Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson provides the consistency the team needs

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Penguins defense this year was a model of inconsistency. However, there is one player who that doesn't apply to whatsoever. Your Locked-on Penguins. 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.

Starting point is 00:00:33 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 L0 underscore Penguins. And we thank you for making this your first listener watch of the day, because we're your team every day in today's episode is brought to you by Fandul. Make every moment more. Right now new customers get 150 bucks in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $150 with any $5 bet.

Starting point is 00:01:01 visit fandul.com slash locked on to get started. So Michael Jordan had the flu game, Mario Lemieux played with the broken hand in the 1992 Stanley Cup playoffs. And here is Hunter Hodes on Locked on Penguins battling through an illness. And that's just what you do at this time of year. It's the Stanley Cup playoffs. You fight through it to get to your ultimate goal. You give it your best.

Starting point is 00:01:25 And that's exactly what my boy Hunter Hodes is doing right now today on this episode. let's actually talk about what we're here to talk about today, and that is continuing our season and review segment. And as I said at the top, we're going to do today's about a guy who was about the only consistent force on the Penguins Blue Line, and that is Marcus Pedersen. A career year for Marcus Pedersen this year played in all 82 games. That is the first time he's done that in his career.

Starting point is 00:01:58 He also had a career high in all of his counting stats. four goals, 26 assists, 30 points. He also, I know this stat gets hockey people riled up. I know it's an outdated stat. I know people aren't that big of a fan of it, but when you put up a career number that is a career high in this stat the way Marcus Pedersen did this year, and that is plus minus.

Starting point is 00:02:21 He was a plus 28 this season, and I have said it on the show before. I am one of the people who while I very rarely take a look at plus minus, I will look at it when it starts to get north or south of 20. If you are over plus 20, if you're underwater at minus 20, that to me gives some kind of a trend line. And when Marcus Pedersen is nearly plus 30, all signs point to him being a positive force when he's on the ice. for a team that struggled to get offense for a large portion of the year. And at times it was just the first line for a large portion of the season. It was only the top two lines.

Starting point is 00:03:06 It tells me when Marcus Pedersen touched the ice, this team was contributing offensively in one way or another. The way you handle plus minus there is honestly how I usually handle it when I look at the stat. If someone is say a minus 25, then I'm like, okay, when you're on the ice, you're a net negative. But when you're plus 28, like Marcus Pedersen was, you are a net positive when you were on nice. That's really the only times I look at plus minus. If you're up minus two, minus four, heck even a plus three plus four, I just really don't look at it that much because again, there's a lot better stats to look at over plus minus. And I still think overall, even though you said

Starting point is 00:03:46 he's a plus 28, there are still better stats to look at over plus minus. But throughout this season, Marcus Pedersen was by far this team's most consistent defenseman. I know Chris Lattang was great for the first two-thirds of the season, but he had a really rotten final month to six weeks of the season. Eric Carlson was consistent at times, but he was also disappointing quite a few times. So I'm not going to throw him in the category of being the most consistent defenseman because I don't think that will be fair.

Starting point is 00:04:12 And that's not me being objective at all. It was Marcus Pedersen through and through. And he played with Eric Carlson and Chris Lerner. Teng throughout the season. And he put up good results with both. But I said it a few weeks ago. We talked about whether he could extend here. I am still of the belief that he should be playing more of his minutes with Carlson

Starting point is 00:04:34 than Lettang. He can still play with Lettang. I'm going to get into those numbers in just a second. But he still plays a bit better when he's with Carlson. And in 82 games this season, almost 900 minutes of five on five ice time, when those two were together, Carlson and Pedersen, the Penguins had almost 50, of the shot attempts, 48 goals for, 37 goals against, about a 53% expected goals for rate, 55% of the scoring chances, and about 57% of the high danger chances.

