Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins release their FULL training camp roster!

Episode Date: September 17, 2025

Penguins training camp is nearly upon us, and now we know the 69 players who will be there on the first day! Hunter and Patrick begin the show discussing the full 69-player roster that will attend day... one of the Penguins' training camp, who they're watching, and some injury updates for some of the players on the roster. Then, the Penguins signed four PTOs ahead of training camp, and they looked at one in particular, Robby Fabbri, who they believe could be a potential fit with the NHL club. Finally, with less than 24 hours to go until camp begins, they dive into some of the storylines they're keeping an eye on as the Penguins prepare for the 2025-26 season. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!IndeedNow, you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 Sponsored Job Credit. Just go to https://indeed.com/lockedonright now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnhl for 50% off your first year.FanDuelDownload the FanDuel app now by visiting FanDuel.com and win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins.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 released their full training camp roster on Wednesday with practice set to start on Thursday. And Pat and I are going to break down that full roster for you guys right after this. 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 episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes.
Starting point is 00:00:31 You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. joined by my co-host, Patrick Dave, you can follow him on all social media platforms at Sendin for Wet. You can follow the show's Twitter at L.O. Undersore Penguins. And you can follow the show's Instagram at Locked On underscore Penguins. Of course, thank you all so much for making this, your first lesson slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. And finally, today's episode is brought to you by Fandul.com. Down the Fandle app right now by visiting Fandle.com and win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. Pat, we have made it. Training camp starts in less than 24 hours, and we finally got the entire training camp roster on Wednesday. The Pitzer Penguins have invited
Starting point is 00:01:15 69 players to training camp. Nice! Was waiting for that. Of course, Pat had to do it. And there's going to be a lot of intrigue going into this camp, a lot of competition, especially at Ford. There's competition on the back end. And of course, there is competition to who is going to be the backup behind Tristan Jari to start this year. Of course, this roster is headlined by Sidney Crosby, Fgeny Malkin, and Chris Lattang, back once again for another season. We all continue to be spoiled.
Starting point is 00:01:43 And you also have a lot of other returning veteran players. Rickel still on the roster. Brian Rustle on the roster. Eric Carlson is still there. Dan Hinen, Kevin Haynes, Blake Lazott. The list goes on and on. Of course, you have some of the top prospects here as well, Pat. You have Owen Pickering,
Starting point is 00:02:01 Harrison Brunick, Quinn Buccane is here, Emil Piani Nemi, of course you have Sergei Murashov, Vili Khoevenen, and I will say, Rucker McGority is at training camp, but he is not clear to practice just yet. He is banged up. So we'll have to see when he gets cleared to practice, but as of right now, Pat, he's starting a little bit behind
Starting point is 00:02:21 when it comes to making the opening night roster. I know I've said on the show a lot that I expect him there, but if he's banged up for a good chunk of camp, they might have to start him in Wilkesbury at least to start the year. There are other players that are also banged up include Peyton Kettles, Bill Zahnon is also banged up, Tanner Howell, of course, and Noel Chari don't know what a lot of those players are doing with.
Starting point is 00:02:41 We know Tanner Howell's injury, Pat, he's dealing with that really serious knee injury. But as for the other injuries here, we really don't know what they're doing with. Hopefully that they're able to return at some point during training camp. But Pat, I'll hand this over to your first thoughts on this training camp roster. And don't worry, people, we will get to the PTOs, the professional tryouts a bit later on in the show. I know that you touched on the injuries and let's start with Rutger because I know that probably some fans had a chill go down their spine when you said it was starting with an injury from McGority. Let's, we did this for about a week leading up to training camp where
Starting point is 00:03:22 we kind of did our summer catch up with everything you might have missed. In case you forgot, McGrody did get hurt at the end of the year. And if you look, back at the game recap on April 10th. He missed practice the night before in one of the Penguins games. He took a shot off the foot, which reasonable deduction kind of tells you he's probably dealing with a foot injury, even though the Penguins said undisclosed injury when it came to him. Here's the thing. Foot injuries are very weird. They can take anywhere from like a couple weeks to a couple months, if not longer, depending on how everything heals, how you recover. It's a delicate injury depending upon the severity, which we don't know.
