Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins can get back in the win column against a STRUGGLING Wild squad

Episode Date: October 30, 2025

The Penguins will look to take advantage of another struggling team tonight when they head north to take on the Minnesota Wild. Patrick and Hunter begin the show by taking a look at a very talented but struggling Minnesota Wild team. They discuss what has led to a slow start for the Wild, who the Penguins will need to be aware of, and who the Wild could lean on to break their current losing streak. (0:00) Then, they turn their attention to the Penguins, who will need to step up tonight to grab a big two points, including the bottom six. They also talk about the decision to play defenseman Matt Dumba, who in limited action this year, has struggled, but could turn it around against his former team. (11:16) Finally, Benjamin Kindel will play tonight, making it his 10th NHL game, and activating his entry-level deal. While Kindel has earned it through solid play, defenseman Harrison Brunicke remains a healthy scratch, so does this hint at a return to juniors or is it part of the developmental plan? (23:44)Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHLfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.MonarchTake control of your finances with Monarch. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at https://monarch.com/lockedonnhl for 50% off your first year.FanDuelDownload the FanDuel app now by visiting FanDuel.com and win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The penguins are heading to the land of 10,000 lakes looking to get back into the wind column against a struggling Minnesota wild team. Hunter and I are going to get you set for that game right after this. You're locked on penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back to another edition of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your hosts, Patrick Damp. You can follow me across all social media platforms at Synonym 4Wet. Joined as always by the one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes.

You can follow our show on Twitter at LO underscore Penguins. And you can find us on Instagram at Locked On underscore Penguins. Of course, as always, we appreciate you making us part of your daily routine. Don't forget that you can find us wherever you get your podcasts as well as as YouTube. And if you follow us on YouTube, make sure to hit the notification button. That way, you can be among the first to know when we drop our daily Monday through Friday episodes. Before we get started, this episode is brought to you by Fandul. Download the Fandul app now by visiting fandle.com. And you could win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins more on them

later. Hunter, big one tonight for the penguins coming off their wild and crazy battle of Pennsylvania earlier this week against the flyers. They continue their road swing at 8 o'clock Eastern time tonight at the now-named Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. I will always call it the XL Energy Center because that just has a better ring to it. And they're going to take on a Minnesota wild team who has not been very good to start the year, despite having some pretty high expectations. placed upon them in the Western Conference. They are currently 3, 5, and 3, and in the midst of a 4-game losing streak,

coming off of losses to the New Jersey Devils, the Utah Mammoth, and overtime losses to the San Jose Sharks and the Winnipeg Jets. So, Hunter, this is a huge opportunity for the penguins, not only to get back into the wind column, but it's another opportunity where this surging penguins team is facing a team that's going through hard times. And the Penguins have done a fairly good job of going up against those teams so far this season, Pat.

They've been able to beat a lot of the middling slash average slash below average teams to start the year. And that's kind of where the Wild are at right now. I do think on paper this is a better team than what their record indicates. I think this should be a playoff team. But as you mentioned, they have been really struggling to open the year. three, five, and three. In other words, they have lost eight of their first 11 games to open the year.

They're in the midst of a six game homestand after going on a one and three and one road trip. That road trip was not very good. And Pat, on this homestand, they have lost all three games, including one to the lowly San Jose sharks, who are fun to watch. They are just not very good. But the wild allowed six goals in that game was an overtime loss to the shark. So this is a wild team that can be scored on, but the wild also. have a lot of game-breaking players, and it's led by Coral Caprisoff, one of the best players

in this sport. He is awesome. Six goals, 15 points, and 11 games. When he gets ahead of steam, good luck stopping him. His speed combined with his overall skill, playmaking, his release, his play and transition, it's elite. Like, there's not much you can do to stop him once he gets going. Penguins are going to have to have their eye on him. Matt Boldie has also had a great start to the year with five goals. 12 points. Marco Rossi, who was on the trade market. He signed back there, 10 points in 10 games. You have Marcus Johansson, who is still there, Joel Erickson. You look at their lines for tonight, Pat. Caprisov is on the top line with Johansson and Rossi. You have Ericksonek

with Boldy and Teresanko on the second line. You got Ryan Hartman on the third line. Defensively, Brodine with Faber, Middleton, and Spurgeon. They still have some fairly good defensemen, including Faber, who I love. I think he is fantastic. He doesn't get enough love nationally, in my opinion. So, you know, when you combine him with a lot of the other very talented players on this team, this is still going to be a test, even though the Wild have not had a good start. I really do think that this is a much better team than what we've seen so far. Yeah, I'm right there with you when it comes to the Minnesota Wild.

