Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins Training Camp Day 2: Malkin speaks and Crosby DAZZLES

Episode Date: September 19, 2025

The Penguins were back at it today, and as expected, Sidney Crosby looked top-notch, and Evgeni Malkin had a lot to say. Hunter and Patrick begin the Friday edition of Locked On Penguins, discussing E...vgeni Malkin's comments about his future with the team and in the league. Could Geno be traded? While unlikely, his comments do leave the door slightly open. Then, they remember the late Ray Shero, who is being honored with the 2025 Lester Patrick Trophy for his dedication to hockey in the United States. Hunter was once again at training camp. He gives his day two observations, including one defenseman who looked pretty good and more intensity from head coach Dan Muse. Finally, it's Fan Take Friday, they take questions about tanking, how Muse will treat the team during down stretches, and more! 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
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Gino Malkin had a lot to say after practice on Friday, and Pat and I are going to get into some of his comments. Plus, I'm going to give you my observations from day two of training camp 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-st, Patrick Dampe. You could follow him on all social media platforms at Sendin'Fruwet. You can also follow the show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins. And you can follow the show's Instagram at Lockdown, underscore Penguins. Of course, thank you all so much for making this your first list and slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. So Pat, after one of the practices today of Gennie Malkin had quite a bit to say to the media.
Starting point is 00:01:00 So he was mainly asked about, hey, it's a contract year. what are you planning? And this caused a bit of a ruckus between some fans on social media. I just want to give everyone, you know, the full quote here so that they can have the full context as to what Evgeny Malkin said. Shout out to Taylor Haas. She was the one that asked this question in the media scrum. And Malkin says this, I hope I stay here like Sid and Tanger, Penguins forever for sure. I hope you play great. Everything goes perfect. Perfect for myself too. I want to stay here for sure. So he does. want to stay here if he wants to play for another season next year. Pat, way earlier this
Starting point is 00:01:41 off season, you know, you brought up like the worst case scenario of, oh, you know, he could potentially wave as no move clause and it could be like a Brad Marshallian situation. That is what that is, people. It is a worst case scenario. I saw a lot of people freaking out on Twitter today with all this other stuff. And getting Malkin, bottom line, wants to stay in Pittsburgh. He wants to retire here with Sidney Crosby and Crystal Teng. And I think he made that perfectly clear during his press conference today. That's how I saw it, man. I don't think he left anything open.
Starting point is 00:02:12 I'm going to push back ever so slightly because I'm mostly in your camp with this that I think he made it clear he wants to stay a penguin. If I were to put odds on it, I'd go 90, 10. He's going to finish here. But what I think we have to keep in mind is that 10% because he did also say, we see a story like Brad Marshawn looking good team trades you you win the cup it's a little weird of course everybody wants to make the playoffs maybe make one more run at the cup a great story but i don't know how i would feel if the team wants to trade me that quote mixed with the fact that dubus has
Starting point is 00:02:56 basically said which this is also me pushing back on all the all the reports and all the discussion of like oh, the penguins aren't going to offer him another contract. Dubus has never said that. He has said he's going to meet with him around the Olympic break to discuss things, which isn't him saying, I'm not bringing Malkin back. But at the same time, that discussion could also be, if the team is struggling pretty badly, and Malkin's having a bit of a resurgence, there's a world where Debus could say,
Starting point is 00:03:33 hey, you want me to send you to a contender so you can play this out? And I feel like Malkin would probably say no, but kind of unlike the Crosby quotes from earlier this week, he didn't totally slam the door shut. He left ever so little of a opening, but it really does feel like to bring it all the way back full circle to how you referenced it, it feels like absolute worst case scenario where the team is bottomed out, he's doing pretty well,
Starting point is 00:04:09 he's on an expiring deal, you can get something back for him, and it does write by him. And if there's one thing we know about Kyle Dubus as a manager, he very frequently does right by his players. I agree with that. I will say the only way this even has a 5% chance of happening is I think if he's, He goes to management and says, hey, can you do this? Can you send me to a contender? But again, everything he said today, I don't see him doing that at all. You know, he even added, you know, it looks good.
