Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - The Penguins are heading to PHILLY to start the 2026-27 season!

Episode Date: July 15, 2026

As we wait for the release of the complete 2026-27 NHL schedule, we do know how it will begin for the Penguins...in Philadelphia. Patrick and Hunter begin the show discussing the first release of the NHL schedule, which will see the Penguins take on the Philadelphia Flyers on opening night, the Montreal Canadiens in the home opener at PPG Paints Arena, and then they'll be the Washington Capitals' opponent for their opening night. (0:00) Then, the Penguins made it official on Wednesday, announcing the hiring of Brandon Pridham as Hockey Operations Consultant. They discuss why this is a good hire and what it means for the future of the Penguins' front office. (11:39) Finally, because it's July and the draft is behind us, it's time to take a look at the top 10 prospects in the Penguins' system, beginning with 10 through 6. (18:35)  Everydayer ClubIf you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. From the opening whistle to the final kick, Let There Be Goals on FanDuel. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started now. 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.

Are you ready for a playoff rematch to kick off the 2026-27 season? Because we're getting penguins and flyers right out of the gate. Hunter and I are going to react to some of the schedule introductions we got today, as well as go over a couple other bits of news on the Wednesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. You're Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome in to the Wednesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your hosts Patrick Damp right alongside my good pal, Hunter Hodes.

You can find me on most social media platforms at Synonym 4 Wet. You can find Hunter on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Before we jump into everything, today's episode is brought to you by Fandul. The biggest stage in world soccer is well underway. and let there be goals on Fandul visit Fandul.com to get started right now. More on them later. On today's show, we're going to go a little deeper into the hiring of Brandon Pridim, which was made official on Wednesday afternoon.

We're going to start our top 10 prospects countdown with numbers 10 through 6. But before we do any of that, we do have some other news to get into. We know when some of the Penguins games of the 2026, 2027 season will be, including both the season opener and the home opener. The season opener, well, it's going to begin right where it ended in Philadelphia against the Flyers on September 30th.

The Penguins will play the Flyers on that date. then just a few days later, the penguins will welcome the Montreal Canadiens to PPG Paints Arena for their own home opener. And one other game we are aware of that will be on the schedule is October 7th. The penguins will head to Washington, D.C. to take on OV and the Caps in their home opener. And Hunter, this is what I'm going to say as I pass it off to you.

were we lied to about the penguins being the hurricanes first game because it feels like we were lied to shame on Josh for six weeks for putting that in his article he's now banned from coming on the show no we're just kidding about that last part but it sounded like it was going to be penguins hurricanes and josh even put the tweet out there today that that was the original plan until i guess the panthers maybe had a call at the league office and said hey how about we play the hurricanes on opening night and it makes a lot of sense doesn't it Florida. Yeah, it's the two best teams in the East.

It's big. Yeah, exactly. I didn't mean to cut you off there. But yeah, Florida, they won the last two cups. Carolina just won this one. I think you're going to see a playoff rematch. Hopefully this upcoming season, they just got the other Kachuk brother on their team.

They're gearing up for another run. That makes sense. But even if it's not Penguins Hurricanes to kick off the season, I mean, I will still gladly take Penguins Flyers on September. 30th. This is another way to really re-ignite the rivalry even more. And then, Pat, October 3rd will be the Penguins home opener against the Canadians. So I'm guessing that is the first two games of the season. And then right after that, they will play Washington on October 7, unless they play another game on the 5th or the 6th, something like that. But it looks like as of right now,

those are their first three games of the 84 game season, unless there's another game. squeezed in on a different date there and want to start to the season that is pat two of your biggest rivals if that goes through in your first three games and your other one against a canadian's team that had an amazing 25 26 season pretty going to be some pretty good games for the penguin some pretty good tests for them right out of the gate we also should should tell everyone the full schedule gets released on thursday so get ready to make your health your hotel reservations your plane reservations all that good stuff yeah and we will have at least i will because mr hody's over here will not be on the show on friday because he's heading out of town for a little thing called

