Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - The Penguins begin a back-to-back with Tristan Jarry returning

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Pittsburgh Penguins are back in action tonight with the first half of a back-to-back against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Pat and I are going to get you all set for that game. Plus, preview Saturday's second half of the back-to-back against the San Jose Sharks right after this. You're 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 Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your hosts, Hunters, Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunster Hodes.

Starting point is 00:00:36 Join him on my coast, Patrick Damp. You can follow him on Twitter at Center for Wet. And you can follow the show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins. Of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. And finally, today's episode is brought to you by Fandul. You can start the season with a big return on Fandle. New customers can place a $5 bet and you'll get started with $150 in bonus bets

Starting point is 00:01:01 if you win your first $5 bet, visit fandle.com to get started. So Penguins Blue Jackets will renew their rivalry tonight from Nationwide Arena. Everyone will get to hear the canon that's in attendance. Thankfully, I haven't gotten the chance to hear it yet. And I probably won't until next season, maybe a bit beyond. I'm probably going to get frightened when I hear that. You've never heard the canon. In person.

Starting point is 00:01:23 I heard it on TV. I went to a game in Columbus. I believe it was 2017. And it's as advertising. man. I know they're technically a rival, but great atmosphere in nationwide arena. And the canon, it's, it's pain, it's pain in my chest to say it, but it's kind of freaking cool. Virginia Tech does, they have a skipper of the canon at Virginia Tech football games and they'll fire it like outside the fields. And that's not too terrible. But I feel like inside the

Starting point is 00:01:55 hockey arena, it's definitely going to scare the crap out of me once I go to a game at nationwide. But it's going to be a lot of fun. You'll see a lot of penguin fans there. Obviously, quite a few Blue Jackets fans. And their attendance has been pretty solid. Even though the Blue Jackets haven't been good these last couple of years, their fans still show up. I feel like that's one of the more underrated fan bases in the league, in my opinion. But before we get to the full preview for this game, we do have some news to discuss with the penguins. And that is Pat, first off, Tristan Jari was first off the ice today at the morning skate. he will be getting his first start since before he went down to Wilkesbury.

Starting point is 00:02:31 And it feels like this really is it for Tristan Jari here, because we all saw how badly he struggled before going down to Wilkesbury. We hope that he's worked on some of the kinks for his game. He played well down there, all things considered. But it really is put up our shut up time. I'm not really too confident. I hate saying that on the show because I always try to be positive. for everyone that's listening or watching this,

Starting point is 00:02:57 but I'm not confident in his ability to play well at this point, but hey, I want him to prove me wrong. It really is put up or shut up time for number 35. It really is. I've made this reference before, but he absolutely is sitting at the bar at the last chance saloon right now when it comes to his Pittsburgh Penguins career. And it's also, I look at tonight and moving forward with Tristan Jari

Starting point is 00:03:22 as kind of an extension of something I wrote, this morning for Katie KAA for my column Penguin's perspectives, basically expanding on the take I've been having on this show about how they're kind of doing their retool on the fly in looking at this season as a wash. But this is another part of it. This is more or less an audition for Tristan Jari because I still believe that this team is looking to the next two to three seasons more than they are this current. one. And this is his audition, I believe, with both Kyle Dubus and the coaching staff to say,

Starting point is 00:04:01 hey, when we hit the ground running again in a season or two, I'm the guy you want to have between the pipes. So at the end of the day, for him, this is for all intents and purposes, the try out because he has struggled mightily. And the thing that is most confusing about this is we remember on this show, and I want to make sure everybody else does, that his career arc has been very bizarre. It started off as, okay, he's a very solid goalie. He's got the skills and the athleticism to be a good goalie, but he can't stay healthy. He would get hurt a lot. And he missed the series against the Rangers, save for game seven when he came back with a broken foot. We obviously know about the meltdown that he had against the Islanders, but that was also his

Starting point is 00:04:52 first real taste of playoff action. So you could give him a pass on it because you went, all right, listen, young goalie, first time under the bright lights. That is to be expected. People kind of forget when the penguins first got to the playoffs in this era, Mark Andre Fleury was not great when they played Ottawa their first series. Granted, Ottawa was fantastic and the penguins were completely overmatched, but Mark Andre Fleury was part of that. Then it turned into, all right, we got to manage his workload because he fades down the stretch. And now all of a sudden, we're at this place where he just has no answers. And it's what I've said on the show earlier this week.

