Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins Training Camp Day One Analysis!

Episode Date: September 21, 2023

Training camp is finally here, which means Pat and Hunter have live hockey to react to. They first discuss some of the lines that stood out to them on Thursday, even though Mike Sullivan says to not read into them...too much! Hey, they read into the "duos" if you will. They especially look at Vinnie Hinostroza and how he was skating with Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust and if we could see that in a preseason game soon. They then look at how the defensive pairings seem to be playing out as expected, especially in the top four. After that, they get to the big news on Jake Guentzel as he's back on the ice. Pat and Hunter analyze what that means for the Penguins and how his absence will be shortlived after all the panic was out there during the offseason. Finally, they look at how the mood of the team is for camp and how everyone seems to have a massive chip on their shoulders after how last season ended.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BirddogsGo to birddogs.com/LOCKEDONNHL or enter promo code LOCKEDONNHL for a free water bottle with any order. You won’t want to take your birddogs off we promise you.AG1If a comprehensive solution is what you need from your supplement routine, then try AG1 and get a FREE 1-year supply of Vitamin D AND 5 free AG1 Travel Packs with your first purchase. Go to drinkAG1.com/NHLNETWORK.Jase MedicalSave more than $360 by getting these lifesaving antibiotics with Jase Medical plus an additional $20 off by using code LOCKEDON at checkout on jasemedical.com.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Right now, NEW customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get TWO HUNDRED in BONUS BETS - GUARANTEED. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Penguins are back at training camp, and even though Mike Sullivan told us not to overreact to any of the first day lines, Hunter and I are going to do just that on this episode of the Locked On Penguins podcast. Your Locked on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked on podcast network. Your team every day. Welcome in to yet another edition of the Locked On Penguins podcast. I am one of your host Patrick Damp, joined, as always, by Hunter Hodes. We thank you for making this your first listen or watch of the day, or as we said,

your commute home, listen or watch every day. Before we get started, today's episode is brought to you by Jace Medical. Empower yourself when you purchase a Jace case, providing you with a personal supply of five antibiotics that treat 50 plus infections. Get yours today at Jacemedical.com. that's j-a-s-e-medical.com. As I said, welcome to another edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast, and we are officially, officially here.

Training camp opened this morning, and I said it in the open. Mike Sullivan said when they broke today that we probably shouldn't read into any of the teams or any of the line combinations to start the day, but yeah, that's not what we do here. We'll do it. We'll do it, Mike.

we may not be a hot take artists or anything like that, but it's a daily podcast. We got to have something to talk about, right, Hunter? Absolutely. You know, Mike Sullivan, we're not going to overreact to these lines, but are we going to look at them and think that they could be a good fit for the team this year? Yes, yes, we are, Mike. Yeah, I mean, and listen, I kind of want to couch this in the right language here is

we're not going to overreact to them. to them. We're not going to read too much into them. But I do think this isn't one of those things where Sullivan and the coaching staff get together the days before camp and get a bunch of printer paper out, write everybody's name on it, toss it in a hat and just start going, okay, team one, team two, team three, team one, team two, team three. What they do is they put these together with a purpose. They want to see how certain players work together. They want to give younger players some guys to look up to, some guys to spend time with, because a lot of people get invited to camp at the start. And when you're on a team in camp, that is your team. You're stuck with them

through the duration of camp, whether you stay there for the full thing through preseason into the regular season, if you're there for a few days and then you go back to junior, if you're there for a week or two, and then they send you to Wilkes Fair or Wheeling. So I look at a lot of this roster. I'm actually starting to see some things that we've talked about over the summer as well as how they're going to bring some of these guys along. One of the first things that stuck out to me is a guy that we have talked about ad nauseum on this podcast for the last week or so. And that's Braden Yeager. Did you see what team he's on, Hunter? Yes, I did. He's on Team 1 with the one, the only Sidney Crosby and Chris LaTang.

I really like that Mike Sullivan is doing that. He didn't discuss that after all the practices ended today, that he wants some of these younger players to be with some of these veterans so that they can learn for them. And especially in Yeager's case, he's the top prospect in the penguin system. It makes all the sense in the world to have him be on Sidney Crosby's team. Even though Yeager is not going to make the team out of camp or the preseason this year, why not put him there, see what he can do with Crosby and company,

at least for a few practices. And if he balls out, plays really well, that's great. You know how good he is going up against some of these other NHL-ready players. And I'm just really a big fan. If you see some of these other prospects, you know, on there as well. You know, you have Gennie Malkins team with Eric Carlson. You have Dalteri Pustin there. I really like that.