a bachelor party ahead of his wedding later this year so my bachelor party going to the beach for a few days i'm excited but pat's going to have you handled and he'll give you all my five through one list that we have to we'll finish up our prospect list on friday and also going through a lot of the schedule. But back to what we know from today's release on the big dates of the home openers and the season openers. Like you said, this is not going to be an easy beginning to the season for the Pittsburgh Penguins. You go right into Philadelphia to take on the team that knocked you out of the playoffs. Regardless of all the goofy stuff going on with offer sheets and everything else out of Philadelphia, that is still a team on the rise. They have a lot of talent. They gave

of the penguins all that they could handle and ultimately beat them in that opening round series. Then you welcome a really young, really talented, really good Montreal Canadiens team for your home opener. That is a team that is certainly no pushover. And for my money, the most improved team in the Eastern Conference this offseason has been the Washington Capitals. And you go and play them for their home opener a few days later. later and they're going to have the juice of starting yet another season with Alex

Ovechkin on their roster. So very real world where the penguins begin the season, one and two, oh, and three, it is going to be a really tough start to this season for the penguins. Well, let's not be too negative there, Pat. Let's shoot for three and O if those are the first three games. There's no other games sprinkled in there. Come on. The 84-0 dream is right here.

We're in mid-July talking about this. Got to start full positivity. They're going 84-0. And that is something that I know our listeners are probably getting a little annoyed by, but it is worth continuing to repeat because for the first time since the 90s, we will have an 84 game season. Two games have been taken away from the preseason and added to the, regular season. So we are in the 84 game era of the NHL once again. So you're going to see,

I know it sounds like two more games, not that big of a deal, but considering that the NHL is starting the regular season in late September, they want it to be done by the first or second week of June, ideally. You're going to get to, those two games in putting the schedule together the way they're putting it together this year, even with no Olympics, it won't be as condensed as last year, but it is going to be a lot of hockey. There are going to be a lot of three to four game weeks throughout the season because they want to get this thing done and they don't want to be awarding the Stanley Cup in what is

basically July. So there will be a lot of hockey to be watched this upcoming season. Right. I agree with you. And I am excited again for the shorter preseason. I've made that pretty clear on the pod quite a bit over the last few weeks. And you know, you get two extra divisional games. Now we just need to fix the playoff format.

You know, we'll keep talking about that until the cows come home just because it's terrible. But it is going to be cool seeing something a little different here, 84 games. And also, Pat, the fact that we're starting the season in late September. Hell yeah, man, I am all for starting the season late September and finishing in the first week of June. Hell, there's probably people out there that want the season to start in mid-September and then end around Memorial Day or maybe the week before. But I am totally good with right at the end of September, get those two extra games in and then you end of the season a bit earlier as well. It gives everyone time to breathe because lately the season ends and then it's right into the draft. It's right into free agency and then everything dies down.

This time, you're going to get a little bit more time to breathe overall. That's the biggest thing is the, I saw someone on social media say it earlier today. And we're not asking for the NHL to become like the NFL, though that would be nice to where the NFL doesn't actually ever end. There is no end to it. The Super Bowl gets awarded and we're still talking about the NFL. But with the NHL, it's the Stanley Cup gets awarded like a week and a half later, two weeks later, it's the NHL draft. And then a week or week and a half later, it's free agency. That lasts for about two to three days.

Right. And then it's just nothing. But if you do this, yeah, you're going to end up in the same spot come mid July where we're not really talking about a lot because everybody's enjoying their off season. But if you condense this schedule, you give a little bit of time in the lead up to the draft, a little bit of time in the lead up to free agency. We'll have a little bit more to be entertained by the NHO rather than as soon as day three of free agency ends. We're all just sitting around having nothing to talk about. So that is a nice little added bonus for what this schedule is going to be moving forward. but that is going to do it for our opening segment.

