Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins acquire NICK ROBERTSON and make other depth moves!

Episode Date: July 1, 2026

The Penguins got NICK Robertson from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday and made a few depth free agency signings! Patrick and Hunter begin the Wednesday/free agency edition of Locked On Penguins, breaking down the trade that brought Nick Robertson to the Penguins in exchange for a 2028 fourth-round pick. While everyone is waiting to see what happens with his brother Jason and the Dallas Stars, taking a bet on the soon-to-be 25-year-old isn't the worst idea for Kyle Dubas and the Penguins. (0:00) Then, the Penguins signed two defensemen: Trevor van Riemsdyk and Declan Carlile to two-year contracts as well as forward Andrei Kuzmenko to a one-year deal. They discuss where these players will fit on a rapidly growing roster. (10:50) Finally, with the Penguins acquiring so many players over the past couple of weeks, combined with some players ready to make the leap from the AHL, something has to give, right? Patrick and Hunter discuss a couple of players who the Penguins may look to trade this offseason. (24:41)  Everydayer ClubIf you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Decagon Ready to transform your customer support? Go to decagon.ai/LOCKEDONNHL to get a personalized demo and see what Decagon can do for your team.   FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. From the opening whistle to the final kick, Let There Be Goals on FanDuel. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started now. 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 Pittsburgh Penguins have acquired Robertson. That's right. They made a trade to acquire Nicholas Robertson from the Toronto Maple Leafs. We're going to break down that trade, some free agency signings, and more on today's Locked on Penguins. You're Locked on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. Welcome into the free agent.

edition of the locked on penguins podcast. I am your host Patrick Damp. You can find me on most social media platforms at synonym for wet. Joined as always by the man, the myth, The One and Only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. It's a big day here in the NHL free agency is officially upon us.

General managers are cutting checks. Teams are making trades. And our Pittsburgh penguins are certainly no exception to that. We will touch on some of the signings the penguins have made today, as well as what they could be a precursor to. But before we do that, let's start with the first big move of the day. The trade that everyone has been waiting for, the Robertson trade. No, not that one.

The penguins acquire Nick Robertson from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 2028 fourth round. pick. Listen, I know we are all waiting to see what happens with the Dallas stars and Jason Robertson, but I will say this for Nick Robertson. It is a solid bet by the penguins getting Nick Robertson. Yes, say the line, Bart. Kyle Dubus loves his guys and he did draft Nick Robertson, but at the end of the day, he's 24 years old, he'll be 25 when the season gets going this year. Career highs last year, 16 goals, 16 assists, 32 points. And he seems to improve with each and every season that passes. He has gotten a little bit better every year with Toronto. And this all happened in Toronto while he was both looking to get out and he wanted to be

traded and had a coach and Craig Barubei that didn't seem to put him in the best of positions to succeed. So if he can get 30 plus points in that environment, he can come to Pittsburgh where a player like Igor Chinikov in a similar situation was able to thrive. And he might be able to do it here. So this is how I'll pass it off to you, Hunter. I know again, we're all waiting for the Jason Robertson deal if that could happen with the penguins or not. But I like this bet by the penguins because the potential for Nick Robertson is there. Yeah, I mean, they gave up a fourth round pick. Who cares when it comes to that?

By the way, you are evil for your intro. We all know everyone knows who you're talking about, but that doesn't make you any less evil for that. Very evil. Very nice. I had to say that to you. But in all seriousness, I do also like this gamble. I think it's a solid bet by the Penguins.

Yes, it does add another forward to the room. and we're going to get into what that means a bit later on the show because they are pretty crowded at Forward right now. There's no two ways about it. They are probably more crowded right now, Pat, than they were last year at Forward. And we all saw how that played out. But with Robertson, 16 goals, 32 points, both were career highs for him this past season in Toronto. He also played in 78 games. Some of his metrics are not really good, but he does have a good ability to put the puck in the back of the net he's a solid depth score he has shown that the last three seasons pad 23 24 14 goals 27 points season after that had 15 goals and this past season had 16 so he almost had 20 on a pretty bad

leaps team in their bottom six he's a career 12.5% shooter pretty solid so again if you can add that type of production to your bottom six depending on what also happens with other moves forward wise i will gladly take it again yeah some of the other metrics not very good, but he's in terms of his five on five goals for per 60, it's been at 1.09 for the last three years. I will gladly take that. So especially for fourth round pick, sign me up. And that's that 1.09 goals per 60 metric would put him squarely in the penguin's top six.