Starting point is 00:05:32 For him, it feels like a mental block. It feels like the athleticism is still there. The skill is still there. But something's going on in his head where he just can't get out of his own head. And if he can figure that out, which after a solid performance and reset, in Wilkesbury Scranton, he might be okay because you still have Alex Nadelcovich, who's been fine enough in splitting duties with Yoel Blumquist. And if you can do what we talked about in the off season where he figures this out,

Starting point is 00:06:02 you lessen his workload, they might have something there. Am I skeptical of that? Of course I am. The evidence is pointing to the exact opposite direction. But at the end of the day, he gets the net tonight and he has a chance to redeem himself. The biggest thing for me is before he went down to Wilkesbury was that he was playing scared in that. It feels like he was second guessing every time someone came into the zone with control.

Starting point is 00:06:27 Every time a shot came to him, he seemed scared. He seemed spooked. He didn't really know what to do. He was giving up goals from angles where it looked like we were back in that Islander series from a few years ago. And it was like, man, what in the heck happened? And I know he's definitely struggled in the second half of these last couple of seasons, but he wasn't, it felt like giving up very, very bad goals like these at times during those

Starting point is 00:06:52 second half struggles. It was just like his entire game fell apart. So we're looking for a pretty big reset. I want him to really ease himself into this game and just get comfortable. Like that's the big thing. You know, maybe see a couple of shots, make a couple saves. And then maybe you're being like, okay, you know, I got this back, just a smidge. And then, you know, you can work your way to the medium chances and the high danger chances and all that. The Penguins themselves also have to, I think, help him a bit tonight. You don't want him seeing 5,000 high danger chances in the first five to six minutes like they've done so many times this season.

Starting point is 00:07:27 That's not going to help Tristan Jari really settle in and just have him try and get back to the level that he's played at before. Again, I don't think that's going to happen with this team. I still feel like potentially later on way down this season and in the off season, and he's going to be moved to a different team, but he's got to build up this value back at some point, and they're trying to see if it starts tonight. I understand to a degree why they want him starting on the road

Starting point is 00:07:55 because there's not as much pressure. If he does something bad at home, the fans will start turning on him. I understand it to a degree, but as I said on the Thursday show, skill issue, make a safe. That's my main gripe with that. But again, I understand why they're starting at least a tiny bit on the road. but I just want to see the big thing from him is be aggressive, stop playing scared.

Starting point is 00:08:18 Absolutely. And the other thing I will add here is when you look at the penguin's schedule right now, and what I'm about to say is going to be a wild idea, so everybody stay with me. I understand this is part of the process. You want to put him up against a team like Columbus, who's not very good, gives him a chance to rebuild his confidence, have a solid start, and build upon that. I think if he plays pretty well tonight, there has to be a consideration of starting him again on Saturday against San Jose

Starting point is 00:08:46 because again, it keeps us in this path where you're putting him against lesser opponents to rebuild his confidence because everything that you said for the most part is a mental issue. It's him getting in his own head second guessing the things he does. He gives up a goal, starts questioning his ability. But if you can get him two solid starts against teams like Columbus, in San Jose. You can also maybe throw him into the mix next week when you're going to have some pretty solid competition. You've got the lightning, then the Jets, and then the Utah, Utah, Utahs. I'm not calling them the hockey club because then you end the month with Vancouver, Boston, and Calgary. Yeah,