When we come back, the Penguins have made it official. Brandon Pridham is joining the front office. We will talk more about that when we come back right after this. But we've got to tell you about one of our sponsors, and that is Fandall, which today's episode, as I said, is sponsored by. On the biggest stage in the world, Fandul is changing the game because sometimes your player gets subbed off. and your bet goes with them.

Not anymore with Fandul's super sub. If your player is subbed out, your bet stays in. That's right. If your player leaves the match, your bet continues on with the substitute. So you're still in it until the final whistle. In matches like these, because we've only got two left in the World Cup,

anything can happen. And now your bet can go the distance. Let there be goals this summer on Fandul, because there is nothing worse than having a great pick going in and watching your player get pulled in the 60th minute. With that super sub, it goes the distance. Once again, let there be goals on Fandul. Visit Fandul.com slash locked on. That's Fandul.com slash L-O-C-E-D-O-N to get started now. Welcome back to the Wednesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.

Patrick Damp and Hunter Hodes here with you. And if you listened to our Tuesday edition, you know that we got some late breaking news. And it was made official this afternoon by the club. The Penguins have officially named Brandon Pridham Hockey Operations Consultant. As it was reported on Tuesday and now confirmed by the club, he will oversee salary cap, compliance and management as well as player contract negotiations. Very similar to the role he had when he worked with Kyle Dubus in Toronto. And Hunter, pretty simply put on this one, I will just continue to echo what I have been saying

about the potential of Pritum coming to the Penguins. And now the actuality of Pritum being with the Penguins is this is a guy that you want in your front office and on your team because he's not just coming from the Toronto Maple Leafs. He is a guy who played a huge role in developing the salary cap for the NHL, so he knows the ins and outs. And I know that the Leafs have their issues. I know that they had their issues even when Dubus was there. But before the pandemic, he did a really good job and so did Pritum of,

managing their salary cap to the point where had we not had a pandemic, they would look a lot like the Carolina Hurricanes do right now, where they had everybody in their young stars locked up for the long term with a rising cap. Unfortunately, world events changed that. So this is as much as it is a Kyle Dubus loves his guys kind of higher, it's a good hire. I will say that. I saw Steve Dangles tweet yesterday and I was like,

Yep, I knew that was coming from you, Steve, where Kyle Dubus loves his guys. But in general, even if, say, Brandon Pridum had not worked for Kyle Dubus before, this is a very good hire. The least poached him from the league. He was a special assistant to the GM for four seasons. He was then an assistant GM for eight seasons. He was the interim co-GM. He was promoted right at the end of March going into April, just of course,

with how terrible the Maple Leaf season was. wasn't brought back and now he's here with the penguins. And essentially, Pat, he's basically just replacing Lukie Mapofu because Mapofu did everything that Pritam is coming in to do. And as a bonus, Pritam is going to be mentoring some of the junior front office members in the front office, maybe getting them ready for a bigger role once other teams potentially come calling for him or maybe if the penguins want to promote any of these people internally.

He's also someone that I could see getting more. GM interest around the league. I think he and Jason Spetsa Pat, there's a very real possibility that the Penguins could lose one, if not both of those people in the next few years when other teams naturally make changes at the GM and they're looking for people who may not have been in their chair before, but are basically ready to be in the chair. And I think Pritom and Spetsa fit into that mold really well. So, you know, I think gaining Brandon Pritam, especially from a salary cap perspective, is going to be huge. Those are. are two really good points, especially the part about him having a role where he is going to

basically mentor and help develop younger members of the Penguins front office, because it gets right into the other part of what you said, which is Pritam is a guy who very well could and probably should either be a president of hockey operations for another team or a general manager for another team. Spetsa has been doing this for quite a few years now, whether it was with the Leafs or now with the Penguins. And you know the time will likely come in the next few years, whether it's Spetsa, whether it's Pritam, getting calls to go to other organizations to take a step up. And having a guy like Pritum who has all this experience, who has all this knowledge in the building to help younger talent, if that's the case, which we both expect,

it to be at some point with both of them to get calls from other organizations. It will be nice to have people internally. So you aren't set scrambling, kind of like Detroit Red Wings are today after transitioning Stevie Y out of leadership. Pat, he saw the Dylan Larkin trade request and said, I'm not going to deal with that. Someone else can go deal with that. You don't want to leave. I'll leave. That's what Stevie Y said.

