Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins face a MASSIVE back-to-back against two Stanley Cup contenders!

Episode Date: October 16, 2026

The Penguins will play two bona fide Stanley Cup contenders this weekend when they head to Colorado and then Vegas. Hunter and Patrick begin the Friday edition of the Locked On Penguins Podcast by dis...cussing Friday night's matchup in Denver against the red-hot Colorado Avalanche. While the Avs are one of the top-scoring teams in the NHL, they haven't been great at goal prevention, so does that provide the Penguins an opening? (0:00) Then, for all their troubles on Friday, the Penguins will head to Vegas to take on the defending Western Conference champs, who are the top-scoring team in the NHL, and don't appear to have very many weaknesses. (11:49) Finally, it's another Fan Take Friday; they talk about your predictions of who is poised to have a breakout over the next couple of weeks, some line combinations, and how the Penguins could possibly trade for a young defenseman. (21:44) Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Butcher BoxIf you're looking for an easier way to get great meals on the table, give ButcherBox a try. Go to https://ButcherBox.com/LOCKEDONNHL to get $20 off your first box, plus your choice of free ribeye, new york strip, or filet mignon in every box for a year — with free shipping always.Navy Federal Credit UnionIf you've served in any branch of the military, are serving now or are part of a military family, you could become a member of Navy Federal, too. To find out more and see if you're eligible, visit https://navyfederal.org. Federally insured by NCUA.  GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.KALSHIToday's episode is brought to you by Kalshi. For a limited time, Download Kalshi and use code Locked On to get $25 when you trade $25. Kalshi. Trade what’s next.FanDuelThis season, FanDuel is making the excitement go beyond what happens on the field with the all-new FanDuel Rewards Club, featuring exclusive offers, surprises, and more. Every week, check the FanDuel app to see what’s waiting for you or visit https://FANDUEL.COM 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.

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 The Pittsburgh Penguins are playing two of the best teams in the league on Friday and Saturday, and Pat and I are going to get you all set for those games coming up 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 and welcome to the Friday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined, as always, by my host, Patrick Damp, a bit later on in the show. it's Friday. Yins know what that means it's time to react to your takes and your questions for Fane's Take Friday. We are also going to get into how great the Vegas Golden Knights have been
Starting point is 00:00:42 to start the season under their first year head coach. Hint, it's been pretty good considering the way that they're scoring the Pat. Let's start things off here with another big game, tonight's game, against the red-hot Colorado avalanche who have been flying out of the gate. Pat, they have 31 goals in seven games. I don't know about you, but that's pretty good. isn't it? It's pretty damn good. And if you are watching us on YouTube, you can see our rundown where bullet point one is the new Death Valley. And if you are of a certain vintage, you remember the early 2010s California trip when you had to go through the Joe Thornton San Jose Sharks, the Getslaff, Anaheim Ducks, and the Anse Coupatar, L.A. Kings.
Starting point is 00:01:33 That was a horrible trip and a nightmare for everybody. Now, looking at Colorado, Vegas, and Utah, here's a fun little stat, Hunter. The Colorado Avalanche are tied as we record this on Friday afternoon for third most goals for in the National Hockey League with 31. When they go to Vegas on Saturday night, they will play the team who currently has the most goals for in the NHL and 36. and for their trouble on Monday when they head to Utah, they're also tied for third in the NHL with 31 goals for. So let's start with this discussion. They better be ready to play some defense this weekend.
Starting point is 00:02:16 Yeah, that's saying something. You're going to have to play, if you want to win all three, these games, and it's going to be extremely hard to win all these, just because of how great these teams have been to start the season. Pat, you're going to have to put together back to back performances like we saw against the Dallas Stars, where it was low event, a little bit boring, but they limited the chances against in their own end.
Starting point is 00:02:37 They didn't let R.D. Shilovs face a lot of true high-danger chances, and they were able to get their chances of their own throughout that game, but they played a more crisp, a more simple game. That is how you're going to have to play to win all three of these games, especially against the Colorado Ab-Benz. You and I always talk about this when they play the abs. If you want to try to get into a track meet against the abs, nine out of ten times you're probably going to lose that game.