Marcus Pedersen, Sam Poulan, as a prospect at least, is there. Andreas Yonson. That's not really a prospect, but you know what I mean. And then for Team 3, you know, you have guys like Avery Hayes there with Ricard Raquel. We got Mark Friedman there. You got, you know, players like Jonathan Gruden down there, Lars Eller, Drew O'Connor. But, you know, it's a nice mix of some of the veteran guys and some of the younger players. And I really like that Yeager is with Crosby.

Even though, again, it's not going to be probably throughout the entire camp. He's probably going to be sent back to his junior team within the next, I don't know, week and a half, two weeks. but at least to start, I'm really excited about it. Definitely. I like seeing that they've told the kid, hey, listen, you made an impression in the prospect tournament. So we're going to put you with the big guy. We're going to put you with Sidney Crosby.

And we want you to stick to him like glue. The other thing I noticed is what we've talked about since the trade is who will be on what defensive pairings. As we can see on team one, Chris LaTang and Ryan Graves, team two, Eric Carlson, Marcus Pedersen. So while our kingdom for a first pairing Marcus Pedersen may be on hold, it does seem to look like this is who is going to be, this is what the pairings are going to be as we get closer to the season. And we've discussed that so many times on the show.

It's not surprising in the slightest. They sign Ryan Graves to replace Brian Duglin. You are seeing that on the first day of training camp. Marcus Pedersen, a very defensive responsible player, playing with Eric Carlson, who is an offensive juggernaut. Again, nothing surprising there either. Those are probably going to be your top two defensive hearings to begin training camp. Another thing I noticed as well,

Vinnie Hino Strozzo was getting some line time with Brian Rust and Cindy Crosby. Kenesroza trying to make the team out of camp after he was signed earlier. there's summer, I believe was right after the July 1, the original signings, he was about a week or two after. He's someone who can play up and down the lineup, more so in the bottom six, of course,

but I really noticed that, I'm curious to see if he does he look out of place up there next to Sydney Crosby and Brian Rust? That's something to keep an eye on. A couple other lines that really stood out to me today as well if I can just, you know, find them real quick on my notes.

Drew O'Connor, Lars Eller, Ricard Raquel's not going to be playing with those players, but still, O'Connor and Eller, that's an interesting combination. I know Mike Sullivan, you say not to read much into the lines, but there is at least the potential that this season you could see O'Connor on a third or fourth line with Eller centering it. So they may be trying to, I guess, gauge how well they do during camp in the preseason. And then last but not least, just from my notes, a Nyedo Achari-Carter line.

this is just me speaking does that sound like a fourth line to you because it sounds like a fourth line to me and with carter on the fourth line right wing which is where i think they want him this year just because he's a bit older now he's just can't handle those center minutes even though again he's still decent at face-offs they want him at right wing but that sounds like a fourth line to me yeah and by all accounts it does seem like a lot of the guys that they brought in whether on standard contracts or PTOs that we have talked about could be bottom six guys, they were all flying today. They were moving.

There was a lot of speed at camp on the first day. Now again, first day, everybody's got that excitement. We're finally back. It's actually organized. It's not just Crosby and the boys going out to play some shinny at Cranberry. But again, we talk about it on this show. the biggest issue this team had last year was the fact that the bottom six was not effective. And they weren't effective top to bottom.

There was not a lot of speed. They couldn't score. They couldn't defend. And we know how Mike Sullivan likes his team to play. He likes his teams to play fast. So with getting guys in the bottom six now who are going to bring some wheels, listen, with the way the NHL is trending, if you can play a fast game, that puts you up with just about anybody.