I said. But to my point, having these guys there to mentor, to train, to develop younger members of the front office will have a lot of value for the franchise moving forward. And the last part, I'll say, this is a good sign from the Hoffman family early on, his owners, that instead of just looking at Mapofu leaving and thinking, ah, we got Kyle Dubus and he's got a nice size staff already. We don't need to replace them. They allowed Kyle Dubeson company to go out and replace him. Yeah, I agree. And we kind of talked about that a little yesterday where it's good that the new ownership is not being like, okay, you don't need to go fill that hole. We can kind of do this internally. It shows that they have the budget. They have the money to go out and get someone of

Brandon Pridham's caliber. And that along with them spending quite a bit so far, the summer pat. And Yeah, they still have over $10 million, excuse me, a salary cap space. But they're still showing so far, they got money and they're not afraid to spend it as the new owners, whether it's for a player acquisition or for filling in someone in the front office. And I really hope that, I really hope that this continues. Yeah, this is a good sign so far. It's a good start after their good first impression at the press conference. So nothing but good here.

a really solid hire by the penguins. But now, without further ado, we're going to keep a cliched off-season tradition alive and we're going to do some prospect rankings. The top 10 prospects in the penguin system as we sit here on July 15th. But that happens when we come back right after this. We're closing out the Wednesday edition of the Locked-on.

Penguins podcast. I'm Patrick Damp. That's Hunter Hodes. And today, as I said before the break, we begin a little mini series here in the off season for the Locked-on Penguins podcast where we're taking a look at the top 10 prospects in the penguin system as we sit here in mid-July. Now, two things about this. One, like we said yesterday, a player like

Ben Kindle will not be on this list. He played nearly a full NHL season. So now the discussion around Ben Kindle is what is his ceiling as an NHL player, not a prospect and what will he turn into over the next few years. The other, and this is more us covering our asses, this is not an ironclad list. Players can rise, they can fall depending on performance, depending on if they end up earning a spot on the penguins roster and turning into a regular.

But at the end of the day, this is where we see these players on July 15th as we await the 2026-27 NHL season. So let's get into it starting at number 10. And I think I speak for both myself and Hunter with this might be Hunter, your favorite prospect name. Yes, Pierce Bowie. I mean, we love it. And he was fun to watch at development camp. Again, I know. The scrimmages are really just glorified practice.

A lot of the players are really only doing 60, 65%. But seeing his release in live action, it's a ton of fun. And this year, 32 goals, 75 points, and 68 games. He's going back to the sound attack for one more year before heading to Penn State. I know on elite prospects, it says he's going to Penn State this year, but he is going back to junior for one more year before heading to Penn State. His offensive instincts are through the roof. Again, the one-timer is absolutely disgusting.

He's a really smooth skater as well. I am excited to track his progress with the organization. May seem a bit much to some people that he's already in the top 10, but I'm a believer in him so far. I have to see how he keeps developing, of course. But so far, I like what I've seen, especially on tape at development camp. We'll have to see if he's in the Prospects Challenge this summer. but yeah he is in the top 10 just of course at the low end of the top 10 we're not putting him in the top 5

or anything like that no definitely not yet but i will say watching his film getting to know his game the way he plays should he develop should he have another similar year in junior and then go on to have a solid year with the nitty lions this is a player that not a one to one comparison for me here, but it does strike me as almost a Will Horcough-type pick where we're going to know about them, we're going to talk about them, and then after the next season, we're going to go, oh, my God, we got something here should he develop. I like his game a lot. No fear. Drives offense. It's a fun and interesting prospect in the penguin system. Now, this next one, number nine, It's technically 9 and 8, but we're putting them at 9.

