Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins DISMANTLE the Flyers thanks to the power play!

Episode Date: January 16, 2026

The Penguins got back into the win column against the Flyers on Thursday night thanks to a dominant performance by the power play! Patrick and Hunter begin the show recapping the Penguins' 6-3 victory over the Flyers that included three power play goals, another Sidney Crosby goal, and some great goaltending in the second period by Stuart Skinner. (0:00) Then, it's another Metropolitan Division matchup on Saturday night when the Columbus Blue Jackets and their new coach, Rick Bowness, come to town. The Penguins will need another two clean points, and the special teams will have to help them. (17:32) Finally, with only one game this weekend, Fan Take Friday is back! We answer your questions about the lineup, goaltending, and what the Penguins should do at the trade deadline! (28:17)IndeedNow, you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 Sponsored Job Credit. Just go to https://indeed.com/lockedonright now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. So before tip-off, check the FanDuel app and see what’s dropping during NBA Happy Hour — every Friday from 6 to 7:30 PM Eastern. A little basketball, a little action, and a whole lot of Friday energy.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.

We begin today's episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast with a few facts. The Philadelphia Flyers play at Xfinity Mobile Arena. They were founded in 1967, and they are owned by Sidney Crosby. The Penguins were victorious, and we're going to recap that and more 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 in to the Friday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your hosts, Patrick Damp.

You can follow me across all social media platforms at Synonym 4Wet. Joined as always by my co-host and good friend, the one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can give our show's account a follow on Twitter at L0 underscore Penguins. You can find us on Instagram at Locked On underscore Penguins and TikTok at Locked On Penguins. Of course, as always, we appreciate you making us part of your daily routine. Don't forget, we are free and available wherever you get your podcasts as well as YouTube. And if you're following us on YouTube, which you should be.

Make sure you've hit the notification button. That way you can be among the first to know when we draw. drop our daily Monday through Friday episodes. Before we get started today, this episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use the code locked on NHL to get $20 off your first purchase. Oh, did the sunshine a little bit brighter today? Was there a little bit of a pep in your step? If it was, well, it's understandable because the Pittsburgh Penguins

beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6 to 3 on Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena. And while it may not have been their most dominant performance, there was plenty to like about their victory over the Metropolitan Division rival Flyers, a victory that catapulted them into third place in the Metropolitan Division. So that is huge in and of itself. but let's just start with right where I started the episode with. This was my favorite thing that happened in this game last night because there's plenty to talk about,

but this sequence was perfect. Blake Lazot throws a beautiful clean hit on Flyers, young player Barkie in the neutral zone, shoulder to chest, everything you love about a clean hit. And then Matt Veemichikov decides he's going to play the role of tough guy in jump Blake Lazzat. He eats a couple of right hands for his troubles, gets an instigator penalty to go along with the fighting major, and who else scores on the power play, but Sidney Crosby. If you want to distill the Penguins Flyers rivalry in the Sydney Crosby era in one moment,

it's that one right there. but Hunter, there's plenty to like from the victory, but there are some red lights that we do have to talk about. Yeah, before we get into some of the negatives, especially in the second period, let's go more in depth on that sequence with Blake Lazant and Matt Veemichkov. So I am getting really sick and tired of players having to answer for clean checks in the NHL, whether it's for the penguins or whether it's for any other team.

I just think it's cheap and just stupid at this point. Now that said, Blake Lazot absolutely kicked Matt Veemichikov's ass, wasn't even close. I'm sure a lot of the Flyers, players on the bench loved it. I'm sure Rick Tocke loved it, even though the result was pretty much in control. You knew the Penguins were going to win that game, even though they didn't have that good of a second period. And the Penguins, I know Blake Lazot has been very good this year. I will still take that trade off every time for a caliber of player that Meachov is. Yes, I know.

He has struggled quite a bit this year. but all it takes is one game to really get him going. So I still take that trade off every time. But you also saw in the locker room after the game, Penguins players that gave him the helmet that they do after every win this season. Lazot was loving it. All of his teammates were loving it as well. He continues to be such a huge difference maker for this team on the fourth line this year,

as we talked about earlier this week, very deserved of that contract extension that he signed and I thought he had another really good game. So there's that part. Now, let's get to the power play because I felt that was the best power play sequence that they had all night. Everything about it was superb. The puck movement, beautiful.

