Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins breakout candidates for the 2024-25 season

Episode Date: August 5, 2024

The Penguins, outside of their big guns, had a lot of passengers last season. On this edition of the Locked On Penguins Podcast, Patrick and Hunter discuss both candidates who have to be better next year and candidates who could have breakout years, especially if this team has its sights set on returning to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Finally, to close out the show, a few Penguins prospects were busy over the weekend making their mark on the 2024 World Junior Summer Showcase!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotors.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. As playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up ALL CUSTOMERS with a boost or a bonus, DAILY! That’s right, there’s something for everyone, every day, all summer long! Visit FANDUEL.COM and add a big win to your summer bucket list!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 road back to the Stanley Cup playoffs is a difficult one. And for the Pittsburgh Penguins to get there, they're going to need plenty of people who were passengers last year to be drivers. Hunter and I are going to talk about that and more on this edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Your Locked-on Penguin. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello, and welcome back to another edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.

I'm one of your host Patrick Damp. You can follow me on Twitter at Synonym 4Wet. Joined as always by the one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can give our show's account a follow at L.O. underscore Penguins. And we thank you for making this part of your daily routine because we're your team every day. And don't forget that we are free and available wherever you get your podcast as well as YouTube. And before we get started today, today's episode is brought to you by Fandul.

As the summer continues, the sports stop sporting like we want them to, but this summer, Fandul is hooking up all customers with a booster bonus daily. That's right. There's something for everyone every day all summer long. So visit fandul.com to get started. So we are back here for a Monday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. As we have told you before, we're down to three days a week. So luckily, you will only get to see us three days a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday,

barring any breaking news. If there's any big breaking news, Hunter and I will jump on here. get you a new episode, give our thoughts on it as soon as we can. But today we're going to keep this episode very simple. Our first segment and our second segment are kind of connected in a little bit of a way here. We're obviously on the record as saying we don't know about this penguin's team this year. We think they're a fringe playoff team. Whether they make it or don't, neither would really surprise either one of us.

However, we're going to take today's episode and look at it this way. If the penguins are to get back to the Stanley Cup playoffs in the 24-25 season, they're going to need two things. And the first thing is what we're going to focus our first segment on. And that's who has to step up this year. We talked about this last season quite a bit. There were a lot of players who were disappointing. One of the reasons they were not in the Stanley Cup playoffs,

among many they were not in the Stanley Cup playoffs last year, was that a lot of players who needed to play a bigger role did not play a big role. he's a New York Ranger now so Riley Smith out of that conversation but started strong fell apart Ricard Raquel injuries disappointment hurt him

and a myriad of other players I would say are part of the reason that this team went for its second straight year of missing the playoffs so Hunter what we're going to do in this first segment we're going to talk about a couple of players who need to step up who need to play a bigger role

and actually help this team get to the postseason next year. And the one that I wanted to start with, I have already named. And that is Ricard Raquel. He is a candidate for me who I think is going to have a big bounce back year. I think last year, much like the power play, negativity snowballed on him. He got hurt early. He didn't actually really recover from it.

And aside from being hurt, not actually being able to recover and then not being able to produce, it was just a cocktail of negativity for him. So he was completely unable to get back to his game and be the type of productive player he could be. I think this year with a full off season, able to train, able to get healthy, able to get back to who he's supposed to be. I think he's a candidate for somebody who's going to have both a bounce back year and be a driver on this team once again.

Yeah, it feels like we've had that conversation a little bit before this offseason just because of how disappointing he was last year, only 15. goals was banged up for a good chunk of the season. But if he can get back to, you know, 20 to 22 to maybe 25 goals this year, that will be a big deal, I think, for this penguin's team, especially just because he did not play like a true top six winger last year, but he'll have a chance to do that this year. For me, I'm kind of going to cheat a little bit. It's got to be both goaltenders here, both Tristanjari and Alex Nadelkovich. I know Ned took over the net at the end of last season, but when you really break down his numbers, they weren't that good per se. He was making

the big saves, as I've said on the show, quite a bit during the off season, but his numbers were kind of similar to Jari's, but the Penguins were scoring more goals in those games because they learned how to finish compared to the first two-thirds of the season. Well, they're going to need both goaltenders to make big saves in key moments and just be pretty consistent throughout the season if they want to get back to the Stanley Cup playoffs. And yes, I'm talking about Jari in the instance a lot just because, you know, he had a little bit of a rough start to last season. He has a great November, great December. Even January, I felt like was at least decent for him.