Obviously, you've got to be able to score. You've got to be able to defend. But in the last 5, 10 years, we have seen where this league is trending. And along with trending on a younger side, it's trending in a direction where you have to be fast. It's a speed and skill league. I think it's obviously, you know, it honestly got started. I should say 2016 with the penguins. I mean, before that, you had more, I guess, heavy hitting teams, if that's how you want to call it,

teams that are a bit slower, but they'll really knock a chunk out of you every night, right? But when the 2016 Penguins came around, I think a lot of teams started to notice like, oh, this is where the league is going. This is how we're going to have to copy them. And then even after 2017 as well, Capitals, they were kind of like that hybrid team, but look at the Tampa Bay Lightning. Look at the Colorado Avalanche especially. And even, you know, this year, you know, Four Panthers, they were kind of like that hybrid team.

they are nasty, but they can also really skate too. There's a lot of teams now where, again, you're right, this is, it's a speed and skill league. And the penguins, even though they're a bit older, they're going to have to keep up with some of these younger and faster teams this season, you know, the New Jersey's, the Carolinas, just to name a couple, for example, Colorado, even with Landis Cog out, for example. Vegas, they're also insanely fast, and they can check be pretty hard too.

So it's a little bit of a tall order, but they're going to try their best over these next few weeks, you know, just heading into the regular season opener against the Blackhawks. Yeah. And the big boys can skate, the big boys can hit and the big boys can score. So that's where we got to keep an eye on this team through camp. And we're going to be your place to keep an eye on all camp long because that's what we do here. And what we're going to talk about next is somebody that everybody was concerned about. this off season made an appearance this morning at training camp. And we'll talk about that right after this.

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All right, we're back here on this edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am Patrick Damp. That is Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Synonym for Wet. You can follow Hunter on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. And you can follow the show's Twitter at LO underscore Penguins. Thank you once again for letting us join you on your drive home today as you're getting all excited for training camp.

And as I said before we got done with that last segment, there's a lot of worry this off season about Jake Gensel needing to get surgery. And all of a sudden this morning, we saw him on the ice. Now he wasn't taking part. He wasn't taking reps with the teams. He wasn't a full participant. But he was getting on the ice. He was getting some time out there.

And considering the kind of. of injury he had and what he's had to go through rehab-wise, seems like he's ahead of schedule. That's how I took it when I saw a couple of quotes from Mike Sullivan earlier today. You know, you're skating with 19 days to go until your season open against the Chicago Lacrocks. That's really good news. And if he can continue to skate maybe not every day, but most days up until then and then maybe start joining some practices before the season opener and then continue to practice, you know, during the first few games as well.

He should be back right during their timeline after those five games. Even Mike Sullivan said today that that's basically what they expect him to miss, those first five games. So he's not going to have to go on LTIR. They're still going to have to be cap compliant when he comes back. They'll probably just place or just have him on the roster, but he just won't be on LTIR. Let's just put it that way, people. But it's great news.

he's obviously been really rehabbing it during the offseason. It was a bit more severe than I thought it was just because he seemed fine after that game in March. And then just all of a sudden out of the blue, it came out that he needed surgery for it. And he was playing in the De Beauty League for it. But I'm really excited. I'm glad he's skating. And it's not going to be long until he's back on the ice. I know some people were a bit worried that we know what if he has a setback or something like that.

but just because remember it was a minimum of, what was it, 12 weeks when the announcement was made, people were like, oh, what if he's out until, you know, Thanksgiving or Christmas or something like that? No, it doesn't look like that's going to be the case. He's only going to miss the first few games. So someone else will have to play with Sidney Crosby and or Brian Ross or Ricardo Rakel until then, but it's still not going to be the end of the world. I expect him to have a pretty good season once he's back for the final 70 plus games. Yeah, and I remember when.

this news came out, a lot of us, including the two of us, kind of scoffed at like, they only think he's going to miss a couple weeks. Like this is big. Like this isn't something you just, you know, take a few days off and, you know, sit out there on the training table, get worked out. And all of a sudden you're back and ready to roll. And we'll look at that. They made liars out of all of us because by the looks of it, he's going to be ready by November

is. And when you look at what this team has right now, when you look at the roster that may come out of camp, there is a big question mark there of who's going to fill those shoes? Because Sullivan even said it when he was asked about it that very difficult player to replace, his production, his value, just the things he brings to the team, that's not dime a dozen. That's a guy you pay a penny for. So in my in my estimation, and again, first day of camp, it may be Thursday, but we can call it overreaction Monday like a lot of NFL shows do after the week. But from what I saw today, we talked about him in the first segment. Vinnie Hinoistroza might carve himself a nice little niche because he strikes me as one of

those players that while he's not a consistent top six players, he can fill in on your top six temporarily. And while it won't be exactly the same, he's not going to replace the production of a Jake Gensel, he can be a good stopgap. So he's a guy I'm keeping an eye on through the next couple of weeks to see, okay, does he mesh with this top six group? And can he be a candidate in injury situations to fill in?