You look at this team, they have far too much talent to be in this position. And it's probably just a case of a slow start. We had all the drama leading into the season, with Caril Caprizov and what was going to happen with him, rejecting contracts and whether or not he was going to play the season without an extension. You obviously also had some offseason drama surrounding Marco Rossi, whether or not they were going to move him. He's another fantastic player.

He's got two goals, eight assists for 10 points and 10 games. Definitely a younger piece who has a lot of talent that is going to help form a nucleus for the Minnesota Wild that will be very competitive for the foreseeable future. One other thing about Minnesota tonight is former Penguins draft pick, Philip Gustafson, their starting goalie. The numbers tell you that he has struggled out of the gate, a two, five and one record, 3.42 goals against average, 889 save percentage, but he does have a shutout. I don't blame him for a lot of what's going on with the Minnesota Wild.

He is still extremely talented. And I think one of the maybe not more underrated goalies, because I think at this point, most people know he's a pretty damn good net minder, but he's not getting a ton of help from his defense in the team in front of him. This is a case of a really good goalie is not getting help. So for the penguins tonight, you have to be willing to go to the net. You have to be willing to maybe get some greasy goals because Gustafson is very talented, a very good goaltender.

And if there is a piece on the Minnesota Wild outside of your obvious name, names of say Caprizov, Bodhi or Rossi that's going to pull them out of this malaise that they're in to start the year, it's going to be a game or two that Gustafson just stands up and says, no, sir, they're getting one if that goals this game. And you guys are going to have to pick up the slack. Right. I agree with you. I think when he's on, he's in above average goaltender in this league. They just can't stop allowing goals. They've been really leaky, especially these last four games, Pat, where they have allowed 20 goals during that time. Twice, they have allowed six goals. And also during this four game stretch, Pat, they've allowed four plus goals in all of their losses.

This is a team that is not playing well defensively right now. The goal tending so far has also been a bit suspect. We think that Gustavson is going to turn this around because he's too talented not to, but Minnesota just has to be more stingy in their own end, which at times has not really been a problem. They have been pretty stingy defensively over the years. This year, though, not even close. Utah put six up on them. New Jersey put four up on them.

San Jose just put up a six spot on them. So the Penguins, they will have, I think, in my, I think, excuse me, a lot of good opportunities in this game to continue their scoring ways because the Penguins have also been, you know, one of the top teams scoring wise this year. Also, Pat, one thing to watch out. for for the while despite their struggles. They have the top power play in the league right now. So that is something the Penguins, PKs can have to have their eyes on. This is going to be a really

big test for that unit, which has been middling these last few games. But Minnesota right now, man, 31.8% on a man advantage, a smidge higher than Ottawa at 31.7. And for good reason, they have a lot of high-end talent that they can throw at you. Caprisoff is very hard to stop on that in advantage. So Penguins are going to have to be pretty disciplined tonight. I don't want to see lazy penalties like I saw against the Flyers on Tuesday. Right. You have to play disciplined against a team like this when they have a power play this hot and this good. I'll also say this in a bit of a defense of the Minnesota Wild right now.

You look at the skid that they're on in the last four games. The Devils might be the best team in the East behind the Florida Panthers because the champs sit on the throne until somebody knocks them off. But I digress on that. Utah might be the single hottest team in the National Hockey League right now. They're just mowing teams down left and right. San Jose, that's not a very good loss to take, even if it isn't overtime. And then Winnipeg, still a very, very good team in the Western Conference.