Starting point is 00:04:07 With that said, I feel like this is probably precautionary to start the year. They want to make sure he's fully recovered. They want to make sure he's 100%. They don't want to throw him into any sort of action until they know he's ready to go. That could be day three a camp. It could be day two a camp. Hell, it could be day one a camp. could be longer. We'll wait and see. But from what I understand what I've gathered, he's probably closer to ready than he isn't,
Starting point is 00:04:39 barring some kind of setback. We're unaware of. So we'll see what happens with that. As for the rest of the roster, I mean, we've been hinting at it all offseason that this is going to be an extremely competitive training camp, simply because the penguins now have a improved prospect pool. They have multiple young players who, while they may not be quite ready to be NHL regulars,
Starting point is 00:05:04 they are going to make a push to try to make the NHL roster forcing some of these veterans to have to earn their spot. You invite nearly 70 players to training camp to start. It's a big roster. That's a lot of players. We're really not used to this in the Penguins organization. The last 15 or so years, when training camp rolled around, it was about just not. knocking the rust off and getting ready to go back to work and try to contend for a Stanley Cup. We're in a completely different era now where a lot of guys are going to have to earn their spots
Starting point is 00:05:37 and a lot of young guys are going to have to prove they belong. Right. I agree with you on that. And, you know, I wrote my last recap of the Prospects challenge. I really focused on Avery Hayes and Tristan Bros again because I thought they were the two biggest endouts. And they're both going to be trying their hardest to make this roster for opening night. Again, if I had to guess right now, I'd say they probably start the season in Wilkesbury. but come up a bit later on in the year,
Starting point is 00:06:00 but they're still going to give it their best shot. I'll keep saying it, though. The veterans, they're not just going to be given roster spots. They're going to have to really compete their tails off as well. Again, we'll get to a couple of the other veterans who are coming to training camp on professional tryouts a bit later, including Robbie Fabry, which I think is a very fascinating addition when you look at some of the production he's had. But in general, a lot of these veterans, they're going to have, they can't just coast around here being like, oh yeah, I've got this roster spot locked up, you know, whether you're getting Hinen,
Starting point is 00:06:31 you know, Kevin Hayes, obviously, Achari is hurt to start camp. But again, those are just three examples I can put more out there. The one thing I will say, and it's something I have been eluding to quite a lot, especially since last season when it comes to the prospects versus the older guys, is outside of your big names, outside of your Crosby, Malkin, Lattens, and Carlson, a lot of these veterans that we're keeping an eye on, I don't want to overinflate their value and pretend like they have this massive value to the team and that, oh, we can't lose them because that's not what I'm saying. But there is a sort of harmony between some of these younger players in the system
Starting point is 00:07:20 and some of these veterans in the sense that a lot of the team's veterans are journeymen. They are guys who weren't franchise players or they weren't big time pieces, at least not for a very long time with other organizations. And then you look at a lot of these prospects and they're not superstars. They're not blue chippers. So some of these veterans do actually have a solid role to fill within this organization to teach some of these younger guys how to be professionals in the sense that these are guys who have had to earn their spots. They've had to earn their value when it comes to being in the NHL. And considering the penguins don't really have a lot of top tier prospects right now, that does have value for these veterans to show these guys,
Starting point is 00:08:09 listen, you are not going to be given a guaranteed spot. You are not automatically going to be put on a roster. So you have to work. You have to carve out a niche. You have to find a role. And for your Kevin Hayes, your Danton Hinen's, even though he's hurt, Nolachari, you look at these guys in their careers and you see players who had to
Starting point is 00:08:29 scratch and claw to stay in the NHL and make the NHL. And for a lot of these players coming up through the system, there's a good chance. That's where a lot of their careers are going to go and not in a negative way. Eventually, you have to, you know, it's an old cliche if you've followed hockey for a long time. A lot of players in that position will say the easy part is getting to the NHL, the hard part. is staying in the NHL. Right. And with that, I did want to discuss a couple of the prospects.