If you compare it to where everyone else on the penguin's roster was last year amongst forwards. So it's a solid bet. I'm obviously not making a one-to-one comparison. They are different players, different people, but a lot of the knocks on Igor Chinikov are some of the same knocks that are on Nick Robertson, not great defensively, not very consistent. And it might work. It might work here.

It might change and go the same route as Igor Chinikov did. But at the same time, as we have both said to this point, You gave up a fourth round pick that is two drafts from now for a guy who is 25 years old. I'm going to say 25 since it will be 25 when the season begins. But you gave that up for a 25-year-old guy who has scored double-digit goals in the NHL multiple times. He is the best scouting report I've seen on him is that he is a player who does not take a night off. This is not a player who even when he wanted to, he made a trade request in Toronto. Yeah.

He was in the lineup, worked his ass off. He played aggressively. He found a way to put the puck in the net. He's a little undersized, but that does not stop him when he plays. He's an aggressive four checker. He's not afraid of physicality. Though that does come back to bite him because he does often find himself staring up at the ceiling quite a bit, but I'm going to quote the old Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and say,

I would rather say, whoa, than sick him with a player like him because he goes all that, he goes all out. He's got offensive upside. So end of the day, I am not upset at all by this risk by the pen. No, I can't even call it a risk. This bet by the penguins. Yeah, not at all. Again, he's going to have to earn his spot in the lineup. I think he's probably going to have a spot in that bottom six again depending on what moves they make because I do think there is more coming and more on that in a little bit but for a fourth round pick sign me up for this all day long it's just it's so funny when the penguins put out the press release for this it's just penguins acquire robertson yeah you think my intro evil was evil the penguins press release in

headline on their website was evil penguins acquire robertson that is some nasty nasty work elite level trolling right there by the penguins i got to admit when someone has good trolling like that i have to compliment it it was really funny and hey pat is this trying to get jason to come to pittsburgh even more now now that his brother is here yeah could be a big brain move it's so funny jason spetsa was talking about this other press he was like yeah this came up this morning oh did it now jason did it did it now the interesting stuff there jason spetsa again I'm just big-braining it going full conspiracy mode. But just found that funny when he said that during the presser today.

But I don't really have too many other thoughts, Pat. They did also sign Andre Kuzmanko, one year $5 million real quick. That's definitely the Anthony Manta replacement to me. He has scored 39 goals before. He's coming off a fine enough season with the Kings. He was an okay depth score. But he hasn't really got back to the level that we saw when he first broke into the league where he scored 39 goals.

But we all know, not a very good skater. But if you can get him to be a bit more consistent at five on five, there's definitely a role where he potentially scores 20 plus. And also, Pat, we were talking about this with Ville, a couple of years ago with Manta, say if the team is out of it at the deadline, if that's someone you can flip for potential assets coming back. So I am fine with that bet with Guzmanco as well.

You and me both, let's finish this, segment here and dive a little bit more into the free agency signings in the second segment because while there weren't a lot, we do have a lot to discuss about all of the signings that we know so far, including one that is breaking, but not that big in the middle of this recording. So we're going to leave this segment here. When we come back, we will talk about the penguins moves on the first day of free agency. So stick with us. We'll be right back right after this.

Before we do that, though, we've got to tell you about today's first sponsor, and that is Fandul. The biggest stage in world soccer is here, and every match feels like it has the potential for a memorable moment. One goal can completely change the energy of a game, shift the momentum,

and alter the outcome in an instant. That's what makes this tournament so exciting, from the opening whistle to the final. kick. Now, Fandle is giving fans another reason to stay locked into every match with every goal pays. Bet on a match and get bonus bets for every goal scored in that match. More goals means more bonus bets and all you have to do is turn on your token. We've seen those matches and these kind of matches all throughout the tournament. It's scoreless for what feels like forever and then one goal completely flips the match. Suddenly, everybody's pressing.

the crowd comes alive and the final 20 minutes or more become must watch television. And now you can benefit from every goal scored. From the opening whistle to the final kick, let there be goals on Fandul. Visit Fandul.com to get started right now. We're back here on the Wednesday free agency edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm Patrick Damp. That's Hunter Hodes. and other than the Nick Robertson trade,

the penguins have made a couple of signings on July 1st. Hunter did mention this one at the end of the last segment. Andre Kuzmenko, one year, $5 million contract. It does feel like your Anthony Mantha replacement. It's a one year prove it deal for a guy in his 30s. But I will say this one is a little bit different to me when you talk about Kuzmenko's age because he has only been in the NHL since the 2022-23 season.