So it's not like they're dropping games to bums. They're playing very good teams. You go to overtime against Winnipeg. And we have seen this season, especially most recently against the Flyers, overtime can be a three-ring circus if you let it be. So with all of that said, yes, the penguins need to be disciplined. You don't want to give that power play too many opportunities. But you also, in general, don't want to take this Minnesota team lightly

just because they're in a bit of a malaise because, They have played good competition. They are a very talented team. And if you open the door and give them that opportunity to walk through it, you could really, really be in a world of hurt. But that'll do it for our preview of the Minnesota Wild. We'll talk about the Pittsburgh Penguins and everything going on with them and what they can do to get a win tonight against the Minnesota Wild.

We will do that when we come back right after this. But before we do that, we've got to tell you about today's first sponsor, and that is Fandul. The NBA is back, and there is no better place to get in on the action than Fandul, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of the game or you just want to ride the hot hand, Fandul has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can combine your bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team is making that late push. So right now, Fandall is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when their first $5 bet wins.

Just head to fandle.com to sign up and play your game with Fandall, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Back here on the Thursday edition, a game day edition of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I'm Patrick Damp right alongside Hunter Hodes. And I know what everybody wants us to talk about to start this segment. But I'm going to preach a little bit of patience because we're going to do that to end the show. We're going to talk about Benjamin Kindle and Harrison Brunick and everything that might be happening in the future. But for now, let's table that. We'll get to it in a little bit.

Penguins at Morning Skate, here are the lines. Philip Hollander with Sidney Crosby and Brian Rust, Anthony Mantha, with Gino and Justin Brzo, the hottest man on earth right now. Tommy Novak, Benjamin Kindle, Vela Kovina, Connor Dewar, Blake Lazot, Nolichari, Wetherspoon and Carlson, Shayla Tang, Pickering, and Dumba. Let's start there. I get that you probably want to play Dumba against one of his former teams, but I just, I don't get it.

I really don't. I know that I said on the show I wanted to see him get some more run of games together to be more consistent, but the, especially after the Flyers game, it's just not there. And maybe it will be in a week or two, but that performance against the Flyers was so lackluster that I really thought he had a one way ticket to some press box popcorn. 100%. And I know it was the second half of a back to back. You'd be hard pressed to find a lot of players that really played well in that game.

Obviously, you know, Sid was great. I'd throw Justin Brazo in there. But, you know, Archer Sheelves, Ben Kendall. Outside of that, Pat, not really many other players that played that well. I'll say Owen Pickering was totally fine. Other than that, I really can't name too many other players who really stood out in a positive way just because it was that ugly of a performance for most of the game, even though the Penguins did get a point out of it.

As for Dumba, though, I agree with you. I think I've just seen enough of him. at this point. He's been scratched a bit this year, which makes sense. You're not going to play him in O.A.2 games, nor should you, considering where he is at in his career. But with the effort that I saw on display on Tuesday, the bad penalties that he took, each time he was out there, felt like they were getting hemmed in their own zone. Yeah, he got an assist, but it was kind of more lucky than anything else.

Every other time he was out there, the Flyers were just getting chance after chance. I really felt like that he was also going to get scratched. I would have personally put Harrison Brunick back in the lineup. We're going to touch on that in a little bit and what that could mean for his long-term future this season. But I think this would have been a perfect opportunity to put Brunich back in. But Pat, also what you said, I think a big part of this is he gets to play his former team. And I think if this was almost any other team, maybe not the Dallas Stars, because he just played

for them last year. but if it were any other team, I think he'd be out, but I think they want to be like, hey, I know you were bad, but we're going to play you in this because you were on the wild for so long,

but I still feel like he's just got to have a really short leash going forward. I know he's getting third pair of minutes, but I didn't like the effort in that game. He did have a big hit, also against the blues as well. But if that's all you're doing, I'm sorry, that's just not enough, Pat. I welcome the physicality.

I think the penguins really need it in their lineup. But if that's all you're doing, that's not enough for me. Exactly. It can't be just that. It can't be, oh, okay, so you throw a big hit or two in 14 minutes of ice time. Let's be charitable with what he might get. You have to be able to bring more. And even if, I'll even say this, even if you don't bring more, you just can't be a black

mark on the roster. You can't be a negative on the roster. You have to at least play to even. If we don't notice you except for the big hits, that's totally acceptable. I'd like to see more. But if you're playing to even and you're getting a couple big hits throughout the game, I can live with that. The problem is that he has just been hemorrhaging chances. The team has been trapped in their own end for minutes at a time when he's on the ice. and with where this team is and the positivity that we have had to start the season, you do want to build on that. You do want to continue those good vibes.

