Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - The Penguins don't own a first round pick, so what now?

Episode Date: June 28, 2024

Hunter returns from his Locked On Penguins vacation and is back with Patrick talking about the start of silly season in the NHL! In the first segment, Hunter breaks down his draft board for the Penguins and who he sees them taking with their quick picks in round two. Then, they discuss how the NHL really dropped the ball in making it known that the NHL Awards were on Thursday night as well as the winners. Finally, they close out the show with some thoughts on the Stanley Cup Final, the Four Nations Faceoff, and what Dubas might do between now and the opening of free agency. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.Ultimate Hockey GMEver dreamed of becoming an NHL GM and managing your hockey franchise? Ultimate Hockey GM is completely free and playable offline, play on the go, as you want and when you want to. Locked On listeners get a 100% free boost to their franchise when using the promo LOCKEDONNHL in the game store. To download the game just visit hockeygm.app or look it up on the app stores. Ultimate Hockey GM - Start your dynasty today!PolicygeniusCheck life insurance off your to do list in no time with Policygenius. Head to policygenius.com/lockedonnhl to get your free life insurance quotes and see how much you could save.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET. That’s TWO HUNDRED BUCKS you can use to bet everything from the Finals MVP to who's going to hit one out of the park! Visit FANDUEL.COM/LOCKEDON and add a big win to your summer bucket list! 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.

Tonight is the NHL draft, and that means silly season is officially upon us. And Hunter is back, and we're going to talk about plenty of things, the draft, silly season, and more right after this. Your Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello and welcome back to another edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Patrick Damp. you can follow me on Twitter at Synonym 4Wet. Join once again from vacation. He's cooked.

He looks great. He's refreshed. The one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can give our show's account a follow at L.O. underscore Penguins. And we thank you for making this your first listener watch of the day because we're your team every day.

And don't forget that we are free and available wherever you get your podcast as well as YouTube. Hunter. Welcome back to the show. I hope the beach was great. You got a nice tan going on there for all of our viewers on YouTube. And just like when I had Jesse on yesterday to talk about how he dropped his draft mixtape on YouTube talking about some players the penguins could possibly take in the second round with their two quick picks. Again, as a disclaimer, they still don't have a first round pick, but that could change. You never know. There could be some trades. If there are, we'll let you know. But just like Jesse did yesterday, today, you have finally finished your draft

board. So it's time for us to keep the conversation going here on Locked on Penguins about some prospects that you think the Penguins could snag. And there's one I want to start with because it's one that has already been discussed this week on this show. And that's Defenseman Cole Hudson. Taylor and I spoke about him earlier this week. She had her reservations about him as a defenseman, some size issues, some defense issues, but still a very good player. And I want to get your thoughts on him. Yeah, Cole Hudson, he's top five on my board. I actually have him number four of the players that I really dove into for this year's draft for the second round for the Penguins. and 15 goals, 51 points for the U.S. National Under 18 team for this past season.

And what I really like about him is he really threads the needle for some passes. It looks like they have no chance of going through in the offensive zone. He's very much, I think, a bit more of a playmaking defenseman overall. He's also really good at jumping into the play. I feel like that's his bread and butter as a defenseman. He can still walk the blue line pretty well. But I feel like jumping into play is where he's best at. I do agree with Taylor.

I think he still needs to bulk up a little bit. He has had some issues in his own zone in terms of defending, but he more than makes up for it in terms of his offensive ability. I'll also say this. His shot is very deceptive. I think goalies have had a hard time handling it a little bit throughout his career. So I really like the upside for this player, even though there's definitely some issues overall.

Again, I have him number four on my big board for players that I've looked at that could be available in the second round on Saturday. Yeah, and I said this to Taylor. I understand the concerns. I don't even think they're unfounded. You look at his size. You look at the inconsistency that comes with playing for the U.S. development team.

You know, it's not like playing in, say, collegiate or junior or even overseas. You're playing an unspecified amount of games year to year. Like one year, you can play 40. The next year, you could play up to 70. it's very inconsistent how many games that you play. So it's really hard to get a serious gauge on him. But you look at what he has. And I kind of feel like we can thread everything together here from the conversations I had with Taylor as well as Jesse this week when it comes to prospects is when you're in the position that the Pittsburgh Penguins are in.

you're not picking in the top 10 of the NHL draft. You're not getting guys who are sure things. So instead, you're going to get projects. The guys you're going to pick are not going to be NHL ready for years. They're going to be years away from even maybe being ready for the American hockey league, let alone the NHL. But you look at a player like Hudson and you see a lot of raw skill. You see a lot of a good base to work with.