Starting point is 00:04:41 But if a team trades you and you don't win the cup when it comes to Mershi. And then it is a little bit weird, which is right. It's a great story when you see it on TV. But I don't know how I would feel if the team wants to trade me. Again, that last quote, he doesn't want to go anywhere, man. I think he's made it pretty clear today that he does not want to go anywhere and that he wants to retire. As a member of the Penguins, he wants to play it out with Cindy Crosby and Chris LaTang. As we both have mentioned, the worst case scenario is that, you know, he goes to management and says,
Starting point is 00:05:11 hey, we've bottomed out in this scenario, send me to a contender. But I think, again, I don't. And I don't see that happening. He wants to retire here, people. Again, I don't want to, I want to make sure it's perfectly clear. I'm not saying that, oh, Gino's going to go or he's unhappy or anything like that. The only thing I'm just putting out there is that it wasn't a 100% ironclad. I ain't going.
Starting point is 00:05:37 He didn't do the Jordan Belfort. I ain't leaving. But for the most part, I would say it's way, way more likely. He stays and retires here. It's just that you can look at some of the quotes. You can look at some of the way he talked about it in like everything else in the world, including the Crosby stuff. The possibility exists. I'm not saying it's likely. I'm not even saying that it's high. I'm not even saying it's highly likely. There's just ever so slight of a chance. And it would be dishonest of us as analysts of the team to not address it. But again, I come down way more on your side that he's probably not going anywhere. But given some of his his quotes and the way he talked about it, it's not 110% out of it.
Starting point is 00:06:28 the picture. Okay, that's fair on that. I'll give you that. I don't think I have much else to say on it. We don't really need to spend a whole segment on this. But Pat, we do want to end this segment with some really cool news today regarding former Penguins General Manager Ray Schiro. He was named the 2025 Lester Patrick Trovee recipient for his outstanding service to hockey in the United States, the architect of the 2009 Stanley Cup run. A really good general manager in Penguin's history. Obviously, Pat, we lost him earlier this year. And I wish he were alive to, you know, get this award because he very much deserves it. Pat, your thoughts on this.
Starting point is 00:07:06 Extremely deserving. I mean, he he had a lot of things and a lot of involvement to do with USA hockey for years and years and years from 2007 all the way up till 2024. for he, obviously American-born, son of the great Fred Shiro. And you said it. He was a great general manager for the Penguins for the majority of his tenure. And we do have to mention that he had some massive shoes to fill when he became the Penguins general manager. It was not an easy job to succeed the legendary Craig Patrick. And with that said, along with having to replace or replacing Craig Patrick,
Starting point is 00:08:00 this was a young star-studded team with pretty high expectations and then running on a completely parallel track. There was still uncertainty if this team was going to stay in Pittsburgh. And a huge reason that I don't think gets discussed enough when it comes to Ray Shiro's tenure as the Penguins General Manager, if he doesn't push all the correct buttons and help this team continue to take the next steps into becoming champions, they might not be here because there were so many other external factors that have nothing to do with fans, with the team itself, just so many things away from hockey that if they weren't a team that could viably be profitable, competitive, interesting, they were probably going to leave. And because of a lot of the moves Ray Shiro did around the core group, making them one of the
Starting point is 00:09:06 best teams in the league, they're probably not still in Pittsburgh. So really awesome honor for Ray Shiro, well-deserved. and man, you talk about somebody, the hockey world lost way too early. Ray Shiro, man, one of the best. Great GM, especially when he was, when he was excuse me, in his prime. I will always say that, you know, again, the architect of the 2009 Stanley Cup made so many shrewd moves both that year and in 2008. So well-deserved honor for Ray Shiro, but I think that will do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, I'm going to get into some of my,
Starting point is 00:09:45 observations for being in Cranberry for day two of Penguin training camp. That's coming up right after this. Before we get to that, though, we have to tell you all about our first sponsor, and that is Fandall. The NFL season is here, and Fandall is making sure you're 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.
Starting point is 00:10:10 I love using Fandle because it fits however you 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 fantasy lineup. It's quick, easy, and the best way to add a little more energy to Sundays. So, are you ready to play? If so, down the Fendell app right now by visiting fandle.com to get started. That is fandle.com to place your first $5 bet. All right, we're back here in this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast.