And you put that at risk when you have a defensive player playing like that. Meanwhile, as for the rest of the roster, we obviously know that we're going to focus on the big guys. You want to have the second line continue to cook. You want Sidney Crosby to continue to do Sidney Crosby things. but my focus tonight and really just for the foreseeable future is going to be on this bottom six. I have really liked the development and growth of the third line of Novak, Kindle, and Coivinen. I do think they are building towards being a pretty good third line.

I think they're taking a little bit of time to get up to speed, but you can see it that there is something there. And again, this fourth line of Duer, Lazot, and Achari, we have been almost unfair. to Nol Achari on this show and with good reason. But this grouping, this fourth line, they bring the energy, they play an honest game, and they have on multiple occasions this season helped turn the tide of certain games. And I want to see them continue to do that against Minnesota.

I agree. I do want them to get some more offensive zone time just because, you know, when you look at some of their five on five metrics for this season, you know, and about 10 games of this Dura, Achari-Lazot line, they have a 40% expected goals percentage. So I do want that to get up. I just, I need to see more zone time from it.

You know, I like Connor Dewar. He is the straw that stirs the drink on that line. And I also do think, like, Lazot is a really good option. I think even Achari has not been, you know, as bad compared to, you know, for example, last season, Pat, where it was like, okay, you know, we can have you healthy scratched for a few games. And even this season, Pat, I'm not sure. he's going to play all the games even going forward. I actually think it's unlikely, especially now that this is the final year of his contract,

a team could come calling, maybe for a light package around the deadline, something like that. But I do want to see some of their underlying metrics improve a little bit. As for the third line, I do want to see Ben, not Ben Kendall, excuse me, Ville-Clovenin get going a little bit more. I thought in his first game back this week, I thought he was the best player on that line. but, you know, it's a work in progress here, especially now that Ricard Raquel is going to be out for the next couple of months. I still want to see him try to get back to the level that we saw at the end of last season

where, you know, you saw the playmaking ability, you saw the vision on display. So far, I haven't really seen a lot of that yet. It's early. Like, and I know last season was a small sample size and so far this season is too, but I still want to see him get back to that level that we saw at the end of last season because it hasn't come out just yet. I do think Coyvenin and Kendall can get some pretty good chemistry going. Kindle's been really driving his line no matter who is on it.

And I do like the chemistry that he and Novak are building. But I still want to see a little bit more with him and Coyvinen because you saw it on display during camp and preseason. Now it's time to really bring it to the regular season. For sure. And very similar to what I was saying about the line as a whole. It also applies to Coyvenin individually. You're seeing some pockets of it. You're seeing some flashes.

It's the same thing that we have said about so many of these reclamation projects, these younger players, you name it. It's about putting it together for a stretch of games. We don't expect a lot of these guys to bring it for all 82. We know that there's going to be off nights. We know that there's going to be slumps, so on and so forth. But at this point for Covenant, he has put in some solid performances since his recall. now it's about building upon them and putting them together and having a big game or two every now and then, which as we have seen, he has the capability of doing. Now it's just a matter of doing it.

Lastly for tonight, the goaltender rotation continues. Tristan Jari will get the start. Again, this has been, I don't want to say a heavyweight fight because let's keep it in perspective here. the better way of putting it, I guess, is to say this is Jari and Shilov saying to one another, anything you do, I can do better. They keep playing pretty well when given the opportunity. And as much as we want to say, hey, one of them eventually has to pick the ball up and run with it and take the job. But do they? Because the rotation seems to be working out pretty well. Yeah. And it's also potentially, again, potentially here, helping Jari.

say a bit more fresh pat and he's not starting you know four or five six games in a row or even more like he did under solven where yeah like we all know he mostly is what he is but you could tell during some of those stretches he was really getting gas so maybe dameus is kind of thinking hey if i keep him a bit more fresh like i'm also doing what archer she loves maybe that could lead to better results. And so far through 11 games, you are seeing that. So if it ain't broke, don't fix it. She-Lovs against Columbus was great outside the shootout. Tristan Jari against the blues was really good all-game. Archer She-Lovs against the Flyers, he was great. The biggest reason why they got a point. Yes, struggle in the shootout again. Okay, whatever. I hate shootouts. Now