Starting point is 00:05:03 Now, go to his time with, let's hang. A little over 550 minutes for all 82 games. When they were on the ice together, they had almost 51% of the shot of temps, so a little bit above water, 32 goals for, 24 goals against, 52% expected goals for rate, 50% scoring in chances for rate and 53% high danger chances for rate. So again, he's above water with both players, but he just fits a little bit better with Carlson than he does Lettang. Again, if somebody were to happen and he had to play up with Latang, I would be fine with

Starting point is 00:05:37 it because they have a history of playing well together. But he just seems to be a better fit with Carlson. And I'm excited to see what that pairing can do for this upcoming season. But I was a big fan of his game throughout this year. I'll keep saying it on the show. I kind of shout out to think about what this team's defense would look like if he wasn't on the ice. He was their best defenseman in terms of preventing odd man rushes against. I know this team definitely has a big pinching problem.

Starting point is 00:06:02 I think it's kind of systematic. I think Mike Sullivan needs to bring it down a little bit. But usually Pedersen wasn't the one doing those ill-advised pitches. It was a couple of the other offensive defensemen like Carlson. Let's hang. I'm not trying to pick on them here. I think they're role cost players, but they sometimes need to tone it back a little bit. But when you saw Pedersen on the ice, he really wasn't doing it as much.

Starting point is 00:06:26 And he was more defensively responsible at times. It felt like, honestly, he was defending or if they were giving up an on-man rush, he was the one having to defend it. But I also think he was just great in his own zone. And I'm really looking forward to seeing how he does for this upcoming season, as I just said. And I'm right there with you in the fact that. I am very much on board with extending him on July 1st, keeping him in a penguin sweater for the foreseeable future because just like you, I do shudder to think what this defense looks like without him.

Starting point is 00:07:01 But you brought up the stats with the splits with Latang in Carlson. Then when you just look at his overall game, you go into the analytics of it at five on five. a little over 1,500 minutes time on ice at even strength. And again, this shows that when you see that plus 28, and then you dig into the deeper numbers, it gets shown exactly what that plus 28 says. You look at the shot attempts. That's about 52% of them when he's on the ice.

Starting point is 00:07:34 The goals for he was out for 87 goals for, only 67 against at even strength. And then you look at the scoring chances, 814 scoring chances for only 709 against. I know that 709 sounds like a lot, but you play a full 82 games, more than 1,500 minutes at 5 on 5, and you're only giving up that few scoring chances.

Starting point is 00:08:00 It shows that when you have that big of a gap, that big of a gulf between how many your team generates compared to how many they give up, It shows that he does a really good job. And then you look at the high danger chances, 339 high danger chances for 288 against 54%. Again, we know plus minus is an outdated statistic, but you dig into the analytics of it and it shows, okay,

Starting point is 00:08:32 yeah, that plus 28, that's a real plus 28. Those aren't empty calories. It's not him riding the coattails of better offensive players. What he does defensively helps them get out of their own end. It helps them hold the puck in the offensive zone. And he is, it's a sneaky part of his game, but he's very good at moving the puck to those top line forwards or those offensive defensemen to help generate offense.

Starting point is 00:09:01 He's one of the top players on this defensive quarterback and break the puck out of his own zone. I would say him alongside Lutte, alongside Carlson, are the three best in terms of that. whenever even if he's being hounded in his own zone, he's still able to get the puck to one of the players on the top two lines because usually that's who he's out there with. He plays on the top four. He gets a lot of ice time with Crosby, gets a lot of ice time with Malkin Heck. He gets a lot of ice time with the third line. He's not really getting as much with the fourth

Starting point is 00:09:29 line. That's kind of being, you know, the third pairing is kind of getting that type of ice time. But he's still able to get the puck out of his own zone despite being hounded, pressure, whatever word you want to use. I didn't want to clarify something. I did say, a couple of seconds ago, even though, you know, he wasn't directly responsible for a lot of odd men rushes against. I think it was some of the other players that were pinching. He was still great at preventing them just because he wasn't the one doing that ill-advised pinch and then leaving someone else out to dry. When he was the one defending the armand-rushes because of other players, he was usually doing a pretty good job shutting those down just because,

Starting point is 00:10:05 again, he's the team's best defensive defenseman and he knows how to play in those situations. He was a rock through and through this year. And I'm right there with you, man. I do want this team to extend him this summer. I understand you're going to hear arguments for trading him just because his value is really high right now. You know, what does this team's window look like in the next few years? And I think those are very valid arguments. But the thing I keep coming back to is how do you replace him if he gets dealt?