I mean this very respectively to Evan Rodriguez, because I love Evan Rodriguez. I think Vinnie Hino-Straza is a very, very, very, very, very mini version of what he can provide to the top six. If you maybe want a little bit of a better comparison, maybe someone like last year's Penguins, Danton Heinen, that's someone who filled in the top six at times and, but it was mainly a bottom six player. Evan Rodriguez, when he was with the Penguins, he played pretty consistently on the third line, but he could also fill in on the top two lines. Now, again, Rodriguez has a lot more offensive skill, I think, at this point, than Hennistroza.

I'm not comparing the two players. But in terms of just what Hina Stroza can provide, it's at least a little bit similar to what Rodriguez brought to the Penguins when he was there. He can bring you some offense. He's decent defensively. He's decent in transition. He can play up and down your lineup. You can put him on your finger penalty kill if you want him to. He's a veteran in the league.

He's never really played that many. you know, minutes in the HL at this point. He has a lot of NHL experience overall. And I definitely think in these split squad games this Sunday, maybe he does get some time with Sidney Crosby on the line. If they want to put him out there on the same team. And, well, I may caution this because sometimes the big guns don't play in those first two games, but maybe Mike Sullivan changes that and is like, oh, I'll put Sidney Crosby out for one of those games.

Vinny go out and see what you can do with him. You know, this will obviously go towards you maybe making the team, something like that. I'll be curious to see if maybe they do that, you know, a little later on this upcoming weekend. Yeah, and kind of what you said, again, I say this with, it's going to sound out of pocket. It's going to sound a little ridiculous, but stay with me. Again, overreaction Thursday to day one of camp. It reminds me a little bit, and I mean a little bit. of Pascal DePue because I love the guy.

He is a Penguins legend for everything from the way he played to the way he acted to the way he was in the community. But let's be real here. Was Pascal DePue, the player really a top six winger? He just knew how to play with talent. And I say this all the time. Knowing how to play with top tier talent is a skill and of itself because as much as people like to say, oh, just toss this guy on Crosby or Malkin's wing and they'll figure it out. there's guys who just don't operate at that kind of speed.

Hineshroza strikes me as a very light version of that to where he's going to have the foot speed to keep up. He might have some talent to chip in a few here, but he's never going to be a true, pure top six winger. Just a guy that if you need a body that can keep up and will not be totally out of place, it's a guy that can play that role for a limited amount of time. Am I a little too, getting a little too stretchy on that one? Should we call Stretch Armstrong? I think that's fair. I don't think anyone's going to be coming at you for that in the YouTube comments or in your DMs or stuff.

And you look at his numbers again. His career high season is 16 goals, 39 points in 72 games with the coyotes. That came in 2019. He also had a good season with the Sabres just a couple years ago, actually, Pat, 13 goals, 25 points. So his production has been there in a bottom six roll. That's what I would want to see from him. if he makes the team this year. And if you have to start him up there for a few games with checkout,

you can do that. I've made the argument before, Drew O'Connor, by all it counts and purposes, it seems like by some people who were there today, he had another really good day of camp. That's just par for the course for him, because he's had really good camps the past the years. It just has to translate over to NHL success during the season.

But I'm with you on Hino-Schoza. I think he's definitely a intriguing or fascinating player this camp, whatever word you want to use. The production has been there at times throughout his career. And again, you know, I know we're not supposed to be reading into this, but maybe Mike Sullivan does want to try him out with Sidney Crosby at one of the split-squat games this weekend if Sid plays. I know he likes to rest some of the big guns for a lot of these games,

but maybe that changes this year just because they had more time off or something like that. Yeah. So like we said, there's not going to be, there is no Jake Gensel replacement available, but there does seem to be options. And just like we're all kinds of excited right now, it seems like the team's pretty excited to be back. And we're going to talk about that in the next segment. But before we get to that,

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Thank you for welcoming us in to your commute home or just your checkout time if you're working from home these days. And, you know, we're excited about train camp being open and looking through a lot of these quotes today after some of these guys had media availability. We seem to have some brothers in arms who are excited for this to get going again. But the one that I really loved, the one that, like, I saw this on Penn's Inside Scoop, Michelle Creckiola, who does great work, was one of the new guys. Riley Smith, Stanley Cup champion with Vegas this past year.

and he related what he experienced with the Golden Knights going into last season to how he feels about this Penguins team. And obviously we can talk about whether he's right or wrong. And we'll see if he's right or wrong. But he said basically he came into this thinking it was very similar to what happened with the Golden Knights last year. They missed the playoffs. And then they went from missing the playoffs to the top of the mountain.

