Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins deadline moves do not inspire that much confidence

Episode Date: March 9, 2024

The Pittsburgh Penguins were busy at the trade deadline but how did they do? Hunter and Pat give their full thoughts and analysis of the Jake Guentzel trade, and whether or not Kyle Dubas did enough before diving into the other moves. They look at whether this was an underwhelming return for Jake or not before discussing the Ruhwedel trade and his lack of other trades. Did Dubas do enough at the deadline? Is this considered a failure by him? They then look back at Thursday night's awful loss against the Washington Capitals before ending the show with a preview for the two games against the Boston Bruins and Edmonton Oilers this weekend. All that, plus how Michael Bunting does fill a need, is on this edition of the Locked On Penguins podcast.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 eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.FactorGet started on your resolutions with Factor, so you’re ready for the new year. Head to factormeals.com/lockedonnhl50 and use code lockedonnhl50 to get 50% off. IndeedIndeed knows when you’re growing your own business, you have to make every dollar count. Visit Indeed.com/LOCKEDON to start hiring now.RobinhoodRobinhood has the only IRA that gives you a 3% boost on every dollar you contribute when you subscribe to Robinhood Gold. Now through April 30th, Robinhood is even boosting every single dollar you transfer in from other retirement accounts with a 3% match. Available to U.S. customers in good standing. Robinhood Financial LLC (member SIPC), is a registered broker dealer.SleeperDownload the Sleeper App and use promo code LOCKEDONNHL to get up to a $100 match on your first deposit. Terms and conditions apply. See Sleeper’s Terms of Use for details.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelGet buckets with your first bet on FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET! That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – if your bet wins! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started. 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 were a bit busy during the NHL's trade deadline on Friday, and Pat and I are going to go over everything they did over the last 24 hours, plus get you all set for the games in Boston and at home against Edmonton this weekend 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. Hello, welcome back to another episode of the Locked On Penguins podcast.

I am one of your hosts, Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Join on my host, Patrick Damp. We can follow him on Twitter at Cinnon for Wet. And you can follow the shows, Twitter, at L.O, underscore Penguins. Of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. And finally, today's episode is brought to you by Fans.

We'll make every moment more. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $150 if your bet wins. visit fandal.com slash locked on to get started. So, Pat, everyone is talking about the Jake Gensel trade for obvious reasons. I gave most of my full takes about it during the Lockdown NHL Trade Deadline special with Gil Martin. For those that haven't listened to or watch it yet, it's in your audio feeds, and it's on

YouTube. It's about an eight and a half minute video. So I want to hand us over to you to start this episode. Are you as down on the return as I am? Or are you a bit more underwhelmed than I am potentially? See, it's tough because this morning, you know, I woke up to the news like a lot of people about the Jake Gensel trade. And I was certainly underwhelmed.

I like Michael Bunting. I do think that's an element this Penguins team has been missing for quite some time. He's got scoring touch and he's got a mean streak. I've said it on the show plenty of times. I think in this era of NHL hockey, yes, goons are not needed, but you need guys that can essentially kick your butt and score goals at the same time. And Michael Bunting is all of that. I've sort of, and I'm not saying it's the same thing.

I want to make sure that's clear. It's similar to me to a player like Patrick Hornquist coming in to where he's a guy who will do the dirty work and he has the ability to play with elite talent and score goals on top of it. So I like that aspect of it. In digging into the three prospects, they all have solid numbers where they're playing right now, whether it's the minors, whether it's Finland or whether it's in college right now. So they do seem to have solid upside. Now are they guys that could come in and make a big difference right away? Probably not.

I think we could see them in a year or two and they could be legitimate NHL contributors. but top six forwards, I'm very skeptical. Outside of that, though, then you look at how the day went. And yes, everybody can cook me for this, but I don't think anybody saw this coming. This should have been a seller's market deadline to where the teams that had assets to sell were going to get big returns for those assets. And in a flash, it turned into a buyer's market where teams were getting very, valuable pieces at barely low costs. And some of that I do think falls on Kyle Dubus for getting the return he got for Jake

Gensel that probably put the ball into the buyer's courts a little bit more. But we also know that NHL general managers are incredibly risk averse unless it's the Vegas Golden Knights and they hold on to assets and won't make big deals just for the sole fact they don't want them to blow up in their faces. but now sitting here with the deadline passed, I would give the grade for the trade what everybody else is pretty much given it at this point, and that's a C.