Starting point is 00:03:02 Yes, I know. They blitzed them in Denver last year. They absolutely crushed them there. The abs goal tending was not very good. And the penguins took advantage of it. And they won that. But I will still say that. I will say that 10 times,
Starting point is 00:03:14 you're not going to win a shootout against that team. Nathan McKinnon already has five goals in 12 points in seven games. Kail McCar is at a point per game. I can keep going down the list if you want. Their top players have been ridiculous. Now, I will say this, Hunter, despite Colorado being tied for third most goals in the National Hockey League, they do only have a goal differential of nine.
Starting point is 00:03:36 And yes, set they have played seven games. We are still very early in the calendar. But McKenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgwood, funny, they got two wood goalies, have not been all that great. McKenzie Blackwood's had five starts, 879 save percentage. Scott Wedgwood, two starts, 902. save percentage. So here's the thing. You can't get into a track meet against Colorado because you already said it. McKinnon has 12 points. Martin Naches has seven. McCar has seven. Leckinan
Starting point is 00:04:10 has six. Brock Nelson has six. DeVon Taves has six. A lot of guys on this team are producing. So you're probably not going to win a track meet against them. But if you want to play 5-4-4-3, even 3-2 hockey. Right now, depending upon who gets the net for the penguins, there's a chance they might have a ever-so-slite edge in the net. Well, it will be already She-Lovs tonight. Damu's confirmed that after the morning skate on Friday, that it will be She-Lovs after he had the night off against Chicago on Tuesday,
Starting point is 00:04:44 meaning Sergei Moroshov will more than likely, and I say 99% chance that he starts against Vegas unless Damuz just does something weird. on Saturday. But that looks like how the goalie rotation is going to be. Mackenzie Blackwood is going to start in this game for Colorado. You rattled off his stats there. Pat, again, just with the avalanche, when Nathan McKinnon gets a step on you,
Starting point is 00:05:07 it's mostly game over just considering how fast he is. So, you know, I'm assuming he's going to see a healthy dose of the Carlisle-Carlson pair. So they're going to have to do everything in their power to somehow contain him, considering how great he has been to start this season. He's also been feisty in a lot of these games. He saw that fight with Brent Clark. He really pissed him off earlier in the season. McKinnon, he's just been able to fightier at the start of this season,
Starting point is 00:05:32 which I didn't really expect. Do we get a Sydney Crosby, Nathan McKinnon fight in this one? Do you think those two are going to square up? Not that one. Someone actually asked in our comments the other day this week. Do you think Nathan McKinnon will get into a fight in this game? And I'm like, honestly, I don't think so just because he has, like all the respect in the world for Sid, but I will say he has been feisty.
Starting point is 00:05:55 So I won't fully roll it out, but I don't think it's going to happen. But that's just my take. When you look at the lines for this game, it does look like Elmer Soderblum, as we discussed on Thursday, he's going to come back in, though. There was an interesting wrinkle at the morning skate. Ville Coivinen also came off at the same time, Pat. So there's a chance that someone could be banged up or some of the local reports from the reporters that are out in Denver right now.
Starting point is 00:06:19 Time will tell. I didn't notice anything weird when I saw the practice. lines and videos from the practice on Thursday, but, hey, maybe something changed. In terms of keys to victory for tonight, obviously, as we have discussed, playing a lot better defensively, a fast, clean start that, I mean, the starts at this point have just become completely unacceptable with the way they have started really slow. That needs to change. And as we talked about as well, special teams have also got to be a lot better.
Starting point is 00:06:47 That was a reason why they lost to Chicago, if not the biggest reason outside of that flubbed goal from Sergei Muroshov. Power play has to really wake up. It's been really bad. The last several games. And then the PK also has to be a bit better as well. So those are some of my keys to victory for this game. The start to me more so than usual is key for tonight's game because we know how talented,
Starting point is 00:07:11 how fast, how lethal the Colorado Avalanche are. So if you don't start this game on time, there's a very real world. You could fall behind two to three goals. because they're extremely fast, they're extremely talented, they've got more offense than they know what to do with. And if you get caught napping in the first 10, 15 minutes, you're probably going to find yourself facing a nearly impossible climb against Colorado. So this is a game where there is no, hey, we just got to get up to speed. Hey, we got to get our legs under us. You have to be ready or this team will make you pay.