Starting point is 00:10:36 Because I don't think you're going to find anyone on the free agent market. let alone the trade market that can do what he does on a nightly basis. And that's the main reason I want to extend him. Yeah, absolutely. And it's one of those why go get the replacement when you have him in house. Right. Keep what you got. Make it consistent and lock him up for as much as you can.

Starting point is 00:10:59 But overall, got to give him an A on the season. Thought he had a very strong, very consistent season. Love to see him locked up on July 1 for the foreseeable future. But that is going to do it. I will say one more thing, Pat, just because I know we'll get this probably in the comments as well. I understand the Penguins have a lot of long-term contracts locked up right now. I definitely get it. You know, cap space is at a premium, even though the cap is expected to go up.

Starting point is 00:11:25 But if you can figure out a way to get out of maybe, you know, one of those deals and open up some more cap space, then it makes the Pedersen contract, I think, easier for some of those other people to summit, just because I understand where some people are coming from, with that complaint or criticism as well, just because of the amount of long-term deals on this team right now. No doubt. It becomes a lot easier to stomach when you move out another long-term deal and you open up cap space.

Starting point is 00:11:51 So I think that is this team's plan this summer overall. So I think that is how we're going to see the summer play out. Now I will send us to break. When we come back, we're going to do something we don't really do that often. Rather than being critical and talking about why not, we're going to talk about why they can over the next couple of years. But before we do that, we have to tell you about our first sponsor, and that is Fandul.

Starting point is 00:12:18 It's winner take all time in the NBA and NHL, and Fandle is giving you a shot to bring home a win of your own. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $150 to bet on spreads, money lines, player props, and more. visit fandul.com slash locked on and make every playoff shot count. Fandul, America's number one sports book. All right, we're back here on the Tuesday edition of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I'm Patrick Damp. That's Hunter Hodey's battling through it for you guys to bring you the content.

Starting point is 00:12:55 And we do this pretty often, right? And it's a staple of sports talk, whether it's radio, podcast, column. blogs, you name it. It often goes into a negative space. It often goes into, here's the reasons why this can't happen. Here's the reasons why this team is not as good as you may think they are. Here's why this team can't do it. We're going to kind of go in the opposite direction today.

Starting point is 00:13:23 We're going to talk about why we think this team can get back to the postseason next year and maybe make one last magical run. Now, I will couch this in saying, I'm not going to sit here with black and gold goggles and say, no, it's the Stanley Cup. They're going to do it next year. They are the beasts of the east. They're going to go out and win it.

Starting point is 00:13:47 I'm not that delusional. I say it all the time, whether you call me a fanboy, an idiot, whatever you want to call me, I still at the end of the day am a fan of this team. I am going to root for them. I am going to hope that they win. And yes, they're going to be days where I huff the copium. and tell myself, no, no, no, this team's actually great.

Starting point is 00:14:08 What are you talking about? But this is kind of what I talked about a couple weeks ago when we had our segment about why this team doesn't need to go into a rebuild yet. Yes, a rebuild's coming. It is a whole hell of a lot closer than it was even a couple years ago. And when it gets here, it's going to suck. This team's going to be bad. They're going to be comically bad.

Starting point is 00:14:31 And we're going to go through some serious pain. but you look at the bones of this team. Sidney Crosby, Chris LaTang, Eric Carlson, Evgeny Malkin, Brian Rust, Marcus Pedersen. There is a core of players here, and I didn't name a few, because there's a couple others we could talk about. There are pieces in place to keep this team competitive,

Starting point is 00:14:59 to keep this team in a playoff race, in a metropolitan division that's starting to load up. In an Eastern conference that's seeing an Atlantic division really come into its own with a lot of really good hockey teams in that division. But you still have Sidney Crosby, who's humming along at a point per game pace. You have Evgeny Malkin who's proven he can still score between 20 to 25, maybe 30 goals if he finds the right winger. You've got Chris LaTang, who barring whatever injury he dealt with at the end of the season,

Starting point is 00:15:32 still one of the better defensemen in the NHL. Eric Carlson, they want this to work. If they can put him with Marcus Pedersen and make that work, you've got more talent right there. I think you figure out the goaltending. Kyle Dubus goes and finds some good depth on the free agency and trade market. This team is right back in the mix. I'll start by saying this.

