Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins look to snap recent skid against Connor McDavid and the Oilers

Episode Date: January 9, 2025

The Penguins will look to get back to their winning ways but it will not be easy as they welcome Connor McDavid and the Oilers to Pittsburgh. Patrick and Hunter get you set for tonight's matchup first by breaking down how successful the Oilers have been so far this season and all the talent they bring to PPG Paints Arena. Then, they discuss the Penguins' lineup for Thursday night's matchup as well as how they can go about limiting Connor McDavid. Finally, to end the show, they discuss a couple of news and notes including a Baby Penguin getting named to the AHL All-Star Classic, some slight updates on the trade market, and a quick speculation on who will be named to the Penguins' Quarter Century Team. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!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.FanDuelYou can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. New customers can place a FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - if you win or lose your first FIVE DOLLAR BET ! Visit 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.

The Penguins will look to get back into the wind column tonight when they welcome Connor Mae David and the Edmonton Oilers. And to get back into the wind column, it's due or do not. There is no try. Your Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on podcast network, your team every day. Hello, and welcome back to another edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Patrick Damp.

You can follow me across all social media platforms at Synonym 4Wet. Joined as always by my partner in crime, your co-host, the one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can give our shows account a follow at L.O. underscore Penguins. And of course, we appreciate you making us part of your daily routine. Don't forget that we are free and available wherever you get your podcasts, as well as YouTube.

Plus, if you follow us on YouTube, don't forget to hit the notification button so you can be among the first to know when we drop our daily Monday through Friday episodes. Right off the top, allow me to apologize for the lateness of this episode between my work schedule and some personal life stuff. I had to put this episode on hold a little bit today.

So my apologies for making you guys wait for a preview for tonight's game. But that aside, let's get into it, Hunter. I got to be a nerd a few weeks ago when the Penguins hosted WWE night, got to make all my wrestling references and have fun with it. And now it is your turn to be a nerd because it's Star Wars night at PPG paints arena. And I'm sure all of you Star Wars fans caught my reference there in the cold open. But this is going to be a monumental challenge for the Penguins tonight. They're facing a team that they have really struggled against the past few seasons.

And part of that is it is a matchup nightmare for the penguins. And it's not just Connor McDavid. Yes, he is the best player on the face of the earth. He has 27 points already in his career against the Pittsburgh penguins and only a handful of games. So he feasts on the penguins. But this is an Edmonton team that has a lot of talent up and down its lineup. They play an extremely fast game. I would go as far as to say they took what the penguins did in 2016 and 2017 and went even further with it.

This team is built on the speed of Connor McDavid. And if you can't keep up with him, you are not a part of the Edmonton Oilers roster. So this is a team that plays fast and they are coming in scorching hot, seven, two, and one in their last 10 on a four game win streak. and this team, they might not have started all that great this year, but they are, as of late, reminding us why they are the defending Western Conference champions. It was kind of the same thing last year. The last year's start was way worse.

Obviously, they were horrendous the first month, month and a half of the season. They fired their coach, made a couple other tweaks, and then it was full steam ahead the rest of the year. A little bit similar this year, Pat. not as bad of a start, but they were still not good to start for season the first few weeks. They were a bit lower in the standings, but look where they are now, Pat. Second in the Pacific Division, right behind the Vegas Golden Knights, 25 and 12 and 3, 53 points, again, six points behind Vegas.

It looks like as of right now, they're probably going to get second in the division, unless they do catch Vegas, and we might get Oilers Kings round 5,000, with so often with the way these two teams play in the play. in the playoffs. But they are once again showing, as you said, why they are the defending Western Conference champions and why they were my Stanley Cup pick heading into this season. I mean, this is a team that is firing on all cylinders.

They have the best player in the world on Connor McDavid, and they have, I would say, another top five player in the world in Leon Drysaddle, Evan Bouchard. He's probably somewhere for some people in the top 15 range for defensemen, other people in the top 10. But he's especially great offensively, gives a lot of it back defensively in his own zone, but he still drives quite a bit of offense.