I think between Jake Gensel not having an extension in place and looking more and more likely, like he's going to test free agency, I don't think most teams were going to give up the sun and the moon for him, even though you should if you have any legitimate shot to win the Stanley Cup. And I don't mean that just for Jake Gensel. I mean that in general. If you have any shot whatsoever, be like the Vegas Golden Knights and empty the tank for it.

Because like I say, banners hang forever and you don't care about what you lost after you win a Stanley Cup. Now, the main thing that I want to hit is this. I wrote about this today on Penguin's Perspectives. And the column is literally titled, it did not have to be this way. this is just another long list in the long line of decisions that have completely screwed over this franchise crosbie malkin in latang continue to be great players they continue to produce well above what they are being compensated jake gensel was the same thing before he was moved eric carlson i know i know i know is still been very good. But from the time Jim Rutherford resigned all the way through Kyle Dubus

at the trade deadline, the decisions made surrounding them, including coaching, including trades, including signings, including not resigning players, have put this team into a position where we are going to get to the rebuild a lot sooner than we probably should have. This team should have still been contending for Stanley Cups for the last four seasons. And while 2020 was a world altering event, we can't really do anything about that. 2021, same thing. Solid roster. They don't make a ton of changes and goaltending falls them.

22 and 23, they let good talent walk out the door, did not replace them sufficiently, traded good players for players that were not as productive as the ones they let go. and then into this season, they go get Eric Carlson, which was a truly great move. But then everything else around it was a failure. From signing Ryan Graves to signing Matt Nietto, to signing Nolichari, to picking guys like Harkins off of waivers and Matthews off of waivers. Everything they have done has failed. Sidney Crosby, Evgeny Malkin, and Chris LaTang,

and I feel terrible for them because they have done their job. They have done everything that has been asked of them and more. And now, instead of going on a deep playoff run and maybe getting a fourth Stanley Cup, they are going to fight for their playoff lives for the next two or so years, and we're probably not going to see a Stanley Cup run. Now, there is a chance this offseason, and we're going to talk about this, that maybe this team gets a major facelift. and they're right back at it.

But after the way, the last few months have gone, I am truly skeptical of that. Well, I'm going to try to dissect all of that the best I can. What I can say, though, is that I agree with almost everything you're saying. And to your last point about the last several years, I said this on Twitter earlier today. I feel like, honestly, at times, the Penguins have gotten a bit lucky to win those three Stanley Cups

just because of how mismanaged this team has been, even before, you know, late GMJR did his thing. The late stages of Ray Shiro had some weird signings, man. You know it. I mean, they had a bottom six at times that had the likes of Joe Vitale, Tanner Glass, and Craig Adams. You had the whole Rob Skidari contract. This isn't just a late GMJR thing, a Ron Hexall thing,

and even now, to a little bit of a lesser degree, Kyle Dubus. No, Ray Shiro also had his screw-ups as general manager with the Penguins. And yeah, I know the Penguins obviously won the Stanley Cup in 2009. Rutherford had his home run, just beautiful 18-month swing where he, every move he made turned to gold. But for a lot of the other years, I feel like this team has been so mismanaged. And it's crazy that, you know, we can sit here and be like, wow, it's still going to be worth it because they have the three Stanley Cup.

It goes to show how great those players have been and how, you know, even though they've been mismanaged, they still have those championships overall. Getting back to the trade a little bit, what really, I guess, irked me a little bit was choosing quantity over quality. I don't think any of these prospects are bums or anything like that. I think they are legit players and they have a chance to be in the NHL at some point. For example, Ponomerov, I think he could be on the big. squad later on this season. I think he has a chance to make the team next season. For the other two, I think we're still a little ways away from them making an impact to the

NHL team if they do it all. And they also only project right now at least third or fourth liners. To me, I would have went quality over quantity trying to get at least an actual first round pick or a blue chip prospect, like a Jackson Blake, like a Scott Morrow, like a Bradley Nadeau, whoever else you want to throw in there. And I feel like by not getting either one of those things, I give the deal about a C minus, and I think that might be a little bit generous. I was at a D last night. I've kind of obviously calmed down a little bit. I'm at a C minus right now. I just don't think they did enough with this deal. And I knew they weren't going to get as much as a lot of people were hoping for. I even resigned myself to the fact

I was going to be underwhelmed. I just didn't think I was going to be underwhelmed to this degree. I've seen comparisons to the Jagger trade of all trades. That's ridiculous people. I've seen way worse trades than this, to say the least. And to your point, this was a buyer's market this year. I know you have been saying for the last several weeks that this was going to be a seller's market. Well, I mean, you got all takes exposure on it. This crap happens sometimes, people.