Starting point is 00:15:54 Do I think this team is a bona fide Stanley Cup contender? No. And I think you'd be lying to yourself if you thought they were. And I think the days of them being a bona fides Stanley Cup contender are over. But, but there's no reason to think that this team can't make the playoffs next year. They're right there. That's two years in a row. They've been right there at the end of the season.

Starting point is 00:16:17 I know they've missed the playoffs by the slimmest of margins. But they have shown that they are still right there just because this conference, especially these last couple of years, but this year in particular, this conference is honestly not that good and it's pretty top-heavy. I mean, this year, the Rangers were great. The hurricanes you know you're getting for them every regular season. Maple Leafs regular season, sure. Boston blew away my expectations for them.

Starting point is 00:16:41 The Panthers were really good as I expected. But you look at the rest of these teams. I mean, Washington felt like they made the playoffs against their own will. The Islanders weren't that good this year. So the Penguins, they're right there, especially with those two teams, And they'll be right there again, I think, with Detroit next year. I know Ottawa will try to be better. Buffalo as well.

Starting point is 00:17:05 But there's no reason to think that this team can't make the playoffs if they do make some shrewd moves over the offseason. You said a person in he Crosby. Until he slows down, I expect another point for game season at least from him next year. And if this power play is at least average, I think he could hit 100 points next year. He would have hit well over 100 if the power play was at least average. And speaking of the power play, That has to improve next year.

Starting point is 00:17:30 I'm sorry, Pat, but there's no, there's no way this PowerPoint is going to be ranked 30th, two years in a row. I know it was awful this year, but I really can't see it. And I don't think that's copium from me. I think that's just pure regression to the mean overall with how much talent that this unit has. And with hopefully the fresh ideas coming in from a new coach that can really help that unit. and you brought up Marcus Pedersen, you brought up Eric Carlson, they want that experiment to work. Another big thing for me, just, you know, getting a new third line center. If you're able to figure that out and maybe, you know, push Eller down to the fourth line

Starting point is 00:18:09 and have them be your fourth line center, man, then you're cooking with gas right there as well. If you can maybe get another winger for the top six, you're also cooking with gas right there. But with how the core performed this year, with how especially the top six perform, with how Drew O'Connor establish himself as a really good middle six player, with how Eller showed he still has some left in the take, with how Pustinen showed that he can be a third-line option. This team has the bones of at least the team that can make the playoffs for next year. And it all goes honestly back to what Kyle Dubas said at his intro press conference last year.

Starting point is 00:18:47 If you want to bet against the big three, you can do so at your own peril. And he kind of, he didn't say that at his end of season press conference. this year. But in a way, he kind of doubled down on it just because he didn't say that, you know, he's going to blow it up or anything like that. He's still committed to trying to win while also setting up this team for long-term success. And I think you're going to see them try to build this team to get back to the playoffs because, you know, as we saw last year, anything can happen. I mean, no one thought the Florida Panthers were a Stanley Cup contender when they made the playoffs last year. They went all the way of the final. Again, not saying that's

Starting point is 00:19:18 going to happen to the penguins next year. But anything can happen when you get into the playoffs. So those are the main reasons why I'm optimistic heading into this season. I do think you're going to get another at least sound year from McGee Malcon. I think the days of him being maybe an 80-point player could be done. But if you can get 65, 70 points from him as a second-line center, especially with the full season of Michael Bunting, I'm down for that for sure. And another point that you made, if you can shore up that bottom six, just because I think that's one of the biggest issues, you run four lines.