He spent eight years in Russia playing in the KHL. Now, obviously, that's a lot more travel than the NHL, but the level of physicality and intensity is a bit different than the NHL. So he's got miles, but I wouldn't say he's got really hard miles on him. throughout his NHL career. He hasn't been able to reach the level he got to in his first year in the NHL. But this is a classic one year bet on the talent. Either he proves himself and he helps this team the way Manta did last year during the regular

season helps them perform better, potentially get to the playoffs. If you're out of it, as Hunter said in the first segment, you can flip him to a team that is in it for assets, or it can again be the Manta option where he helps you make the playoffs. He does what he does. And then next July 1st, you shake his hand and say, go get paid somewhere else. Yeah, I completely agree with you on all fronts there.

Textbook Anthony Manta replacement, he can play on your second or third line. This thought actually occurred to me, Pat, if the penguins want to try Malkin a little bit at center this season, I know he played a lot of wing, this season, but if they want to try him at center for some games, could we have an all-russian line with him, Chinokov and Kuzvenko? I do think that would be a lot of fun for this team.

Just saying, just want to throw that out there. But again, hasn't gotten back to the level that we saw him in 22, 23 with Vancouver when he had 39 goals, 74 points, just burst onto the scene. He did have a 22-goal season, the season after that when he was with Vancouver and Calgary. Then he's bounced around a little bit. He's been with Calgary last season. He's been with L.A., Philadelphia. was with LA for this past season.

They get at least 13 goals, 25 points in 52 games. But if you can get them up to, I don't know, Pat, 20, 25 goals, middle six, top nine roll. I'll take it for one year. And then he can probably go out and get a bigger contract elsewhere,

which I think we're about to see with Anthony Mantha because he's not coming back. So as far as an Anthony or Manta replacement goes, totally good with this one. We'll get to what this means for the rest of the forward group a little bit later on the show going into the defense path because they did make a couple of moves there today Trevor van rivesdyke two years four million per at first when i saw the four million

i was like ooh it's a little much for someone who's in his 30s but then when you see some of these other contracts come in like jacob trauba getting over eight million per with the san jose sharks i'm like okay i feel a little bit better about it because jacob trauba is not worth 8.25 million per year at all like i don't care if the cap has gone up he is just not worth that type of contracts So while at first it definitely felt like a little bit weird, the penguins have so much cap space to get out where Pat, it's honestly like, okay, who really cares? He's mostly played on the right,

but he does have the ability to play on the left. Jason Spets had talked about that during his presser today. He's been good defensively. I was talking to a couple of my capitals friends today, and they even said, yeah, really steady in his own zone, active stick, good along the board. He's not going to give you a lot of offense, but he will play well defensively.

He's been an analytic starling really throughout his career. So, you know, I do have questions in terms of if they see him way more on the right side because that is really filling up now. Eric Carlson, Chris LaTang, Corktack, Trevor Van Reeves, like Harrison, Brunich, of course, waiting in the wings. But if they see him more on the left side, okay. But speaking of the left side, they did add Declan Carlisle, two years, 1.5 million per season.

I'm a fan of this. You look at his 5-on-5, even-strike defense percentile, 56 percent. This kind of feels like Parker Watherspoon 2.0 to me. Didn't play much in his first couple of seasons with Tampa. This past season plays in about half of their games, limited minutes,

but he wins them really well. And this is a case where I think the Penguins, they think that he could get a bigger role here and do well of it. At the very least, you're going to have a good depth defender on your left side. But I think this might be a classic case pad of them saying, hey, let's try to recreate Parker Watherspoon here. He had some good metrics this year. He played well for Tampa Bay in half the season. Let's see what he can maybe do in an elevated role on the left side. Now, I don't think they're done on the left side. I think there are still more moves to come there