And I look at other trades that happened around the league today. For example, Tyler To Foley, he has almost 30 goals this season. You got a second and a third in return. He's not bringing a first back. I mean, that's just crazy to me. Overall, some of these prices were just really cheap overall. And I know Gensel was the best player available, but it really was crazy to see how the market looked like

after the Gensel trade went down. But I think for me, in my opinion, not getting a certified first round pick just because it only becomes a first if Carolina gets the final. So with how Carolina has played in the play, out of these last several seasons, it's probably more unlikely right now than it is likely. But to not get a bona fide first or to not get a blue chip type prospect who has a little bit more upside,

I think to me, that's why the deal is more of a failure in my eyes and why I give it about a C minus. Yeah, I agree with you. And then we get into the rest of the trade deadline for the penguins. And Chad Ruudel will get you a fourth round pick, which is fine. Six, seventh defenseman. you're not expecting a huge return, then a minor league trade essentially with Magnus Helberg, with Florida.

And as we sit here, Dubas told the reporters that there's no other moves coming. And at this point, that leaves Lars Eller on your roster, Riley Smith on your roster, and Alex Nadelcovic on your roster, which I just don't understand. Now, again,

it turned into a buyer's market. So chances are what the penguins were asking for those guys, probably was not going to get paid. But you figure up until right at what looked like probably 258 p.m., you figured the Vegas Golden Knights would be in on Riley Smith. Instead, they just went out and casually got Tomas Hurtle. So much for Riley Smith.

What a great villain, by the way. That franchise is an amazing villain. And then you see what the Canadians were able to get for Jake Allen, of all people. You figured you could get something similar for Alex and Adelkevich, and you just don't. So overall, I mean, I can't say it was a good trade deadline for Kyle Dubus. But on the whole, he's in a long line of general managers who just underwhelmed at this trade deadline unless you're looking at Vegas, Carolina, and maybe Winnipeg. I agree.

I do think a lot of GMs fumble the bag a little bit at this deadline. And I even tweeted this before we started recording. I don't think this is a hot take, but I may get some crassiems. for it in the YouTube comments or I'm already getting a little bit of crap for it on Twitter. But I feel like overall this was a little bit of a failure of a trade deadline by Kyle Dubus. The Jake Gensel trade was even more underwhelming that I thought it was going to be. Yeah, that's some nice tidy business for Chatterweedle. He gets to go try to chase the assembly captain of the Rangers.

Congratulations to him. And you get the Magnus Helbert trade. Okay, that's whatever. But you're telling me, after seeing that Jake Allen trade, no one wanted Alex Delfich, who's a 9-10 goalie this season. I mean, Jake Allen's below 900. and he's going for a third that could turn into a second. You're telling me no one wanted him overall when teams definitely need goalies this time a year.

I can forgive him maybe a little bit more just because there's term on Eller and Smith's contracts. But there were reports out there saying that the penguins were generating interest in these players. So nothing came of that, I guess. But I feel like they just had an opportunity to create more cap space heading into the summer and they just weren't able to do it overall. And I understand people, it takes two to tango.

You can still do some business over the summer. They're going to have $12 million in cap space. The summer is where I'm going to fully judge Dubis heading into the next season because it'll be a full year under his belt. But I got to say, I just think it's kind of a failure at this point. I know I might get some crap for it. And maybe he proves me wrong a little bit over the summer. He can get out of some of these contracts like Riley Smith, for example.

Maybe he wants to move Eller, who has a year left on his contract, maybe Ricard Raquel gets moved at some point. Who knows? But I think right now this deadline was more of a failure to me. Yep, I agree. And the summer is now even more crucial for Kyle Dubus than the trade deadline. He could have taken some pressure off of himself for this off season by getting some of these contracts out here, out of here and really making a push to have a more productive summer.

I will say I do think it'll be a little bit easier in the summer just because salary cap goes up for everybody. Penguins already have 12 million in space. And the Eller and Smith deals will only have one year left. I think a lot of teams will be more willing to take that on when there's one year. And I know, again, NHL general managers risk averse, sometimes stupid, but that two scares them a lot more than a one does. So we'll see. But overall, I mean, I cannot say that I'm happy with the work that was done today.