But after that, he just fell off. And we've seen that happen countless times over the last couple of years. If they want to get back to the playoffs, he's going to have to be consistent throughout the season, same with Alex Ndilkevich. And a big theme of this first segment, honestly, these first two segments, we're going to be looking at players kind of outside the big three, just because we talked about the big three last Friday. We know if they want to get back to playoffs, those three are going to have to be on top of their games.

We're going to look at other players and how they are also going to have to step up and have really good seasons if this team does want to get back to playoffs and really surprise some people, us included just because we've said countless times that we don't think right now this team is a playoff team. But getting back to my overall point, I have to go with the goaltenders. They have to both be really consistent this season for the Penguins if they want to get back. I really can't disagree with that one either. I know that's an extremely obvious answer. And I think to kind of put a fine point on the goaltenders, when it came to Alex Nadelcovic at the end of the season, you brought up the main point that they started to score again.

They started to figure out how to put the puck in the net. They weren't really able to outscore their problems, so to speak, but you couple it with he was making the saves he needed to make. They were finishing the chances they needed to finish, and they suddenly looked like a team that could maybe make some noise, down the stretch. But it was a little bit of confirmation bias on our end because we were once again watching the same story play out with Tristan Jari prior to that where we're getting deeper into the season. He's not making the saves he needs to make. He's really starting to fade and

becoming unreliable when you need him to be your most reliable, especially when you're in a playoff race the way they have been the last two years. So you're right. And it's the point I've been making all off season. Now that we know it is more than likely going to be Jari Nadelcovic again, Sullivan has to balance their workloads better. We can't put the saddle on Jari early and give Alex Nadelcovic a couple starts here and there. This has to be a nearly 50-50 split or we're going to find ourselves in the exact same position that we have been in the last two years. The next one, another hugely obvious answer from last year. He was rightfully so. everybody's whipping boy this season, and that's Ryan Graves.

For no other reason, the contract. He has to make that contract look more valuable. And I'm also more bullish on this guy than most because you look at his track record in his career up to this point. It really feels as if last year was an anomaly. Is he a great top pairing defenseman? No, in no world is he that. But you look at his last two stops. Colorado and New Jersey, he was a very effective two-way defenseman who could defend very well

and who brought the type of game you need next to an offensive defenseman. And chances are he's going to play with one of two if he gets back to the game he needs to play, and that's Chris LaTang and or Eric Carlson. So if he can get back to that level, which I believe that he can, because you look at how bad he was last year. I think a huge theme for a lot of problems on that Penguins team last year were related. They were a team that had negativity snowball on them, whether it was a guy like Ricard Raquel,

whether it was the power play as an entire unit, where they were never able to get themselves up off the mat just because things consistently went wrong. And then Ryan Graves, he disappointed early, was never really able to bounce back from it, add in the fact that at the end of the year, Kyle Dubus, a general manager who is not known for calling out his players, basically came out and said,

this guy's got to figure it out, or he's going to be in trouble. And that's not something Kyle Dubas does. So I think you take the aggregate of his entire career, of the way he has played in his entire career. And I think you can look at last year as an outlier. Now, is he going to get back to that level right away? I don't think so.

I think this is going to take some time. This is going to take a few weeks, a few games, maybe a month or two. But I think by the end of the season with this guy, we might be looking at him and going, you know what, he's starting to figure it out. Well, Pat, I wish I could share that same optimism. But right now with the season he just had, I'm not as optimistic as you are just because of the way he was skating, especially in his own zone. He was a tire fire there.

But the only way forward is up. And if he is worse than he was this past year, the Penguins will have a pretty big problem, even bigger problem, I should say. on their hands overall. I think he's going to start the season on the bottom pairing, probably with one of Jackson, Ivaney, or Sebastian Ahlo, and that's the right call. You're not going to put him back with Chris Latang or Eric Carlson, especially with how he played this past season.

That's just rewarding someone for having a bad season. You need to start him on the bottom pairing, see if he can put some games together that are good, and then if you want to reward him for that play and move him into a top four role again, then that would make some sense. But you got to deploy him some favorable matchups to start the year, you know, getting some time against some third and fourth liners, see how he does. And if he's able to do well with that, then okay, we can start talking about him playing against some of the second liners and then maybe first liners if he's able to really bounce back.

