Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins look to make it four in a row against Seattle

Episode Date: February 29, 2024

The Penguins are back with some late-night hockey when they take on the Seattle Kraken and they look to make it four straight. Patrick and Hunter break down what the Penguins need to do to get their fourth-straight win. However, they'll be without winger Bryan Rust who was placed on IR on Thursday - who needs to step up in his absence? The boys answer that question and then they close out the show with some Jake Guentzel trade proposals. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.Camino ConsultingAfter providing more than 20 years of service to small and midsize businesses, Camino is offering a digital seminar for families and couples. Mention Locked On when reaching out for a business seminar and receive the first 5 profiles free OR use discount code LOCKEDON for 25% off the rest of the month when you visit www.caminoconsulting.ca . SleeperDownload the Sleeper App and use promo code LOCKEDONNHL to get up to a $100 match on your first deposit. Terms and conditions apply. See Sleeper’s Terms of Use for details.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelGet buckets with your first bet on FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET! That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – if your bet wins! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Penguins look to make it four in a row tonight in the Pacific Northwest when they take on the Seattle Cracken. Hunter and I are going to break down 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 back, Penguins fans, 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, joined as always by the one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can follow the show's Twitter at L.O underscore Penguins. We are free and available wherever you get your podcast, including YouTube. We thank you for making this your first listen or watch of the day. And before we get started, today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code locked on for $20 off your first purchase. So penguins looking to do something they've only done once this season,

and that's getting four wins in a row when they face off for another penguins after dark tonight at 10 o'clock against the Seattle Cracken. Unlike Hunter, I will not be staying up for that one. The alarm is set for 445 tomorrow morning, so 10 o'clock face off, not going to do for me. But don't you worry when we're back tomorrow, I will have watched the highlights in the condensed game, so I will be ready to recap it for you. So Hunter tonight, big matchup for the penguins. They're keeping their season somewhat alive. Their playoff hopes, a very small flicker of hope still exists.

And this is a big two points tonight because games are still in hand. They're making their way back up the standings with some recent wins. However, we're going to talk about it later in the show. They're going to be without the services officially of Brian Rust on this trip. But when you look at what the penguins have done over the past week or so, and look at what they're taking on tonight in Seattle, how do the penguins come away with two points tonight? They honestly have to do what they did against Seattle,

what was it, a little over a month ago, when Seattle came to Pittsburgh. And I know the Cracken were a bit banged up at that time. They're a lot healthier than they are now, but this is still a Seattle team that's been really inconsistent throughout the season. And what the Penguins did in that game, they smothered the Cracken, and they only allowed five high danger chances at five on five.

the Cracken really didn't have many chances in the offensive zone. They made it really easy, the Penguins, on the goaltender, to make routine saves. The Cracken just didn't really have that many good quality chances. And the Penguins need to bring that same blueprint into tonight's game against the Cracken if they want to do it. And they were able to get finishing from everyone in their lineup in that game. And they just played a really methodical 60 minutes. I think that was one of their best efforts of the year.

and they're going to have to do that again tonight if they want to sweep the season series and get two more crucial points because you look around the league right now, some teams ahead of them are continuing to win. I mean, even the capitals. They've been a little bit hot lately. The Flyers are still in that third spot in the metro.

They're tied with the Islanders right now, even though the Islanders haven't had that new coach bump yet. It's important for the Penguins to keep using the advantage of those games in hand and keep winning them because, again, right now you look at the Sandings, five games in hand on the lightning who they're behind, four games in hand on the flyers. We keep saying, oh, they only matter if you win,

which is very true. And that's why they got to continue to keep banking points and to really get their first true winning streak of the year. Their longest winning streak is five. And that's not going to be good enough if this team wants to make the playoff. They're going to have to go on, I think at least pat, seven, eight,

maybe 10 game winning streak if they want to fully get back into this thing and make a run at it in March and then into April. For sure, you and I were at that last game against the Cracken in Pittsburgh, and we remarked on it the entire game that they smothered the Cracken for 60 minutes. Every chance that Seattle got was won and done. They cleared the front of the net or Jari covered the puck. They kept them mostly out of the high danger areas of the defensive zone and limited them to mostly outside shots, which are very easy for the goaltender to handle. and then they spent a good amount of time in Seattle's zone, getting first, second, and third opportunities