Yeah, I agree overall. and we'll have to see what happens after the season if he is able to get out of some of these contracts then maybe, I guess, prove me wrong in a way for saying that this deadline was a little bit of a failure. Again, I'm not trying to be negative for the sake of being negative.

I'm just trying to call it how I see it because that's what I've been doing on the show for the last several years. But that would do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, we're going to get into that awful blowout loss against the Washington Capitals on Thursday. And to end the show,

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That's code locked on NHL 50 at factor meals.com slash locked on NHL50 to get 50% off. All right, we're back here in this episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes, join by my host, Patrick Dam. So the Penguins get

utterly embarrassed by the Washington Capitals at PBG Paints Arena on Thursday night. A 6-0 lost to a team that they were directly behind in the sayings the penguins came into that game, just one point behind the capitals. And this honestly might be a quick segment because there's honestly not much to say about

this game other than that it was a pathetic showing. But you could tell that the team was gutted. I think they knew heading into this game that something was going down. They knew that Jake was about to get traded or was in the process of getting traded. You saw how Sidney Crawley played in this game. He looked dejected the entire time. Honestly, he looked dejected this whole week. You could tell on the ice he was.

really upset. He knew that this was going to go down. You saw after the game as well when he was asked about it, it looked like he was about to cry, to be honest. And I know Sid doesn't usually show that much emotion to the media after games when he speaks to reporters. But I could tell when I was watching that, that he just looked like he was about to burst into tears for like five, 10 minutes. But just a really ugly showing from a team that knew it was about to get dismantled a little bit. You beat me to the punch on that. that was really the only takeaway I had from that loss. They played like a team that knew their season was over.

And Sullivan even addressed it. He even said like these players, for the most part, have never been in this scenario in their careers. They're winners. They're used to winning. They're used to making the playoffs. They're used to gearing up and getting ready for the postseason this time of year. And now they aren't.

And it's been made clear to them, I suppose, you know, prior to the trade deadline, that there were going to be moves made, that guys were going to be pulled off the roster, guys like Jake Gensel. And obviously, we figured there'd be a couple more, but there weren't. But at the same time, these aren't guys who are used to this. These aren't players who are used to being in this position. We even forget, as disastrous as last season was, they were in it up until the very last day. they had a chance to make the playoffs on their second to last game of the season.

So they were in it all the way start to finish. And now they are pretty much out of it with 20 games to go. So at this point, I mean, I'd like to see more fight. I'd like to see a better showing. I've said it before that you're playing for next season. But I mean, I can't blame them for last night. I really can't. And I know that we'll get a lot of hate comments for that.

but we got to remember these guys are human, these guys are people. And you tell them that somebody they have gone to war with and won Stanley Cups with and done it all with is getting traded, it's going to affect you. It's going to wear on you. And it's going to hinder your performance. Now, they've got no time to mourn anymore. It's happened. It's over.

They have a new player in the room. They've got Michael Bunting there. And I know their season's not looking good. I know that they're going home once the playoffs start, but Boston and Edmonton are playing for something. And if you have any semblance of pride, if you have any semblance of competitive fire, now's the time to play spoiler.

I agree. And I understand what you're saying. But I also do think, you know, that's one of your rivals coming to PPG-Pain's arena. And they just kicked your butts. all up and down the ice. You got to go out there this upcoming weekend and show a lot more than what you did on Thursday.

And the money quote to me after the game was from Chris Lettang. I usually don't pay attention to what players say after games or usually what coaches say after games. A lot of it usually just useless hogwash, I think, in my opinion. But Latang said to the media, that one was tough to explain. We had a chance to get on the board, get a power play right off the game. I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong.

Maybe I'm not. I have to look at it again. there's nothing going on no energy no passion nothing as a group we didn't show up that's concerning to me no energy no passion even though one of your best players is getting dealt you're still not bringing anything to the table there and i also feel like that's a reflection on the coaching staff as well and i tweeted this after the game this is another game this season in a long line of games where the penguins have just not shown up and it continues to feel like the message from mike selop then is not getting through to this team anymore,

which is why I do think a head coach and change is coming this summer, even though his extension hasn't kicked in yet. I just don't see how he survives this when they continue to put together performances like these. This is just, again, another bad loss to go in the long list of really bad losses this season. It is. And I think you're right. I'm starting to finally come to grips with it. that it's probably time.