But again, I think that's right now a little bit more unlikely than it is likely. I'm just not really as high on the signing as I was last all season just because when I dove into his film, he didn't do any of that with the Penguins during his first year. We'll get back to that. We'll have to see. I definitely hear you on the overall point of just him needing to bounce back for this team to get back to the playoffs. This next player for me, it's going to be a player that maybe not some people think of. But that's No La Chari.

Only four goals and seven points in 55 games this past season. He's been a 10 plus goal score three times throughout his career. Heck, he even scored 20 with the Panthers in 2019-20. He needs to be a lot better this year, man. He was at least decent on their penalty kill this past year. But at five on five, he was an absolute ghost. I think part of that is playing with Jeff Carter on an every night basis. Pat, no offense to the Jeff Carter fan club,

but it just really didn't do him any favors to get those minutes with Carter, who really wasn't that good this past year. If you also move Achari to wing, that makes sense. You get him a center like a Blake Lazot there, someone that's good defensively, but also is a decent playmaker. That I think can help Achari and maybe bring another offensive winger on that line as well. I think the Penguins have the makings of a decent fourth line there

if Achari is able to bounce back. So I really want to see more out of him this year. He wasn't good last year. This is year two. He has a full offseason to recover from it. I want to see if he can perform better this upcoming season than he did last year. He's in a lot more favorable of a position, assuming he can be healthy this year to succeed than he was last year. When you have Eller and Lazot as your third and fourth line centers, depending upon how they shake out and what else you can maybe find here throughout camp and the rest of the off season, he definitely has a way more favorable.

environment to be better. And I think he will because similar to Graves, you look at the rest of his career and you look at last season and think this is not who this player is. This might be an outlier. So he's another guy I think could definitely have to step up next year, but also probably will step up given the environment he's going into. But that will do it for our first segment. When we come back, we're going to keep this conversation going ever so slightly. And it's going to change the topic a little bit. Rather than talk about guys who need to step up and be drivers, we're going to talk about a couple players who could be poised for breakout seasons if this team really wants to find its way back to the Stanley Cup playoffs. But before we do that,

we've got to tell you about our first sponsor, and that is Indeed. We're driven for the search for better. But when it comes to hiring, the best way to search for a candidate isn't to search at all. Don't search, match with Indeed. If you need to hire, you need Indeed. Indeed, is your matching and hiring platform with over 350 million global visitors, according to Indeed data, and a matching engine that helps you find quality candidates fast. Ditch the busy work, use Indeed for scheduling, screening, and messaging so you can connect with candidates faster. And Indeed doesn't just help you hire faster. 93% of employers agree. Indeed delivers the highest quality matches compared to other job sites, according to a recent Indeed survey.

I've said it to you guys before when I've been sitting in the host chair on this show. Big fan of Indeed myself. It helped me find my current job when I was on the job hunt. It also helped me get in touch with plenty of other potential employers, land a bunch of interviews, make a bunch of contacts. It's absolutely fantastic. I can't sing its praises enough. In leveraging over 140 million qualifications and preferences every day,

Indeed's matching engine is constantly learning from your preferences, so the more that you use Indeed, the better it gets. Join more than 3.5 million businesses worldwide that use Indiex. Indeed to hire great talent fast. And listeners of this show will get a $75-sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at Indeed.com slash locked on. Just go to Indeed.com slash locked on right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com slash locked on terms and conditions apply. Need to hire you need indeed.

All right. Welcome back to the Monday edition of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host Patrick Damp, joined as always by the one and only Hunter Hodes, and we appreciate you tuning in and making us part of your daily routine here on Locked-on Penguins. And we're going to keep the conversation from the first segment going. But like I said, before we went to break,

we're going to change the topic just a little bit. Rather than guys who disappointed last year and guys who got to step up and be better this year, we're going to shift the focus of this conversation a little bit to players who could be poised for breakout season. And when you look at the Pittsburgh Penguins roster right now, there is no shortage of candidates for guys who could have a breakout season. And I am going to start with one Hunter that is indeed my victory lap. He may take over Jeff Carter as the guy who I shamelessly cape

for this season. And that is one Yessie Poo-Yarvey. I took the victory lap. I even got a shout out from now formerly of 93-7, Josh Taylor, when the penguins signed him. He said straight up on the air, this guy called it. He said this was going to be one of the penguins' low-key, dark horse signings. But I look at the way he closed out the season. He was very effective on the forecheck. He was, in a sense, a classic penguin for these last few years where all of the ingredients there were there for offense.

but the offense itself was not there. 22 games played this year, three goals, one assist, four points plus two. Probably never going to live up to that fourth overall hype because he was drafted in 2016 by the Edminton Oilers, and we know those 2010, especially early 2010 Edmonton Oilers, absolute tire fire could not get their, you know what, together.

