Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins to be featured on national TV 20 TIMES this year!

Episode Date: August 27, 2026

The Penguins will be on national TV the most times this season, which shows they are still a draw! Hunter and Patrick begin the Thursday edition of the Locked On Penguins Podcast by addressing the 32 Thoughts rumor/speculation that Erik Karlsson could be traded to Toronto at the deadline. (1:20) They get into whether this makes sense, how it could happen, or why it couldn’t happen. Then, the Penguins will be featured on ESPN, TNT, or ABC 20 times this upcoming season. (12:45) Hunter and Patrick break down the matchups and the reasoning why the Penguins are so heavily featured. Finally, they give a closer-to-home update about SportsNet Pittsburgh and who will be in the booth and between the benches this season! (23:20) Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Odoo Great organizations win because operations matter. And that’s why you should get Odoo. Try for free today at https://Odoo.com/lockedon. IndeedNow, you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 Sponsored Job Credit. Just go to https://indeed.com/podcastright now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply. FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Join all the action at https://FANDUEL.COMto play Daily Dingers and make your free pick on who’s hitting a homer this MLB season. 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 Pittsburgh Penguins are going to be on national television quite a bit during the 2026, 2027 season. Pat and I are going to give our thoughts on that. Plus, an Eric Carlson trade rumor pops up on Wednesday. We're going to discuss all of that coming up 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 to the Thursday edition of the Locked-on Penguins.

podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunser Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunser Hodes. Joined by my co. Patrick Damp, you can follow him on all social media platforms at Send him Verwet. You can also follow the show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins. And you can find us on Instagram at Lockdown underscore Penguins. And of course, thank you all so much for making this your first lesson slash watch today. We are free and available on all platforms a bit later on in the show. Pat and I are going to discuss the Penguins on national. TV 20 times, which is tied for the most among all teams this season alongside the Boston Bruins. So we're going to get plenty of national games on TNT and ESPN slash ABC this year.

But starting things off, Pat, we saw 32 thoughts make a brief reappearance after they took their long summer break. Elliot Freeman and Kaabu Kossis come back from vacation. And they have about a 50-minute podcast discussing some of the latest news and notes around the league. and one thing that they did discuss was Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Eric Carlson. And Friedman talked about this, about 30 minutes into the show. He was talking to someone who said,

depending on how both team seasons go, this person is predicting that Eric Carlson will be a Toronto Maple Leaf at the trade deadline. Now, we're not going to spend too much time on this just because it's only a small rumor at the end of the day. And also this person is just kind of guessing at the same time. me personally though pat i don't see this happening and i tweeted this on my social media mainly because and i could get old takes exposed for this depending on how their season goes i don't think the leaps are going to be that good this season and i don't think they're going to be in a position where they are looking to acquire eric carlson at the trade deadline

when you combine that with their organizational depth where i just don't know if they would even have the pieces to make this move kind of a pass for me also of course have to see how the Penguins do this year. If they are in a playoff spot at the trade deadline, don't think they're moving Eric Carlson at that point now. If it's a similar situation to what we saw a couple years ago in Mike Sullivan's final year where they're out of the playoff race and they're not going to get back in, that's a different story.

But right now, just don't think this is going to happen. And again, Toronto-wise, I don't see them as a match. There are so many X factors that go into this prediction, rumor, whatever you want to classify it as because you went over it already. This is highly going to be highly dependent upon where both teams are in and around February and March. If it looks like the Toronto Maple Leafs have a chance to at least make some noise in the Eastern Conference playoffs, I could see them going big game hunting just because they're getting to the point where they're going to have to, just because you're running out of time with Austin Matthews, you're running out of time.

you're running out of time with William Nealander, and they have to deliver something. They've only been past the first round once so far in the Matthews era. So it's about time for them to make some kind of a move. And then on the other end of it, for us here in Pittsburgh, if the penguins look like they're out of it, I think they will be open for business because you're not going to risk getting better pieces,

better assets, better players, whether it's via the draft or via trade, if you're not going to make the postseason, just because that's the timeline that the penguins are on. When you talk about the match, and I know this will get resolved over the next few weeks, as we sit here on August 27th, Maple Leafs are one of a few teams that are actually over the salary cap right now.

Now, they have to move a few pieces out. I don't, I'm skeptical that Max Domey's going to even play this season. The way they've talked about his, injury, it does seem like it's something that's going to last a while. So they may just punt this season for him, which would give them cap relief. And then as for the fit, the conversation begins and ends with Easton Cowell. If you want Eric Carlson, at least coming back is Easton Cowan, because he looks like a player that is going to grow into a pretty effective power forward, and he would fit right into the timeline that the penguins are on.