That keep from Latang at the blue line. More on him in just a second. There was another keep from Evgeny Malkin. And leaving Sidney Crosby wide open at the side of the net, you'd think a team like the Flyers would learn not to do that by now since he has tortured them for two decades. They didn't, and they learned their lesson. That's now 60 goals.

for Crosby against the Flyers throughout his career, continues to own them, be, you know, he's like their dad in a way, owner, whatever else, whatever other word, excuse me, you want to call it. But everything about that power play was sensational for this team. And that was the cherry on top for a really big two points. The Penguins really needed this game, Pat.

We talked about in the preview, both teams coming in on some losing streaks, tied in the standings. Penguins now get their ninth win of the year against Metro teams 9-1 and 3. And as you said, third in the Metro, still have a game in hand on the Islanders, only three points behind them. A top three spot in this division is there for the taking. The schedule over their next 10 games, very winnable,

even though you have that Western Canada trip coming up as early as next week. That was a huge two points to get for this team. It was. And they deserve a lot of credit for the way they played and the way they stuck with it. in the way they rebounded because you hinted at it. The second period was not pretty for the Pittsburgh Penguins. But if there was one player on the Penguins roster who had a solid second period, it was the man between the pipes, Stuart Skinner.

This was arguably Stewart Skinner's best game since becoming a penguin. He bailed them out quite a bit in the second period. The penguins looked like they were going to turn this into a laffer, less than two minutes into the second period. Malkin and Igor Chinikov team up to make it 3-0, and you thought, you know what? The route's on this one. You can put it to bed,

but they let their foot off the gas and the flyers took advantage. Rodrigo Albo's scores a beautiful goal off of a great shot from Cam York. The flex it passed Skinner. And you winced a little bit because for the rest of the period, up until about a minute and a half left when Blake Lazotte gets on the board late, it was all flyers for the majority of the second period. And if it wasn't for the efforts of Stuart Skinner, and if the Flyers were a team that had better finishing ability,

you certainly could have seen that game being 3-3 going into the third period. Yeah, this is a Flyers team that's been really struggling to score as of late. Oh, well, shocker. A Rick Tocket team struggling to score, haven't seen that before. I mean, coming into this game, they had scored six goals in their last four games. But they had plenty of chances. I didn't like the way the penguins were defending in that second period. I thought they defended a lot better in the first.

They cleaned things up a little bit in the third period. But that second period, they got a bit better there, excuse me, especially against a team on the second half of a back-to-back with travel. Yeah, you knew the flyers were going to push a little bit when they're down like that, but you can't allow them to dictate an entire period like that. the Penguins still got the result. 6-3. Probably should have been still 6-1. The Flyers got a couple

garbage time goals, you know, whatever. No harm, no foul. But I still just want to see the Penguins play a bit better overall in that second period. They gave up too many good look, Stuart Skinner. I touched on it last week against the Devils. A lot of his teammates owed him a steak dinner in that first period

can say the same thing about that second period with the way that he was making some really big saves. And I think we've, again, we've reached the point where, in my opinion, he should be getting the 1A starts. I think you can give him a couple starts in a row to really, you know, keep the momentum going with Skinner because he's been really good for the last two and a half to three weeks. But, you know, that game also low-key changed at the end of the second period when the fourth line came on the ice. That goal, Pat, was brought to you by

one thing and one thing only, hard work. That line absolutely outworked every single flyer skater that was on the ice and they got rewarded. Noachari, I can't say enough about how good he is playing this year. This is someone who I have been very hard on during his Penguins tenure. I didn't like the way he played during his first couple of seasons. This year, though, he has been a completely different player on that line and the Penguins are reaping the benefits of it. Blake LaSotte, we all touched on him.