It is the newly drafted Ruck twins. I will say this. They are more than just a good story. I know that everybody is looking at this and going, oh, the penguins, they drafted a set of twins. They took a chance on Marcus and Liam and yada, yada, yada. But here's the thing. Between the two of them last year in junior,

$212 points. I don't care which way you cut it. Hitting 100 points is hitting 100 points no matter where you do it. And they both did it. Now, they still have to work on their skating. They still have to get stronger. We're not going to see them for a couple of years. But they think the game really well.

They feed off of each other really well. They do play aggressively. They develop well. I'm not saying they're going to be the Siddines because I highly doubt that, but they have the makings of solid NHL players. The very JV version of the Sadiens, if you will. But I mean, that will be insane, by the way. Considering how great the Sadiens were, Pat,

I mean, I grew up watching the Sadiens. They were so fun. If they even got to like half of that, I think I'd be thrilled. Everyone should be thrilled if they even got to wear half of the Sadiens were just considering how great they were with the Canucks. But yeah, they're going back to Medicine Hat. We all know Liam, he is the shooter.

Disgusting release. He goes to the front of the net. He can wire the puck from wherever. Marcus, he is the playmaker. He will pass the puck to Liam quite a bit and has great vision on the ice. I still want him to use his release a bit more because when he does, it's a lot of fun. He can really rifle the puck.

They're going back to Medicine Hat for one more year before going to North Dakota. I'll say it to everyone again. You're not going to see them for at least two, but probably three years. And this gives them plenty of time to develop, get more parts of their game in order. And we'll see, Pat, do they come up together? Do they come up one at a time? That is going to be the interesting part for this. They, it is very interesting.

I want to see what happens with them. It feels like they are a package deal. But at the end of the day, it all depends upon how they develop and who's ready to make the leap. if it's not both at the same time. But like you said, there is a lot to like there, and there is a lot that they can build on. Moving it right along here at number eight, a guy we've talked about on this show a couple of times

who's been flying under the radar, because with the emergence of Sergei Murashov, a lot of people have forgotten about Yoel Blumquist. He is still a very talented goalie, 24 years old. And yes, Sergei Murrishab grabbed all the headlines last year. He seems to be the future, but don't sleep on Yoel Blumquist. He had a solid season last year, a 16, 5 and 4 record with the baby penguins, a 913 save

percentage, which was just slightly worse than his 914 save percentage the year before. He is a really solid goaltender. And if you need a security blanket in a year or two, whether it's with Murshov, she loves whomever, and you keep Blumquist in the system, he looks like he can be that security blanket. Yeah, I think at the very least for this upcoming season, he's going to be the starter in Wilkesbury with Taylor Godier as the backup unless he's able to beat out Surgay Moroshov during training camp in preseason, though I think that only happens if Murshov just completely bombs during

camp in preseason or Blumquist just has the camp of his life. Now, anything is possible, of course, but I still think the more likely scenario is Sergei Murashav making this team as the 1B slash backup in Blumquist being the starter in Wilkesbury. I mean, they formed a great partnership, him and Marischoff last year in Wilkesbury. I know Blumquist didn't really start in the playoffs. They wanted to give that test to Marishav, but during the regular season as a 1B, I thought Blumquist was fantastic. He was matching

Maroshov quite a bit in a lot of his starts. And I do think he has some momentum heading into camp in the preseason. Now, Marshaff is going to have to really earn this spot at camp. I still think it's likely he gets it, but he's still going to have to earn it because Blumquist is going to be right on his tail. At number seven, we have Ville, Kovinen, someone who he has to have a big summer here. He needs to put on some more weight. He needs to get stronger along the boards. Honestly, Pat, he needs to put everything.

together because it's getting close to put up or shut up time with him. Yeah, he lights up the A, but when he gets to the NHL, feels like at times the lights have been a bit too bright for him. He's played a little bit soft. We still have him on the list. May not be in the top five anymore, Pat, just because of everything that's happened the last year, year and a half. But I still feel like he's got to be on this list, but it's kind of towards the bottom of the top 10. If you want to argue Blumquist for seven, Coyven and eight, or if you want to argue Coyven in a bit further down. I wouldn't stop you, but I feel like we still have to have them on the list.