And he said as soon as he got here, he could sense that hunger from this team. And this is a team that's done it three times and been there four times. So they know what they're doing. And of all the quotes I saw today, man, that one had me ready to roll. If there's anyone who knows what it's like to miss the playoffs and then go win the Stanley Cup, it is Riley Smith because he just went through it with the Vegas golden nights. They stunned everyone when they missed the playoffs just a couple of years ago.

And they go on into this nice little revenge tour, if you want to call it. and they just white through the league like it's nothing. And I'm glad that he can sense it with this core group. I was actually reading, I believe it was 32 thoughts earlier this week in Elliot Freeman. You know it's hockey season when that's almost here, when he's putting that out, I should say. And he put him there that he had never seen Sidney Crosby that upset or someone had told him that he had never seen Sidney Crosby that upset. And I believe whoever that is that told Freeman that. I believe him 100% because he's never gone through missing the playoffs.

None of these core players have gone through missing the playoffs. And they're fired up to finally be out there. They want to prove a lot of people wrong this year. And I'm glad that Smith can sense it a little bit because, again, he knows what it takes to go from missing the playoffs to making the playoffs. And he senses that the penguins have a chip on their shoulder. After what happened this past year, you're going into the first. game, you're playing the team that knocked your butts out last year and got a whole bunch of

people fired and had a whole bunch of other things happen. That's going to be the time for them to obviously make an opening statement to say like, no, we're not done yet. But I also really enjoyed that quote. I mean he's going to be a really good fit for the team this year. Once we do our bold predictions, stay tuned for that because I have a big one coming for him for this year. Don't worry. But you're right, though. I mean, while you can't avenge the season prior in the first week or the first game or first month, I will say for my MCU fans out there with the new season of Loki on the horizon, man, that game against the Blackhawks to end the season, that was a nexus event if there ever was one because gets the Blackhawks the first overall pick, knocks the

penguins out of the playoffs for the first time in over a decade, bunch of changes in the front office. And it also was the reason the Florida Panthers were able to go to the Stanley Cup final. So if there's ever been a multiverse nexus event in the world of hockey, that was it. The other thing that stood out to me, speaking of that hunger, was they talked to Chris LaTang, who Masterton winner this year because of everything he went through last season, and now he's got a cohort who is very much on his level in Eric Carlson. And we'll get to what he said about Eric Carlson here in a sec. But the thing that he said that stuck out to me was that it was a long time away from the rink. And for this group, they are not used to that. Right. Yeah,

they've had first round exits and all of that. We've talked about it ad nauseum, but you kind of hinted at it. This core group, you can just kind of sense it in the way they talked at the end of the year last year, the way they're talking now, the way some of them spoke in the opsies. And they know that everybody, including us a little bit, are kind of starting to write their retrospective of, you know, this was the golden age of penguins hockey, and they did so great. And 87, 71, and 58 are all going to be in the rafters one day. and they're sitting there going, hey, we're not dead yet, guys, we're still here. So they've got something to play for.

Absolutely. You know, they want to, again, send a message to the rest of the league saying, hey, we're not done yet. We understand there are a lot of really good teams in the league like New Jersey, like Carolina, like Tampa Bay, like Colorado, Dallas, all these teams. But you can't forget about us just yet. and I'm sure they probably felt really weird sitting out once April came around this past year. Heck, I know you and I both were.

I have traditions usually for the first playoff game and then other playoff games as well. And I just remember sitting on my counts for that first night. And I was like, wow, this just feels weird. And I said myself, I can't imagine what the players are going through because it's a tradition to usually have the playoffs in this town. It had been going on for so long. and they want to get back to those next year and not just get back to the playoffs, obviously. They want to go on a run and win another ring. And, you know, it starts right now.