So if you want a pending UFA Eric Carlson, the first thing I'm asking for is Easton Cowan. So I also, the thing that makes me a little hesitant on this is it's not dissimilar from the, oh, he grew up there discussions when you start linking players to other teams. The speculation was, oh, there's a bunch of, of Swedes in Toronto's front office and coaching staff now. So Eric Carlson would feel comfortable going there. That very well may be true. But at the end of the day, I said this back when we had all

the reckless and stupid speculation about what if Sid goes to Montreal. They were his boyhood team. If you're going to do that, then like 90% of the league would want to go to Toronto or would want to go to Ottawa or would want to go to Montreal. It's fun to think about because, oh, they grew up there. They liked that team, et cetera, et cetera. But where is it do you see that happen? So I think I'll put it this way. I'm not a definite no on this because there are a couple pieces in Toronto's system, both on the roster and with the Marleys, that I could be convinced to take. If you're not, because I don't see them long-term resigning Carlson after this year. But if you are going to move them, Toronto's not high on my list of teams I would negotiate with,

but there are pieces there that intrigue me. Cowan is the one that is the most intriguing. But also, Pat, would they be willing to part with him? That would be the question, especially for someone who would probably just be a rental for them, because I agree with you. I don't think Toronto would resign Carlson. And also you have to remember Carlson has the control. He has to waive his no move.

And, you know, I could make about 500 jokes about Toronto's Stanley Cup chances and how they haven't won one in forever. So why would he potentially want to go there? But I will say this. He is also very happy in Pittsburgh. So he may just want to finish out the season. Oh, no. He also has the full control, which we should be talking about here too. Yeah, that, that, it's kind of negligent on our point to get like six, seven minutes into this.

not talk about how he has a full no move and has the control here. But I will say this about Toronto. If they want to try to win a bunch of games, eight to six, eight to seven, nine to eight, worse players to have on your back end than Eric Carlson. And if you're a team that can score a whole pile of goals and, listen, I may be in the minority on this, but I do think the Leafs are going to be better both defensively and in net this year.

I think Bobrovsky's going to be better than people are expecting. If again, he's not high, they're not high on my list of teams I would talk to about an Eric Carlson trade, but they're not completely off it. I still like, I understand they've made a lot of moves up front on the back end and in goal, but I am just not a believer, especially in that coaching staff.

Jim Hiller really just doesn't do it for me. And, you know, I just still think, based on how last season one, you know, they're kind of looking at this one to two year window. They play in a really, and I mean a really tough division.

I just don't see it as of right now. Even though they've made a lot of moves, I could be dead wrong, but I just don't think as of right now, Toronto is going to be in that position to even consider this come late February, come early March. But the other factor,

I will say that. Also, there was one thing as well. They were kind of talking about this on the show, too, stick it to Ottawa because as we all know, Ottawa fans have been dreaming about Eric Carlson coming back there at some point, everything he's a pending UFA after the some coming season.

So they were kind of talking about that, how it would just be like a funny thing, like a trolling thing. So I don't know. A lot of it was just pure speculation, but I just don't see it. The final factor that I would put in there that I don't think should be discounted, Carlson does seem genuinely happy here. And I know he's a competitor. I know he wants to win a Stanley Cup. All of them do.

But in this era that we're starting to get into of player empowerment, players really kind of controlling their own destiny and basically telling teams, hey, it's not my job to be the general manager. It's your job. I don't get any signs from Eric Carlson that he's ready. to walk out the door in Pittsburgh.

I don't know if he resigns here. I don't know if the team wants that. I don't know if he wants that. But at the end of the day, you look at the way he's conducted himself. You look at the way he's played here, especially last season. He seems pretty happy.

And I don't see him walking into Dubas's office in the next few months and saying, hey, I want to go somewhere else. I'm tired of playing in Pittsburgh. this is enough for me. This is going to be hard to say because of how good he was last year and how good I expect him to be this year. It unfortunately feels like this is a player that the penguins more than likely are going to lose for nothing because I can see him playing out the string this year and then going to free agency next summer.