and hemming them in their zone, forcing them to defend. And I agree with you, that's exactly what they have to do tonight. They have to be willing to take that game and translate it to the road, which is kind of almost what they did in Pittsburgh. They essentially played a road game where they played extremely simple, They played extremely basic hockey. They took what the game gave them and didn't try to do too much. Now, with where this team is missing two of its top wingers in Jake Gensel and Brian Rust,

that is just as important tonight as it was then, because even though this is a pretty underman, despite getting healthy, cracking team, you look at this roster and it's fairly unimpressive, all things considered. Our old pal Jared McCann leads the way. he's got 25 goals, 46 points. Behind him is Vince Dunn on defense with 43 points. Oliver Bjork Strand has been okay with 14 goals and 42 points.

Jordan Eberley, penguin killer, so keep an eye on him tonight. But he's got 14 goals and 35 points. Anytime we'll score for Jordan Erily tonight, people. Like I said about Brock Bester in the Vancouver game, I'm going to go ahead and stamp this tonight. Anytime goal score Jordan Eberley, just because he always scores against the penguins. Right.

But overall, you look at this team, and there really isn't true blue elite talent. There's some very good players. You know, McCann, Dun, Bjork Strand, Eberley, Maddie Baneers is starting to look like a very good NHL player, Jaden Swartz, Yanni Gord, Thomas Tatar, Justin Schultz. There's names on this roster that they have some talent, but there's no real gamebreakers on this team. So you have to hope having the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeny Mall, in Chris LaTang and Eric Carlson can help push you ahead of this team.

And then you look at the goaltending matchup tonight. Tristan Jari's on the hill, as our good pal, Seth Robo, I likes to say. He gets the start for the Penguins. He's going to be facing Philip Grubauer, who's struggling this year. He has 20 starts, 8, 9 and 1 record, 297 goals against average, and an 892 save percentage. So penguins have the advantage in net tonight. I know that Tristan Jari struggled against the Flyers, but at the same time,

his overall body of work this season has been quite good. Yeah, Jari bounced back against the Canucks earlier this week. He looked a little bit shaky at times in the first period, but he also made some 10-bell saves to keep the penguins only down two heading into the second period. And then when they were down by one heading into the third, he made some great saves to keep the penguins in that game before Lars Eller Tide. And then also made some great save. after that to preserve at least a point handing into overtime and then obviously made that great

save in overtime which sprung the penguins the other way before Eric Carlson won it. So he bounced back in a big way and I expect him to have another good start tonight. He's had way more good starts this season compared to bad starts as everyone that has watched this team knows. And to your point about the Cracken, Pat, I agree. What this Cracken team has is a lot of depth. You look up and down this lineup. I mean, they have Tomas Tatar on their fourth line.

Brandon Tann of down there, old friend of course. Yanni Gord is their third line center. Tolvinen is on their third line. Jaden Schwartz is on their second line. Oliver Borkstrand, has been solid. But their top line is also really good, McCann with Benares and Edley.

They are a very deep team, but they don't have that true superstar type player or that game breaker that can really take this team over the edge. I think this cracking team, they overachieved last year, they underachieve the year before, but where they're at right now is kind of where I think they should be as a team.

And that is not quite a playoff team, but not quite one of the worst teams in the league either. Just kind of the middling team that I think needs some help if they want to truly contend for a Stanley Cup. That's where they are right now. They're pretty close in the standings to where the penguins are at right now, but you're going to have to hope that the penguin's high-end talent

can lift them to a win in this game. Plus, how the Penguins' depth has been playing the last two games, that would also be massive for the Penguins to come out there and get those two points, not to mention the goal-tending edge that they'll have as well. This is a very winnable game on this road trip. You took care of the Canucks. That was the toughest game heading into this trip. Now you play a Seattle team that, yes, they did just beat the Bruins at home,

and that's a very impressive win by the rack, and they came back to win that game. But before then, they had lost three in a row, and they've just been kind of hovering on the edge of being a playoff team this year, even though they're out of it right now. I kind of see them selling a bit at the deadline. But if you want to make the playoffs, even though you're on the road, you got to win this game tonight. Right. And I also look at this the same way as somebody say like Phil Bork does. You have to play tonight as the more desperate team because these are two teams in very similar positions. They're a handful of points out of a playoff spot. They're not a rebuilding team. Neither are

rebuilding teams. They're teams that had playoff aspirations. So at this point, if you're the penguins, you have to go in tonight and continue to play as if your season is on the line because for all intents and purposes, your season is on the line. Every single point, even with the games in hand right now, every single point is precious because as you said, a lot of the teams ahead of them continue to win. They continue to stack points.