Starting point is 00:09:00 I'm excited to watch as well, even though I don't think they're going to make the team at a camp. You know, someone like a Ben Kendall, of course, this is his first training camp for the Penguins. I thought his final game of the prospect challenge was by far the best. I want to see how deep he goes in the camp. I don't think he's going to make it all the way to the end, Pat. But I want to see how deep he goes, how many preseason games he plays. And if he looks the part, that's great.
Starting point is 00:09:21 You can still send him back to junior, which they're going to do anyway. And let's see if he continues to dominate there. But I'm excited to see him there, of course. I know some people are probably wondering where Will Horkoff is. He's not coming to camp. He'll be at the University of Michigan because our season is starting soon. I believe that was originally reported right around development camp by Jason Spatzo when he was taking questions from some of the other reporters.
Starting point is 00:09:42 So Will Horkoff is not there. But, you know, Quinn Bouchain, I'm excited to see how long he can stay at camp. I want some of the fans that go there to really keep an eye on him just because of the way that he played during the Prospects Challenge. as well. Also really excited about Emil Piani Nemi. He's playing in Wilkesbury this year. He's been really solid these last couple of years. I think his production has been better.
Starting point is 00:10:04 His overall game on the back end has been better. I can see him potentially getting a late season call up if, you know, some of these veterans on the left side potentially, you know, get dealt or if some of these guys are just struggling in general. And one more, he's not really a prospect. I do want to see what Jackson and Ivany can do, especially on the right side if he can put some pressure on someone like a dumbboat or of Connor Clifton. He's had solid NHL minutes before. Like nothing extraordinary or good,
Starting point is 00:10:29 but they've been fine. I haven't really noticed it, which is usually good on the bottom pairing. Like, if you're doing your job down there, then I'm not really noticing you that much. But I want to see what he can do here with a full camp. Can he really make a push on the right side? That's also something I'm looking for. Do you have anything else you want to add? I want to see. You brought up one that you kind of beat me to. It was St. Ivany. I mean, we had some positive thoughts about him going, back to last year and about what he could bring. And he kind of tapered off. Yeah. But I will continue to stress this over the next year or so is don't try, don't ride the
Starting point is 00:11:07 wave when it gets too high with some of these younger guys. Because again, there is not really a blue chip prospect in the penguin's system. And when you have those kind of players, they're going to have peaks and valleys. It is not going to be like, when your Crosby's, your Malkins, et cetera, et cetera, came up and just were immediately ready to be NHL stars. You want to see how these guys develop and you want to see how they adapt because they'll have moments where you're like, oh, this guy's ready, keep them on the roster, give them a regular jersey, give them a regular shift. And then two weeks later, they aren't reaching that standard. I want to see how guys like St. Ivany, when they get their opportunity, what do they do with it?
Starting point is 00:11:52 Can they build upon it? Can they come back from having a couple of either subpar or not so impressive performances? And he is a guy that still in the system. I like his potential. I like what he can do. I want to see him, like a lot of players we're going to talk about today, find that consistency.