Starting point is 00:07:49 and I'm going to appease a lot of the people who sit in the cheap seats. Yeah, shoot the puck tonight. Just every chance you get because Blackwood has not played well. He's given up about three goals a game. He's got a GAA of just over three. Save percentage is sub-900. And again, still early, but similarly to what I said about the Blackhawk special teams, yeah, it's early, but he's not starting strong.
Starting point is 00:08:16 your job as the opposition going into this one is to keep that going don't give him a confidence boost kind of night make sure he is seeing a lot of rubber make sure he is seeing a lot of traffic because we know from experience we know from just watching hockey as long as we have the snowball effect is very real one bad start leads to another leads to another and all of a sudden you're not having a great season. So for the penguins, you got Blackwood in the net. Make him either beat you or go out and beat him and continue his struggles. I'm with you. And just to go off that point, Pat, I want to see Artie She-Lovs also have a good start as well. Played really well against Dallas last weekend. He was stupendous in that game. I want to see him carry that momentum into the start to really get
Starting point is 00:09:08 even more going for this season. But that's going to do it for this first segment. Remember, puck drop tonight, 9 o'clock start time. There's no excuse. Stay up for this game. It's a Friday night. I'll say the same thing in the second segment. 10 o'clock start time on Saturday. Always love late night hockey.
Starting point is 00:09:25 Pour yourself a beverage. Pour yourself a coffee if you want. Stay up for these late night games. But again, that'll do it for this segment. Coming up in the second segment, the tough schedule continues because they will play a red hot Vegas going to night's team on Saturday. And we're going to preview that game coming up right after this.
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Starting point is 00:10:40 And if you're one of them, you can find out more at Navyfederal.org. And we're not done. We saw I talk to you about one more sponsor, which is game time. Some of the best nights happen when you almost don't go. Maybe you're tired, your schedule is packed, or you just don't think getting tickets is worth the hassle. But then you get the group together, find tickets, and suddenly you're walking into an NHL game with some of your closest friends,
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Starting point is 00:11:56 at Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-s, Patrick Demp. You can follow him on most social media platforms at Send him for Wet. You can follow our shows, Twitter, at L.O. underscore Penguins, and you can find us on Instagram at Locked-on underscore Penguins. All right, Pat, so we discussed Colorado and how lethal they have been. Let's get into Vegas, because they have also been rediret. to start this season. They are now seven and two. Jack Eichol has been a force in all three zones. He already has five goals and 16 points in nine games. Typical Jack Eichel stuff, he is one of the best players in the world. And then, oh yeah, Mark Stone also has six goals and 11 points in nine games. Don't forget about Mitch Marner. He is at a point per game. Tomas Hurdle has been great. Barbasheb already
Starting point is 00:12:39 has seven assists. Pat, I can keep going down the list here. This team has been utterly ridiculous. They lead the Pacific with 14 points. They have scored 36 goals in just nine games. And also, they are stout defensively. They'll beat you any way you want. You want to play a high-scoring game against them? They'll do it. You want to muck it up and they'll play a 1-0-2-1 game.
Starting point is 00:13:02 Vegas will do that as well. Their goal-tending has also been really good this year. They have a combined 908 save percentage to start the season between Aden Hill and Carter-Hart. This is a team that is firing on all cylinders right now. That right there is, or I should say are the two biggest differences between this year's Vegas team and last year's Vegas team. And I know they were in the Stanley Cup final. I know that they were one of the final two teams standing. But as we watched the Vegas Golden Knights of last season and then they're run through the Western Conference playoffs, the entire narrative was they are outscoring their process.
Starting point is 00:13:44 They are not getting the best of goal tending. They are not really doing all that well defensively. Eventually, this is going to come crashing down. And sure enough, they play a team that plays a suffocating 200-foot game in Carolina. And they end up losing in the Stanley Cup final. You look at the Vegas Golden Knights of this season. Carter Hart and Aden Hill early on having a really good start. Both of them have saved percentages above 900.