But the way he plays the game, he could be a very effective middle-stitcher. forward. We're talking 10 to 12, 15 pie in the sky goals in a season. But a guy who you can rely on to bring the energy every night who is going to put you in advantageous situations with the way he plays by getting you into the offensive zone, by being able to play all three zones responsibly. In a very roundabout way, he is one of those players that I have been saying the penguins need. He can be a bastard. He can make life. difficult on opposing teams by going to the net, by going to the corners, and just being a thorn

in their side. Is he going to throw big hits? Is he going to be an agitator? Is he going to get in other people's grills? Probably not all that often. But he's going to be, for all intents and purposes, a gnat. He's just going to be there. They're just going to go, oh, my God, Poyarvi's in the corner again. Oh, my God, Paui Arvi's in front of the net again. I'm getting tired of this guy. So I look at him as a prime candidate to have a breakout year. Well, I like that one, but going from one fan club to another, I have been dubbed as the president of the Drew O'Connor fan club. I predicted him to score 20 goals last season.

I came very close to game that right. He had 16 goals and 33 points last season. He had his best NHL year yet, and I do think that's going to continue this year. I'm going to predict him again to score 20 or more this year. Call me once, shame on you. Full me twice. Shame on me.

I continue to be very high on this player. It looks like he's still going to start up a season with Cindy Crosby and Brian Russ to see what he can do, which is because, you know, as the days go on, I think it gets further and further to the unlikely territory that they're going to bring in someone else to play with Cindy Crosby, at least right now because we're recording on August 5th. The season is two months away. There's just not really too much movement. If they bring in someone, it's probably going to be during training camp if I had to guess.

So right now, still very much O'Connor is poised to play with, Cross we to start the season. And just the way he was able to go to the net last year, the way he was able to showcase his release overall, by far, his best year of his NHL career. And I just really like the way he thinks the game on the ice. His hockey IQ, I think, is off the charts. I mean, I remember when he first came into the NHL,

it looked like he didn't even belong. But the way he's been able to work on all parts of his game has been awesome to see. And I do think he's going to break out even more for the Penguins this year. If he's able to be one of their 20 plus goal scores, that's going to go a long way for them this year. So I'll put O'Connor in there once again. That's a great candidate. And it really, he feeds into my theory of how to find wingers for Sidney Crosby.

Because you look at outside of Marion Hosa and even Marion Hosa, that was all of less than half of a season and one playoff run. The best players who have meshed with Sidney Crosby outside of, like I said, Marion Hosa, which you can't count because that was all of less than half a season in a playoff run. And then Jake Gensel, who still does fit into this category, despite being a pure goal score, it's players who just play a straight line game. It's players who aren't afraid to go to the net. It's players who aren't afraid to join him in the dirty areas and just play basically what I would call a no-nonsense game.

So Drew O'Connor checks all those boxes and add in what you said. great hockey IQ, knows where to go, knows where to be, thinks the game on a level, not anywhere near the same as Sidney Crosby, but thinks it on a level to where he can keep up with players like Sidney Crosby. And I say it all the time, being able to play with elite talent is a skill within itself. You might not be the most skilled player, but you have the skill to keep up and not look out a place with an elite player. So that's huge for him.

And I think you're right. He's going to have a pretty big year. My last one, so we don't have this segment drag on forever, might be a bit surprising for people because he's been a polarizing player since joining the Penguins. But I think there's more there there. And that's Eric Carlson. Do I think he was bad last year? No, not at all.

56 points in 82 games. That's right in line with about where. his career has been for pretty much all of it, with the exception of putting 100 points up with San Jose Sharks, but he gets reunited with the guy who was his coach when he put up the 100 point Norris trophy winning season. He began to look a lot more comfortable in his role as arguably the penguin's number one defenseman

near the end of the season. And we know how this guy plays the game. It's not a game that takes a huge toll on your body. he is a finesse player. He's not overtly physical. He doesn't play a very physical game. He's got the speed. He's got the hockey sense.