But the Penguins come in on a seven-game losing streak against the Oilers. They have not beaten the Oilers, Pat, since December 20th, 2019. That was the COVID-shortened season. That's how long it's been, Pat. I mean, we're looking at over five years since the Penguins last beat the Oilers. And since then, when these two teams have been matched up, these games have been flat out dominated by the Oilers. since then, five, two oilers, five one oilers, six three oilers, seven to two oilers, six to one.

That was that awful game last year, four nothing as well. And then four nothing once again, the penguins have been shut out in back to back games against the oilers. This is a team that gives them problems every single time they play them. Their speed gives them fits. They don't know how to cover McDavid. They don't know how to stop dry as idle. Nugent Hopkins, the penalty kill, also struggles. they don't get good enough goal attending.

It is a nightmare every single time. So the Oilers come in, top 10 once again in PowerPlay, no surprise, top 10 once again in goals for per game. You're going to have to play once again a very, and I mean a very simple game if you want to win this one. And that means not being aggressive with your pinches, taking what they give you, and really making them work below the dots,

especially in this one. The Forecheck has to get going. and we discussed their power play a little bit, but the penalty kill really needs a big bounce back tonight. Since the end of December, this has been a below average penalty killing unit, even though they're right around, you know, pat, that 10 to 12 range,

they've been mostly very good all here. This last week to week and a half, they've really come down a bit. It needs to get back to where it's been for most of the season. I do expect it to at some point, but it needs to start tonight. You cannot give the Oilers too many opportunities on the main advantage because they will make you pay.

There's so much talent on this Oilers team that if, like you said, if you give them even a sniff on the power play, they are going to take advantage of it. So if the penguins play on the on the on on the power or penalty kill, excuse me, continues the way that it has over the past few weeks. This could be a really ugly game for the penguins because you. Like we discussed, you don't have to go full power kill against this team, half because you will get burned, half because I don't believe the penguins have the horses to run a penalty kill like that, but you have to gum up the works.

You have to make it so that the first or second pass is not a high percentage pass. You have to make it so they're taking poor shot selection because they don't have any other options. if you have a passive penalty kill against the team like the Oilers, the way they move the puck, the team speed and the talent that they have, they will burn you on the man advantage. The other thing that this team cannot get into tonight, you cannot have a sloppy defensive game.

And that means like we've talked about all year long, you have to be smart with the pinches because if you give this team two on ones, three on twos, odd man rushes, catch them in transition, they have so much team speed, you will not be able to play those correctly. And that's not even so much a mark against the penguin's defense. It's just praise for this team, this Oilers team's offense. They play at such a high rate of speed that by the time you react to what they do

on an odd man rush, the puck is already in the back of your net. So this is also going to be a huge challenge tonight because we're in the middle of a big stretch. The penguins have been able to get one point out of their last three games, which has kept this from becoming a complete disaster. But you get two points tonight. You're right back on track and you're right where you need to be before you head out in a week or two on that big long seven game road trip.

Right. And you already fumbled the bag to start this homestand. You're up three to one with eight minutes to go against the blue jackets. You blew that one. You cannot afford to keep dropping points. I know the Oilers are coming in Red Hot. They just shut out the Boston Bruins. They made the Bruins look like a peewee hockey team in that game, by the way.

The Bruins are really struggling right now. And the Oilers took full advantage of it earlier this week. They blitz them in that game. So, but if you're able to, get two big points tonight that will really boost their confidence heading into these final three games of this homestand and especially big ones against you know Ottawa is coming to town that is huge and they also don't have lenis omark right now their goaltender he is weak to week with an injury you have a Tampa Bay lightning who you're also fighting for playoff positioning with they have the

games in hand advantage on you they've already beaten you ones this year all but in overtime but those are still two massive and i mean massive games before you end it with Seattle and then you go on that massive seven-game road trip. You have the California teams in there. You have a game against Washington in there, Buffalo, et cetera. So you really, and I mean really need to start banking two points, really not giving any of the opposition loser points. I feel like that's been a big issue as of late Pat where it's good that the Penguins, you know, they're getting a point, but you're not getting that extra point. And B, you're not winning those games of regulation and giving the other team zero points. So you've seen that quite a bit over the last week in

change. So they really need to get back to doing that. And hey, I need to see Sydney Crosby be Connor McDavid's daddy a little bit tonight with the way Crosby's playing. And again, the Oilers, they come in. They're like the death star right now, man, blowing up Alderon and Star Wars with the way they're playing. And you don't want the Penguins to be the next planet that they blow up. You really don't. We're going to keep the preview discussion of this game going. We're going to talk a little bit more about what we're going to see from the Penguins lineup tonight as well as some ideas on how you can slow down Darth Vader, who is Connor McDavid. But we will do that when we come back after this break.