Starting point is 00:14:14 Both of them have GAAs under 2.5, and they are playing extremely well defensively. You look at their defensive group, Braden McNabb, Shea Theodore, Jeremy Lozahn, Rasmus Anderson, Noah Hanifin, and Dylan Coughlin. This is a good group, and it is one of a handful of teams this year. When you look at their roster, you don't see a lot of weaknesses. Hill and Hill and Carter Hart are still question marks. Can they keep this up? But early on, they've been very good.
Starting point is 00:14:49 This will be the most challenging game for the penguins on this road trip. They are third in the league and goals for per game. They also have a top 10 power play. It's been disgusting. Their scoring chance share and their expected goal share over 50%, which is above average in the NHL. They are controlling most of these games. and this is going to be even harder because it's the second half of a backstack.
Starting point is 00:15:14 With travel, you're going to have to keep your shifts really short. You're going to have to make even more simple plays than you would be making tonight against a deadly Colorado team. You're going to have to get a bounce back performance from Sergei Murasham, considering that fourth goal that he allowed against Chicago was not very good. Dare I say, Pat, I think this is going to be the hardest game to win on this trip, just for the back-to-back with travel, the team that you're playing, like this is going to be really difficult. I really want the Penguins to split these two games.
Starting point is 00:15:46 If you can get two out of four points, you're sitting pretty going into that game against Utah with a chance to maybe get four points out of this road trip. But man, that game on Saturday is going to be so tough. It really kind of heightens what a missed opportunity it was against Chicago. Right. That was a really good chance to put two points in the bank
Starting point is 00:16:05 and they squandered it away. The same thing applies for both games. this weekend Friday and Saturday. You are going to have to play boring road hockey. Nothing fancy, nothing extravagant. I know that it breaks the hearts of a lot of us modern hockey watchers, but it needs to be redlining in. It needs to be responsible smart forecheck.
Starting point is 00:16:33 And it needs to be locking down your own end because especially, not even especially both nights you're playing two teams that can score a lot of goals so you really have to play some boring hockey and try to make the lives of arthur she loves and sergey murashav a lot easier yeah and also continuing on the special teams talk Vegas is pk only 22nd in the league to start so that is one weakness that they do have at least pat that their pk is not off to a good start if the penguins power play can get off the schneide here and well we said that again We said that against Chicago and what happened. I'm just pointing it out that if they can get off the Schneid,
Starting point is 00:17:15 there's a chance that that could maybe flip the game a little bit if they do get more power play opportunities than Vegas. Or if they just convert on the few power play opportunities they get, depending on how many they get. But it's at least something to watch out for. I discussed our game or Ashah. I discussed a hopefully another fast start. You can't be behind the eight ball, especially early against a team like Vegas. I know the situation is tough because it's the back-to-back with travel. So, again, my goal for this weekend, Pat, two out of four points.
Starting point is 00:17:45 If you can do that, I think that's good heading into Monday's game against Utah, which we talked about Utah a little bit. We're going to preview that game a bit more on Monday, obviously. But they just beat Edmonton in Edmonton. That was a really good game to watch. That team's also looking damn good to start the season, too. They are. And I'm going to finish my thoughts on Vegas here real quick.
Starting point is 00:18:06 The player that I have got my eye on the most is not the obvious ones. It's not your Ikels, your Barbashev, your Marner's. It's Tomas Hurdle. Having a little bit of an early season renaissance, nine games, four goals, seven points, averaging just a shade over 16 minutes a game as their third line center. Listen, it is, we are not that far removed from asking the question if Tomas Hurdle was cooked. and he's looking really good and it is classic Vegas. They're taking a guy who maybe that you thought his career was just about finished
Starting point is 00:18:46 or at the very least, his best days were behind him. And suddenly he's a key contributor. So this is this is going to be a hell of a challenge for the penguins on Saturday night. I will say they won't have to face old friend Parker Wetherspoon. He is currently out right now with an injury. though they welcome to face William Carlson Pat, who is back healthy. I know he was banged up for a lot of last season, already has a couple of goals to start too.
Starting point is 00:19:11 That's someone who still, I don't think, gets enough love around the NHL. He can score whenever. So that's another play to watch out for. You said it, though. This is going to be a daunting test, maybe even more of a daunting test than tonight's game. But let's go one at a time. Let's see if the penguins can get some results from these two games against two bona fide Stanley Cup contenders.