He's got the vision in the shot. And I think with Quinn behind the bench, willing to tell him, the power play is yours. You run the power play. And now having more comfortability with the Pittsburgh Penguins, because I've said up before about Eric Carlson,

you come into a team that has had the same three guys running the show for two decades, it's real hard to show up and assert yourself. You can't pull the Roman reins. This is my yard now because people don't like that. But year under his belt looked very good to end the year. I think he's a huge candidate to step up and have a huge year with the penguins this year. Yeah, I think at this point, I would be a little surprised if he did not have 65 to 70 points with the penguins next year just because, especially of the way he played down the stretch. That really looked like this experiment was starting to work with the penguins. And I think that is going to carry over into this season. Into this season, I should say, you know, you saw him really using that release a lot more to his advantage.

You saw him walking the blue line a lot better to his advantage. You saw him playing at least at times a bit better defensively outside of the Detroit game, in the third period where he was just awful in his own zone. But you saw everything really starting to click for him overall. And I do think that is going to continue heading into this upcoming season. season. Last one for me, I'm going to go Valceri Prustin. Five goals, 20 points this past season. I really want to see if his release gets even better at the NH level. That thing is wicked, man. His wrist shot is a beautiful motion. His snapshot is also great. Just his release in general, honestly, is

great. And we saw him use it quite a bit against the New York Islanders this past season. I feel like he was owning them every time the Penguins played them. But I want to see how he can use it against other initial teams in general. I think he's going to get one of the first cracks at getting third line minutes for this team this past year. And I've said it on the show a couple of times already. You put him on there with someone like Kevin Hayes, who is a better playmaker at this point in his career.

I think Pousson is definitely going to score double-digit goals if he's playing next to a center like that who can still drive at least a little bit of offense overall. And then if you have someone like Beauvillier on the other wing or someone else, I think that has the makings at least of a decent third line for the Penguins. So Pustnan, I do think of another big breakout for him is coming, maybe 10 to 12 goals, something like that. But I think he's definitely a player to really watch heading into this upcoming season.

Marvel calls them what ifs. We call them potential. And there is a lot of potential on this penguin's roster, whether you want to believe it or not this season. But that'll do it for this second segment. When we come back, a couple of penguins made their presence felt at a tournament you probably didn't hear about. But we're going to talk about it. That's the World Junior Shump summer. showcase, which happened here in the USA. But Hunter and I will talk about that right after this.

We have to tell you about our next sponsor, and that is Fandul. I love sports and I love them so much that I never want them to stop. But as the playoffs have winded down, we get fewer games and the sports aren't sporting the way I want them to. But Fandul lets me keep the sports going whenever I want. All I have to do is open the app and dream up bets anytime I'm in the mood. And this summer, Fandul is hooking up all customers. That's right, all customers with a boost or bonus daily, and there's something for everyone every day all summer long. So head over to fandul.com and start making the most out of your summer. FanDuel, official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball.

All right, welcome back to the final segment of the Monday edition of Locked on Penguins podcast. I'm Patrick Dam. That's Hunter Hodes. And it's a tournament that most people don't pay attention to, understandably, because it's more or less a group of teams from a group of countries, just get together, they play some scrimmages, there's really nothing on the line. But it's the World Junior Summer Showcase. This time it happened in Michigan here in the U.S.

USA hockey played host to it. But there were three penguins who really made their presence felt, three Penguins prospects, excuse me, there wasn't like Sidney Crosby and Fgeny Malkin, Chris LaTang showed up to play in the Junior Summer Showcase, although that would be hilarious to watch them go up against those guys. The first one we want to start with, for me, is Callie Kangas. He had a very solid showing in this tournament for Finland.

He played in four games. Didn't score any goals, but put up four assists. Hilariously, though. And I'd have to go back and look at all the box scores because, again, this is basically just a bunch of scrimmages. So when you dig into the numbers and you dig into everything, it's not like they're big highlights and everything up on a platter. You really got to work for it.

but hilariously, Kangas, in four games, 20 penalty minutes. So I don't know what he was doing. He was dishing the puck and apparently being a goon. So good for him. You know what? Also, I love his name, Callie Kangas, just a legendary name overall. But this is not bad overall for a seventh round pick in the 2023 NHL draft. He's been pretty solid throughout his junior career in Finland.