That's mainly because you and I both think they're going to at least be in the race by the time of the trade deadline. and whether that's, you know, in a playoff spot, a point out, but you're really in it, and Dubus just keeps him there, and then you potentially lose him for nothing. Now, if it's a little bit different, and say you're like five to seven plus points out, I think that's a situation where you definitely trade him in that case. But I think his job gets a bit more difficult if you are in a playoff spot or if you're, you know, a point or two out. So that's the situation to monitor to.

but we still got plenty of months to go before the trade deadline. The season hasn't even started yet. But hey, speaking of that, the Penguins are going to be on national television quite a bit this upcoming season, and Pat and I are going to give our thoughts on that coming up right after this. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about one of our sponsors, which is Indeed. Support for today's episode comes from Indeed's sponsor jobs. When Workplace Chaos hits and you need the right hire,

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just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. One more time, that's Indy.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply need to hire. This is a job for Indeed's sponsor jobs. All right, we're back here on the Thursday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunters, Hodes, joined by my co-host, Patrick Damp and Pat. As I said in the intro, the Penguins will be in national TV 20 times this year. for the most among any team right up there with the Boston Ruins. Pat, you think people loved how the penguins played last season? That's what it looks like to me. That's certainly how it feels. And guess what? We get we get it right off the bat. September 30th, penguins and flyers, playoff rematch in Philadelphia. That is the stuff we missed. And I am going to,

I didn't tell you I was going to do this, Hunter. So I'm just going to do it right off. the jump. This is going to be a bit of a contrarian take. I think as happy as I am that the penguins are still a draw and that the penguins still bring a lot of attention. This also shows the inherent laziness of the NHL because as we know, the penguins, the sabers, the Bruins, and obviously we're not going to count Canadian teams, because we're talking American national television here consistently good or bad are always ratings draws because the cities do well when it comes to ratings and it's the NHL playing it safe don't get me wrong i'm happy we're the beneficiaries of it i know there's also a lot of really good storylines which we're going to get

into in a little bit but it's the NHL being a little bit lazy that they're like okay we know the boston market does really well for tv ratings we know Pittsburgh does really well for let's toss those two on national TV as much as we can. So some of the annoyances from other fan bases, I'm kind of there with you. I think that's part of it, but I also think just considering how well they played last year, especially Crosby, Malkin, Carlson,

how great of a success story they were. I think the networks want to get all the ratings that are possible out there with the Penguins. Also, So it might be of Gennie Malkins last season. They want to put them on national TV as much as possible to really spotlight one of the greatest players in NHL history. And speaking of that as well, Pat, more of the storylines from this that I took away, all four Penguins Capitals games will be on national TV.

You think they have a feeling that it's potentially Malkins last season and Alex Ovechkin's last season? They want especially all the ratings for those games. They basically did the same thing last year, too. Well, I mean, that is something also that I think needs to be a little baked in when we talk about the penguins on national television for the next couple of seasons is that it is always lurking that this could be of Gennie Malkins last year. There's a time where it's going to be potentially Sydney Crosby's last year. There's a time where it's going to be Chris LaTang's last year. Obviously for the Caps, OV's potential last year. And it is not a hot take.

It is not a stretch to say that 87 and 8 saved the NHL from falling into a relevancy in America. So putting those two on national television as much as you can over the next couple of years is a no-brainer. So putting all four Penguins Caps matchups on national television is definitely a home run. It's just I look at some of these matchups as I go through this. And Pittsburgh and Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Florida, Pittsburgh and Detroit. Like, I get it. Like, but we're nearly 20 years removed from the 2009 Stanley Cup final. The Penguins and Sabres, same thing.

We're nearly 20 years removed from the inaugural Winter Classic. Like, I get it. You want to get the ratings. but if I'm sitting there and I go, okay, I want to get Pittsburgh and I want to get the penguins on national television. And I know I'm also in the deep minority when I say this. I don't hate the national broadcasts. They're supposed to be generic. They're national broadcasts.

They're not going to be super fun. You save that for the intermission panel, which that is the big difference. TNT's intermission show rules ESPNs is awful. but to my point, I get it, but if I'm trying to get the Penguins in Crosby on national TV, it should be the Caps, it should be the Flyers, it should be the Rangers, and that's pretty much it. Yeah, and we have all three of these teams this year. All four Capitals games, three of the Flyers games are on here. A couple of the Rangers games are on here as well.

We do get some of the matchups against the Islanders, which, okay, sure. Penguins Bruins, they put a Penguins game on National TV literally every season. they have at least one. Sometimes it's multiple. So that one's on a surprise. Same thing for Detroit as well, Pat, I feel like they've been putting at least one Penguins Red Wings game on National TV every year for as long as I can remember. It's nice seeing Buffalo for a second straight year a national TV game. All these, though, are pretty self-explanatory. Pittsburgh, Colorado, that makes sense. The only one that I wish we could have national TV-wise, there's still, there's not a Penguins Oilers game on National TV. Last year, we did have one. This

feel like that should have been a slam dunk, but I guess they didn't want to do it like that. A lot of these others, though, are pretty self-standard. And I understand a lot of people don't like the national broadcasts. And I understand why, just because a lot of the talking points on there are very just generic, their basic. It leaks of some people who just don't follow the team on a day-to-day basis, or maybe not even that.