just because, again, you still have Sam Gerard, Ryan Graves, Elias, Elias Lobiob. I don't think the group that is constructed on the left side is going to be the full group that goes to training camp could be wrong. But I think this is a solid start, especially after moving Watherspoon in that move on Tuesday. Those are my main thoughts on the two defensive signings. What say you? So when we talk about Declan Carlisle, I agree that this could be the Watherspoon replacement because it is the same kind of deal where it's an even younger than Wetherspoon defenseman who played limited minutes with a different team looks like he could be. line to get a bigger role, only banking 1.5 million for the next two years. So it is very similar to

what happened with Parker Watherspoon. Now, the thing that confused me more than anything was the TVR signing because he's, he'll be 35 when this season begins. And yes, the penguins have more cap space than they know what to do with. And a. four million two year deal for a guy like this. It's not going to sink you. It's not going to be an anchor. It's not catastrophic. And I understand your point of you look at some of the insane deals that have been handed out today,

especially for defensemen. I get it comparatively. This is fine. But I look at just the amount of defensemen that they have. have right now. And the quality is not great. Carlisle has the potential. We obviously know who Eric Carlson is. The rest of the defense I look at right now. And I don't want to get this misconstrued here. In no world am I applying contender logic to the Pittsburgh. I don't think the moves they're making are in service of winning. I think a lot of the moves they are making are in service of

finding reclamation projects and finding flippable assets. So I get all that. But the TVR signing to me, he's a good, solid bottom pair, maybe second pair, depending upon what your roster looks like, defensemen. I just feel like there were options internally. There were players that, whether they were in Wokespaer or they were prospects, especially someone like Harrison Brunich, where you look at it and go, okay, so you got this guy, for what?

Because again, two years, four million, very affordable, not like that's going to sink anyone and it's going to be extremely movable. But at the same time, mid-30s defenseman, he's kind of been a bottom pair guy for his entire career. It's a guy you're looking to flip in a year or two. I don't see you getting a lot for him. So I'm not against the move. I don't think it was a bad move.

It just, especially a day after you go out in trade for Kate and Corsack, you're looking at this and going, are you doing a guy a favor? It's just, it feels like a move that didn't need to be made. Yeah, that's fair. I can understand that. I also, again, don't think they're done maneuvering their blue line, whether it's another shoe to drop on the right side,

whether it's someone going out in a Robertson deal of that, comes to fruition or something else. I know Alexander Nikitian is out there still from Carolina. I know a lot of fans would like him, but I also kind of get spooked about that because if you're making a trade with Carolina who has one of the best run offices in the league, probably not going to win it. That's one of the rare teams where I'd be afraid for Caldivus to make a trade

with a hurricane just because of how good Eric Tolski is. And if he's looking to move a player like that, I'd almost ask myself, what am I missing when it comes to Niketian? But overall, when Carolina calls you offering a player, it is the scene from Moneyball where the opposite GM says to Brad Pitt, why do I feel like you're picking my pocket? Yes. Carolina is ready to move on from someone, especially a prospect. You should probably think twice.

Right. I'm with you. And again, I still think there's more to be done on this blue line. We now know it's not going to be darn on nurse. he expanded his list and he is now going to San Jose. No salad of retention there. Sharks actually gave up a decent package to the Oilers there. Oeders actually got more than I thought they would for Nurse.

So if San Jose, they have so much cap space, but I don't know if I'd be spending a lot of it on Darnell Nurse and Jacob Truba. Whatever. That's just my take. But it's not going to be Nurse Penguins. Elliot Freeman was talking about it on Oilers Now last night where the Oilers did not want to take a contract back from the Penguins. We probably all know that this was Ryan Graves. There's really no one else that makes sense.

So they'll have to look at other avenues. I'm sure they will. But again, it is to only July 1st, Pat. I want to see how this blue line looks when we get to training camp in early September. And I think that kind of paves away for our topic about the forwards in the final segment as well. Agreed. And before we get to that real quick, just to make sure we touch on it, even though it's not the biggest of news, the penguins have signed at Lee Calvert to a two-year entry-level deal.

The 22-year-old, he has been with the organization, spending time with both the baby penguins and the Wheeling Nailers. 24-25 split the season between Wilkes-Barre and Wheeling, 38 games with the Nailers, 36 points, 14 points in 26 games with the baby penguins this past year. Full year with Wilkes-Bair played 70 games, 16 goals, 38 points. another prospect worth taking a chance on. Calvert is 22. He's got plenty of potential. We'll see what happens with him, but he has acclimated himself quite well with the baby penguins. So wanted to make sure we got that one on the show.