So you have to do that right along with them. And unfortunately, you're in a position where you have to hope eventually you get some help in some of these teams ahead of you, drop a couple games to give you an opening to keep jumping in standings. I said heading into this trip. I think at the very least, you have to go to one in one. But I don't think, right, it's still maybe not going to be good enough. 3.0 and 1. 3 and 1 would be great as well.

Obviously, 4 and 0 would be best case scenario. by far. But if you can still win at least two more of these games on the strip, especially with the crack and how they're probably going to sell next week, the flames have been selling throughout the season, that's another very winnable game. If you can win those next two and then maybe squeak out a point against the Oilers or maybe upset them just because that's going to be on a back-to-back for the Penguins, that's going to be really tough. If you can get six out of a possible eight or even seven out of a possible eight, or again, the dream is eight out of eight, you'll be really cooking heading into those two games for the deadline to maybe convince Kyle Dubus,

maybe not to blow this thing up as we've been talking about on the show for the past week. But still, this game, just as important as Vancouver game, you're not going up against as good of a team, but you still need to bring your best because while I'm glad the Penguins beat the Canucks, I don't think they were close to their best in that game. I loved the way they responded. I love that they were able to get that win. But I think they have another gear that they can get to. And I'm curious to see if we can get that tonight.

of course and we would be remissed if we also didn't mention that we'll see two other old friends tonight and that is jamie alexiac and brian duman brian dumelin of back-to-back stanley cup fame uh two guys who played very well in their time here i know that alexiac caught a lot of crap because he was just a big guy who didn't play big but he did play fairly well for the penguins and obviously brian dumelin for a very long time was a staple on the penguins blue line right aside Chris LaTang. So it's going to be good to see those guys again. So as we said, big two points on the line tonight.

But unfortunately going into this one, the Penguins got some bad news. And that is that Brian Rust is going to be placed on injured reserve. We will talk about that, the recall that happened along with it, and the other depth guys that we're looking at stepping up for the rest of this road trip until Rust can return. But we will do that right after this because we have to tell you about our first

sponsor. and that is Game Time. You guys have heard me talk about it before anytime Game Time joins the show as a sponsor. One of my worst ticket buying experiences was when a friend and myself bought tickets from a scalper at the old Mellon Arena. The tickets worked. We scanned them. We walked in, went up our section, and they were for a row that did not exist. So Game Time says you shouldn't have to worry when you buy your tickets to your next big event.

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I'm one of your host, Patrick Damp, joined as always by the illustrious hunter hodies. And as I'm sure most of our listeners know at this point, but if you don't, the penguins announced earlier today that Brian Rust has been placed on injured reserve. The corresponding move was that Jonathan Gruden, not that one, the hockey player, has been recalled to the Pittsburgh Penguins. And again, we're in another spot here where the last week or so, a lot of the depth guys have been stepping up and playing a lot better.

as of recently, but this just absolutely underscores that that they are going to have to continue to do that because you lose another big scoring winger in a huge piece of your team in Brian Rust. You have some stats on Jonathan Gruden. He was an extra today at Morning Skate, so I don't believe we will see him in the lineup tonight. But what have you seen from Gruden in Wilkes-Ber and can he help this team if he gets a jersey on this road trip?

Yeah, Gruden has been one of Wilkesbury's better players this season. 13 goals, 23 points in 41 games. He's actually fifth on the team in points so far this season. And he's only played a handful of games at the NHL level. Hasn't really stood out that much in the games that he has played. But honestly, in my opinion, I feel like he'd probably be a bit of a better option than someone like Jansen Harkins. And I apologize for also picking on him quite a bit on the show,

but he also only has four points in 40-plus games. this season and doesn't really do too too much on a nightly basis, excuse me. He doesn't really get too much penalty-killing time. He plays strictly on the fourth line. I feel like I would rather want to see what Gruden can do over something like Harkins, considering he's had quite a bit of a more sample size, and I feel like we know what he is at this point. But I still feel like Gruden is very much an unknown.