Starting point is 00:09:30 Boston's struggling, but there's still a lot of talent on that roster. So if you can get him to a point where he's built up that confidence in two solid starts, you can really start, working into that rotation again. And again, this is part of the process for what they're trying to do to build him back up. You send him down to Wokes Bear to get his head right. You start him on the road against a pretty bad team. You have another bad team coming in on Saturday. And then if it starts to look better, you're not going to make him your belcow, so to speak,

Starting point is 00:10:03 where he's going to start pretty much every game. And Nadelcovic is going to come in every fourth or fifth. But then you can start saying, okay, we'll give him a game. maybe two, then Nadelcovic gets a game, maybe two, then we go back. So I do think if he has a solid start tonight, while I doubt it would happen, I would at least consider, all right, if he plays well tonight, put them back in there on Saturday against San Jose. I'd think about it, but I probably would just go to Nadelcovich for that game

Starting point is 00:10:32 against the sharks. I think going back to back carries a bit too much risk for me, considering especially, for example, if he gets a pretty decent workload tonight, and he might, considering how the Penguins have struggled defensively this year, I wouldn't want him to be gassed heading into that game against the sharks. I'd kind of go with a more fresh goalie. But if he does play well tonight, I would at least, you know, consider it. And then obviously the next game after that is Tampa Bay at home on Tuesday.

Starting point is 00:10:55 I think they would very much consider starting him and that one as well. But again, that's all to be determined. He just has to go out there. And will, again, play well. That's the biggest thing tonight. And speaking of that, Pat and I are going to preview this game against the jackets and give you all some more lineup notes coming up here in our second segment. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about our first sponsor,

Starting point is 00:11:16 and that is Mint Mobile. I'll love a great deal as much as the next guy, but I'm not going to crawl through a bread of spiders just to save a few bucks. It has to be easy. There's no hoops, no BS. So when Mint Mobile said it was easy to get wireless for $15 a month with the purchase of a three-month plan, I call them out. And turns out it really is that easy to get wireless for $15 a month.

Starting point is 00:11:38 The longest part of the process was the $1,000. time I spent on hold waiting to break up with my old provider. To get started, you just have to go to mintmobile.com slash locked on NHL. There, you'll see that right now, all three month plans are only $15 a month, including the unlimited plan. All plans come with high speed data and unlimited talk and text delivered on the nation's largest 5G network. You can use your own phone with any Mint mobile plan and bring your phone number along

Starting point is 00:12:04 with all your existing contacts. Find out how easy it is to switch to Mint Mobile and get three months. of premium wireless service over 15 bucks a month. And again, to get this new customer offer and your new three-month premium wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month, go to mintmobile.com slash locked on NHL. One more time, that's mintmobile.com slash locked on NHL. Got your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com slash locked on NHL. $45 upfront payment required.

Starting point is 00:12:33 New customers on first three-month plan only, speeds slower above 40 gigabytes on unlimited plan. additional taxes, fees, and restrictions apply. See Mint Mobile for details. And we're not done. We still got to tell you all about our second sponsor, and that is Omaha Steaks. Nothing delivers comfort and joy quite like the unrivaled quality and taste of Omaha Steaks. This year, skip the holiday hustle and save 50% off gourmet gifts sitewide at Omaha Steaks.com.

Starting point is 00:13:01 Plus, get a $30 reward card where you shop early and score an extra $30 off with promo code NHL, With five generations of experience, they consistently deliver the world's best stake experience and the gifting experts at Omaha Steaks have made it easy to deliver the perfect gift with thoughtfully created gift packages starting at 8999. From legendary steaks to mouthwatering desserts and more, say 50% off sitewide at Omahasteaks.com. Plus, listeners, you can get an extra $30 off with promo code NHL and a $30 reward card when you shop early. That's 50% off at Omaha Steaks.com. and an extra $30 off with promo code NHL minimum purchases may apply.