He was great. Connor Dewer, I thought also played really well in this game, got a goal later on off of a really nice feed, by the way, from Tommy Novak, who also continued. used to play really well. But I felt like once the Penguins got that goal at the end of the second, I know this team has blown quite a bit of leads this year. But when you got that goal late in the period, they got to go to intermission up three. They could relax a bit, come out in the third period with a different mentality, at least a

little bit. And that's exactly what they did. That goal was really huge. You could tell for the confidence of this team. It was. And on a much lesser level, I compare Noah L. Chari's game this season to Eric Carlson's. This is the type of player we were expecting to get when he first became a penguin. He was supposed to be a very reliable energy, hard work,

mainstay in the bottom six. And in his first two seasons as a penguin, it just really wasn't there. This season, complete 180. He has been a huge piece of the fourth line. He has brought everything you need him to bring. He has been physical. He has worked his ass off. And for good measure, he's putting up some points as well. So you have a viable fourth line that you can depend on in moments when you need them, whether it's setting the table for your top six or getting a little bit of production on their own. So they have been tremendous. One last thing to touch on from the Flyers game on Thursday night. You brought it up for the Sydney Crosby power play goal, but the power play as a whole last night. They knew they were going up against

a struggling penalty kill and they took full advantage of it going three for four, 75%. Listen, you can say what you will about them getting two garbage time goals at the end of the game, but you take those power play goals away. It's a three, three. game. So your best unit that you've had this season is your power play. They helped power you to a win. Someone on this team must have listened to our show yesterday because you and I were clamoring for the power play to get back to basics. It was looking a little bit clunky at times. And even during this game, it felt like the power play was still a little bit clunky. But it ended up warming up quite a bit. That pass from get Ben Kindle to Justin Berzo was a thing of beauty on this. I got, I got a

step in there. I had watched that goal no less than 50 times today because that pass from Ben Kindle and I say this with full confidence 10 toes down was elite. The way he pulled that off, he takes a quick glance. He sees Brazo is there and when he knows the puck's coming to him. that little look and that half wind up freezes the flyers penalty kill and opens up Brazil. That is something that a 10-year veteran does, not an 18-year-old in his first NHL season. It's still crazy to think that he's still only 18 and he's playing like this. Like, yeah, he's still only going to get way better. Like this is, he's already this good pat at 18.

Imagine what he's going to look like when he's, I don't know, 21, 22, even. So another great game from him, even though he didn't score, he continues to play lights out in all other areas of his game. Brian Russ, Pissmistle, no surprise there. That was a nice shot. And then Igor Chinochof, man, he continues to play really well since coming over from Columbus. Shut me up. I know I said a couple of weeks ago when the trade was made that, you know, I would have preferred they don't give up a second round pick. Hell, Pat, since then, he's been great.

So as long as he continues to play like this, I'm not going to say another bad word about it. Again, totally fine player. They didn't, you know, nothing was bad about that move or anything like that. But he has been great for this team. And also a little bit of chemistry with him and of getting Malkin. Lastly, Chris LaTang, sensational performance. Once again, these last two games, I think, are the best, arguably the best two games he has played all year. He's looked very comfortable next to Brett Kulak.

He was looking more comfortable on the power play as the night was going on. I'm a big fan of the way he is playing. I can't understate enough how important it is that he continues to play at this level with Eric Carlson still out for however long he's going to be out. He was awesome in this game. No disagreement here. And as for Chinikov, he's going to have a chance to stick it to the team that gave up on him this weekend when the Columbus Blue Jackets come to town on Saturday night.

Hunter and I are going to get you set for that game when we come back. after this little break. But first, we've got to tell you about today's first sponsor, and that is game time. There is nothing like being near the ice-doring hockey season, the speed, the hits, the atmosphere. It is without a doubt, unmatched. Watching a game at home, it's great,

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Before we get back to it, thank you so much for making Locked-on Penguins your first listen of the day. and thank you for making Locked on the number one sports podcast network. If you haven't already, go check out our new Everydayers Club. It gives you access to an ad-free audio feed for Locked-on Penguins that's compatible with Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and every other major podcasting app. And you also get an invite to the members-only locked-on everydayer Discord server, which includes a group chat just for listeners of this, show and Hunter and I sometimes.

We're hanging out in that Discord chat. So you want to ask us some questions away from the show and fan take Friday. We are right there for you. So go to locked on penguins. supercast.com or tap the link in the show notes to learn more. Hunter, another Metropolitan Division matchup on the docket coming on Saturday night at PPG paints arena when the Columbus Blue Jackets come to town. and we didn't get a chance to talk about this on this show because it kind of came out of nowhere.