Starting point is 00:12:14 Right. And you can say the same about Ryan Shea as well on the left side. Like he's someone that I don't think he's going to get like consistent top six. playing time, but if players get hurt, you know, he's a number seven, number eight, he can come in, you know, for a few games stretch, you know, get, I don't know, 30, 40 games for a season, something like that. But again, he's still going to have to earn his spot because he has legit competition on that side. And we'll get into that a little bit later on in the show. But that would do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, Pat and I are
Starting point is 00:12:43 going to take a look at some of the PTOs that the Penguins are bringing to training camp that's coming up right after this. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about our first sponsor. that is monarch money. Most people can't name all their financial accounts or even what they're worth, whether it's for a 1K, properties, or investments. And when you don't have the full picture, you can end up leaving money on the table. And that's why there is Monarch money. It's an all-and-one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean, easy-to-use interface on your laptop or on your phone. Monarch is built for people with busy lives. If you set off organizing your finances, Monarch is for you. Monarch does the heavy lifting for you. You
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Starting point is 00:13:52 News code locked on NHL at monarchmoney.com. in your browser for half off your first year. That's half off your first year at monarchmoney.com with the code locked on NHL. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-s, Patranep and Pat. We have five players attending training camp on a professional tryout contract. We've already talked about Mark Andre Fleury. He's going to practice.
Starting point is 00:14:20 He'll play part of the preseason game. He'll ride off into the sunset, basically retiring as a member of the Penguins. So we don't really need to touch on him too much. We already had an episode dedicated to him earlier this week. And then last week, of course. But the other four players, Matt, Matt Murray, and Jake Livingstone. Livingstone is the only defenseman. The other three that I just mentioned are forwards.
Starting point is 00:14:42 Robbie Fabry is, I think, the most intriguing player here. This is someone who I still think is an NHL player. And I think he is going to give some of these other veteran forwards and some of these younger forwards a good run for their money when it comes to a spot here at camp. played 44 games for the ducks last year, eight goals, 16 points in those 44 games. When healthy, he's always been a solid debt contributor. He's just been banged up a lot throughout his career, Pat.
Starting point is 00:15:06 Like that's been the big thing with him is that he's just been so hurt. But when he's been healthy, he's been able to contribute, not this past season, but the season before, 23, 24, he was great with the Red Wings. 18 goals, 32 points, and 68 games. Damn, man. I mean, I'd take that for someone in the Penguins. bottom six any day of the week.
Starting point is 00:15:27 He also had an 18-goal season with the St. Louis Flues in 2015-16, 18 goals, 37 points, and 72 games. Again, he's never played a full 8-2 game season, but he does have numerous double-digit goal seasons. He spent most of his career with the Blues and the Red Wings. And, of course, he has that one season with the duck. So he's still 29, so he's not 30 yet. But in my opinion, he's going to be given every opportunity to make this roster.
Starting point is 00:15:53 Like when you look at the production that he's had in the NHL, I don't think he's going to make it easy on some of these other veteran boards. I don't either. And I think that's the biggest question mark for him is health. Because you guys know our listeners and Hunter, you as well, I'm not the greatest math guy. It's never been my strong suit. But there is a very obvious trend when you look at his counting stats in his career.
Starting point is 00:16:21 the more games he plays, the better he is. Every time he plays half a season or more, he puts up around 30 points a year. And granted, that's not tremendous production, but like you said, bottom six production for the Penguins, if you can get 10, 12, 15 goals, 30-ish points from a player in your bottom six, that's a productive player.