But you are right, he was an extra at the morning escape this morning. The lines remain the same overall day. what those are. Riley Smith with Sidney Crosby and Ricardo Rakel, Drew O'Connor with Gennie Malc and Adelaire Puson, Emil Benstrom with Lars Eller and Jesse Pooley-Rvey, and Jansson-Harkins with Noah Chari and Jeff Carter. The defensive pairings were also the same during the skate as well. So that looks like it's going to be the lineup again tonight, but they needed another body to come up in case another forward got hurt, God forbid, honestly, at this point. But I still would rather see someone like Gruden in the lineup over Selen-Lank Harkins, who I feel like just hasn't done enough,

even though he's had so many chances to show you, me, and quite a few other people, what he can do the season so far. He just, I feel like he just hasn't been able to take advantage. But, you know, Mike Sullivan sees something in him. We'll have to defer to his judgment. But that's just how I see it, I think, at this point. I would agree. I would like to see him get a helmet at least once on this trip.

Even if it isn't for, say, Jansen Harkins, I would like at the very least see him get a shot, see what he can bring, see what he can do in another NHL. I agree with you on Harkins as well. He's the easiest to replace, I think. I mean, I don't want them to take Ben Shrum out of the lineup. I think Poo Yardv deserves a chance as well. I mean, you look at the forward group right now. I mean, they're not taking L or out.

Obviously, a chari is not coming out. They scratched Jeff Carter before, but I don't think they're going to scratch Jeff Carter for some guy in Wilkesbury, Jonathan Grin. No offense to Jonathan Gruden, but I just don't think that's going to happen with Carter coming out of the live. I just think Harkins will be the easiest choice of someone were to come out for Gruden, in my opinion. Yeah, and as I was saying there, with Harkins, there was some promise early on. You looked at what he did prior to coming to Pittsburgh,

and it seemed like there was some promise there, but it just hasn't worked out for whatever reason. And overall, I mean, when you have a guy who's producing at that level in the HL, it's worth giving him a look, I think. Even if it doesn't translate, you have to try. You have to see if it can because, as an old saying goes, the answer is always no until you ask. So at this point, you look at the numbers he's put up in Wilkeshire.

He's been one of their more productive players. What have the penguins been hurting for pretty much all season? And that's depth scoring. Now, magic beans and all of that because the HL is absolutely not the NHL. But at the very least, it can't hurt to take a look, especially because he's not going to get placed in an elevated role. He's not going to be in the top six. He's not going to play with Crosby or Malkins. So you see what he can do with maybe a guy like Eller who has been quite good so far and especially the last month or so.

Right. I mean, I don't think it could hurt by putting him on that line or even just the fourth line with Achari and Carter. I mean, I know you're playing with two guys who haven't really brought that much offense to season. Carter probably more than Achari. But at least you're giving him minutes and you're seeing what he can do with more of a sample size just because I feel like we don't fully know what he is as a player yet. obviously that's Jonathan Gruden, who I'm talking about. And again, I feel like I've seen what I've needed to see from at least Harkins and maybe a couple other players in Los Nia, but especially him. So why not give him at least a shot and see what he can do since he's been one of Wilkesbury's best players?

I know there's not like a ton of talent down at workstering. This team isn't just filled with NHL ready players. And Voltarey Pustin has obviously been the best of the bunch that have come up so far this season, in my opinion. but that's what's the word I'm looking for I think that's not the norm it's kind of like the outlier just because of how good Puston has been some of the other players that have come up from Wilkesbury just haven't been able to live up to par but hey maybe Gruden comes up here plays for a few games and shows that he is worthy of maybe a longer look now is it going to get that chance and probably not at this point but

I would still rather see him in the lineup to see you know if he can maybe be at least a small depth piece for this team who knows Yeah, and then going into tonight, we're going to continue to need to see the same efforts we've been getting from Drew O'Connor, from Valteri Pustin, and Lars Eller. Those three to me are very much a key to success tonight and the rest of the road trip with Brian Rust out because they have been playing some very fine hockey the last couple of weeks. And if they can keep that up, especially a game like tonight, like where we were talking about with the Seattle Cracken, who are a deep team. team, but don't have, like we said, that elite talent. They're a team of depth players, and I say that with all due respect, because they have played somewhat well, but when you have that matchup, you know that they're going to

key on Crosby, Malkin, Smith, Raquel. So you want to give those guys on the fringes, the Lers, the DOCs, the Pustan's, a chance to step in and fill in for that production. So those are the guys I want to keep an eye on tonight. I'll throw one more. Email Benstrom. I think since he's made his Penguins debut, he's been a really sound player in all three zones. He has one heck of a shot, as we've seen so far.