Starting point is 00:19:32 But that's going to do it for this segment. Coming up to end the show, it's Friday. Yins know what that means. It's time for another edition of Fan Take Friday. We'll react to your takes and your questions. And that's coming up right after this. Healthy eating gets a lot simpler when you've already got quality ingredients ready to go. Instead of overthinking dinner, I can focus on making something I'll actually enjoy eating.
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Starting point is 00:21:44 All right, we're back here to close out the Friday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast on one of your host, Hunts or Hodes, joined by my co-host Patrick Damp. And Pat, let's get into it for Fan Take Friday. You put a nice little prompt out there that the vibes have been off lately, which you're right, they have. It's been a little bit down as of late. But you say, let's turn them around. Who is a player that you think is poised for a big breakout over the next couple of weeks?
Starting point is 00:22:07 and we'll start with Drake Barrett. I think Igor Chinikov and Nick Robertson are about to go off. I do like to pick about Igor Chinikov. He's been getting chances. The puck has just not been going in the back of the net. Hopefully that changes. Nick Robertson, he's already kind of been going off to start the season. Four goals in seven games, and he is getting a promotion to the third line site.
Starting point is 00:22:27 It looks like, as of right now, with Ben Kindle and Andre Kuzmanko, which is very, very well deserved. So I like that. G. Tots also says, Igor for me and he also has a hot take. I think Dubus will make at least five more trades this season while the Penguins make the playoffs. Hey, you know, Dubus loves to trade. So I'm not going to rule that one out completely. We obviously just saw one pretty recently. We saw the Spencer Stasty one as well. So he's never afraid to wheel and deal. Might seem like a lot, but I'm not
Starting point is 00:22:57 going to rule it out. Dubis loves tankering. That man loves tanker. And he has loved it since he was working for the Toronto Maple Leafs is the GM of the Marleys. That man loves a tinker. He will make depth move after depth move after depth move. It's one of his favorite things. I do appreciate that everybody kind of said Chinikov. Like that was kind of the overwhelming consensus among the comments. There's a couple for Ricard Raquel as well from Fyris and then another one from
Starting point is 00:23:26 Super Trooper with Tommy Novak, which I do like as well. I will say for the Raquel end of it, I do think we touched on it a little bit yesterday it does feel like this is kind of a pile on at this point and I'm not going to sit here and say Raquel's been good because he hasn't all right we went over that but isn't this kind of the Ricard Raquel experience at the end of the day
Starting point is 00:23:55 starts off a little slow then all of a sudden he pops off and we all forget about it now if he goes the next couple weeks with this same level of play, then I will be the first to come on this show and say, yeah, everybody was right. It was absolutely right. But other than the year where he came back, was it two or three years ago where he came back a little too early from injury,
Starting point is 00:24:17 never really found a groove, struggled that year. And when we ended up finding out he was just hurt the whole year. But yeah, I think the same goes for Chinikov. Like the chances are there. And he's like so many other scores. One goes in. They're going in in bunches. We know how it goes.
Starting point is 00:24:35 Finally, this is great news for Nick Robertson. Because 80 minutes of 5 on 5 ice time this year, penguins have outscored their opponent, 7 to 1 and have a nearly 62% expected goal share. And since he has been demoted to the fourth line or now just the bottom 6, 38 D zone starts, 14 O zone starts. Pretty good. the kid can produce. Dan, keep pushing him up. Yeah, and it's at least exciting that he's going to get a chance with Ben Kendall tonight.
Starting point is 00:25:09 And speaking of Ben Kendall, when he said, I think Kendall's going to have a big breakout. Hopefully Muse actually helps him by giving him better linemates, hey, based on the lines we saw on Thursday's practice, it looks like it's going to be him with Kuzmanko and Nick Robertson. They do need to get Kuzmanko going. I think that's another big one as well. Obviously, Pat, he's just been through so much, as everyone knows. but I do think sooner rather than later he is going to start to get going a little bit, and I still like him as a fit on that line with Ben Kindle.
Starting point is 00:25:37 I think Kendall's also been fantastic at start the season, but I understand what Lenny's saying when it comes to production-wise. Again, Phyrus said Ricard Raquel, Super Troopers said Tommy Novak, Harrison Baldwin said, the roster bloat is bad, and we know that Justin Brzo isn't back, but I do think McGrody is going to get called up and finally shows that he can stick in the NHL. I will say this to Harrison. there will be a time when he comes up this year. And it's going to be on him to make sure that he doesn't go back down again.