There's a new coach behind the bench for the Columbus Blue Jackets. They dismissed Dean Eveson and brought Rick Bonas out of retirement to guide this team. And so far, not too bad. They're on a three-game winning streak. They've beaten the Vancouver Canucks, the Calgary Flames, and the Utah Mammoth. but this is still a team that is stuck in the mud. So if you're the penguins on Saturday night, you got to keep the good vibes going.

You know that this is a team that you have a mental edge over. You continue to beat them. When you looked at their last win, the comeback victory that Sidney Crosby won in overtime, when you looked at the coverage coming out of Columbus, pretty much everybody who covers that team, as soon as the penguins started taking over the game, they resigned themselves to the fact that they were both going to lose

and that it was probably going to be Crosby who hit the final shot. You know what's funny also about that loss? I was reading a couple of quotes this week from Don Waddell, the Blue Jackets General Manager. And Blue Jackets Media straight up asked him, like when did you feel like you knew you needed to make a change? And he said, yeah, I felt like you needed to do something after that comeback by the Penguins.

So, hey, Penguins kind of got Dean Everson fired is what I'm trying to say here, low-key. Rick Bonas, you know, really nice dude by the sound of it. He's been a very successful coach for a long time in the initial. He was retired, Pat, for quite a while. And then comes back out of retirement, has coached this team now to a couple of straight wins since at least taking over the team. And I think a lot of this hire was made because the Blue Jackets Management really wants the team to clean up defensively bonus.

We all know throughout his time as a head of coach, his teams are usually very defensively responsible. So far since he's taken over, that has been true. So Penguins, they're going to go up against at least a potential more stingier version of the Blue Jackets. And despite that, they still again have some good offensive talent as we talked about all year. Rensky is having a great year.

18 goals and 51 points in 43 games. He's going to be on Team USA, rightfully so. Correal Marchenko is having another really good year with 17 goals and 40 points. Charlie Coyle has double-digit goals. Dmitri Voronkov has 16 goals. Adam Fantilli, who I still think is going to blossom into a really good player in this league, has 12 goals and 30 points. Again, those are the main five players to really watch out for on this jacket.

The Penguins, they've gotten five out of six points against Columbus this year. This will be the fourth and final meeting between these two teams. And if you're the Penguins, it's all about keep stacking these points here, especially against teams that are lower than you in the standings. These are the points that you really have to, you know, put in the bag if you really want to push for this top three spot in the Metropolitan Division. I want to see the power play continue to cook.

You know, we'll see if Stuart Skinner gets a second straight start, even though Archer Shilov is playing a bit better. Yeah, I talked about Chinikov earlier. Maybe he has a nice little revenge moment against his former team. Again, this is the fourth and final meeting between these two teams this year. We all know, Sid, is playing against Columbus. Do we get another big moment from him against the jackets on Saturday? All things to watch out for. But I do want the Penguins to play stingier defensively.

Again, prior to that second period against the Flyers, I had been really liking the way this team had been playing defensively these last two and a half to three weeks. I still do. They just got to clean up a little few things in their own zone. Again, that's all really. Yeah. And the other thing I want to talk about the Skinner part of it, because I'm in agreement. with you that I think he should be the 1A now simply because he has been playing that well. But you also mix it with the fact that you look at their schedule in lead up to the Olympic break. There are going to be a lot of games every other day. There's going to be a couple of back to backs. So you're not benching Sheelovs. You're not putting him on reserve for now in saying

he's the quote unquote backup. He is going to get opportunities. But I think when you're playing these high leverage, whether it's divisional games or Eastern games against teams that are right there with you in the race for the playoffs. For now, I think you go with Skinner just because he has been playing a lot better recently. And that's not to say that Sheelovs has been bad because I know I had my take earlier in the week about him, but I think at the end of the day, Skinner has been the better of the two. And I'll keep repeating this point. The penguins are clearly operating with a mentality that they want to return to the playoffs this season. And if you're operating under that idea, you've got to put your best foot forward every time.