They just don't do their homework. I think that's probably the best way to say it. They just don't do as much home. work as they need to, and that's where you get some dumb talking points. Like, for example, last year, towards the end of the season when the Penguins were in a playoff spot, they were still having conversations about, oh, could they trade Afghani Malkin at the trade deadline? And it's like, no, they've gone on record to say that is not happening.

And they're also very much in a playoff spot. So I understand especially for those reasons why people don't like the national broadcasts. If you want to pick which one is better, man, I think ESP. ESPN's top team is a little bit better to me. Their intermission panel, I agree, sucks. But I think, in my opinion, this might be a hot take. Sean McDonough has gotten better overall throughout this deal. I am a huge fan of Bob Wucheson.

He is fantastic. I think he should be their number one, by the way. But I do think Sean McDonough has done a really nice job. And I don't hate Ray Ferraro as much as other people do. I think he does a pretty good job as well. So I think in terms of, you know, ESPN's top play-by-play, couple of their top color commentators, I think they are a bit better than TNT,

but TNT's intermission, I'm with you, it is better. If we could find a way to morph both of them together, it would be a great national product because I'll say this, both of the rink side report, the two of the main rink side reporters, one from ESPN,

one from TNT, Emily Kaplan at ESPN, elite at what she does, one of the best in the, business and then on tn t jacky redmond and that's not just the that's just not the wrestling fan in me i know she's also the monday night raw um backstage reporter there but she does a fantastic job and the i know i'm going to get crushed for this but esPN's game presentation is better than tnTs i think not by a lot but but then it's the inverse ESPN

Their intermission report is like watching paint dry. TNT's intermission report is must watch television. I won't go as far as to say it is must watch television, but I do think it is better than ESPN's by. The thing that TNT is done with the intermission report that I like a lot is when it first started, they tried so hard to be a carbon copy of inside the NBA. And they are not inside the NBA. Then they started to find their own voice instead of trying to be inside the NBA but for the

NHL and it got a lot better. Once they stopped trying to do the same thing that inside the NBA does organically, it got a lot better. So they have done a great job with that. Again, I'll finish it with where I started it. If we could fuse the two of them together, we would have a really good national American hockey broadcast. I hear you. But hey, two more years left.

on these deals with TNT and ESPN. We'll see if both of them re-up with the NHL or potentially if they go to a different network, if anyone merges, all that good stuff. There's also an expansion that probably plays into this as well, which I'm not a big fan of further expansion, but it feels like this is a formality at this point in the next couple of years that we're going to get a couple more teams.

But that would do it for this segment. Coming up to end the show, we're going to discuss more about the Penguins National TV schedule and also a little tidbit about Sportsnet Pittsburgh going into the 26-27 season as well. That's coming up right after this. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about one more sponsor, which is Odu. Running a business should not feel like you're trying to connect a bunch of systems that were never designed to work together.

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I'm one of your host, Hunts or Hodes, joined by my co-s, Patrick Damp, and Pat. The last thing that I really noticed about all this, you get most of these national TV matchups in the second half of the season, especially when you can kind of get those hockey Saturdays on ESPN when college football, for example, is over when the college football playoff ends in January. I feel like that's when these really, really ramp up. And heck, you know, we have plenty, especially once we get to March. You know, there's one against, you know, the Panthers on March 4th.

You have the Bruins on March 6th. You have the Islanders on March 7th. You have March 11th, March 13th. There is so many national TV games in March, and they do it on purpose, especially when they announce the schedule overall. You're playing a lot of these teams in the East that you're vying for a playoff spots with, and they want those games on national TV for everyone to see. So that part, really not.

surprising but i want to at least bring it up there are seven games for the penguins on national tv in march so that's huge it goes florida boston islanders boston caps red wings rangers those are the seven national tv games that they have in march one is on espn one is on a bc two or three are on tn tn t and another on abc proper so that is pretty big for the penguins so the n hl better really hope that the penguins are in the race come March because if they're not, those games, they won't be tough watches, but it won't be as dramatic as they want it to be. But I will say this. If I said in the second segment that they're getting a little bit lazy on their,

oh, we're going to put these markets that we know are good for ratings on national TV, the thing that they do get right about the national TV broadcast is they do ramp them up after football is done. And as much as I am a proponent of don't worry about what your opponent is doing, worry about what you're doing, screw the opponent. But they understand that when it comes to television, you are never going to go head to head with the NFL or with college football. And that's not a shot at the NHL. That is just the reality of the situation. Those two are king and you're not beating them. So once you get into that vacuum in February, March, and April, when it's you in the NBA, a little bit of college ball through March.