I think also his foreshacking ability has been really strong in a couple of games that I've seen. And it's only a small sample size. But I've liked the return on investment that penguins have gotten from him in this small sample. And I want to see more from him down the stretch. this season. I really like the start that he's off to. And who knows, maybe he pots a few more goals, scares a few more people into the fangman's giving up a third round pick a couple of years

to now. You know, again, I don't really care that much about that pick. But I liked his game so far. And I hope that continues heading into tonight the rest of this road trip. Yeah, we'll see if that is just a new team adrenaline or if we've really got something here because we have seen that more times than we can count. But that is going to do it for this segment. When we come back, we have to talk about it. We're going to talk about it. What are some proposed Jake Gensel trades that we have seen either on the internet or have sent to us? Most of them give you a little bit of a pre-segment spoiler. We're probably going to laugh at.

But you got to stay tuned for that, and we will talk about that right after this before we tell you about our next sponsor, and that is Sleeper. We're well past the halfway point of the season Penguins fans, and we know that they're fighting for their playoff lives and maybe teetering on. on the brink of blowing some of this roster up. But regardless of where we are in the current standings, I want to remind you that you could win big by playing Daily Fantasy Hockey on Sleeper, the official Daily Fantasy app of the Locked-on NHL Network.

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See Sleeper's Terms of Use for Details and Locational Availability. Welcome back to the Thursday edition of the Locked On Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Patrick Damp, joined as always by 100. Hodes, and I am going to let you cook on this one, Hunter, because you were all over me today talking about Jake Gensel trades and some of the proposals you've seen and you sent them to me before we hit record. And I know you've got a lot of thoughts on them. So as I often do on this show when I've got hosting duties, the floor is yours, my friend,

get in the kitchen and cook. I feel like this would be just a fun way to end the show. looking through some cap-friendly armchair GM-type trades for Jake Gensel. I'm also looking at some other proposals that I've seen through NHL Network, ESPN, and a boatload of other places, including someone that I talked to on a regular basis, actually proposed a hypothetical trade that I think is probably the best of the ones that we're going to discuss. But we just want to have some fun with this final segment. Please do not take these proposals too seriously.

We just want to have some fun in case Jake does get traded in the next week and based on everything that's being reported, it's more likely than not at this point that he's probably going to get dealt, even though, again, we've made our points quite clear on where we stand on that. But the first one that I wanted to discuss, this was a few days ago. NHL Network put out this hypothetical trade, and it was Jake Gensel to the Oilers, the Penguins are retaining 50% of the contract, and the Penguins are receiving a first round pick from this year,

a third round pick next year, forward Warren Vogel and defensive prospect, Bo Akey. That is a horrendous return for Jake Gensel. I'm sorry. I mean, yeah, the first-round pick is cool to have, but I don't really care about a third-round pick. Honestly, Bo A-Kee is not that good of a prospect. I mean, this year he's been playing in the OHL.

Four goals, nine points, and 14 games. Last year, he did have 47 points in 66 games in the OHL. So those aren't terrible numbers, but I mean, I'm just not too interested in what Edmond has to offer prospects-wise. And then Warren Fogle, I think he's just going back to kind of make the money work. And he's just a bottom six body. That's really not going to help the penguins whatsoever. That is probably one of the worst proposed trades that I've seen from a true,

you know, like hockey media channel, whatever you want to call it. I just laughed when I saw that. Yeah, that one was just not good whatsoever. Well, I don't want to say whatsoever because that one to me looks like, okay, you've started the building blocks with a trade for Edmonton. I think the picks are good. I think the prospect is a solid one because by all accounts, he looks like he could be an NHL defenseman sooner rather than later.

I don't think it's going to be any time that really fits in the penguin's window, but maybe right there at the tail end, you could get him into the lineup. But that's a little too far off the penguin's timeline right now. And as for the roster player, I just, you got to do better. Is McLevin on the team? McLevin from Super Bad? No, but you got to do a little bit better than that because even though a Jake Gensel trade essentially tells you that they're throwing in

the towel on this season, you still have to give them something of value for the roster right now and maybe even into next year. Because I still do believe that the best course of action is to stockpile a bunch of assets right now, make some bigger moves in the summer, and then hit this. thing again next year. But that is kind of the starting point for me is you got to give them something like that that can maybe be useful for the rest of this season and next year. The one that I want to highlight because it is truly the biggest laffer of them all.