Starting point is 00:26:02 Last weekend was a really good start for him to the season. They have a couple big games in Cleveland this weekend. I want to see if he can continue it. But I do think there is going to come a time where he's going to really have to prove this year that he does not deserve to go back down. So I get where Harrison's coming from. This is going to be, this is really a cliched kind of old school answer, but I do believe it in this case is applicable.
Starting point is 00:26:29 Rucker McGority just has to come up and play pissed. He just has to come up and play pissed off because I like the kid a lot. I like his potential. I like his professionalism. If he becomes a consistent NHLer over the next few years and stays in the NHL, I can see him one day being a leader and being a captain. but just go out and play mad hit everything that's not wearing a penguin's jersey every time you get even half a look at the net shoot the puck block shots and if you have to maybe once or twice
Starting point is 00:27:07 drop the gloves that doesn't work for everybody i know that seems like a cure all for so many old hockey minds of like just go out there and play physical darn it like but at the end of the day where McGrory is as a prospect right now, that is how he is going to have to stick on the team. He is going to have to be a menace every time he steps on the ice. And I think if he does that, he will stick. Honestly, just play more like a rat. And I think that's going to get to help his game a little bit more as well. So I'm with you moving on to the next one. This one comes from Corey. What are your thoughts on moving Chinikov up with Sid, Kendall, up with Malkin and Novak since Novak can't win a face off and Raquel centering the third line. Sid,
Starting point is 00:27:49 Russ and Chinikov had a 57% expected goal share last year. And according to Josh, Raquel actually likes playing center, and he may get some easier matchups on the third line. So that's an interesting one because we did see Raquel play more center last season. We haven't seen it obviously this year. A lot of it's mainly just been stapled up with Crosby, especially as of late on the top line. We've seen Chinikov with Cid.
Starting point is 00:28:12 It's been fine if you want to, I guess, give it a chance, especially if Raquel, Crosby, Russ continues to not work. sure, why not? I still prefer Chinakov with Malkin, just because I think they have better chemistry, in my opinion. But if you want to at least give it a shot with Sid, Rust, and Chinikov, okay, sure. If you want to do Malkin and Kindle on the second line,
Starting point is 00:28:35 I can at least see it. You are going to have to start giving Kendall more shifts on that line at some point because I do think he is going to be this team's future second line center. Novak's doing a solid job holding it down right now. Kindle's obviously been great too, but, you know, maybe they do switch it up at some point and they want to move Kendall up there just as like a, the future is now type of thing. So honestly, I would be for it. If some of these lines continue to struggle, I'm just not sure if they're going to do that right now. So it's not quite a break glass in case of emergency idea.
Starting point is 00:29:14 I kind of prefer Kendall with Raquel, like Raquel has his winger on the third line. That's just my personal preference. But like I'll say this to the proposal. I like the thought. I do. I think that's a solid idea. But it feels like something they would do mid-November. They're really struggling.
Starting point is 00:29:36 They're not in the playoff picture. They've stacked some losses. And Dan Mews just says, you know what? Nothing else is working. I'm putting everything in a blender. And this is what's going to come out. I don't think and I agree that Ben Kindle's going to be your two C of the future. That's that's just the way he's trending.
Starting point is 00:29:57 But I think right now there's no real reason to touch the second line that I know they haven't been lighting the world on fire, but they have been mostly consistent. And you've got Gino who's playing well, Novak who's playing pretty darn well. And the goals are going to come for Chinikov. I don't think you need to panic with that line yet. It's everything else around it that you've got to keep working on. And as we're seeing for the lines that we're going to see on Friday, it looks like they're trying their best to figure that out.
Starting point is 00:30:30 So I like the proposal and the idea. I just don't think it's time to do it yet. Well, if they do have a bad road trip here, God forbid. I'm not trying to put bad karma out there, but say, God forbid that happens. I think you could maybe see Muse put even more of the lines. in a blender once they get home for two big games at the end of the next week and next weekend. A couple more here before we get out of here, Pat. This next one comes from Luke.