Tristan Jari has a chance to match that once again. And both goalies are matching each other so far. So Jari has very much earned the start tonight. He absolutely has. I've really, I've liked his play. I've liked Sheelov's play. It's been a really good back and forth rotation for the both of them. And I just want to see it continue. Now, I do at one point want to see one of them really put together a performance that says,

hey, you need to give me another start. But at the very least, keeping the bar at we are rotating these. too. They have continued to throw out consistently solid performances. Not going to be too mad at that when that keeps going. But that is going to do it for this segment. When we come back, we've got to talk about the young guys. Harrison Brunick and Benjamin Kindle. Benjamin Kindle, as we have already said on the show,

will be in the lineup tonight. It will be his 10th NHL game. Harrison Brunick, however, will not be in the lineup tonight. We will talk about that when we get back right after this. Before we do that, though, we've got to tell you about today's second sponsor, and that is Monarch. Let's be honest, most of us can't even name all of our financial accounts, let alone what they're even worth.

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So don't let financial opportunities slip through the cracks. Use code locked on NHL at Monarch.com for 50% off your first year. That's Monarch.com code locked on NHL for half off your first year. All right, we're back here on the Thursday edition of Locked on Penguins. I'm Patrick Damp right alongside Hunter Hodes. Now we are going to talk about it, folks. We're going to talk about it now. We've intentionally held off in the second segment because we've wanted to

spend a good portion of our show talking about this specifically. Benjamin Kindle will play tonight. It will be his 10th NHL game activating his entry-level deal. Harrison Brunich, however, not in the lineup tonight, still at nine games. Let's start with Brunich. First off, I don't want anybody to panic about this just yet. Until we get the word that they are sending him back to Junior, he has not. not been sent back to junior yet.

The biggest thing I will say is that the fact that Dan Mews and the management have been so forthcoming about, hey, these guys are on a developmental plan. They're checking boxes. There are checkpoints to hit. Kind of tells me that they are sticking around. Obviously, that could change. Brunick's been out for a couple of games. I don't know if I agree with that.

I do think he has been one of the Penguin's six best defensemen to start the year. but I also know that for 19 year old defensemen coming into this league can be a bit of a culture shock and while I don't want to say he's played poorly, he definitely has not. You can see a couple cracks here and there, but I will say it doesn't seem like enough to say, okay, he's not ready yet. It feels like he's just got to work through a couple things. and given the way he has composed himself the way he's played, I think he's totally capable of doing that.

I mean, he had one bad game and he got benched right after. I would have had him in the lineup tonight against Minnesota. Hell Pat, I would have had him in the lineup in Philadelphia the next night and being like, hey, go out there and just reverse what happened. Like, we all know he wasn't very good against the blues on Monday. Okay, this is the second half of the back. back, go out there and reverse it. That's what I would have done. But again, I'm just a knucklehead on a podcast. I would have played him tonight. They're not doing that. But still, I feel like

he's been healthy scratched a little too much over the last week and change. I think you could have played him a little bit more. I get what they're doing with, you know, the development purposes. They have him on a path. But I think I would have played him a little bit more just so he doesn't get too much out of rhythm. They do have two more games, Pat, before they have to fully make the call on whether to activate his ELC with his 10th game or send him back to Camloops. And I don't know, the more that he gets scratched, the more I worry that like, oh, maybe he is potentially going back to Junior. It's just a feeling that I have. I'm not making a prediction anything like that. I'm just saying that it could happen just because he's being scratched

a bunch. I would have had him in for Dumba tonight. They disagree. Maybe he'll play the Saturday against Winnipeg, for example. Maybe he'll play against Toronto. Maybe he'll play against Toronto. even play next week against Washington. We have to see. But I would have, rather than play him a little bit more, compared to just getting him a little outer rhythm. But again, that's just my personal take on it. As for Ben Kendall, you know, congratulations to him.