Would I like she loves to get more of a look to really showcase what they have in him and if they want to bring him back and all that jazz? Of course. But if you're trying to make the postseason, it should be Skinner. As for Saturday, I have one thing I would like to see, and this is we'll see how the game goes because we don't really have control over this, so to speak. We don't need another extra overtime against Columbus. Take care of them in regulation. You look at the three meetings so far this year, the first one, they lose in a shootout,

the second two, Latang wins in an overtime, then Crosby wins in an overtime. put this team away in 60 minutes and get on with your business. Yeah, I agree. You got to win this game in regulation. Again, especially against divisional teams. I know the blue jackets are towards the bottom of the Eastern Conference, but you still don't want to be giving this team loser points. I mean, the jackets, obviously two points in the first meeting,

and then two points combined in these last two. They've still gotten four points from the Penguins this year. Again, the Penguins have won two of the three games, but you still want to win these games in regulation. So, yeah, and it's also the last home game, Pat, for quite a bit because the bengans are going on that very long Western Canada road trip. Starting next week, they'll go to Seattle, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver before coming home to end the month, I believe, against Chicago and New York. And then they only have a few more games in February before the Olympic break. We only have three more weeks, people, until the Olympic break.

It's imperative that when you look at this schedule, you see how many non-playoff teams that this team is playing against. including Columbus, they're not a playoff spot. It's imperative that they bank these points going into the break so they can ride that momentum because March, as we all know, that is going to be very tough. So got to keep up the good vibes against Columbus here. Also, the P.K.

needs to continue to be a really big key. Penguin's P.K. has killed off 19 of its last 20 power play opportunities. PK has been going really well right now. Obviously discussed the power play. want to keep seeing that. Crystal Tang, want to keep seeing him stacking performances because he's been really good as of late. So those are just a few more keys to victory for the Penguins in this game against a Blue Jackets

team that's trying to rediscover themselves a little bit after making the coaching change. I did not think Dean Eveson would be the first coach fired this year. That's for sure. Again, Rick Bonas, he's been around a long time, more defensive hockey. So if they play with the structure that they've been playing, these last couple games might be harder to score. But again, the Penguins, they got over that at least for a day against the Flyers. They got to have that carry over here against Columbus.

Obvious as it may be, the special teams will play a huge factor against Columbus because their power play right smack in the middle of the league at 15th. So you're not dealing with an overly threatening unit. But there is a lot of talent there. So you can't take that for granted. You can't overlook them. But the PK needs to continue to be as good as it's been over this last little run. And then the Columbus power or penalty kill, excuse me, 29th in the league. So it's another game against the divisional opponent that is really struggling to kill penalties with how hot your power play has been. You have to take full advantage of the opportunities that you get against the blue jackets. And again,

we both set it. Get the win in regulation, two clean points. Keep stacking here as you head closer to the Olympic break. Penguins, Blue Jackets, 7 o'clock, Saturday night at PPG paints arena, Saturday night's main event, if you will. So obviously Hunter and I will be back on Monday to recap

that game and get you set for the rest of the week ahead. But we're not done on this here episode of Locked on Penguins. Since there's no back to back this weekend, that means fan take Friday is back. We'll give you the results of the poll and get into some of your

hot takes and questions when we come back right after this. We've got one more sponsor to tell you about, though, and that is our friends at Fandul. The divisional round, it starts this weekend, and Fandul is officially in playoff mode. Every game during the NFL playoffs, Fandul is giving customers even more ways to get in on the action because right now, every NFL playoff game day, Fandul users get a profit boost pack waiting for them inside the app. Each game day, you'll see a pack loaded with multiple profit boosts you can apply to the bets you like the most.

Open your profit boost pack first thing on game day and see what boost you want to apply. The boosts let you lean into your game day instincts, whether you're backing momentum, defense, quarterback play, or even coaching. The boosts give you more juice on the bets you already like instead of forcing you to bet something new. Every play feels bigger and the boosts make your bets feel that way too. You can make your picks, then apply your profit boost to go after even bigger payouts as the playoffs continue to roll on. So visit FanDuel and official sports betting partner of the NFL and grab your profit boost pack every NFL playoff game day. Wrapping up the Friday edition of Locked on Penguins. I'm Patrick Damp right alongside Hunter Hodes.