Starting point is 00:13:43 All right, we're back here in this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-os Patrick Dam. So, Pat, we were taken a little bit by surprise this morning when Owen Pickering was recalled from Wilkesbury. I had no clue what this was about. I had so many thoughts in my head whether it was maybe someone was getting traded, someone got hurt that we didn't see, someone was sick, and the latter ended up being correct. Chris LaTang did not come on the strip of the penguins. He is still in Pittsburgh, and he's a bit under the weather.

Starting point is 00:14:12 He has the hockey flu or whatever else he has. But it doesn't look like Pickering will be making his NHL debut tonight. If you look at the pairings during the morning skate today, you have Marcus Pedersen with Eric Carlson, Matt Grizzlick, and Jackson, Ivaney, and then Ryan Gray's and Ryan Shea. And then you have Pickering as an extra, and also Ponomerovae. There's also an extra forward-wise. You have Anthony Bavillé, Cindy Crosby, Ricardo, Kell, Michael Buncing,

Starting point is 00:14:36 of Gany Malk and Brian Rust. Yes, he pull Yard, Drew O'Connor, San Puan. And then Matt Nietto, he'll be making his regular season debut for the Penguins in this game with Noel Achaari and Valteri Puson. So let's start with Pickering. I understand that some people may think he may not be ready for this. Part of me a little bit believes that. But I really don't think when I really sit down here and think about it,

Starting point is 00:15:01 that he would be worse than Matt Grislyke. Matt Grislyke has been flat out awful for this team. this year. It's on, I think, Matt Hunwick level right now. It's getting close to Jack Johnson territory. Excuse me. If we're being real with ourselves, he is a liability. Every time he's on the ice, again, I get that Pickering has never played in NHL game, but you can't tell me he wouldn't be worse than Grizzlick right now. I would prefer to see Pickering playing this game than Grizzlick. I would as well. However, I keep viewing this season through the prism of, of they're doing this retool on the fly, and they have Pickering in their maybe not longer,

Starting point is 00:15:42 but at least medium term plans. And you want Grizzlic to figure it out. When you're not trying to win, when you're not trying to contend, you keep playing these players in hopes that they will figure it out and then you can inflate their value and move them. That's not the case with Owen Pickering. They want him to be a Penguins defenseman sometime over the next. two to three years. And he has been pretty solid in Wilkes-Barre.

Starting point is 00:16:11 And the other thing is, and this is where I agree with you on he can't be much worse than Grizzlick is he plays a very similar game, at least that Grizzlick did when Grizzlick was at, I don't know if you can call it the height of his power. When he was good, Pat, when he was good. When he was good, he's a very good two-way defenseman, passes the puck well, solid positionally, makes the smart decision with the puck and in the defensive zone. So it really is six one way, half dozen the other to me. But while I agree, I can understand why they brought him up just in the case that maybe Chris LaTang is still sick on Saturday and somebody gets hurt tonight and you got to have that body up there.

Starting point is 00:16:53 Because I was right there with you when they announced the call up. I, you know, I had people asking me, what's going on here? What does this mean? I was like, I don't know. Like it could mean a trade. It could mean somebody's getting benched. It could mean somebody's hurt or sick. and unfortunately we got the anti-climactic answer,

Starting point is 00:17:08 which is Chris Lattang has the flu. Right, no, I hear you. I just think it would have been nice to see Sullivan maybe reward pickering by giving him this game with the way he's playing in Wilkesbury, especially this last week. He got a really nice first goal down there this week was really great. So it would have been nice to see him get in this game, but I understand your point as well.

Starting point is 00:17:27 I also would like to see Ponomerov at some point. I get giving Poulan another game, and I understand he hasn't had a big sample size, though. I really don't think he played. bet well earlier this week against the Red Wings. But also Matt Nietto, he's making his season debut in this game. Really great job of him to be able to come back from not one, but multiple surgeries, big surgeries.