Starting point is 00:30:58 What are your thoughts on a potential trade for Simon Edmondson at 23 years old? He is someone, is he someone you would consider part of the timeline? I know the wings don't want to move him in the asking prices a lot, but I think this is a good opportunity to add some young talent to our decor, which I think is lacking, even though we have some of our Wilkesbury guys down there. Yes, I'm sure Kyle Dubas is probably one of the GMs that have called. I think Pierre LeBron put out a report last week that at least 10 teams, excuse me, have called a check in on his status. I am pretty positive.
Starting point is 00:31:27 Kyle Dubas is probably one of them, mainly because he commented this during his one of his pressers where he was like, yeah, anytime a young player becomes available, we're going to be there. So just take it from that perspective. I think he has probably called. Edmondson, really good player, especially in the top four, great in all three zones, someone who you could have on your blue line for not just the present, but for the long. long-term future as well. What he costs a lot, trade-wise? 100%. That is more of a blockbuster-type deal that you'd be making earlier here in the season.
Starting point is 00:31:58 Contract-wise, he's going to cost a lot as well, but the Penguins do have the salary cap space to accommodate him. I would definitely be in on it. It just comes down to A, do the Penguins have a compelling package for the Red Wings? And B, do the Red Wings finally get to a point where it's like, okay, we have to move him because Luke is right. Sean Horkoff did come out this week and said, we have no. interest in doing this right now. Yeah, that's, you have to, you kind of have to call
Starting point is 00:32:25 Horc off every single day and just wait until it breaks. And you've got to just be aware of what it's going to cost. Because here's the thing, I like Edvenson quite a lot. They're like, he's a here and now. Like, if you get them, you have a known quantity. That's going to be someone who is going to be in your defensive core for the next decade. So that's a player that I'm not uncomfortable going after. What I would be uncomfortable with is you probably have to sell quite a bit to get them. And you know you're not moving off Ben Kindle. You know you're not moving off of say so. And listen, I know this is going to sound ridiculous. You're not moving off Sergey Mershov. But you know that they're going to want some combination of draft capital and good young players. And you're not moving off
Starting point is 00:33:14 bills on in either. So the thing that I I think keeps the penguins out of this is they probably don't have the assets. Now, if Detroit gets desperate and we get to November, December, January, there's still no movement. A bunch of teams have made other moves and he's still sitting there. That might work in your favor. But I don't know how likely that is. Yeah. I think, I think it's going to have to come to a point.
Starting point is 00:33:48 where Edinson is still really frustrated and this is like you know maybe another week or two or maybe even longer than that down the line and horcoff kind of just gets tired of this and is like okay i'm done but as of right now he has no business he has no interest in moving him and that price still it's going to be a lot unless he really gets desperate and kind of lowers the asking price in general one more here before we get out of here this one comes from landin bartels not a question or hot but I'm happy to announce that I'll be coming to Pittsburgh with my dad in March for the final game that OV will play in Pittsburgh. Looking forward to that weekend and also rest in peace to my wallet. That's going to be awesome.
Starting point is 00:34:27 I look at tickets for that as way too much money for me right now. I am definitely not going to be able to go to that game unless someone, you know, unless someone can't go and they text me and they're like, hey, do you want my tickets, I'll sell them to you for this price. But looking at StubHub, Ticketmaster, all those other places. Too rich for my blood. Yeah, too much money, man. But I'm glad that you're going. I'm glad that I'm glad for everyone that's going to be going to that game because that's
Starting point is 00:34:54 going to be a spectacle of his last game in Pittsburgh. Until we get that first round series between the Penguins and Capitals. Exactly. So we've seen one matchup this year, got three more in the regular season, and then seven more in the first round. That's how this is going to go at this point. But again, that'll do it for this edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for take the time to listen to slash watch this one.
Starting point is 00:35:16 Pat and I will be back with a fresh episode for you all on Monday, recapping this weekend for the Penguins and getting you all set for Monday's game against the Utah Mammoth, and we'll look at the week ahead for the Penguins as well. Different schedule is going to be coming next week as well. But that'll do it for this one. Thank you all so much for tuning in. We appreciate it. We'll be back on Monday.

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