I mean, this past season for his team, you know, only four goals, nine points in 40 games, but he did have a goal in four playoff games overall. I don't know if he's ever going to potentially make the NHL, but this is someone you always at least swing for in the later rounds. He was getting top four minutes with Finland during the World Junior Showcase. That's very good. Also, same with Emil P. NEMI.N. Nemi, who was the Penguins' third round picking the 2023 NHL draft.

I think he has a bit more of a higher ceiling compared to Kangas, but it is nice seeing both of these recent draft picks, at least playing well during the junior showcase for Pianney Nemi, two goals, three points, four games. He was really working the power play for team Finland, especially on that top unit. He was also getting top pairing minutes for Finland during the World Junior Showcase. So really nice showings overall from both Kangas and Pianney Nemey. I think for both, I know people want to ask, like, well, when could they make the NHL squad? This is years away, people. This isn't like, for example, maybe Brayden Yeager getting a nine game trial this year or Owen Pickering,

potentially making it this year next year, or again, Yeager maybe for next year, some of these other guys like Gilly Coivinen or something. like that. These are players that are still multiple years away from even being ready for the HL, I think. It's still going to take a little bit of time here. Yeah, and the biggest thing for PN and Emmy was

that he had those three points, two goal, one assist for three points, and you look at all of them, we're on the power play. Yeah. He put up all of those points with the man advantage, and I don't know, maybe that just means we bring them up now, put them on the power play,

top power play unit for the Penguins this year, just fix everything that's ailing them. But yeah, you're right. These are two guys who it's going to be cool to check in on them throughout the years, see what they're doing at their junior or college or wherever they're going level. But these are guys who, and again, I don't want people to think that I'm comparing them to said players, just putting them in that kind of box. Think Connor Sherry.

Think Tom Koonhockle. think Scott Wilson, think even though he was not a penguin's draft pick, he was acquired in a trade, but they still had to develop them. Think Brian Dumlin. Guys who, while they're not the big ticket golden goose that you get in the first round or second round that are these highly touted prospects, they're guys who, if you put the time and resource behind them, can become productive NHL players, but it's not going to be until they're 23, 24, 25 years old. because they're going to need more seasoning. They're going to need time to develop.

But when you're a team that has a willingness to be patient and a willingness to go out and make the big moves, these are the players that you need to ultimately fill out your roster. Right. And this name, I think, can be said for Max Watson, the Penguin 7th round pick in the 2024 NHL draft just a couple of months ago. He was also at the Royal Junior Showcase on 13 USA. He was getting second power play minute time with Quentin Mustie,

who he's one of my. favorite prospects in the league overall. And he had one point in three games for Team USA. And I still continue to be really intrigued about Swanson overall, man. I mean, this past season in the USHL, 26 goals, 77 points in 55 games. Last season before this one, 55 points in 57 games. He was also well over a point per game in the playoffs this past season. He's going to play for the University of North Dakota this upcoming season for the NCAA. Curious to see how his game transitions over to there. But it's nice seeing him get that opportunity. in the World Junior Showcase.

And I'm also super excited to follow his development just because he has a lot of skill, man. He has a great shot, really good playmaking ability. But what's the biggest gripe for him, Pat? You know it. He's not that tall, obviously not that big. Was it a shot at me? Yeah, well, you are also very short.

You know, you're only five foot four, which, you know, I look down on you like your. I wish I was five foot four. Well, what do you now? Five three? I forget. Something like that. Whatever. That's a fun little end of the show.

show here. But in any case, people, Pat is very short. But for Max Swanson, even he is taller than Pat. He's only five, seven. So he still needs to bulk up at least a little bit, but there's no denying that he has quite a bit of scale. I love a pick like that in a later round just because if you're able to hit on it, bam, that's beautiful right down the line. For sure. And like we, like we have been saying, it's nice to once again have a group of prospects that are actually worth following, paying attention to in seeing how they develop rather than them just being NPCs that we hope maybe, maybe, maybe turn into something. But that will do it for the Monday edition of the Lockdown Penguins podcast.

As always, we appreciate you taking time out of your day to hang with us and listen to us talk about the team that we love Oso much. But for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp. We will return with a brand new episode on Wednesday. Until then, have a great Monday. We'll talk to you then. And thanks as always, once again, for listening.