Starting point is 00:19:53 this team will be hopefully hard to beat on a nightly basis. And another big thing. And I'm hoping that this is not copium. I just want to see Mike Sullivan adjust this system a little bit. It's time for him to adjust this system to what the team is right now. This isn't the same team that he had in 2016. If he's able to make the right adjustments, I'll feel a little bit better heading in the next season as well.

Starting point is 00:20:18 For sure. A couple quick points before we had to break that I want to bring up as well. You brought up the power play. I do think there's a world where it gets better. I don't think it's going to happen and unfold the way it did this year. I think what Eric Carlson talked about near the end of the season, where this thing just snowballed on them and they could never get it back on track. I think if they come out the first two, three weeks of the season and they're humming along,

Starting point is 00:20:45 doesn't even have to be top of the league. If it's top half of the league, they're getting a couple power play goals in bigger moments, or at the very least they're going one for three, one for four, you know, occasionally you drop in a two for three in there. And this power play unit starts feeling itself. Then I think you go the opposite direction where they know that they're humming along and then they can have that opposite feeling of what they had this year where they just couldn't get out of their own way.

Starting point is 00:21:12 As for Sullivan, I agree to an extent. I want to see what Kyle Dubus does in the off season before I say I need him to adjust his system. because you can kind of tell with a lot of the acquisitions that he has gotten so far into the year, including a guy like Michael Bunting, you can tell he wants them to get back to that system that brought them success. So if he can bring in some more speed and skill, he can keep that system going. But if they're unable to do that, then yes, it's time for that system to change. Finally, and this is the biggest question mark that keeps me from totally being completely optimistic. into next year, got to figure out goaltending.

Starting point is 00:21:55 You either have to go get the next Alex Nadelcovic, who can be your 1B, and you can give Tristan Jari more of a rest throughout the year. So he doesn't hit that dip like he has hit the last two seasons in March, and he can actually have some momentum going into the postseason. So that is one thing that does keep me from fully being optimistic as, hey, this team's going it back, they have to figure out the most important position on the ice. Agreed. And the goaltending was pretty solid for the first half of the season. I know it started to wear down in the final third of the season, but they have to make a decision either way

Starting point is 00:22:34 on Trishinjari. Is he the guy for this next season and potentially for this entire contract? Or are you moving on just because this is now another season from him where he starts out pretty strong, but then falters down the stretch. Do you really want to take a chance with that for another season in a row here, that you can make an argument that is the biggest question the Penguins face this offseason. And, you know, for Nadelcovich, he might price himself out of Pittsburgh and good on him if he does because he had a fantastic year. But yeah, you can easily make an argument that goaltending is the biggest question for this team heading in the next season. I still think it's the bottom six and especially third line center,

Starting point is 00:23:16 but goaltending is right there. It's kind of a one B for me. overall. Yeah, absolutely. But that is going to do it for this segment. When we come back, we're going to start silly season just a little bit early. And we're going to talk about maybe a big blockbuster trade that the Pittsburgh Penguins could make this off season to really shake this team out of its slumber. But before we do that, we're going to tell you about our next sponsor. And that is Policy Genius. Policy Genius is the country's leading online insurance marketplace. It saves you time and money so you can provide your family with a financial safety net starting today.

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Starting point is 00:25:12 All right, we're back here on the Tuesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm Patrick Damp. That's Hunter Hodes. what do you say, bud? Let's start silly season just a little bit early. So this season is the best time of year, my friend. I love it.

Starting point is 00:25:27 Most of these moves probably won't happen. But we're going to have some fun with it and look at some players that this team could go after in the trade market that we think makes some sense for the window and potentially into the future as well. I love doing this. For all intents and purposes, we're firing up EA Sports NHL. we're firing some stuff into the trade simulator and we know we know chances are this isn't going to happen so we know your comments are coming about oh they're never going to do this it won't work we know we know just let us have some fun okay first big name i'm bringing up and i again know it's probably unlikely but god i'd love to see it Trevor zegris here's why i look at this one as

Starting point is 00:26:14 outside shot they could do it one it's the type of player Kyle Duvus has been talking about since he got here. He's a young player. He's talented. He can score. He is lightning fast and he is an absolute electric factory. Had a bit of a rough season this year, broke his ankle, missed a lot of time, only put up a handful of goals and assists. So you kind of put that out of your mind for that one. But then you look at his previous two seasons. 23 goals, both years, more than 60 points, both seasons. Ends. given the way the last couple years have played out for him, he really strikes me as a guy who needs to go to a team with stable leadership.

