was like, okay,

we're about to see something really special, and that goal just blew the roof off of Mellon Arena. We could do a whole episode together of favorite goals in this era. Mine, I think, will always be, it's the 2014-15, no, 2013-14 season, Evgeny Malkin against Tampa Bay, where he gets the puck at the defensive blue line and walks through all five Tampa Bay players

and then just goes five-hole on, I think it was Brian Elliott was the goalie that year. I can't totally remember, but it was so reminiscent of a Mario Lemieux goal to where he just got the puck, picked up speed, and realized, oh, that's right. I'm not only bigger than everyone. I'm better than everyone on this ice. So I'm just going to score.

And it was that season for Malkin, 13, 14. I always say this about him that season because it was a phrase one of my old hockey coaches used. That season was just a vulgar display of dominance from Malkin that season. and that goal punctuated it so well. That was, it was actually on Dwayne Rollison, I think was it that season. And it might have been, was it 2013, 14, or was it 2012? I think that might be the one you're thinking of it. You might have done it twice.

You're right. It was 2012 because Sid was still out with the concussion and Gino was coming back from knee surgery. He won the heart that year. Yeah, because that was the year that Crosby was still. in flux on whether or not he'd come back. And Malkin kind of said like, okay, publicly, basically came out and said, all right, I'm going to carry the team until Sid gets back. And yeah, you're right.

That was 12.13. Yes. And that was. Because I always delineated like concussion, lockout. Because I can never remember if that one was post or pre lockout. Thanks, Gary. Yeah, I remember the goal was in 20. 12 and he just knife through everyone like it was nothing.

Dwayne Rollis and poor guy couldn't do anything to stop in. Yeah, that was the year that he won the heart. But finally, to wrap up the mailbag send before entering the show with some Tristan Jari talk, Alan Ciotr wants to know which game or games are you most looking forward to the most this upcoming season. Honestly, the home open rally, game against the Chicago Blackhawks, the team that ended your season this past year, Connor Bidard, his first NHL hockey game. He can joke all he wants and say, oh, if I make the team, buddy, we all know

you're going to be on the team come October. But seeing him go up against Cindy Crosby, that's going to be a lot of fun. Later on in the month, they play both Dallas and Colorado right before Halloween. Really looking forward to those two games, if I can get my hands on those two two tickets, I should say, for games. The Rangers won right before Thanksgiving as well. That will be a lot of fun. So those are just a few games. that I'm really looking forward to this upcoming season. Pat, is there anything that jumps out at you right now when you look at the schedule? Yeah, I was going to go with the home opener against Chicago.

And obviously, you know, you want to see the first overall pick, the generational talent in Connor Bedard come in. But the reason I want to see it is because I always say this about Sid. He might be the most competitive athlete, but he is definitely the most petty. And he's going to see Connor Bedard on the other end of the ice and be, like, okay, kid, your time's coming, but not yet. I'm still here. And we'll probably get a good performance out of Sid for that one.

And I'm also with you on the Rangers game right before Thanksgiving because the Thanksgiving Eve game in Pittsburgh, you know, regardless of how everybody celebrates the night before Thanksgiving, that game just always has a fun feel because, you know, the college students are back and they're getting tickets and it's a holiday. And it's a much more fun, much more relaxed. intense crowd. So that's another game that if I can snag a pair of tickets to, I would love to be at just because that game is always fun. Absolutely. I mean, I'll probably not be in town for that one because I'll probably be down in Virginia either at my mom's house or my uncle's house down in Richmond. That's usually where we hail, well, we have Thanksgiving, I should say, each year. But still, that's going to be quite a fun atmosphere,

and especially against the Rangers, a team that is now arguably the Penguin's biggest rival. I love how it goes in cycles. Washington's up the top. Now it's gone down a little bit. Rangers were at the bottom a little bit, and then they've gone up. The Flyers are at the top a little bit. They've gone down a little bit as well. Just a nice little endless cycle when it comes to that.

All right, Pat, wrapping up the show now with some Tristan Jari talk. He spoke to the media for the first time since signing his five-year deal on Thursday. And when I was watching that media conference back, man, he looks like and sounds like someone who is ready to prove a lot of people wrong this upcoming season. He said that he's 100% healthy right now. He said he does not have a chronic hip issue. I believe that was reported by Frank Sarvali of Daily FaceUp during the season. He said the other injuries that he had are all gone. And he's just ready to get back to work and stay healthy.