Starting point is 00:16:47 Not to mention, he's got the ever so enticing title of former first round pick. He was picked in 2014, 21st overall by the Blues, and if you can get a player like him on an affordable contract for a year or two, and he does well,
Starting point is 00:17:07 what has Kyle Dubas been doing with players like that? Come trade deadline, hello, Mr. Contender Man. Would you like a bottom six player who has scored 12 goals and 20-some points to help you in your push
Starting point is 00:17:21 for the Stanley Cup, yeah, we'll just take a B or C level prospect and a pick. Go ahead and have them. And if he performs well in camp and looks like he still has some juice left, I think that's definitely a player worth taking. As for the rest of the PTOs, it does kind of feel like they're giving themselves more options for Wilkes-Bair and Wheeling, guys who you can have if you need in a pinch if things get really bad in the NHL injury-wise, but guys who just kind of bolster the depth at the AHL level
Starting point is 00:17:56 and the ECHL level, because as we know, they want Wheeling and Wilkes-Bair to be good. They want to make sure that some of these players that they've drafted and want to develop are playing meaningful hockey in both the ECHL and the HL. So I look at the other PTOs, aside from obviously Flurry,
Starting point is 00:18:15 who is just on the final stop of his farewell tour, as players that are going to help the minor league teams be better. And so those players that they're hoping have NHL futures are playing meaningful hockey. I would agree with that. And I will fully admit to you, Pat and everyone out there, I had no idea who really Cal Burke was. He spent this past season with the Henderson Silver Knights in the AHA, also had seven games with the Vegas Golden Knights,
Starting point is 00:18:41 one goal, one point in those seven games in the AHL, 10 goals, 19 points, and 60 games. Before that, he played for the Colorado. Eagles in the 23-24 season, the AHL, 16 goals, 39 points in 57 games. So decent AHAL numbers, and if the Penguins like enough what they see in camp, they can maybe just assign him to Wilkesbury and he can help out down there. Jake Livingstone spent this past season with the Milwaukee Admirals, seven goals, 16 points in 59 games the year before.
Starting point is 00:19:09 It was also with the Admirals, two goals, 17 points in 68 games. So defenseman, LEC's depth, if he does a little bit enough during camp, maybe does find some preseason games. Maybe they can assign him to Wilkesbury, sign him to a contract down there, and he can be added depth to those teams as well. And then Brett Murray, Pat, he spent a lot of time in the HL for the Rochester Americans.
Starting point is 00:19:30 He's played some with the Buffalo Sabres throughout his NHL. Not too many games. It's a very small sample size. But a lot of, again, most of his production has come in the HL, much like Calberg and Jake Livingstone. So I think those three, mostly just looking at some HL depth pieces, maybe someone who you can, you know, call up for a small taste of initial action, but probably nothing more than that. So nothing to worry about. You'll get to see how they do at camp.
Starting point is 00:19:59 Again, the biggest one PTO wise outside of Fleury, which is, of course, going to be fun, is very much Robbie Fabry. He has the best chance of making the initial roster, in my opinion. Again, I'm going to be a broken record this season with this. There are going to be a lot of signings and a lot of moves that have you shake. your head or scratching your head or wondering what they're doing. When it comes to these PTOs, if they put up a good enough performance, Hunter, you went through all their stats. They're HL guys.
Starting point is 00:20:28 And not anything wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with that. But again, there is going to be a lot of moves that are there to aid in development. They're not going to be players that we're looking at to become NHL contributors. They are going to be there to serve a purpose. of making the HL and ECHL teams better, as well as being a lifeline for a lot of these young players because they can both be mentors and they can be teachers to say,
Starting point is 00:21:00 hey, this is what this league is like. This is what it's like to play in the HL because we don't think of it often because we don't like, if you're a listener of this show, you're probably more focused on the NHL than anything. I worked in both leagues and it is a vastly different world than the NHL. It's a lot more taxing. It's a lot more intimate. It's frankly, as from a stylistic standpoint, it's a lot more chaotic of a game.
Starting point is 00:21:31 It's not as structured. It's not as professional because a lot of these guys are scratching and clawing and trying to make it to the league. And when you get to the league, it's the best of the best of the best of the best. and they know where to be at all times for the most part. You get to the HL, there's guys still figuring it out. So realistically, a lot of these players, should they make it through camp, that's going to be their role.