Starting point is 00:26:58 Where else are you going to get that than the Pittsburgh Penguins with Sidney Crosby, Evgeny Malkin, Chris LaTang, now Eric Carlson. And I know people have had their thoughts on him, but Mike Sullivan, great coach. And here's a reason why I think you can make this work if you're Kyle Dubus and the Anaheim Ducks. They have the third overall pick this coming draft. They are fully entrenched in a rebuild and they're going to get ready here to take the next step in the next couple of years.

Starting point is 00:27:30 They've got an embarrassment of riches at center. Young guys coming up through their system who are going to play for this team for years to come. Does it mean they want to get rid of Trevor Zegris? Probably not. But if there was ever a time to move him, there's two things that they could do here to both free up cap space and make this work. One, you figure if this trade's going to happen, it's going to involve Tristan Jari.

Starting point is 00:27:53 They have their goaltender of the future in Lucas Dostle. We saw first hand that he's pretty solid. He put up some great efforts against the penguins this season. I also think it would be in their best interest to buy out Pittsburgh native John Gibson because he has definitely regressed. He got outplayed by Dostle. for most of the year. And this would actually be a positive for the ducks to buy out John Gibson.

Starting point is 00:28:24 They would save just a shade over $4 million on their salary cap for the next three years. And then the three years after that, they're only paying a shade over $2.1 million on the cap once that buyout kicks back in. So you would free up cap space. You would get a bit of an older goaltender to guide Dostle through that whole process in Tristan Jari. And then by the time you have to resign Dostel in next offseason, you'd only have a couple of years left to Tristan Jari.

Starting point is 00:28:55 And that would become a very easy to flip contract. Yeah, I think with Gibson, it also allows him to go to a contending team. I mean, I feel like everyone's been waiting for him to go to a contender. He's been involved in trade rumors for the last couple of years just because he's played on some really rotten duck teams. but this also isn't the goalie that he used to be. You know, he was a top five, top six, top seven goalie to start his career, but once the duck started to get worse,

Starting point is 00:29:24 his game kind of went down with it. And you're right, he was outplayed by Lucas Dolstall this year. You look at the same percentages overall, and one was below 900, the other one was above 900. I mean, 902 for Dostel this year, 888 for John Gibson. it makes sense. And another reason also for Dostal, he only makes 812.5K against the cap for next season before he's an RFA for 2025, 2026.

Starting point is 00:29:57 He'll probably get a pretty decent raise from that salary just because I think he's probably going to have a pretty decent season this year. But they would be saving quite a bit of money overall if they did do that. And with Zegris, I know we're going to get comments from people saying that they're not. Fans of him and all that stuff, and I get it. You know, the way he plays, it definitely drives some people crazy, to say the least. But he can put the puck in the back of the net. He's really silky with a puck on his stick.

Starting point is 00:30:24 You can work on his defensive game. I think he's a really sound top six player to potentially third-line player that this team has really needed for quite some time. He's younger than me, for God's sake. He's only 23 right now. And I think he's going to want to prove quite a bit coming off that broken ankle that he suffered this year. So that's a player I've had circled for at least a little bit. The one thing I kind of forgot to add there, the reason I brought up Jari in the Gibson buyout is essentially if you, obviously if this trade would happen, there would be a dozen moving

Starting point is 00:30:59 parts and pieces involved in the Zegra salary to the Jari salary are essentially negligible. There's a couple hundred thousand here and there. That was, to me, is where the money would have to make it work. Yeah, Zegrois is $5.75 million per for the next couple of seasons. Jari is about 5.375. So yeah, you're right. It's about, from my math is right. It's close to 400K difference.