Starting point is 00:17:49 And now he's back to playing in the NHL. I'm not sure how much I expect out of him considering that he was very banged up last year. Even when he was in the lineup, he was kind of okay at best. But hey, I'm still willing to give him a shot and see how he does in the bottom six. Yeah. And I think last year, you kind of said it there right at the end. We never, I don't think got an actual look at Matt Nietto. I think he was probably playing through things the majority of the time he was in the lineup,

Starting point is 00:18:17 like save for maybe the start of the season. And I know that everybody in the NHL in professional sports, honestly, when you get a month or more into the season is playing through something, whether it's bumps and bruises or actual injury. but I think it's pretty safe to say with Nietto, there was very rare, if any time where he was healthy. And it looks like he's back to that. So as I've been saying,

Starting point is 00:18:44 I want to see what he can do now that he is healthy because we never actually got to look at that. And his track record is being a pretty solid bottom six forward. And while it's not like the last couple years where the penguins bottom six is genuinely terrible, It could help having someone who has a proven track record of being a solid bottom six fourth. They bought one this year, but it was the same story as is last year with Nietto. They have Blake Lazot now, but the guy has rotten injury luck.

Starting point is 00:19:17 Matt Nietto last year, track record of being a solid bottom six player, rotten injury luck. So I'm curious to see. And I think the kind of game that he's known to play will actually match up well against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Yeah, they're pivoting away more so in their rebuild from what they were in the late 2010s where they were kind of a rough and tumble-ish kind of team. But there are still elements in their game of that. And when you have a player like Matt Nietto, he matches up well in a game like that. Right.

Starting point is 00:19:48 Might be having a case of the Mondays, but did you say Blake Lazant top six last year? Because I think you meant bottom six. You know I meant bottom six. He's having a case of the Mondays. But still same deal. Like you just, you look at the two players and you're like, oh, this is good. This is a good upgrade addition to our bottom six.

Starting point is 00:20:04 And he's hurt. Yeah, I had to mess with that there a little bit, people. But yeah, it's great that he's making his regular season debut tonight. Curious to see how he does. And speaking of the Blue Jackets, this is a team that the Penguins have owned for these last several seasons. Let's get into the record here before we look at this roster as a whole. Pat, the Penguins have points in 13 straight games against the Blue Jackets,

Starting point is 00:20:27 dating back to December of 2019. The Penguins are 11. 0 in their last 13 games against Columbus. Also, 21 and 3 in 3 against Columbus, dating back to February of 2017. They have only lost three times in regulation in the last seven years against the blue jackets. That is how much the penguins have owned the blue jackets in this rivalry. It's always been a big brother, little brother thing in the blue jackets this year. They've been struggling as expected.

Starting point is 00:20:57 Even heading into this year, I didn't really think they were going to be. that good. And so far, that's been the case. You know, they're below the penguins in the standings right now. Five, eight and two, 12 points. They've lost six in a row, including seven of their last 10. But despite them struggling, this is still a team that has some good young talent. You know, Marchenko, he has six goals, 15 points in 15 games. Sean Monaghan is playing really well in his first year here. Six goals, 11 points in 15 games. You have Wrenski. He's almost a point per game player. I believe Wrenski gets overshadowed a lot when you look at some of the other top defensive in the league. He's pretty underrated, if you ask me. You have Fantilli. He has three

Starting point is 00:21:34 goals, seven points in 15 games. It's going to be annoying to go up against Fantilly for the next several seasons. You look at their lines. Monaghan is on that top line with Marchenko. You have Fantilli anchoring that second line with Cole Cillinger. You have Justin Danforth on their third line. Former Penguins Zach Aston Reese is on the fourth line with Sean Crowley. Then of course, you have Werenski with Fabro. Really good waiver claim, by the way, the Blue Jackets claimed Fabro off waivers. You have Provorov in Cep. Seberson, excuse me, and then you have Jordan Harris on the third pairing. And then it'll be Elvis Merslikins in net tonight for Columbus.