His ELC kicks in tonight. He earned this opportunity after nine games. He really only had one bad game out of the nine. It's funny, Pat, I thought on Monday he was, eh, not really that good. Tuesday, eight minutes in, I'm like, yeah, this is already better than the entire 60-minute effort I saw against the blues on Monday. And again, he has earned every bit of this. He's been driving his own line as an 18-year-old. He has showcased his hockey IQ in every game as 200-foot game

has been sensational. And he deserves to be here after the high game trial. And for however long, he's going to be here this season. Now, remember, Pat, they can still say, him back whenever, but the fact that they are activating his ELC makes me believe that he is going to be here for the entire season and they're not just going to, I don't know, send him back after the 20 game mark or something like that. But he earned this. Congratulations to him. He definitely has earned it. He has not only earned it. He looks very comfortable as an NHL player. I was not waiting for a fall, but I was waiting for maybe a dip in play because I've always believed, whether it's on an individual level or a team level, that momentum can only carry you so

far, momentum, adrenaline, whatever you want to call it. And when it eventually wears off, you really got to dig in and find out what you're made of. The cliche that I always use is in big games, the first five to 10 minutes, you can play on pure adrenaline because you're hyped up for it. It's a big game. And then you've got to dig in and really start playing. You can kind of say the same for an 18-year-old that gets that lift of you made it on the team. You made it the team out of camp. You're going to get your first NHL taste. And it's it's just sunshine and rainbows.

You're happy to be there. You got all that positive energy. And then after a few games, it's time to really play hockey. And for Ben Kindle, with the exception of one game, he has been one of the Penguins better forwards. and he looks like he is ready to be an NHL player. Here's where I worry about Harrison Brunich, though. We've brought this up on the show before. I think there's more of a risk sending him back to Junior than keeping him here

because Camloops is just dreadful. And he will be the guy in Camloops. And whether it is human nature, whether it's whatever you want to call it, that can really develop some bad habits because he will be leaned on to make that team better than it actually is. He will have to shoulder way more of a load. He will have to try to do way too much.

And having to do that and being tasked with that could really hurt the progress that he has made through this camp, through these handful of games he has gotten into. And we know that the development of a defenseman is a sensitive development. You hit a couple roadblocks as a young defenseman. It can set you back. So I'm curious to see what they do with him. I still very much am in the camp of it is way better to keep him in the NHL

than to send him back to junior. Can weaves isn't as bad this year computer last year. I mean, they're still towards the bottom of the standings right now. their, you know, conference, for example, you know, they're six, seven, and two through their first 15 games. Again, not as bad as last year, but they're still not great to say the least. If he were to go back there, I would hope Pat that he would get traded to a contender in his league where he can stand out a little bit more just because I hear you, because I don't know

how much more he's really going to learn on that type of team. So, again, it's just more of a wait and see at this point. They got two more games of the trial. I imagine they are going to use both of those games before making a full decision about what is best for him for the rest of the season. I don't think they're going to send him back before the nine games are up. I've been wrong before. Hell, I'll take another L on Ben Kendall, man.

I know heading into the season, Pat, I said, there's still no way he's going to make it. And even if he does, he'll get a cup of coffee and go right back down. Now his ELC is starting. He's probably going to be here for the entire year. So I was wrong about that. I'm going to be wrong going forward, you know, about some things at least. I want to be obviously more right than wrong, but not batting 100%. That's for sure.

Neither am I because I was very much in the play them for five, six games, let them get a taste, let them know what it takes, send them back to junior, have them dominate and bring them back. But he decided I don't like that plan. I'm going to show everybody that I'm an NHL player. And I'm going to stuff it to everybody who said I was a bad pick at 11. and well, here we are. But like you said for Brunick, it's wait and see. We'll keep an eye on it.

And you should stick with us and listen to us when we do get that news because that is going to do it for the Thursday edition of Locked-on Penguins. Hunter and I will be back with a brand new episode on Friday recapping this game and getting you ready for the weekend matchup. And of course, because it's a Friday episode, fan take Friday will return. and I on our socials. We'll be calling for your questions, your hot takes, and everything in between.

But for now, for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp. Thank you, as always for tuning in, and we'll be back on Friday.