But first, we've got to tell you about our first sponsor. And that is game time. I love going to events, whether it's sports, music, theater, or comedy. One of my favorite memories, you guys know it in the last couple years. Hunter loves to give me crap for it. I love going to the Ares tour. I saw it twice. It was awesome.

One of my favorite memories. And you just can't beat that energy. and excitement in the building. And now game time has made it even easier for you to get tickets to your favorite events with their new feature, GameTime Picks. This feature filters out the fluff to show you only incredible deals on great seats, so you don't have to waste time searching through thousands of tickets. Recently, during the holidays, I was looking up gifts for people and I went with tickets for some events.

Again, I already talked about the Erez tour. Not going to make even more of a fool myself during this ad. But thanks to Game Time, I was able to get great. deals on those seats. It was awesome with GameTime picks, the panoramic view, and the lowest price guarantee. All of it made it so much easier. So take the guesswork out of buying tickets with GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code L-O-C-E-D-O-N-N-HL for $20 off. Download Game Time. What time is it? It's Game Time.

All right, welcome back to the Thursday edition, a game preview for the Penguins and the Oilers tonight at PPG Paints Arena. That nerd over there, Hunter Hodes, he's excited about that because he's a big Star Wars dork, but we don't judge him for it. You like what you like. And we kind of hinted at this at the end of the first segment. Connor McDavid has done incredibly well against the penguins. You look at his stats over the last few games against the penguins.

when the Oilers have come to town. He has feasted on them. So many, I think it's 27 points so far against the Penguins in his career. Not a lot of games. I believe it's 12. The stat disappeared on me here on my laptop, but I digress. Hunter, if you're the Penguins tonight, what do you do to slow him down? Well, first, you really got to make his life a living hell.

You don't want to give him free zone entries every time he has the buck. Obviously, I know people that is very much easier said than done considering how possessed he is with the puck on his stick. But you need to make it as hard as possible for him to gain the zone with control. You also cannot give him on man break. So when you see an opportunity for a pinch in your zone, you better be very, very sure that you can win that buck, especially when he is on ice because if you don't win it, he's gone the other way on two on one one with his shot and his playmaking ability, his playmaking ability,

in my opinion is more dangerous than a shot, but a shot is still very good. He's going to make you pay 10 out of 10 times. So that is going to be very paramount for the Penguins tonight, especially when you're on the power play, you need to have someone on him at all times. It's kind of similar how, you know, they've been really cheating towards the Ovechkin side

when they play the capitals, when the capitals are on the power play. That needs to be the case with Edmonton. Obviously, Drysidal is also very, and I mean very important to them, but you still need to cheat a little bit to McDavid's side because of the way that he can playmate with the puck on his stick.

So that's really what I'm looking for for the Penguins in this one. Obviously, it is very hard to shut up player like this down. I mean, you look at how he's playing this year, that 16 goals, 55 points and 37 games. Leon Drysidal, a little bit better, 29 goals and 59 points in 40 games. They are both, as of right now, heart trophy contenders. It'll probably stay that way towards the rest of the season,

considering that the level that they're playing at. But again, making sure your pinches are on point, you have to be very sure when you do it. And really, again, having someone right on him as he's carrying the puck into the offensive zone. If you give him free zone entries, it's kind of game over at that point with the level that he's playing at. The biggest thing for me and a lot of, and no penguins defensemen did it better than Brian Dumlin when the Edminton Oilers would come to town.