I agree with you as well. And I will say this about the rankings overall. With the exception of maybe one and two, there is a lot of interchangeables here. Because as we have said, the penguins are still lacking that true blue chip prospect. But I will say this about covenin, something to keep in mind, 23 years old, just turned 23. It's not like we're staring down as 24 year old season. And here's the thing. You're right about him needing to put it.

together because it was a tale of two seasons for him this year. 39 games in the NHL this year, just seven points. HL, however, 34 games, 41 points, and then in the playoffs, nine points in 15 games. So this is a player who the skill, the talent is there. And I have said it about Coivinen before. He has publicly said the team has told him, these are the things. that you need to work on. And he has worked on them in the AHL.

He has added a little bit of an edge to his game. He has worked on his skating. He's become more of a 200-foot player. You could see that down the stretch with the baby penguins. So it says a lot about him in his maturity level as a professional hockey player that he didn't get in a huff because he got demoted to the HAL. he didn't become defiant against the coaching staff and management. He went down and worked on it.

And while that is all well and good, he does have to put it all together this year, or it is going to be a real uncertain future for him in the NHL moving forward. Let's close it out today with number six. One of the more exciting prospects in the Penguin system, and that is Mikhail Ilian. The big concern with him was coming over to North America from Russia. Can he bring his heavily talented game to North America from the Russian game?

Can he adjust? And he did, especially in the postseason with the baby penguins. Nine points in 15 games looked really good for them in the postseason. If he can put it together for a full season with the baby penguins this upcoming year, this strikes me hunter is another prospect in their system where you go they may have found an underrated gem here right and he came over from russia after his season ended had 44 points in 68 games he comes over plays in five regular season games two points during that time and then the playoffs pat two goals nine points in 15 games he quickly adjusted to north american ice

and was one of the top players on Wilkesbury in the playoffs. He was a factor night in and night out. And now he gets a full off season to train and get ready for his first full season, North America. And now, while I don't expect him up super often on the NHL squad this year, I think there could potentially be a spot for him on the 27, 28 team, if things go really well for him this year. but he has the vision, he has the playmaking. I like his release.

He has improved his skating as well. He's also improved his two-way game too. This is someone that fans should not forget it about either. I am really excited to see what he can do in a full season for Wilkesbury before he hopefully comes up here to the NHL squad. It potentially makes a difference maybe in a middle six, bottom six role, whenever he's potentially ready. But this is, again, someone who he should be generated.

a lot of excitement going into next year. He definitely has me excited, and I'll say this. I think there's a chance we can see him in the NHL this year. When we get into those dog days of January, February, if you have a few injuries, you want to see some of the younger guys continue playing well at the HL level, and rather than pull them up for one or two, three games,

he strikes me as a guy where they could kind of do the out of the frying pan and into the fire kind of test of like, listen, we're not bringing you up for the long term, like unless you decide to put up like six points in three games, but we're going to give you a small taste. We're going to give you a little here. Come play in the NHL for a couple of games. Let's see what you have. And we're going to send you back, but we just kind of want to, we want to have you test the waters a little bit, see what it's like in the NHL. Because like you said, the skating has gotten better. The vision is there. The play. making is there. It can to me more be a, we're going to give you a little bit of a test.

Just see where you're at, give you an idea of what it's like and how you're going to get here. But he is a really, really exciting prospect in the penguin system. But we are going to leave it there on Friday. Hunter is going to send me some of his takes on the top five. I will go over the top five as well as react to some of the schedule updates. we are expected to get on Thursday. So make sure you're subscribed. Make sure you're following us. And oh, yeah, keep an eye on our YouTube page and my social media pages because it is

going to be a Friday episode. And you know, I love opening up to the fans and fan take Friday. So we will have all of that and more when we come back with a brand new episode for you on Friday. But for now, for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp. Thank you as always for tuning in. make sure to wish hunter a happy bachelor party and i will talk to you on friday