Starting point is 00:10:44 I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes. That's my co-o's Patrick Damp and Pat. The Penguins, they didn't do ABC today. they kind of went a little bit backwards. Group A was the last one to finish up. I guess I'll still start with them. Really cool seeing Vili Coivinen with Cindy Crosby yet again today. Hint, hint, might see that during the regular season
Starting point is 00:11:03 because Ville Coivin was once again good today. Cindy Crosby, by the way, was flying. It might have been only day two of training camp, but he still looks as good as ever, and he was making a lot of players look like pylons. I don't say that lightly. He was just on a different level. there was one sequence in a three-on-three drill
Starting point is 00:11:21 where Blake Lazotte was doing everything to keep up with him. He was doing a solid job. Sid was still just blowing right past him. I was just sitting there like an awe. Like, buddy, it's day-to-a-training camp. This is what you're doing to a long time, not even a long-time in a juror,
Starting point is 00:11:35 but, you know, a solid NHLer in his career. It was just crazy to watch. You also saw Harrison Brunich with Owen Pickering in a lot of drills, whether it was three-on-three or five-on-five. By the way, Brunick and Pickering got a lot of ice time, with Cros being coiffinen in today. And I thought they skated well.
Starting point is 00:11:52 They moved the puck well. They defended well. That's a pairing that you might see one day in the NHL. I thought they were both really solid together. You also got to see Harrison and Brunich go up against Eric Carlson and numerous rills. And I thought Brunick actually held his own fairly well against, you know, one of the best offensive defensemen, you know, if not the best of this generation.
Starting point is 00:12:12 I should say, again, I do think Brunick played really well there. And one of the other groups you saw Anthony Manta's skate more. Evgeny Malkin. I don't think again that's on accident. I think it's pretty obvious to me, even though we're two days in the camp, but you are going to see these players get ice time. There's a reason why they are both in the same training training camp group, and they've already started to build some chemistry. I thought they were both really solid again today. You also saw Philip Hollander with Brian Rustin, Ricard Raquel, which was fascinating. Hollander was kind of operating as the center on that line. He's played both at his career.
Starting point is 00:12:45 He's played a lot of wing, but he's played a little bit of center as well, more wing, though, and center it in my opinion. But I thought Hollander was doing really well. I like that the coaching staff is giving him opportunities to play with Russ and Raquel. I don't think that's going to translate to the regular season, but I think it's the coaching staff saying, hey,
Starting point is 00:13:01 we like what you did in the SHL. Let's see what you can do with two of our top players. Oh, my sure. And I thought they were both really good along with Hollander, I should say. So those are just some like quick miscellaneous thoughts, Pat, from today. I'll get into more in a little bit,
Starting point is 00:13:15 but I'm going to hand this over to you. I have been. extremely impressed with Vila Coivinin through two days. Obviously, it's two days. It's drills, it's simulation. And we know that hockey might be the A1 sport where nothing you do in practice, nothing you do in training camp is anything close to a game, an actual game, I should say. But this is what we wanted to see from Coivinin and going into camp. Obviously, we also wanted it to see, wanted to see it from Magrorty, but he's on the shelf. But back to Covenin.
Starting point is 00:13:56 This is what he had to do. He had to not only have a strong camp, but part of having that strong camp had to be showing that he can hang with the likes of Gennie Malkin and even Sidney Crosby. We saw some good chemistry at the end of the year with both of them. he was able to he did not look at all out of place with either of them however you want him to take that next step you don't want it to just be yeah he looks okay with them he looks like he can keep up he needs to be a genuinely complimentary piece to one or both of them where you're not just going okay if if we need him he can fill in on that line and again there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. That has its value, especially if you're a depth piece.
Starting point is 00:14:49 But I think in my estimation with what we know about Coyven in the prospect and what is becoming Coyven in the NHL player, he's probably going to be a top six forward. And if he's going to be a top six forward, kind of like, say, Brian Rust, not making a one-to-one comparison, obviously. But like a Brian Rust, you need to evolve past OK, he's, can hang to, okay, these guys have chemistry together and they're producing together. And so far, through two days, the early returns on Coyvenin's efforts in the way he's been building this off season, it looks like it's starting to pay off. The one thing, though, I did want to ask you about Hunter, because we all know if you've
Starting point is 00:15:38 been watching sports long enough, regardless of the sports, save for maybe baseball. the first five to ten minutes of a game, you can exist on momentum alone. You can come rocketing out of the gate, but then once the rubber really starts to hit the road and you got to settle in and play, we'll see how good you were. How was the intensity of head coach Dan Mews on day two? Buddy, it was nuts. Dan Mews lost his voice once again. Like, if you listen to the media conference, just like yesterday's, his voice. voice is just shot. He's shouting for an hour and a half straight, starting at 8.45 in the morning.