And I hate saying this because it's somebody whose NHL coverage and analysis I really like. And that's Ryan S. Clark from ESPN. he has one out today or a couple of days ago whenever this one came out, I believe it was the 27th. But this is a three-team trade involving the penguins, the Florida Panthers, and the Chicago Blackhawks. This is the kind of trade.

Before I read to you what goes where, if you play EAS NHL and you do franchise mode, this is the one where you get the message back where the opposing GM tells you, if I accept this deal, I'm getting fired. So here's what goes. The Florida Panthers will get Jake Gensel at 25% of his salary. The Penguins will send, the Penguins will get, sorry, excuse me,

Penguins will get a 2024 third round pick, a 2025 second round pick, a 2026 first round pick, and retain 50% of Gensel's salary. To make it all work, the Chicago Blackhawks will get a 2024 fourth round pick, and they will retain 25% of Jake Gensel's salary. Really? That's the trade. Really? No, no, no.

And just to drive the point home here, no. The penguins aren't in full rebuild mode yet. They just aren't. I know a lot of people have been wishcasting that, but I'm sorry to bring you back to reality, guys. They're not going into a full rebuild for at least three years. Like if they go into a full rebuild, the earliest it's going to happen is three years from now. And the only way that's happening three years from now is if this entire train goes off the tracks. And I mean, that's disaster area.

Crosby falls off a cliff. Malkin falls off a cliff. Letang falls off a cliff. Eric Carlson falls off a cliff. All that happens. And yeah, in three years, they're going to blow this thing up and start over. But I'm going to put it more likely than not that that doesn't happen. So this trade is what you do when you're blowing it up because all they're getting are draft picks.

And while they want draft picks because they want to use them for trade capital, you need more. Like you have to get somebody from either Florida or Chicago that can play right now. And you're not going to trade him away for just a boatload of picks. It's not how this is going to work. No, that's a trade that if that goes through, you fire your whole front office. Like, that's ridiculous. Picks, that's it. You're not even getting a top prospect. You're not even getting a roster player that can help you win maybe for the rest of the season. And especially for next season, because I think that's the last main chance for the penguins to go all in in this era.

I don't even know why they decided to write that type of article for that trade. There's just no point. Like, that doesn't help the penguins at all. I mean, yeah, the Panthers come out of it looking like the biggest winners because, yeah, no crap. They get the best asset in that trade. And that's Jake Gensel. No one else in that trade is getting anything. I mean, the Blackhawks, I mean, okay, they get a pick,

but like the Penguins especially, they don't get anything out of that. They just get magic beans picks. So that is a ridiculous proposal. I can't even believe that. And the other thing that this made me laugh at that trade proposal was this, I understand for pretty much every team at this point is up against it. So it's very hard to make some deals work.

Jake Gensel's not making a boatload of money. He makes $6 million. That's it. Like, he's not exactly making Eric Carlson money. Now, is he severely underpaid? Yeah, he is given his production. He has outperformed this contract by leaps and bounds. But we're not talking about a guy who's making $9, $10, $11 million.

He's $6 million here. Like, that's part of the reason it's an enticing player to move because he's very productive and only makes $6 million. Exactly. No, I 100% concur on that. And there were a couple other proposals that we wanted to get to before we wrap up today. There was a one that I was just going on cat friendly just to have fun seeing what people are coming up with. And one that I did see Jake Gensel to do the Detroit Red Wings for a first-on pick in this year's draft,

which is, okay, Jonathan Bergerin, okay, whatever, and then Robbie Fabry. While I understand why the Red Wings would make that trade, obviously because they're going for it in the playoffs here. And they're, I wouldn't say they're all in, but they could use some help for the season. because while I think they're going to make the playoffs, I don't think they're going to be favored to win in any series so far. But, you know, when you look at the Red Wings roster so far this season, they're not going to trade any of their high-end talent. But when you look at Robbie Fabry, 15 goals, 25 points in 45 games,

okay, that's at least a okay piece that can help your bottom six, especially he can step up in your top six if needed. You know, 15 goals. I mean, that's better than quite a few players in the one's bottom six this season. But for someone like outside of that, you know, Jonathan Berggrin, nine games, two goals. goals, five points. Eh, I'm not too interested in that.