Essentially what Dumlin would do was he would keep a stick or two lengths gap between him and McDavid and he would keep him to the outside any time he came into the zone. He might give him a zone entry. He might give him the blue line. But once he gained the line, he had nowhere to go. His only option was to keep going down the boards and find some sort of cross-ice pass. And if you're able to do that, I don't think there's a world where you shut him down. He's just too good of a player. He is going to get his cookies.

He's going to make big plays. He's going to find a way, just like we saw in the heyday of Sidney Crosby. He's going to make an unrealistic pass that someone only like him can make. But you can limit the damage if you keep him to the outside. the minute you surrender the middle of the ice to someone like Connor McDavid, it's game over. So that's a way I look at slowing him down. Again,

don't think you shut him down, but you can limit that damage by playing. That's Marcus Peterson's music, man. He's definitely been a step below his standards this year with the level that he's playing at, but you need a big time performance from Pedersen tonight. I think you're going to see a healthy dosage of the Pedersen-Latang pairing against McDavid and company. So I really want Pedersen to have his best game of the season tonight against McDavid and

company. We've seen his ability to be a great shutdown defenseman so many times during his tenure as a penguin. That needs to continue tonight. I also don't want to put too much pressure on the kid. But if it happens and I think it will, if you see Pickering on the ice at the same time as McDavid, I want to see how he lives up to this challenge because he's passed a lot of tests so far early on in his career.

This is another box for him to check. I don't expect him to come out and look like a top-tier defensive defenseman against him, but you go 50-50 against Connor McDavid where Pickering is as a rookie. You chalk that up as a win every single time. Now, let's move on here to what we're going to see from the Penguins tonight. Sullivan confirmed this morning that Alex Nadelcovich will be in net. So this is a huge opportunity for him. He has to bounce back, as we've been saying all season long.

And this is one hell of a way for him to get challenged and try to bounce back against a team like Edmonton. Other lineup note, Mike Sullivan said that Malkin is a game time decision. And while we often joke that when Sullivan says that, it means they're playing. An added wrinkle here is that he was on the ice late at morning skate with some of the guys who likely are to be scratched. And that's Ryan, that's Graves and Shea. So we will see this does look like it is going to be a true game time decision for Gennie Malkin. But if the Penguins don't have him for a second straight game, you go up against a team like Edmonton that has this much depth without Vgeny Malkin.

It's going to be an even more challenging game. Agreed, yeah. They were putting him through a pretty big workout during the morning skate today, usually a sign that. I think they're trying to take things a bit slower with this, just making sure whatever this injury is probably doesn't turn into something bigger because right after he didn't play against Columbus, Pat, he was right back at practice the next day. So it's obviously that it's something small, but I think they're trying to manage it to be like, okay, we're going to keep you out for maybe one more game. If it continues to heal and be good, you know, you can be back in the lineup, you know, this weekend for the big back-to-back. back against Tampa Bay and Ottawa. So if he doesn't go tonight, not the end of the world, I would probably expect him back at some point this weekend.

But I think they're just trying to, again, take things a bit slow. But, yeah, if he doesn't play, which it looks like right now, he may not, even though he is a game time decision, that's a big opportunity for someone again, like a Cody Glass on the second line. That's another opportunity again for Yassie Poo-RV. I really liked that line that he was on against Columbus with Drew O'Connor and Kevin Hayes.

is they really out attempted Columbus. They out chance to Columbus. I want to see more of what that line can offer against Edmonton to see, hey, like, was that a one-off or, okay, see what you can do against now, one of the best teams in the league. So, yes, he probably looks like we'll have another opportunity in this game, and I'm excited about it. With Nadelcovich, I'm fine with him getting the start because you saw what Mike Sullivan

said about Tristan Jari the other night. Like when he was asked about his performance, he's like, yeah, I think he's capable of more. Great answer, Mike. Real nice answer there, right? But it was obvious that he's kind of saying like, yeah, he has not been good lately. And right now, with both goaltenders at the NHL level, there really is no best option just because both are really struggling this year.