Starting point is 00:22:08 So Pat, when you really look at this game, try to break it down, what are the keys for the penguins to continue dominating the blue jackets in this rivalry? I mean, on paper, yeah, are the penguins what they once were? No, not at all. But when you compare this roster, I would say on paper the penguins have a better roster and they have to play like it. also, I've said this about certain teams this season when the penguins have gone up against them. You're specifically Anaheim, and we actually saw this happen on Halloween against the Ducks, is this is a young inexperienced team for the most part. They don't know what they don't know.

Starting point is 00:22:46 So you have to lean on that experience and play the kind of game that these guys are still learning. A lot of teams at this point in a rebuild and development really don't know. how to play a complete game yet. We saw it with the Ducks. The Penguins hemmed them in their zone for long stretches. And you want to see that tonight against the Blue Jackets. And similar to the Ducks, Elvis Mers-Leakins, solid goalie. And he is going to frustrate you.

Starting point is 00:23:14 He's going to make a lot of saves that make you sit there and go, oh, my God, we're getting goalied again. But it's because unlike when the Penguins decide to turn John Q backup into Prime Martin Brodor, this is actually a goalie who's pretty good. So overall, this is going to be a game where the penguins have to lean on their experience and stick with the process. If you're not up to nothing and you're out shooting them by a two to one margin, don't play frustrated hockey.

Starting point is 00:23:43 Just keep sticking to the process. And if you're playing that way, more often than not, you will be rewarded. And there is nothing wrong. And I know our listeners hate hearing this, but there's nothing wrong with at the end of a game sometimes you have to tip your cap and go, you know what? The goalie stole it. I don't think that's going to happen tonight now that I say that it's totally going to happen. But Mersleekins, he's fine.

Starting point is 00:24:08 I wouldn't say he's really good. I think he's a average starter in this league when he's playing his best, in my opinion. He's right around 900 for his half percent this year. His goals against is right around three for this year. So the Penguins don't have plenty of opportunities, especially since Columbus is really not that good. defensively. But I want to see more of the Penguins play in the final two periods against Detroit. I want to see that carry over into this game against the Blue Jackets. The Penguins played very digilent in their own zone against the Red Wings after their pretty rough start

Starting point is 00:24:39 in the first period. They really need to bring that type of effort if they want to win this game. Because I know Columbus, some of their young players aren't all the way there yet, but they're still pretty solid and they're going to be good NHLers for quite a long time. Again, I know Columbus is not very good, but they're still very much in a rebuild process right now, and they're trying to really set themselves up, set themselves up, excuse me, for future success, you know, three to four years down the line. So that's really my main key, just bringing over the way they play defensively in the final two periods against Detroit, and finally, hopefully, just bringing a full 60.

Starting point is 00:25:14 I know that's a very lazy narrative, but it's been rare when they've really had a full 60 minutes this year. They really need to bring that in this one, making Tristan Jarrett. as easy as possible. And you want another big game from your stars. Crosby loves playing the Blue Jackets. So does Evgeny Malkin. And I want to see that dominance continue in this one against Columbus as well.

Starting point is 00:25:34 But I think that would do it for this second segment. Coming up to end the show, we're going to preview Saturday's game against the sharks. And now the Penguins can potentially make it to no-ro if they win this game on Friday against the jackets. But before we get to that, we'll have to tell you all about our final sponsor. And that is Fandall. Get ready to tackle the NFL action with Fandle. America's number one sportsbook.

Starting point is 00:25:55 Because right now, new customers can bet $5 and get $150 and bonus bets if you win. The Fandall Sportsbook app gives you everything you need to place live bets on the NFL all in one place. So when you get a hunch in the middle of the game, you can check out the latest stats. You like play by play and so much more on the same page where you place your bets. Just visit fandul.com to join today. And you'll start with $150 in bonus bets if you win your first $5 bet. That's fandle.com. ways to hunch and make every moment more a fan duel, an official sportsbook betting partner

Starting point is 00:26:27 of the NFL. All right, we're back here in this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes. Join my co-host Patrick Dam. So hopefully the Penguins can give me a nice birthday gift tonight against the Blue Jackets because I turn 27 today. And now I'm getting, I feel like I'm getting old, man. Like, I'll be 30 in three years.