It's back, ladies and gentlemen. Fan Take Friday is here. if you're following us on YouTube, which again, you should be. That's where we post our fan take Friday poll and open up the comment section for you to send us your questions, your hot takes and everything in between. So without further ado, let's give you the results of the poll. We asked with the penguins in the playoff hunt, should they buy at the deadline or should they stay the course? And well, our audience is pretty loyal to what we have to say because 65% of you say stay the course, it's working, and 35% say buy, buy, buy, not to be confused

with the in sync song, but I digress. I'm right there with our audience. I don't think you need to go crazy. You don't need to start shopping at deadline or the pre-Olympic deadline. If something good comes up to bolster your depth or maybe bolster the left side of the defense and it's not too expensive, not a bad idea, but what they're doing right now appears to be working, no need to veer off course. Yeah, you can just say the course here. You don't need to, you know, make short-term fixes or anything like that. Matt Wallach has a really good comment here. There's no reason they can't make another Chinatco style trade for young defensemen without breaking the bank or giving up elite prospects. Yes, if there is a potential player to get

around the deadline where you are buying, I think it's for a young defenseman. hopefully on the left side, because that's where I think they're still a lot more weaker. Like, I like how Kulak is stabilizing Latang. Watherspoon has still been good, but I still think they need another, you know, option out there. I'm not trying to disrespect Ryan Shay or anything like that, but I still feel like they they could use a little bit more depth on that side, in my opinion. So, again, it would be like a small little reward for the way the team is playing, but I still think they should stay the course, for example.

John says the same thing. Don't deviate from the plan for sure. Maybe you could add someone to help the blue line a little bit. We don't need to be giving up any big assets when we are still in the middle of this rebuild on the fly. Yes. And I think that's what Kyle Dubus is again going to do, Pat. He's not going to trade a bunch of futures or anything like that for rentals or anything

like that. Don't expect this team to be in on Artemi Panarin after the Rangers released another letter to their fans saying that they're going to do another lead tool and stuff. Okay, whatever. But that type of player, Penguin, are not going to be in on, nor should they. They are not in the position as a team to be giving away assets like that for rentals. You still have to keep stockpiling more picks.

Again, if you want to get a young defenseman, that's fine. But overall, stay the course. You're kind of playing with house money right now, Pat, with the way this season has gone. It's gone better than almost anyone expected it to. So just stay the course and continue with the plan that you set out to a couple years ago when you started it with the Jake trade. Yeah. In the best comment we got in regards to that was from Christopher,

who says, I won't refuse a Lamborghini, but if it's just a test drive, then we've got problems. Great comment. I love it. Yeah, like they're not going to do that.

I agree more with that. Let's go to this one because I think it's good for the theme of the episode so far from our good pal G-tots. Hot take, the Penguins will keep Stuart Skinner for another year in trade she loves at the deadline. Here's how I want to respond to this. I actually think this isn't a bad idea, but you got to take this little journey with me.

I don't think that there's going to be a lot of suitors for Artur Shilovs just because he's still mostly unproven and he's an RFA at the end of the year. If he had still a year or two on his deal, I think you could probably get some more suitors just because you have that cost certainty. and you know how long the contract's going to last. You won't have to go to qualifying offers or potentially arbitration. But the other reason I think that wouldn't be the worst idea if you could make it work and you can get Skinner on a nice cheap one to two year deal. It wouldn't be the worst idea to have a veteran behind Sergey Murshov or even Yoel Blumquist. So if they do get the job out of camp and they start to falter during the season, you have a good safety net.

But I think the problem there would be trying to move she loves. I hear you, but I'm also going to disagree slightly. I don't think Skinner is going to come back. Actually, I think there's going to be suitors lining out to give him a multi-year deal. I don't think he's going to get, you know, a massive contract or anything like that. But I think it's still going to be in the range where the penguins probably don't. want to go, especially with Murashaw potentially ready next year. Blumquist is also hopefully getting closer as well because he's playing really well right now in Wilkesbury. They

still have to forget what they want to do with She Loves, but I still personally don't see Skinner coming back after the season. This one comes from a Blues Nation CFC. And by the way, my Chelsea fan, I hope you enjoy that L this week from Arsenal night they gave you. He asked once Rutger is back, who do you sit down right now? I think he might be, scratched a little bit once he's back, or maybe Pat, he potentially goes down to Wilkesbury to get a few games in or something like that. The lineup is really cooking right now. And yes, I want Rucker to play meaningful NHL games. I am still very high on this player, but I also really like the way this lineup is going. The top line has been a lot better as of late.