Starting point is 00:21:56 I'm curious to see what Fabri does. I think that there is still some game there and he can provide some NHL value. But end of the day, you look at a lot of these PTOs, and they're probably there to help the minor league system. Right. I agree with you on that. And I think that'll do it for the second segment. coming up to end the show, we're going to take a look at what we're watching for going into this camp,
Starting point is 00:22:17 some storylines and all that good stuff. So stick around for that coming up right after this. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about our final sponsor, and that is Fandall. The NFL season is here, and Fandall is making sure you are ready for kickoff with a can't miss offer right now. New customers can bet just $5, and if your bet wins, you will get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. I love using Vandul because it fits. However, I like to bet. player props, building a same game parlay, or even jumping in live as the action unfolds. It makes every game more exciting whether you're watching your team or just keeping an eye on your
Starting point is 00:22:55 fantasy lineup. So are you ready to play? If so, download the Fandle app right now by visiting fandle.com to get started. That's Fandul.com to place your first $5 bet. All right, we're back here in this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes. That's my co-host, Pat Damp and Pat, one main thing I'm looking for, especially from the coaching staff, what duos do they kind of lock in on some of these lines? Like, you know, I know that was something that Mike Sullivan did a lot during his training camps. And I'm fascinated to see if D.M. Hughes does the same thing.
Starting point is 00:23:31 Like, does he look at his lines as duos and then maybe just trying to add one player to that line? And you're going to see a whole bunch of different lines during this camp people. Like, let's be real. Like, they separate this roster into separate groups, you know, all the NHL regulars are in the same group. Once they make cuts, they separate down into a couple groups, and then you kind of see, oh, this is what,
Starting point is 00:23:54 like the main NHL squad is looking at. And then you see, oh, this has some of the junior players, a lot of the AHL players on it. I will say, sometimes you do get some of the junior players and the AHL players in that main NHL player group. And that's, to me, usually a pretty good sign that they're being seriously considered for a role. But right now, you're going to see it very scrambled,
Starting point is 00:24:13 these first three groups. And you're going to see a lot of different lines. lines. And again, I'm just fascinated to see what Mews looks at for his lines. Like, you know, what combinations is he looking at during these practices and during, you know, you'll see some scrimmages as well and all that. So that's one thing I'm looking for. Of course, the goaltending battle, how is this going to shake out? Not just at the NHL level, but the AHL level, who is going to get the starting minutes in Wilkesbury once some of those players get reassigned. That's something that I'm looking for as well. We've already discussed, you know, the
Starting point is 00:24:43 battles on defense. We've discussed a lot of the, you know, the battles that forward, you know, we've been doing that. It feels like throughout the month of September. So I don't really want to rehash that too much. But those are just the two I mentioned, you know, the golds ending battle and the HL and then, you know, what combinations is he looking at? Those are going to be two of the things that I'm, you know, watching for to see also if some of these new look lines potentially have some chemistry. I like that. I like that a lot. I do think if I had to guess, I would imagine, at least for the top guys like your Crosby's, your Malkins, etc. We probably will still see the duos as a thing just because you kind of know already,
Starting point is 00:25:22 even if you're Dan Mews, who's brand new, what these guys are capable of doing. It's not exactly a state secret. So why try to fix what isn't broken in that regard? One thing I'm looking for in a programming note for our listeners, the next couple of weeks, our shows are going to be dropping a little bit later because Hunter will be. at the Lemieux complex for training camp. So we got to wait for him to get home and we can record these shows
Starting point is 00:25:49 and he'll give us his thoughts on the day. And one of the things I'm looking for, Hunter, I'm going to need you to report back to me with is this. I don't want Dan Mews to do a Herb Brooks impression. I don't want him to come in and be an authoritarian or a disciplinarian or anything like that. But I do think one thing he is going to need to do to kind of plant his flag,
Starting point is 00:26:12 and show that he's the guy in charge, I want this camp to be competitive. I want it to be intense. And I want Dan Mews to be the guy behind that. I want him to almost make it a little uncomfortable for the veterans, where he's basically going to say to you, your spot, if your name is not Crosby, Malkin, Latang, Rust, Raquel, or Carlson, your spot is not guaranteed.
Starting point is 00:26:41 You are going to have to earn a spot and you're going to have to work really hard. You're going to have to play at a level you might not expect to play at training camp. I want these guys to battle. I want these guys to show that this might be a retooling transitional year, whatever you want to call it, but it builds into what we talked about yesterday when Sid talked about not liking tanking. I want the culture to continue to be. one of you have to earn everything here. I don't want this to be a, oh, it's okay, you're new here.