And I'm really just excited to keep hearing that, you know, that they're really excited about this. And of course, you're not going to say, oh, we're not excited, blah, blah, blah. But there just seems to be a different vibe around the team now with camp this year compared to last year with all the changes that have been made on and off the ice, the core players are back. They all seem really excited for this year's team, and it's hard not to blame them. No, absolutely. And like you said, I mean, playoff hockey in Pittsburgh was just one of the seasons.

It was like spring and summer. We just had it penciled in on our calendars. I mean, I turned 33 last week, and this past postseason was the first time in my adult life. The penguins were not in. the playoffs. Right. It was wild. Last thing, before we head out, staying on La Tang, as we know and had a whole week about bringing

in Eric Carlton this offseason in a big trade, he kind of has that guy with him now, a defenseman who is very much on his level. And one of the wildest things I think I read today, because if you know Chris La Tang, if you follow him on social media, or if you just follow him. of the penguins on social media or watch any of their stuff like in the room, you see the way this guy trains. He's a freak, absolute freak. And they ask him about, hey, what's it like having Carlson in the building and getting

to work with them? And, you know, he gave the usual like, oh, unbelievable trade, great player, big addition, all that. And then he says, yeah, I met with them in the gym. And we talked for about 10, 15 minutes. So you kind of see another elite guy in there and how he trains and you pick his brain. I'm like, what are you doing picking anyone's brain in the gym, Chris? Like, you are the gym guy.

If anyone should be picking someone's brain about a workout routine, it should be the other way around with Eric Carlson picking him on Chris Laetain because of the way he trained. You said it. He is an absolute freak. And hey, you know, I'll put this out there. Hopefully this is the start of a nice little romance this year between these two. You all, everyone knows the rumors about Eric Carlson, Brenn's, how they quote, unquote, didn't get along in San Jose, all this other stuff.

I know Carlson denied it during his first media ability, but I don't think it's going to be anything like that here. You know how many minutes they're going to get. You know the playing, you know what pairing they're probably going to be on. The power play, that'll be figured out. There's not going to be any problems here. Maybe on some other teams, there could be. But on a team where someone like Crystal Tang has won three Stanley Cups,

same with the other two big guns, there's not going to be a problem here. People may try to think there will be. Trust me, people, there will not. Yeah, you said it. This team has, this team's core has gone through it so many times that their sole focus is winning. And they also know, selfishly or not, how good they are. They know they're going to get their ice time. They know they're going to get their points. They know they're going to have their moments. And they look at, Eric Carlson coming in and it's not, you can't sit with us.

It's, oh man, imagine how good this guy's going to make us. Come to the popular lunch table. You can sit here. And I can't wait to see how these guys mesh together because if you watched a little bit of the media day stuff from yesterday, from Wednesday, Eric Carlson was just having a blast. He was goofing off with all the people there.

I remember he was like doing the, you know, skating intro stuff that they'll show on the on the brand new video board at p pg and he was like making sounds like just he's going to fit right in with this group because we know we have captain serious and sydney crosby but then now you have a third stooge to add in with gino and latang and now eric carlson so they're going to be the got they're going to be the counterbalance to mr competitive and sydney crosbie i need some pranks between er carlson and abgeny malkin this year just because they're probably going to be a riot together with how funny they are. I mean, Gino's, Gino's hilarious in his own right. Anything of Gennie Malkin does is honestly hilarious. He could

breathe right next to you and you'd start laughing just because of the way he is. Eric Carlson, he's a goof. Maybe he'll get to that point, but he's still really funny. And again, he's going to be a great fit, not just on the ice, but off the ice as well. He can also get serious. I think he's going to become one of the top leaders in this locker room in very short order. Yeah, there's no shortage of hunger. There's no shortage of excitement. And there's certainly no shortage of leadership on this Penguins team as we head into the

season. But that's going to do it for us on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. And it's time for a nice little tease because tomorrow we welcome on the legend, one of the greats, Josh Yohe, and we're going to talk all things camp, what he's seeing and expectations for this year. so make sure you hit that subscribe button wherever you're listening because you aren't going to want to miss this one. But that does it for this one. We will talk to you guys tomorrow.

And thanks as always for welcoming us into your ears. This has been the Locked-on Penguins podcast.