It probably is. And it sucks because he's a great coach. And he's going to get snatched up as soon as, you know, right before the ink is dry on the resignation. So yeah, I mean, that quotes concerning. And we'll see how they respond this weekend. Yeah, two big games, the first one in Boston, and then they come home to play the Oilers.

You will be there for that Oilers game. So Godspeed to you with that, Pat. But do you have anything else to add about this game overall? No. I think, yeah, we can move on to the final segment. That was just an ugly game and honestly a really ugly day for the Penguins overall with the loss. And then of course the Jake Gensel trade to add on to that. But that would do it for this second segment. Coming up to end the show, Pat and I are going to preview the two games against the Boston Bruins and the Edmonton Oilers. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about Indeed. No matter how the last game win, anytime you take the field, you've got a shot at greatness. Give your team the best shot at winning by recruiting more MVP's with Indeed. If you're hiring, you need Indeed because Indeed is the hiring partner where you can attract, interview and hire all in one place. And Indeed is the only job site where you're guaranteed to find quality applications

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Offer valid through March 31st. Go to indeed.com slash locked-on to claim your $75 credit before March 31st. One more time, indeed.com slash locked-on terms and conditions apply. If you need to hire, you need indeed. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your hosts, Hunter Hodes, joined one by my co-es. Patrick Dam. So big weekend once again for this hockey team as the crazy schedule in March continues for the Penguins. They go up to Boston, take on a very good Bruins team who made

some additions at the trade deadline, or before the trade deadline, I should say, on Friday. And then they will come home to play and end to others team that's been really hot as of late, though. They did just lose to the Columbus Blue Jackets on the road on Thursday. I'm going to hand this over to you, man. Two massive games here for this team. This is a Bruins team. that is obviously not as good as they were last year. And that's hard to beat, obviously, because the Bruins were one of the best regular season teams in NHL history this past year. But they still have quite a bit of talent.

And you know where it starts. Brad Marshan and David Posternak. They're not as good as last year, but here's the dirty little secret. They're tied for the second best record in the National Hockey League. Florida Panthers lead the pack, no pun intended, with 90 points. And the Bruins are right there with the Vancouver. Hoover Canucks with 89. So, yeah, it's not the record-setting Boston Bruins team that we saw last year,

but they're still pretty darn good. And they are fading a tad. They're 5-1 and 4 in their last 10, but they're very good at home. They are 27 and 6. One of those losses is to the Pittsburgh Penguins, however. So the Penguins have been able to do it. Now, I know it's a different team. I know there's injuries.

I know that this team has taken several steps back. since that great win in Boston all those moons ago. But again, you're playing for next year. You still have talent on the roster. Let's not get that twisted. There's still talent on this Penguins team. And I want to see Michael Bunting go out there. Should he play, which it looks like it's tracking towards he'll be in the lineup right away.

I want to see him go out there and do some Michael Bunting stuff. Get in some faces. Get in front of the net. Play a hard-nosed game. Be a factor on the power. play. And if nothing else, he can make a really good name for himself if in these last 20 games, he goes out and plays the way he did in Toronto in a way where he can knock in some goals and he plays a feisty game. He'll instantly become a fan favorite. Yeah, we don't really get to talk

about Michael Bunting too much on this episode. So I kind of mentioned him with my locked on NHL hit earlier with Gil Martin with the trade deadline special. I think Michael Buncing is a totally fine player. My biggest problem with him is that he's overpaid. He's making almost $5 million for the next two seasons. He also has struggled quite a bit in Carolina this season. You hope that that rebounds with the Penguins. I expect him to get a look in the top six, probably with Cindy Crosby's line, in my opinion. Pat, I think they're going to put him in Jake's spot and play him with Raquel or Russ whenever Rust is ready to come back. And I think that's going to be sooner rather than later. He's back skating with the team. And he's looking pretty good for all

things considered when it comes to practice reports and everything. But I expect him to play on Crosby's wing. And that should be an interesting fit. In a very weird way, he reminds me of a watered down version of Chris Cunitz and Patrick Hornquist. Again, he is not either of those two players. He is never going to be Chris Cunitz or Patrick Hornquist. But he reminds me a little bit of those two guys. And I think he does bring something to this team that it lacks. And that is a good front presence at five on five who can get some dirty goals. Yeah, contract aside, age aside. That's what I'm looking.