Starting point is 00:27:17 You're a prospect. You're just going to get your feet wet. I want him to be the dad who picks the kid up, throws him in the deep end of the pool and goes, learn how to swim. It doesn't mean he's got to be a jerk. It doesn't mean he's got to go out there and crack the whip and be overly intense and nitpick at every little mistake. But I want it to be high tempo. I want it to be competitive. And I want it to be intense because like we talked about, you want to keep that culture in that expectation of winning alive. You don't want to make mediocrity in losing something that you accept. First off, I will report back on that. Second of all, I do think you are going to see a very highly competitive camp. I don't think you're going to see, you know, fights break out on ice or anything
Starting point is 00:28:04 like that. But I do think you could see, you know, some small skirmishes, some little scuffles. And that's just that competitive nature coming out in players who are battling for roster spots. I will say to the players that you kind of mentioned, well, I'll still throw Tommy Novick in there. Second straight day I'm doing that, Pat. I still love you, but I am going to throw Tommy Nobeck in there because I'd be virtually stunned. Well, I will say this, though. This gets into something else I want to see from camp.
Starting point is 00:28:28 Yeah. And it involves Tommy Novak and Philip Tomasino, the Nashville brothers, if you will. I want to see them stand out. I want them to make their mark. I'm not saying they have to be the absolute top two best players in camp, but I want them to assert themselves. I want them to make a statement that they not only belong on the team, but they belong on the team with a consistent spot and a consistent jersey in somebody
Starting point is 00:28:55 that says, I'm in the lineup. I'm going to make it so you have to force me to be out of the lineup. So again, I know I kind of said, I'm curious to see where he fits in. But it wasn't so much saying that I don't think he's good or I don't think he's going to live up to expectations. It's just that you had a very, very, very small sample size of Tommy Novak as a penguin due to injury. He does need to make a bit of a statement to say, you made the right choice acquiring me and I belong on this team. I think he's going to do that. I don't think he stinks, but I do think given that he didn't have a lot of playing time as a penguin.
Starting point is 00:29:38 he does have to make a bit of a statement and say that he belongs. I will agree with that. And I think you will see that throughout camp and throughout the preseason games. We'll have to see how many preseason games he gets because some of the regulars do set out a good chunk of those games, especially Crossley Malkin and Luteng. I think they're only going to play maybe one, if not two of those games. Like those two will probably just be dress rehearsals at that point, especially the one with Flurry playing, of course. But, you know, as for the duo of Novak and Tomasino,
Starting point is 00:30:08 And speaking of duos, I actually am curious to see if DEMUs puts those two together on a line if they're in the same group. They have had a history together and Nashville playing on the same line. The five-on-five numbers together have been very good. I wrote about this for the hockey news about a month ago. I was kind of doing like a pre-training camp preview. So I want to see that if they, again, are in the same group and if they're doing some drills together, I would want to see those two players on the same line. But again, I think this is going to be highly spirited.
Starting point is 00:30:35 It's going to be competitive. you're going to probably see a few scuffles break out, not like any fights or anything like that, but it's going to be that competitive nature coming out in players. But of course, Pat, and to everyone listening out there, I will report back on what I'm seeing who was standing out, who could do a bit more, and all that good stuff. But Pat, I think that'll do it for today's episode
Starting point is 00:30:57 of the Locktime Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this one. Pat and I will be back with a full episode for you all on Thursday my day one recap of training camp. That's basically what that episode is going to be. And then we'll be back on Friday to recap day two of training camp. And then I'm going to try to get Pat to come out next week for some practices during his days off. And yeah, that'll basically wrap up this week.
Starting point is 00:31:20 Training Camp recap episodes, people. There you go. So for Patrick Dam, I am Hunter Hodey's. Thank you all so much for tuning in. We appreciate it. We'll be back on Thursday.

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