Starting point is 00:16:20 And then he has a little bit of a break, shouts for another 90 minutes straight, has a little bit of a break again. And then he shouts for 90 more minutes. So his voice is just absolutely gone by the time he speaks to the media. And, you know, he's cussing up a storm sometimes. But this practice, and it was physical too. Like there were some big hits along the boards. There were some cross checks being thrown as well. There was sometimes. there wasn't like any scuffles yet or you know fights or anything like that but during some plays at times it felt like there was no love lost like it's definitely very intense very competitive it's been pretty awesome to watch so far and i will say pat we did get an injury update on kevin
Starting point is 00:17:01 hayes he's going to be re-evaluated in the next month took a big hit for ryan graves on thursday on the board stay down for a little bit before some trainers helped him off the ice he's going to be out for at least a month so he'll be out for the start of the regular season which sucks because he was off to a great start on Thursday. I thought he was the best player in his group before going down, was a total pest on the puck and a total pest going for the puck when he was defending. So that stinks. The other thing I do want to point out,
Starting point is 00:17:28 we did get some systems work today, which was fun. The emphasis on puck pressure was very much there. We talked about that when Dam Euse got higher. That was one of the big elements that he's going to bring to the penguins. And you saw that today. Like there was a lot of drills where, you know, the players that were defending the puck in their own zone,
Starting point is 00:17:44 were, in my opinion, winning most of the time because of their relentless pursuit to the puck. When someone has the fuck, they're just going right to them. They are hounding these players. And it felt like that was lost a little bit towards the end of Mike Sullivan's tenure. Well, it's very much being brought back here. I think on steroids, at least in camp. Again, this is only two days. I don't want to overreact or anything like that.
Starting point is 00:18:07 But there was definitely a big emphasis on prock pressure during some drills today. And one more thing, if I may. Some people may laugh at this. I thought Matt Dumbo was pretty good today, man. I got to admit, scored a couple of nice goals, one off a beautiful slap shot, skated fine. I thought yesterday was Jackson and Ivy's day for the right sign. Today was Matt Dumas.
Starting point is 00:18:26 It's going to keep seeing a revolving door like this, right thing. Some players on that side have good days, some have bad days. Today I thought was good for Matt Dumbo, but it's still only day two. One thing that I, again, that's, that is very encouraging to see from Dumbo because if you've been listening to the show over the summer, you know Hunter and I do not have the highest of expectations for Matt Dumba, but I'm of the belief, and maybe I'm a glass half full kind of guy,
Starting point is 00:18:55 but I do believe there is still some game left in Matt Dumba. You just have to use them correctly. And if he can, he and Dan Mews can find that, all the better for this team's rebuild, because he is a very high of the list, reclamation and flip project for the deadline. to a contender. But back to Muse and back to the puck pursuit and the pressure and everything, for a lot of the people who have been there, including you that I've talked to about the first two
Starting point is 00:19:25 days, and this also kind of weaves into Ryan Graves and the Kevin Hayes thing is it kind of feels like this team isn't going to become suddenly the Florida Panthers. They're not going to be this heavy hard-hitting team. But it does seem like one of the things Mews is bringing to this camp is this team this year is going to play with an edge. They are going to make you earn every patch of ice out there. And if they're not going to be able to, and we know they likely aren't going to be able to be the high-flying penguins of the
Starting point is 00:20:03 mid-2010s, excuse me, if nothing else, make your opponents go through six. 60 minutes of hell. Make them earn it. Make them come to you. If they want the puck, they got to go get it. If they want to get to you the front of your net, they are going to have to walk through bodies and sticks and checks and everything. And especially for a guy like Ryan Graves,
Starting point is 00:20:27 I hate to be Bob Erie about this, but if you're that big of a guy, just start throwing that weight around, brother. Like, nothing else has worked. Just start hitting things. Just got to see you during the regular season now. depending on how many games he gets. But yes, that is the vibe I also get,
Starting point is 00:20:44 especially if it translates to the regular season, that hopefully there'll be more of a pain to play against. They'll be more physical this year. I know that's something that a lot of fans, you know, us too included on the show, we have been harping on these last few years where the penguins just haven't been physical enough. They don't play with enough bite,
Starting point is 00:21:03 enough, you know, fire, enough of an edge. Hopefully that changes this year. through two training, through two training camp practices, excuse me. I've seen more of that than I have these last couple of seasons. But again, Pat, we're still on September 19th. Let's see how it translate to games where you're playing bona fide cup contenders at times. But that will do it for this second segment. Coming up to end the show, it's Friday.