You know, even Kindle with Manta and Brazo are playing fairly well. I like the chemistry that Novak and Malkenev, especially with Chinokov, Chinakoff and Malkin continue to build on one another. In the fourth line, you're just simply not breaking that up right now. So, you know, I think it might be best for him as weird as it is to maybe go down to Wilkesbury and play a few games down there. It might be an unpopular take, but this lineup is cooking, honestly. I agree.

I do think if you want to get McGrory back in the lineup, this is kind of how I would do it. The odd man out for me would be Connor Deer. I know that fourth line's been really good. but you look at everybody else around, around the lineup at forward right now. There's not really anybody you're taking out other than maybe Connor Dewar. And if I'm Dan Mews, I'm keeping the first line intact, obviously, Raquel Crosby Rust. I'm not touching that. My second line would be Malkin back at center with Briseau and Chinakov.

And then my third line would be Kindle, Mantha, McGrady. and then I would make my fourth line, Lazot, Novak, and Nolachari. Because I do think if you were to put Novak on that fourth line, it gives them a little bit more of a scoring punch than they already don't have, or than they already do have, excuse me. So I think that would be my lineup if I were to have to make the decision. I like Conor Dewar's game quite a bit, but I do think when you look at this current crop of forwards,

if you're trying to get McRourty back in, he's probably the guy that goes out. Now, this could also change if they do move a forward or two at the deadline, for example, though again, all depends on where they are standing as wise. If they're in a top three spot in the metro, I'll be curious to fully see what Kyle Dubas does around the deadline.

I don't think you'd see a full sell off like you saw last year, but still does he move a player for a good return, something like that? Again, I'm just spitballing out here because, you know, at the end of this episode. And it's always fun to, you know, have some fun on fan sake Friday. But this one is a good one to end it on. This one comes from Christian here outside of Pittsburgh. Where else have you watched the Penguins play live? I live in Chicago and have only ever seen them play here.

So I've gone to Boston to TD Garden to see them. That's a lot of fun. I saw the Penguins win there. I've seen them win a couple of times in Washington. That's always a fun time. They're going to the steps. I've gone to Philadelphia, which I don't recognize. recommend, just be careful going into, I always keep calling at the Wells Fargo Center.

Sorry, that's how I always see it. Other than that, though, Pat, I have not seen them play in other arenas. Of course, I've been here, but I still want to get to a lot more arenas to say the least to see them play. Yeah, you and me both. I've only seen them play away from Pittsburgh one time. I saw them play in Columbus at Nationwide. I can't speak highly enough about nationwide arena, about Columbus fans, the atmosphere there. It's a tremendous experience.

And it's not a very far drive. So if you have the opportunity, I really highly recommend going to see, even if it's not the penguins, just going to a Blue Jackets game, it's a ton of fun. Since I've only seen that one, my, I guess, bucket list is I do want to see them play in Philly. I want to see what that atmosphere is like in person, because big of rivalry as it may be, I can't hate on them because they do bring it every game with that team. It's always, it always looks fun. I really want to see a game in Detroit at Little Caesars.

I have heard that arena is absolutely incredible. And I want to finally see the finished product at T-Mobile Arena in Vegas. Because when I worked in the ECHL, the year before that they came into the league, I got to get a tour of it as it was not finished, but very close to finished. And it's so nice. And that was before it was fully operational.

So I want to be able to go see a game there. So those are the places I would really want to go. But yeah, I mean, I need to travel more and see the penguins on the road when I get the opportunity. And obviously, I'll count pretty much all of Canada, save for maybe Ottawa, because I want to see where they end up. Because I've heard that, one, we all know there's nothing around that arena. It's really difficult to get to. And if they do eventually move to a closer to the city arena, I want to see what that atmosphere would be like. But yeah, that's pretty much it for me on where I've seen them just Columbus and I want to go to some other places. And

that's going to be it for the Friday edition of Locked on Penguins. Hunter and I will be back on Monday with a brand new episode recapping this weekend's game against the Columbus Blue Jackets and getting you set for the Western swing that comes up next week. But for now, for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp. Thank you as always for tuning in, and we will be back on Monday.