So until one of these goalies kind of takes the reins and starts playing better than the other, this is what you're probably going to see, man, going back and forth. It's like a seesaw between both goalies until one, again, kind of takes the reins and starts playing a bit better than the other. So not a surprise that Nadelcovich is going tonight. Not at all. It's going to have to be goalie by committee until, like you said, one of them steps up and takes the job. And I'm right there with you with that third line of Hayes, O'Connor, and Paul Jarvie. They were very impressive against Columbus.

And I know Columbus ain't even in the same stratosphere as the Edmonton Oilers. but I want to see them do what they did against Columbus in a similar way. I want them to be good on the forecheck. I want them to get chances. I want them to provide this team with a spark like a third line often can. So those are my two things to watch for tonight. And this is going to be, as we've been saying all episode, massive challenge. We're really going to find out tonight where this penguin's team is as they go up against a very real,

very solid contender. So that is 7 o'clock tonight at PPG Paints Arena, Star Wars Night for all you fans out there, you can catch it on Sportsnet Pittsburgh if you're not headed down to the arena. But that's going to do it for this second segment. When we come back, a couple news and notes, things from the HL as well as surrounding the big club. And we will get into that when we come back after our last break. And we got to tell you about our last sponsor.

And that is Fandul. From big upsets to game winning drives, the NFL playoffs are better with Fandul. Because right now, new customers can bet $5 and get $200 in bonus bets guaranteed. That's $200 in bonus bets, win or lose. The Fandle app gives you everything you need for live bets, same game parles, and so much more. It's wild card weekend in the NFL, lots of football going off. We got the Steelers on Saturday. And then we also got games on Sunday.

And Fandle's your place to bet on all of it. just visit fandul.com to join today and get started with $200 in bonus bets. That's fandul.com. Make this playoff season unforgettable with Fandul, an official sports book partner of the NFL. All right, welcome back to the Thursday edition of Locked on Penguins. I'm Patrick Damp, joined as always by Hunter Hodes, and we got to give our flowers to a guy who we have kind of crushed on this podcast in the past, And that is Emil Bemström.

He has been named an AHL All-Star this year. He is having one hell of a year for the baby penguins. He leads the team with 28 points in 27 games, and he is tied for the lead in goals on the team with 12, and he's got the second most assists on the team with 16. It's his first time being named an All-Star, and I don't want to get my hopes up per se on him, but this is very encouraging because you want a player like that in the

HL to perform to this level. I don't think they have any designs on him being an NHL or full time or even anytime soon. But if you need a player like him to come up, you want him to be almost dominant at the HL level. Yeah, he shows. some flashes a little bit at the NHL level last year. I really do like

his release by the way. I think that's his best asset in his game, at least in my opinion. But I think right now he's still probably a fringe NHLer at best, someone that can be 12, 13th, 14th forward on a contending team. In my opinion, I do

think, for example, if quite a few injuries were to arise at forward, Pat, he would be the first player to get recalled from Wilkesbury, considering the year that he's having. He's definitely, showing that he's probably better than an NHL player just with the way that he's been playing this year. Congratulations to him on being named an AHL All-Star. Again, I think his ceiling at least right now is a fringe NHL that can play on your forefront. And you saw that last year. You know, there were

some games where he played fairly well, really showcased his release. There were other games where, you know, he's kind of like some other fringe NHLers where he didn't really show enough just because, you know, you get that consistency issue with players on the fringes of the roster. So that's right. If you like that type of player that he is, I think they brought him back because they know he's a fringe NHL player that can help in a splash or two. But it is good that he is lighting up Wilkesbury and showing that,

again, it's probably a bit better than an NHL player. But the Penguins right now at least, they just don't have the room at the NHL level. No, they don't. But like you said, if injuries arise and they really need a call, up. I think he is among the top names to come up to the big club.