Starting point is 00:21:29 You know what that means. Fan take Friday, we're going to answer some of your questions and react to some of your takes right after this. All right, we're back here on this episode. of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes. That's my co-ist, Patrick Damp. And this first one comes from Ryan, who asks,
Starting point is 00:21:53 seeing the intensity of training camp turned up to 11 compared to last year's camp, it makes me believe that the tank is not on the table for this season. Okay, I guess we're going to have a small, little discussion about tanking once again. Players are, we've said this before. Players are not going to openly tank. I don't need to spend any more time on that.
Starting point is 00:22:12 If they finish bottom five, I think it's a multitude of things. The goal tending being even worse. A lot of trades happening, especially maybe two of the three of Russ, Raquel, Carlson, you know, maybe Sid taking a step back, you know, even taking more of a step back, you know, them just being, you know,
Starting point is 00:22:29 even worse than a lot of pundits expect. I think that's the way they truly tank and like bottom out. But, you know, if they do keep this intensity in games, even if they lose more games than they win, which I think is going to happen. I do think if it translates, they're going to make teams earn it every night. And I don't think you're going to see a bunch of lulls where,
Starting point is 00:22:51 you know, you're just going through the motions for four to five games in a row for every, you know, seven to 10 days, something like that. So I definitely hear Ryan when it comes to that take. It's a team with Sidney Crosby of Gennie Malkin and Chris Laetang. They're three of the most proud,
Starting point is 00:23:08 most competitive athletes we've ever known in this city. and they aren't just going to take it lying down. I know that's going to be disappointing for a lot of people who want the tank to be on, but I'm in agreement with you. I still think this is a pretty below average overall hockey team that has some slight upside if things go right. But at the end of the day, if they are losing hard-fought games, I think that is so much better than,
Starting point is 00:23:41 them just being outright bad and being a doormat for the rest of the league. So and the other thing, and we're not going to dive all the way back into the tanking, because we got a lot of good questions this week. We can't spend all the time on this one. I again will reiterate, being a team that battles, being a team that competes, but ultimately comes up short is a lot better for your long-term culture than being said dormant. Right.
Starting point is 00:24:08 You don't need to be getting blown out for nothing. 5-1-7-1, you know, on a weekly basis or even a semi-weekly basis. Like that just, that makes your culture even worse. Again, you don't want to have the culture that the Sabres have had for the last decade plus. Like, that's also worst-case scenario. As for the next comment here, this comes from Michael. From what we have seen at practice so far in play our reactions, how likely do you think this team is to have practice days canceled in the midst of losing
Starting point is 00:24:35 streaks? Unlikely, I think, so far. And it's only two days. We know that Mike Sullivan was. canceling practices at times even during some bad stretches of play these last few years, I think it is more unlikely right now. I think Damuse is going to be potentially even more intense, even being more competitive when a said losing streak happens.
Starting point is 00:24:59 So I would go unlikely as of right now, but that can change. I think context matters on this one. If just kind of like the last question, if they're in the midst of a losing streak, but they're putting up good efforts, they're competing, they're not getting their doors blown off. And they're, you know, in a stretch of like three games in five days or four games and six days, something like that. And they're at least competing and putting an effort out there. I wouldn't be shocked if he had a couple off days here and there just so they don't burn out by game 82.