The first-on-pick is okay, I guess. That's not a quote-unquote terrible proposal, like the last two we saw, but I'm still going to need a bit more than that. I'm going to need one of their top prospects. I'm maybe going to need a different roster player other than Bergman. Fabri, I wouldn't mind as much because he has played decently well for the Red Wings this year, but it's still not enough to make me want to maybe move Jake there. And also, like, that has been the best of the bunch proposal that we've had.

And I think you look at a guy like Fabri, like you said, he could be a guy that you hold on to and see if he helps out in the near term because he only has one year left and that's next year at $4 million. But that's also another guy that you could just turn around and flip again in the off season because very affordable deal pending UFA next season. And he's got some good numbers. So you look at that, and I think for me, that's, as we've discussed multiple times, where a Jake Gensel trade discussion has to start. You got to get somebody that can help you for the rest of the season and maybe next year, but also could be enticing this offseason to another suitor to where you can get more back. So of the three we've highlighted, that's one that I can look at and go, you know what?

They did that and tweaked it ever so slightly for maybe a little bit better of a roster player, a little bit better of a prospect, I could be happy with that. I agree. And there's one more that I want to get to before we wrap up. And this is by far the best one. This is, again, purely hypothetical. Me and my buddy, Clark King Clarkie on Penguin's Twitter, we're just going back and forth about this.

And he proposed a pretty interesting trade that I think would work out for the Penguins if this were to somehow happen again. I don't expect any of these trades to happen or just look like this. But again, we're just having some fun here in this final segment. Clark was going, I was going back and forth with him in my DMs and he came up with this hypothetical. To the Penguins, a 2025 first round pick, Connor Garland, Jonathan LeCurrimacki, I hope I pronounce his last name right, Niels Hoaglander, and to Vancouver, Jake Gensel in a 2026 fourth round pick. I would do that trade, I think.

If it came down to it and he was on the market and you were weighing, say, that type of offer versus another offer from another team, I'm not sure another team could maybe beat that type of offer. and I'll tell you why. Connor Garland can play up and down your lineup. He's been very good for Vancouver. Niels Hoglander, that is Jesse Marshall's guy, by the way.

I always see. He might be his favorite player. Hugglender, that's one of his favorite players in the league. He is also someone that can play up and down your lineup. Good second line player, good third line player, can put the puck in the back of the net, good defensive player as well. Those two players can help you for this year,

next year, and going forward as well. The first one pick obviously helps for the future. And then for the prospect, La Cri Maki, he is very, And I mean, very good. 19 goals in 41 games. That's the fourth most in the SHL this season for his team. And he has goals in four straight games,

nine goals in his last eight games. That is a true prospect that you would be getting back in return. So say somehow that's like an offer that Jim Rutherford and Patrick Alvin made, and you are weighing that against other teams. I would definitely take that one because you are actually getting back true value, in my opinion, for a 40 goal score. because a player like this does not come on the market very often. And yeah, it's more likely than not that you're probably going to get a return that's not as good.

But if you get a return like this, I think that would be hard to turn down if you are fully committed to trading him. Yeah. If Rutherford and Alvin call you with that offer, you take it. I know it stinks losing a guy like Jake Gensel, but a trade like that would be a mutually beneficial trade. because the Vancouver Canucks are shoring up their offense for a potential Stanley Cup run, and you're getting just about everything that you want back in it. You're getting guys that can help you right now and in the short term. You're getting a prospect that has a lot of promise, and you're getting some draft capital.

So if you're Kyle Dubis and that offer, something like that offer comes on the table, you have to seriously consider it. And hey, we all know how Jim loves overpaying for people that he, loves. So maybe in some fantasy world, it's maybe not as much fantasy, but hey, this was a fun segment to do. I wanted to go on cat friendly and a couple other places and break down some proposals that I've been saying. I wanted you to have your thoughts as well. I feel like this was a fun little segment to do eight days for the trade deadline and we can just BS and have some fun with it. Absolutely. But that is going to do it for the Thursday edition of the Lockdown

Penguins podcast. Penguins get it crack in tonight at 10 p.m. Penn's after dark for our boy, Hunter, so he's all excited. Like I said, though, I will not be up for that, but I'm going to watch the condensed game tomorrow. And we will be back tomorrow with a recap for that one and to get you set for the weekend. But for now, for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp. Thank you, as always for tuning in to the locked on Penguins podcast.