Starting point is 00:31:25 So you can make that work if that hypothetical were to happen. But yeah, I would be in favor of it. I know others wouldn't, but I've been a big fan of Trevor Zegris for a long time. And at the very least, I think he would make this team more fun to watch for. Oh, without a doubt. Just the way he plays the game, the skill he brings. And like I said, having that veteran been there, done that leadership in the core that the penguins have, I think would really get him back into a lane that he needs to get into because you figure, right,

Starting point is 00:31:59 there's really nobody on the ducks to play the good cop leader just because there's really not that veteran presence. When a coach would come down on him, it would just kind of be like a, oh, well, hey, as a coach came down on him. If Mike Sullivan were to come down on him, you would have Crosby there to put his arm around and be like, hey, kid, you're doing the right things. Just keep in mind, what do you say and get it back on track? Let's do this.

Starting point is 00:32:24 Yeah, I agree with you. He also really won't have to be someone that people are going to go to for like a big quote or anything in the locker room, even outside of the core guys. I mean, Brian Rust is right there too. I've said that on the show 5,000 times, I think at this point that he should have a letter on his sweater. So he can take some of that pressure off.

Starting point is 00:32:42 as well, heck even Marcus Pedersen as well, Eric Carlson, et cetera. So, yeah, I agree with you. And I think just overall, working with a coach like Mike Sullivan, and I know he very much has his fault. And I said numerous times that he should, or the penguin should move on from him to start this offseason. But I do think Zegras could learn quite a bit from a coach like that. For sure.

Starting point is 00:33:04 Do you have anybody other than Zegris in mind that you'd like to add before we wrap up the show today? Yeah, just mainly one more. I think, you know, Nicholas Woff, when Vegas has their inevitable salary cap, hell that they're going to be in late June into July. You know, you look at his contract right now. He's 27 years old. Three more seasons at $3 million per year. And this past season, you know, 13 goals, 41 points.

Starting point is 00:33:29 He played mostly center for Vegas. He was in their bottom six. But he's someone that kind of reminds me of Eller a little bit. You know, last three seasons, he's had double digit goals. Eller this past season, he had double digit goals. So, you know, having him and Eller as your two bottom six centers, I do think that would make some sense. I don't think he's also going to cost you that much. But we'd also have to see if Vegas would even want to move him just because I think he was a really sound bottom six center for them.

Starting point is 00:33:53 This is a total chaos one, but it's someone that I would love for them to go get. And that is Nikolai Eilers. I saw this quote in the athletic. I think it was a week, week and a half ago from the Jets reporter saying that he could get chopped this offseason. whole boy, I mean, if he is available, that's a player you go out and try to acquire every single time. Yeah, he would be absolutely great. He has scored 25 or more multiple times throughout his career. He's a great top six winger.

Starting point is 00:34:26 Again, if you're one of those people that says, hey, the penguins got to get younger, they got to get younger. He's 28. He has been a great top six winger for most of his career. his salary isn't all that bad. It's only, I think, five or six million. And that wouldn't be too hard to fit in with the way the penguins are setting up their offseason.

Starting point is 00:34:48 So if that's a guy that you can get, you go get them. Oh, 100%. And yeah, you were actually the one that sent me that quote from in the athletic where that jet supporter was saying that he could get shot. The Jets could have a very fascinating offseason here

Starting point is 00:35:01 where they may make some big changes. If he is available, again, that's a player that you target for your top six every day. I mean, I'm just thinking about him with potentially Cindy Crosby and Brian Rust on that top line. And maybe you have bunting with Malkin and whoever else on the second line, whether it's where Kelth, he comes back or someone else. You have the makings of a pretty great top six there.

Starting point is 00:35:22 So I appreciate you sending me that. I think it was last week. No problem. But that is going to do it for our first silly season segment of this off season. And that is going to do it for the Tuesday. edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Thank you, as always, for tuning in. We will be back tomorrow with more news, more season and reviews, and maybe a little

Starting point is 00:35:46 bit more silly season. We'll see what happens. But for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp. Thank you, as always, for tuning in, and we will talk to you on Wednesday.

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