But if you know that that's your main competition in March and April, you've got to take the ground where you can get it. And they're going to do a good job of that. The other thing, I will say, even though I kind of decried it in the second segment, the March 11th, Boston versus Pittsburgh on TNT, and then March 14th, Detroit and Pittsburgh on TNT. That has kind of become even going all the way back to the versus days. Those two national opponents, Boston and Detroit, that kind of tells me that we are officially in the race to the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Because in my brain, I always happen to remember from every season since 2007, And when you see the Penguins and Bruins on national TV, or you see the Penguins and Red Wings on national TV, the playoffs are right around the corner. Right. Always on NBC and NBCSN when they had the rights before ESPN and TANC came along. They'd always had that graphic to push for the playoffs. Every single time you'd see it, it'd be in March and then early April.

At that point, I'm like, I know the penguins are getting in. Just get me to the playoffs. Like, I know these matchups mean something because you're, They're vying for points. You're vying for seating. But I was always like, just get me to the playoffs because that's the best playoff tournament in sports. Even now with ESPN and TNT, they don't have that push for the playoffs thing that NBC did,

but I still get that itch where it's like, all right, just get me to the playoffs. Last thing, though, Pat, before we get out of here on the Penguins, they announced on the website, of course, Sportsnet Pittsburgh entering its fourth season as the home of Penguins hockey. And this should surprise no one. Josh gets off returning. as the Penguins' Play-by-Play voice. He does a fantastic job.

He continues to get better every season. We should be very lucky that he is the Penguins' Play-by-Play TV announcer. He is fantastic. And they also confirmed that the analyst duo will be Colby Armstrong and Phil Bork for this upcoming season. They'll be kind of rotating in between games because Phil Bork, as we know, is going to do radio. And I'm sure Kobe's going to do some radio as well when he's not down in Atlanta doing the TNT Sports Panel for some of those games.

But no surprise is there. Really happy. for all three of those people. And of course, Joe Brand is returning as the Penguins radio voice, and he does a fantastic job too. So congrats to you for returning to the radio booth for the Pittsburgh Penguins. That's very, very good news for you. But yeah, I mean, no surprise. Gets off has been fantastic since coming aboard. I have zero complaints. And I got to, I got to reach out to the Armstrong family sometime here soon just to find out when Colby sleeps and does anything else. he does SportsNet, Pittsburgh, he occasionally does 105-9 the X for the radio broadcasts,

he does TNT, he does SportsNet in Canada, and he's a pretty frequent guest on spit and chicklets. So that's five-old traveler at this point, Pat. And I don't know when the man sleeps, but he is someone who I think has done a really good job at really diving head in in becoming a really good post career media personality because we've seen a lot of these guys in the last few years try to do it and it hasn't worked all that well. Colby found his voice. He figured out how to do it.

He figured out how when he's here, he is a former penguin. There is no doubt about it. He could be down between the benches wearing a number 20 jersey because that's how DP loves the organization. but then when you see him on TNT, when you see him on SportsNet, when you hear him on chicklets, he is a genuinely very intelligent hockey mind, and he's one of the better ones in the business right now. I'm with you, and I think he does a great job on Penguins games. Will he mix in some homer takes?

Absolutely, but that's what also you expect from their local TV broadcast. But he'll also be real when he needs to be. And I can say the same for Phil Bork. He can be a homer, but when the Penguins are especially struggling, he will lay into the team, whether it's radio or on TV. So really excited for this heading into the season. And I think, Pat, unless you have anything else that's going to do it for today's episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.

Thank you all so much to take the time to listen to slash watch this one. We'll be back on Friday with another Fan Take Friday edition. So send us your takes. Send us your questions. You can post on YouTube. You can send us DMs on social media, all that good stuff. So that's for the Friday episode. And then remember next week, we are four shows Tuesday through Friday.

And then the following week, we are officially back to Dailies for another full season of Piss for Penguins Hockey because the NHL season is coming up in just about a month. And you're going to want to keep it right here on Locked on Penguins for all the news, previews, recaps, guests, etc. for the upcoming season. So again, that's going to do it for this one. Thank you all so much for tuning in. We appreciate it. We'll be back on Friday.