Now, as Hunter said, penguins have a lot of forwards. They also have a lot of defensemen, especially after today. this means something has to give. Hunter and I are going to get into just that when we come back right after this. But we have got one more sponsor to get to, and that is Decagon. As companies grow, customer support gets a lot more complicated. More customers means more questions, more channels to manage, and higher expectations for fast, personalized service. That's usually when businesses start to look at AI, but most solutions either feel too generic or they take forever to implement.

That is where Decagon comes in. Decagon helps companies create personalized concierge style customer service experiences with AI agents across chat, email, voice, and SMS. Their agents are available 24-7. They feel natural to talk to and they can resolve customer requests. on their own, helping businesses scale support without losing that personal touch. The best customer experiences don't happen by accident, whether it's in business, sports, or anywhere else. People remember organizations who respond quickly, understand context, and make every interaction feel personal. We've all had those situations where something goes wrong, but the thing that you remember

is how the company handled it. The organizations that respond quickly and solve problems. efficiently. They are the ones you always have at the front of your mind. Decagon is helping businesses create more of those moments by giving customers fast, personalized service whenever they need it. If you're ready to transform your customer support, head to Decagon.com. A.I. slash locked on NHL to get a personalized demo and see what Decagon can do for your team. That's Decagon.com.a.i slash locked on NHL. we're finishing up the Wednesday free agency edition of the locked on penguins podcast

Patrick damp and hunter hodies here with you no need to do a full preamble here because we just did it to end the second segment hunter with all of these moves with all of these players the penguins roster it's getting pretty damn full some moves have to be coming right that's the thought. And I thought this was going to happen last year when they were pretty full-it-forward going into camp. They didn't happen. We're going to try again this off-season. So I do think they're going to make moves in terms of forwards going out. I look at Tommy Novak as a potential trade candidate. I look at Justin Rizzo as a potential trade candidate. Both have one year left on their contracts. Of course, I look at Ricardo Raquel as a trade candidate. As a trade

candidate and we have to throw in Ryan Russ especially as well as a trade candidate even though he's probably the least likely of the four to go but they're still going to take calls on him I think there's just a lot of forwards right now Pat

it's more than 13 that doesn't even get to some of the Wilkesbury guys they're going to be pushing for jobs like Riker McGority Avery Hayes Ville-E Covenin Tristan Brose etc

something is going to have to give here because there are too many forwards because you've already gotten now Hendricks lapierre, you've gotten Nick Robertson, Andre Kuzmanko. That's to go along with all the forwards you have right now that you're bringing back. And you have players that are going to try to push for jobs in the NHL this season from your farm club. It's a pretty interesting situation. So in my opinion, I do expect more moves to be made throughout this offseason. it is still July 1st.

I'm not going to judge this entire thing until we get to camp. However, if we do get to camp pat and really nothing else has changed, I can't lie, I'm going to have some questions because that really doesn't make much sense. You have said it multiple times on this episode, so I want to just echo it again for whatever's sake. I can't even think of a word for it. But it's July 1. Yeah.

This roster is put up the caution. tape, put on your hard hats, get the jack hammers out because it is under construction. It's not done. I know that we all have our snap reactions. The two of us, we're guilty of it too. We do it all the time because I will repeat this. The two of us at the end of the day, we may do this show. We may have our jobs.

We may write about the team a lot. But at the end of the day, we are still fans. So we snap react to a lot of this stuff. But like you said, I look at the forward. group and I'm totally good with it doesn't have to be an overhaul here. It doesn't have to be a bunch of guys going out and only one or two coming in because competition breeds quality. If you have a bunch of players battling for only a few spots, you're going to get the best

out of those players. And if you're not going to get the best out of them at the very least, you're going to find out who wants it and who doesn't. So that helps you out either way. But between a lot of the Wilkes bear guys who are going to be battling for a spot and some of the players that you have brought in over the past couple of weeks, something has to give here. So I do think top of the list right now is Tommy Novak. That does feel like a guy that the penguins may not see as expendable, but at the end of the day, he could be a guy that I do think other teams would value. And I wouldn't be shocked to see with some of the moves that the penguins have made

over the past few days, Evgeny Malkin shifting back to center because you see your Robertsons, Kuzmenko's, you still have Chinikov, who they extended a qualifying offer to. It does kind of feel like it would be a better idea to put Gino back at center with the amount of wingers that they have brought in. So that kind of puts Tommy Novak in a bad position because you're not going to, you're not going to push Ben Kindle down to the fourth line. You also aren't going to elevate Ben Kindle up to the second. So it does feel like Novak might be the odd man out here.