Another thing we got to mention real quick, we hinted at it a little bit yesterday. We're going to dive into it ever so slightly on this one from Elliot Friedman on the 32 Thoughts blog. This was not the podcast, the blog. He writes, Pittsburgh has made it clear that forwards, defensemen, and goalies are available. The penguins are willing to use their cap space to take on contracts as long as it gets them what they really desire. young players, prospects, and draft picks in that order. So I know that's not that newsworthy. I know that's kind of been what we have said, what everybody has said about this

Penguins team, what Kyle Dubus has hinted at. The thing that stood out to me on it, though, was goalies. Because, yes, we have talked about they got to find a way to get out from Jari. Maybe they can get rid of Adelkevich. They want to give Blumquist another look. The thing that stood out to me there was you're not going to be able to trade Jari. And I'm really skeptical if you'll be able to trade in Adelkevich at this point. Because, yeah, it's not a big contract.

Only one more year after this. Not a lot of money either. But if you're a team that needs a backup goalie, you're probably not calling the penguins. Probably not. I will say while you were reading that, I'm sure everyone on YouTube saw my gas pay face, like, oh my God, that's breaking news. It's like, yes, Elliot, thank you for saying the obvious

that the penguins are looking to sell players at the trade deadline because that was basically what they were saying heading into the season. Yeah, no one is picking us to make the playoffs. We have a plan in place. This is what they're going to do, people. They are going to sell off assets at the trade deadline.

You know, Drew O'Connor, Marcus Pedersen, Anthony Lavillier, Matt Gwislich, potentially others we've discussed. You know, maybe getting a Kingsman for Ricardo, Raquel, though you don't have to rush anything on that. Same with Michael Bunting. You don't have to rush anything on that. There are going to be quite a few players from this team that will be available at the trade deadline.

But the biggest thing with the goalies, Pat, this isn't the first time that they have dangled the goalies out there. They were doing this last year as well, because he reported the same thing around this time last year. It's just that, again, when you look at the goalie market, I think the banglins are probably one of the teams you probably call last, considering how bad, Nadelcovich and Jari have been this year. I think of the two, the chances of one of them getting traded,

I would lean towards Nadelcovich a bit more just because of his contract and everything else. If you can try to get a team to take on Tristan Jari, that would be the dream. I think that's the dream to get out of that contract compared to the Nadelcovich one, and then you maybe ride Blumkwitz and Nadelcovich for the rest of the year. But I think if one of them gets moved, it's probably going to beat Ned, based on his contract doesn't really cost that much. And I think the same thing also with that. I don't think it really a team is going to have to give up that much for Nadelcovich anyway.

You know, I think the top goalie right now on the market that could get moved is John Gibson. And there's been a lot of rumors surrounding him in Carolina. I could easily see that match considering the hurricane's goaltending issue. So after that, you have a little bit of a drop off, but then probably towards a little bit of the bottom, you do have Jari and Adelkevich. But they're at least probably trying to field calls, seeing what the market is for the those two and again, all the other players. As I made my face to everyone on YouTube, that report is not a surprise.

We all know what their plans are heading into the deadline. It's painfully obvious. We know one last thing before we wrap this up. We're not going to dive too deep into it because it's pretty obvious. The Penguins quarter century team gets announced tonight. I think we all have some pretty good ideas who is going to be named on the quarter century team. they wear 87, they wear 71, they wear 58, one of them were 29, and then another one of them were 68. So I think that's a pretty good idea who's going to be on that team.

68 or do you mean 66? And 68 and 66. Yeah, it's, if I had to guess right now, and this is a strict guess, I think they're going to go Crosby, Malk, and Lemieux, Gonshire, Latang, Florey. Yeah, I think that's probably going to be it. If they do a second team, that'll be a little bit more interesting. Yeah. I think the goalie will probably be Matt Murray with the two Stanley Cup victories. You'll probably get some combination of Jake Gensel, Jordan Stahl, Chris Koonitz,

and who knows who else. But that'll be really interesting. On that one, potentially. Who? Yager may be on that one. Yeah, maybe on that one as well. But hey, we don't need to speculate because in just a few hours, They're going to announce it.

And we can talk about that on our Friday episode, which we will most certainly do after we recap tonight's game against the Oilers. And with that, that is going to do it for the Thursday edition of Locked-on Penguins. For Hunter Hodes, I'm Patrick Damp. Thank you, as always for tuning in. We'll be back with a brand new episode on Friday to recap this game as well as get you set for a back-to-back against the Ottawa Senators and the Tampa Bay Lightning.