That's what I look at when I look at Michael Montaing. Yeah. And I mean, I also think too that, yeah, he's in this current cap situation. Yes, he's overpaid. 4.5 million this year is quite a lot. But once we get into the next few, the next two seasons when he's signed, for a guy who has scored more than 20 goals twice in his career, that's about the going rate at this.

point for a guy like that. And I do think, again, not comparing him to the two guys, but I think there is a lot of similarity, like you said, to Chris Kunitz and Patrick Hornquist, and that is something this franchise has been sorely lacking for the last few years. And what better team to go out and play like that against than the Boston Bruins? Yeah, I agree with you. And I'll be curious to see also what he looks like on the power play. Historically, he hasn't been usually that good on the power play. But with how this power play has played this year, Pat, why not at this point? Yeah. And I mean, he started to actually trend upwards on the power play the last two years. He hit his career high in goals on the power play last year was seven. He's already got six this

year. And he's at his career high in power play points this season was 16, six goals, 10 assists. So, I mean, any flicker of hope we can get for this power play, we're going to take it. Right. And just back to the Bruins. for just a second. Speaking of special teams, Bruins are top 10 in both power play and penalty kill. And I'm really concerned about the Penguins power play heading into this game, just more than most games, just because of how good the Bruins penalty kill is. I mean, they have Brad Marshan out there for most of the penalty kill.

And he scored a shorthanded goal against the Penguins earlier this year when I was at TV Garden for that game. It's funny. I actually think that was one of the best Penguins games of the year. And they don't usually play well in Boston. That's usually a house of horrors for them. And even though they gave up a short-handed goal, they were so able to win that game. But back to my overall point, they need to be a lot better on the power play for this game because they've been giving up shorthanded goals the last few weeks at a very alarming rate.

Yeah, it's been bad. They gave one up less than two minutes into the game last night. And they're just hopefully a guy like this helps you out. Hopefully that's a guy that can provide a spark. Agreed. And you know, the Bruins, they have gotten great goaltending all year. Jeremy Swamen, excuse me, Linus, Allmark. and Allmark actually almost went to the LA Kings,

per report from Frank Sarvali. But whichever goalie they start, it's going to be tough in that just because both have been really good for the ruins this year. Switching things to the Oilers a little bit, we just saw them absolutely spanked the Penguins last weekend in Edmonton. The Penguins had no chance of winning that game whatsoever. They were bullied by the Oilers. And this is an Oilers team that has destroyed them five times in a row.

and that needs to change this upcoming Sunday. And again, it all starts with Connor McDavid and Leon Drysail. If you're not slowing them down, you have no chance of winning this game. None. And this is another really good team. They're not as high up in the overall standings as the Boston Bruins are. But we know they can score goals. Everybody said they needed a goal.

He'll guess what. They didn't go get one. But at the same time, they can outscore their problems. they absolutely can go out and outscore their problems. So again, just have a chance to play spoiler. And it's a chance to send a message to the front office, to the coaching staff, to yourselves that, hey, you know what, we might be done for this season,

but we can still keep up with some of these guys. So do that, a little bit of thoughts and prayers because you're going up against a lightning fast team and you're not that fast anymore. But you know what? I mean, for me personally, I'm going to be excited to see another chapter. of Sidney Crosby versus Connor McDavid.

And we're not going to get many more of those moments over the next couple of years. So embrace it while you can. At this point, I just want to see some momentum from this team for the rest of the season heading into the offseason. Just don't go out with a whimper, even though there's a good chance of that happening with the way they've been playing. Pat, I mean, by the end of the season, they could be or they actually might likely be a bottom 10 team in the NHL.

And I can't even believe I'm saying that at this point. I had every expectation of this team to make the playoffs this season. I expect them to be at least a wildcar team, if not fighting for the third spot in the metro. And now there's a pretty good chance that they will finish as a bottom 10 team in the league. Just can't even believe we're discussing that at this point. But to go back to my original point, I just want to see some momentum from this team for the rest of the season.

Do not go out with a whimper. that's what I really wanted to end this show with. And I think that will end it overall. Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast. Pat and I will be back with another episode for you all on Monday to recap both of these games against the Bruins and the Oilers and then we'll get you all set for the rest of the week as well.

Also, shout out to a longtime listener and one of my great friends, Rick. Enjoy your bachelor party at TD Garden on Saturday. Hope the Penguins can bring home a win for you. but if they play bad, just have a few drinks and have fun with your buddies. But I just wanted to shout you all to end the show. But again, thank you all so much for tuning in. Really appreciate it. We'll be back on Monday.