Starting point is 00:25:34 But yeah, I mean, looking at Muses' intensity through two days, I don't see. him turning this into a country club, but I also don't see him running this team ragged to the point where come February or March that they're just completely burned out. That's fair. I don't think he's going to cancel a crap ton of practices. I'm sure there's going to be a few that get canceled for a bunch of different reasons, but I don't think it's going to be as frequent as what you saw the last two, three or something like that. This one comes from my favorite Chelsea fan out there. What's more likely Jari being an all-star or Malkin's scoring 90-plus points this season. Oh, boy.
Starting point is 00:26:14 I'm going to go Malkin 90-plus points. I think we know what Jari is at this point. And I'll say this. Both of these are unlikely just because, you know, A, Malkin's a lot older now. B, Jari just isn't very good. But if I had to pick one, I'll go Malkin 90-plus points. People can laugh at me in the comments. That's what I'm going to go with.
Starting point is 00:26:35 Yeah, it kind of feels like that's the more likely one since he's probably going to play with Mantha, and he's going to hopefully have a consistent winger that can actually play with him, which could up his numbers a little bit, though I don't think 90 points is in the ballpark. I also, again, I don't think it's going to happen or really even possible,
Starting point is 00:26:57 but Jari, much like his last couple of predecessors, has shown to be at his best when somebody behind him could theoretically take his job. And if She-Lovs becomes what he looked like down the stretch with Vancouver or even in Abbotsford, that could push Jari to be better. But again, he's also going to be a numbers game victim if that happens because there are so many better goleys ahead of him that unless he completely plays lights out, which I think is highly, highly, highly unlikely, that just won't happen. But both of them feel I would go with the word implausible. That's fair. And again, speaking of some of the other goalies, Sir Gamerosha makes everything so effortless in practice. I was watching today.
Starting point is 00:27:45 Him just making routine saves, it looks like he's not even trying. Like I just watch him. And even for some saves that look difficult, he's like, eh, easy save for me. I'm just like, geez, man. Like, he's just so nonchalant about it. I don't think he's going to be NH ready this year. I think he's still needs another year, but he's still been very impressed at these first two days of camp. One more to get to, I think, before we call it today.
Starting point is 00:28:07 this one comes from Brian wondering how Ben Kendall is looking in his first couple days of camp. I think he's been fine. He had a couple of nice plays with the puck today. One really nice pass, another really nice finish. I don't think he's going to make the team this year. That's very, very unlikely. He's going to go back to junior and hopefully light it up. But I think he's been totally fine.
Starting point is 00:28:25 Yeah, I think the, again, I have not been there for the first two days. I'm hopefully going to be there Tuesday, just so people know. But I look at this. I look at Kendall's effort. in some of the video I've seen some of the people I've talked to. It feels like the IQ is there, the talent is there, but he has to start training like an NHLer. He has got to put on some muscle to get a little bit bigger,
Starting point is 00:28:54 and he's got to work on his skating to get up to NHL level speed. But the good news about Kindle is, because the IQ and the skill is there, the other two things that he needs when it comes to getting in better shape, putting on some muscle and improving his skating, extremely doable. And now that he's in an NHL organization that is, as we know, really dedicating itself to development, he's going to get put on a really good track. And it wouldn't shock me if next training camp, he kind of goes the same way as Harrison Brunick,
Starting point is 00:29:34 where he does really well impresses and they go, not just yet, but you're damn close. That's fair. And the other stuff that you mentioned, it's going to come with time. Like he's still very young right now. Once he's going to look like once he's 22,
Starting point is 00:29:50 I think the difference you're going to see, Pat is going to be stark, in my opinion, once he's around that age. But I think that's going to do it for the Friday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'll be back at camp again on Saturday, bright and early,
Starting point is 00:30:03 845 start. again, free and open to the public. So if you're around, you see me, come say hello. We've had some of the listeners come up, say you love the show. All right, we very much appreciate that. Thank you for coming up. We're trying to have Pat come out on Tuesday to see a practice. So if you see him there, come say hello. I'll be there too. And again, I'll be there on Saturday and the rest of camp as well. So that will do it for today's episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Thank you guys so much for tuning in. We appreciate it. We'll be back with another episode for you guys on Monday. so we will talk to you all then.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.