Starting point is 00:26:46 It's not fun to think about. But hey, you know, three more years until I'm 30, right? And I know you're shaking your head on me because you're already older than 30. but hey, I'll get there pretty soon considering how fast these years are flying by. But Saturday's game, I'll be in the building at PBG for Penguin Sharks. And we have to start with the Sharks at least. MacKal Granlin, he's playing very well this year. Seven goals, 18 points in 18 games.

Starting point is 00:27:10 And I am seeing this take all over social media from some select fans, and I am tired of it. McCall Gramlin is playing very well. I'm not going to take that away from him. I'm actually very happy that he is playing this well after struggling with the Penguins. But you are fooling yourself if you think he was ever going to be this player with the Penguins. Did Mike Sullivan maybe use him wrong? Sure, I can understand that.

Starting point is 00:27:34 But Ron Hextall also kind of totally screwed up that trade as well. I think we can blame both parties for that. I'm just sick and tired of seeing all these takes about Michael Graham. He's getting 22 minutes a night. He's playing on the top line. He's getting top power play minutes. Of course, he's going to produce. even on a team as bad as the sharks.

Starting point is 00:27:54 The sharks this year, they are five in ten and three, only 13 points that are one of the worst teams in the league. Even on bad teams, players have to produce. That is what Granlin is doing. He's making the most out of his opportunities, even though he's still getting caved in on a nightly basis in his own zone. So I'm just kind of sick and tired of seeing fans be like, well, what if they kept Granlin and all this stuff?

Starting point is 00:28:16 He was never going to be that type of player here. Again, I am so happy he is playing well. He's refound his game after struggling with the penguins. But can we please put that narrative to bed? I can't please stop saying it. Let me ask you this question when it comes to Granlin, Hunter. Do you want him to get more ice time than Sidney Crosby? No, no.

Starting point is 00:28:36 What about Afghani Malkin? No, thanks. At the time, what about Jake Gensel? No, thank you. Still at that time, what about Brian Rust? No, thanks. So let's look at the Sharks lineup. Their first line, according to Daily Faceoff, is Center,

Starting point is 00:28:50 Macklin Celebrini. Okay, yeah, you're going to give him top line first line minutes. He's awesome. He is centered. He is centering Barclay Godreau and Tyler Tifoli. Granlin is with William Eklund and Fabian Zetterland. This is why Mikhail Granlin is getting advanced ice time in San Jose because he is surrounded by lesser talent. By design, he is one of the better players on a tanking team. Now, if you want to make the argument that maybe the penguin should tanked sooner, fine, then they could have kept them. But at the end of the day, the reason he's producing is because he is on a team where he will get top six minutes. He was never going to get top six minutes here. And even if he didn't, if he was that good of a player, he would have

Starting point is 00:29:38 still produced in a bottom six role. And he didn't. So it's nice to see him rebound. It really is because by all accounts, he was going through some personal struggles when he was with the penguins, and that affects your game. So this tells me he got over them or whatever happened in his life has been resolved, and he's in a better place now. And I am more than happy for that. But again, I will make the Eric Carlson trade eight days a week, which means I'll do it twice on Sunday. So it was a good trade at the time.

Starting point is 00:30:10 It remains a good trade. You don't have to like it. And again, I keep saying it. and we'll get into the Sharks preview after this. If you want to be mad at the Carlson trade, be mad at how the earned cap space was used after they acquired him. That was the problem, not the player acquired. And if you want to be mad at it as well,

Starting point is 00:30:32 you can be mad at the inconsistency that he's had as well. I do think that is fair. But I would also make that trade every time as well, because I don't think anyone saw this inconsistency. from him coming when they acquired him. I mean, I think if someone did, hey, shout out to you. I know I didn't. I know you didn't.