And, you know, he said the same kind of thing after the islander series where he kind of melted down was playing really well that next season was one of the best goaltenders in hockey. And then we obviously saw him get hurt. If he's able to stay healthy, I don't think there's anyone out there who would say he can't get back to that level where he was a 921 goalie, a 919 goalie. The contract definitely carries a lot of risk, as I have been saying on the show. but if he's healthy, I don't think there's 10 goalies in the league better than him, and he looks like he's ready for some vengeance this year. Yeah, we talked about it before we hit record. After the Islanders meltdown that season, the next season, he was pretty good.

I mean, he was one of the better goalies in the league, and I've written about it on KDKA, when healthy, and yes, that's the biggest caveat and rightfully so. When healthy, his name's right up there with the Connor Hellebucks, Linus Olmarks of the league. And I also think there's a little bit of hidden genius in the five-year deal for Tristan Jari. Now, this might be copium or me talking myself into it. But when you're a young player, you don't have a ton of certainty in pro sports.

You don't know what your next contract's going to be. You don't know where you're going to play. You don't know how much you're going to make. Now he's got a five-year deal. He doesn't have to play for a contract. Sure, he has to play up to a contract, but right now he knows where he is. He knows what team he's the goalie for. And mix that with the injury troubles, the meltdown against the Islanders,

not getting his redemption arc against the Rangers the next year. I think he could have a pretty good bounce back season. But, to quote, the other head coach Mike in Pittsburgh and Mike Tomlin, The best ability is availability. So for him, we have to hope he stays healthy. But like I said, when healthy, he's a solid goaltender. He's one of the better ones in the league. And if he stays healthy, which we're going to have to keep saying,

there's a good chance I think he really helps this team. And our friend Rob Rossi said it in his story in the athletic this week about talking to Eddie Johnston, the, you know, I guess you could call him the godfather of the penguins. Penguins have never needed a Vesna caliber goal tender in the modern era. It's just a guy who has to be able to make the next save. You don't have to win the Vesna to be the Penguins goal. You just have to be good enough to let this team get the next goal. And if he's just good enough to let this team get the next goal

and they bolster their offensive blue line, I think he can be that guy. Heck, I mean, Mark Andre Fleury led them to a cup. He was never a true Vesna guy. Matt Murray had two great seasons. He's never been a Vesna guy either. So that's a very good point that you made there. You don't need to be, you know, in Igor Shasturkin and Andre Vasselowski. That would certainly help.

I'll throw UC Soros in there as well. That would certainly help. But if this team can just get average to a little bit above average goaltending, they can be really freaking good. And it feels like we've been saying that so often with this team over the past couple of seasons. But it's true. The goaltending has failed them badly in the playoffs when they've needed it most. Well, the way I wrote about it today in Penguin's perspectives was Tristan Jari doesn't have to steal games this year.

He just can't give them away. That's all he has to do. I agree. I think that's very fair. And all the spotlight's going to be on him when the season kicks off in October. But Pat, I believe that will do it for this episode of the Locktime Penguins podcast. I really appreciate you coming on for this one. That will wrap up.

I believe this is season four of the show now. I can't believe I've been doing this for almost four years. Thank you all so much for listening to slash watching this podcast on a daily basis throughout another spectacular season. The show will go down to three episodes a week starting on Monday. And it will be like that for the next couple of months before we get back to daily for training camp. But again, thank you all so much. You all are the absolute best.

But before we leave, Pat, I'm going to give you the floor to plug any and everything. Well, season finale, you got to get better people. You can't end the season with this. Yeah, you can find me on Twitter and threads at synonym for wet everywhere you can find it. I write the Penguins Perspectives column on kDK.com each Friday. I try to have it by about 8 a.m. every Friday. As I tell Hunter, I work basically a weird shift where I start the day at 4 a.m. So I try to get that knocked out right before I log in for the day.

So pengliss perspectives on kdk.com. Follow me on social media. And I hope we can do this again, man. This is a ton of fun. Same here. This was a lot of fun to do. Thank you all so much for sending in your mailback questions. If I missed yours, I apologize.

Please don't get mad at me. It was, there's nothing against any of your questions. I just tried to choose the ones I felt were best for the show. And just overall, I was never going to get to every single question. So again, thank you all so much for listening to slash watching this episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I will have another episode for you all on Monday and then I'll have another episode, hopefully Wednesday, and then Friday of next week. So have a wonderful weekend. Thank you again.

Talk to you soon.