But I wouldn't be shocked at this point, especially now that we're seeing a lot of the deals that are being handed out today. Ryan Rust and Ricard Raquel are suddenly going to look. like very attractive options to some teams. We've been saying that for the last year or two, haven't been moved. So I will, the way, the different context I will give it now is that you see some of the contracts that have officially been handed out. And if you're a team that either missed out on them or decided I'm not spending that kind of money on a free agent, because when we said this before, it was hypothetical.

It was a, oh, all these guys are going to get paid and blah, blah, blah. And yeah, that's what ended up happening. But we didn't know it at the time. Now we know it. So if you're a team that missed out on this or decided, I ain't spending that kind of money on a certain type of player, you can circle back to Kyle Dubison and go, all right, what do you want for one of these guys?

Certainly. I just, we got to see it. Like, again, they're definitely probably taking calls, but I'm sure they also have asking prices that teams haven't really met yet. just we'll see when it comes to them moving because you know we've been having that conversation now for this is the third off season in a row so TBD on that overall something's going to have to give here especially at forward i just don't think you're bringing all of these guys to camp in early september especially with some of the younger wilkesbury players who are trying

to make a push for a full-time spot i don't know something seems amiss right now. We don't really know. They were asked about Robertson at the press conference today and Jason Spetsa gave a total PR answer. Yeah, we're looking at all sorts of different moves. I can't really speak to him. Thank you, Jason, for indirectly confirming that you guys are still looking at a trade for Jason Robertson. It was very obvious the way that he was framing it. And Jason was always going to speak today unless Kyle Dubas made a splash. But last thing I'll say, I talked about it on Tuesday. It is still July 1st. The all season is still young. Yes, a lot of the big. business does get done this week, but you still see at least other stuff get done later on

the summer, especially when teams come back from vacations, from the cottages. Things can happen anytime. So we'll see. The one other thing I do want to add about this log jam at Forward right now is if you pull up Puckpedia, this forward group right now has three players who are waivers exempt. Ben Kindle, who you're more than likely not sending down to the H.L unless he takes a sudden nosedive. Rutger McGrady, who we'll see what happens with him. I'm starting to wobble a little bit on the future of Rutger McGroity, though I'm not out. So we'll panic on that one. And then Avery Hayes, who I think is penciled in, hopefully for a fourth line role this year. So at the end of the day, that is the other problem,

that there are a lot of players here that if you don't make a move here soon, you're going to lose them for nothing because you're going to have to wave them and somebody is probably going to snatch them up. That is fair. Though, again, I think this probably just makes it more likely that we see other moves made via Trae bringing in more picks potentially for some of these veteran forwards that may not have a place on the team. Talked about Novak, talk about Brazil.

They have one year left on their contract each. Those are two that again, I definitely look at you saw with Brazil, It's a healthy scratch at times in the playoffs. Had that great start to the season, but tailed off a little bit towards the end. He was a bit banged up at times, but even when he came back, it sailed off a little bit, excuse me, wouldn't be too surprised if he was dealt this offseason. I think you said it best.

This is a work in progress. Let's judge the final product once we get to camp. And then once we get to opening night at the end of September. For sure. And speaking of opening night, we'll bury this one at the end. Little nugget by our pal Josh Yohe this morning at the athletic. The penguins for now are expected to open the regular season on September 29th in Raleigh, North Carolina, where the Carolina hurricanes, I almost said Panthers.

The Carolina hurricanes will raise their Stanley Cup banner during their home opener. So our Pittsburgh penguins are still a little bit of a draw. But that is going to do it for the Wednesday edition of the, the locked on penguins podcast. Hunter and I will be back on Thursday with a brand new episode bringing you any news that happens between now and then if the penguins make any more trades, any more sightings, anything else like that. We'll be right here to break it down. Then we will close out the week on Friday. Same deal. But keep your eye on our social pages because we're going to bring back one more fan take Friday before we head down to three episodes per week.

But for now, for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp. Thank you, as always, for tuning in. And we will talk to you once again on Thursday.