Starting point is 00:30:52 I know a lot of people in this fan base, whether you're in Discord, Reddit, Twitter, wherever you are talking about this team with people, I feel like a lot of people really did not see this coming. But getting into the sharks as a whole, yes, this team is very bad. Once again, they're going to be in consideration for the number one overall pick in the draft. We already discussed Granlin. He leads the team in points.

Starting point is 00:31:17 DeFoli's been really good as well. Six goals, 12 points in 18 games. William Eklund, two goals, 12 points and 17 games. Eklund is a ton of fun to watch, by the way. He's going to be a really good player for a long time. Zetterland has been great this year. Celebrini, he's only played in six games, but he has three goals, four points in those six games.

Starting point is 00:31:35 He's going to be great for a while. I am so glad the sharks finally have a franchise player for the first time in quite a bit. but even though the sharks aren't that great, I know the penguins aren't either, this is still going to be a tough test. And I know people are probably laughing that I just said that. The sharks have been playing some good games lately. They almost beat the Rangers the other night.

Starting point is 00:31:56 And the Rangers, they didn't really play that well in that game, but it was still only a three to two final score. The sharks played them very well in that game. Heck, they almost beat the Flyers in Philadelphia as well. They only lost in a shootout. They shut up the Devils before that, won nothing. Great game from the sharks.

Starting point is 00:32:11 in that one. Yeah, I know they lost to the wild. They lost to the blue jackets, but they also played the Canucks very tough earlier this month, a three to two loss at home in San Jose. They're playing some of these tough teams in the league very tough. And you know what they say, even though a team is bad like this, they got nothing to lose going out there. Yeah, they're playing for nothing. They are not playing to make the playoffs. They're not playing to win the Stanley Cup. They are playing to find out what they have. This is to take it back. to the first segment of the show. This is an audition for everybody on the San Jose Sharks because you know that

Starting point is 00:32:48 Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith are going to be here for the long haul. Those are two of their franchise cornerstone. He's awesome too. Those guys are locked in. But everybody else is trying to get a ticket on the train for when this team is a contender. And this is their management looking at this team and thinking, okay, we got our two guys. We're going to have another high pick. We've got some good talent in the system.

Starting point is 00:33:11 Let's find out who wants to stick around once we get to the close to the end stages of this rebuild. So this reminds me a lot of the second year of the Pittsburgh Penguins when Sidney Crosby was here. Because you can see that they've got two of their biggest guys. They're playing like a young team that is, and granted, it's not a one-to-one comparison, but they're playing like a team that knows their future is bright and they're putting the league, maybe not on notice just yet, but at the very least, if the way they're playing some of these teams,

Starting point is 00:33:42 like the Rangers, like the Devils, like the Canucks, they're putting the word out there that this team is not far away. So this will not be an easy game for the penguins. It's a game they should win, but they are going to have to go out there and earn it.

Starting point is 00:33:59 No, I agree. And especially coming off, it's the second half of back to back. You got to keep your shift short. You've got to limit the amount of mistakes that you might make, even though it's on a second half of the back-to-back, and you need to have Alex Nadelcovic, assuming that he gets to start play better.

Starting point is 00:34:14 I feel like these last few starts, he hasn't been nearly as good as he was a bit earlier this season where he was making a bit more timely saves. The same percentage has been going down these last three, the four starts, I feel like. So he needs to be a bit better as well. But I think that will do it for today's episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. Thank you also much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this one. Pat and I will be back on Monday. hopefully again with Marshall Monday with Jesse Marshall,

Starting point is 00:34:40 assuming nothing comes up with him. But for Patrick Damp, I am Hunter Hodes. Thank you all so much for tuning in. We appreciate it. We'll be back to recap both of these games with Jesse on Monday.

Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - The Penguins begin a back-to-back with Tristan Jarry returning

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