And when you're 18 years old, you've played for the U.S. development team, which has churned out a lot of talent over the past decade or so. You see what he does and you think, okay, if we get this guy in the second round, maybe the third round, because I know that Hudson's been one of those defensemen that has been up and down draft boards this year. Some see him as a second round pick. Some see him as a third round pick. You look at what he's done. You look at his numbers. You look at his game.

You think, okay, we've got a good base here. to work with. This might be a guy worthy of taking a flyer on in the later rounds. Well, that too, but also the penguins really need another good defensive prospect in their system. I mean, Owen Pickering, I still like him. I just don't know what his long-term future is with the organization. His development has just kind of been stagnant over these last couple of years, in my opinion. And I still feel like they need a bona fide defensive prospect. I'm not sure Hudson can get to level, but I think he has the ability just based on the way he plays in the offense. He's still going to have to bulk up. He's going to have to play a bit better in his

own zone. But he'll at least have a chance of just being at least their top prospect defensively in their system. Another guy who kind of fits that mold as well, Harrison Brunick, he played in the WHL this year, 10 goals, 21 points in 49 games. He's a right shot defenseman. He also kind of reminds me a little bit of Hudson in a sense that he loves jumping into the play. He also likes going down here the blue line with a puck on the stake, trying to make some plays happen as well. He can still, again, jump back into position with no problem. But he's not someone like Alphonse Frey, who's number one on my board. He likes to walk the blue line a lot more.

All three of these options, Harrison Brunich, Cole Hudson, and Alphonse Frey, they would be great picks for the penguins if all three are available to him at 44 and 46. I prefer Frey over the other two. but it's past time they get another at least legit defensive prospect in this system outside, I think of Owen Pickering. Yeah, and that's kind of been a theme the last two days here on the show while you've been on vacation with Taylor and Jesse is that, yeah, the penguins have a ton of organizational need when you start talking about draft and prospects because we know how thin the cupboard is. But the consensus seems to be that they really need a defensive prospect in their system.

because it's pretty much pickering and that's it. You can't really call Shea or St. I have any prospects anymore. They need to become professional contributors, whether it's at the American League or consistently in the NHL, you really can't refer to them as prospects anymore. I want to dig in a little more to fray because you did this, and I know I joked about it with Jesse, we as hockey prognosticators love to do the whole, well, he's like this player.

If you compare him to what he does, he's a lot like this guy. Very many Quinn Hughes, Hunter Hodes says about Alphonse Frey. And I want to get your thoughts on that. What makes him look like a mini Quinn Hughes? Yes, I want to stress to everyone very, and I mean very, very many Quinn Hughes vibes when I watch Alphonse Frey. I was high on him a couple weeks ago when I come. kind of teased it a little bit when I was really starting my big board for the Penguins.

He's number one on my board after going through every single player that I feel like could be available to the Penguins at 44 and 46. There are some players that I didn't get to. I might discuss that a little bit later, but he's 6-1-195, but you really wouldn't know it by watching all fronts, right? He looks like he's 5-8 out there, 14 goals, 33 points in 40 games this past season. He moves the puck up the ice with such beautiful precision. he's able to win battles along the boards.

He's also great at shrugging off defenders when he's trying to break the puck out. I mean, there was one play off of face off. I discussed this with you a couple weeks ago where it looks like the puck is going to the corner. It looks like he's just going to do a chip play along the boards. No, he does this beautiful head fake, goes the other way, starts a beautiful zone exit, and then his teammate didn't even know the pass was coming. But he's able to outthink you on the ice. And again, that just very much reminds me a little bit of Quinn Hughes as well.

I don't think he's going to shoot the puck. puck every time he has it. He's more of a playmaker, in my opinion, but I think you can get him to be a bit more shot happy as he continues to develop. So those are the main reasons why I kind of at least see very many Quinn Hughes vibes with him and why I think he has the chance to be, at least hopefully, a good NHL defenseman one day. Yeah, I liked a lot of what I saw from him. I was digging into a little bit of the video today as we were getting ready for this once you sent me over your board. And I liked a lot of what I saw the last guy that I want to talk about, before we head to break is Miguel Marcus.

He's a right winger. He's last on your board, but it's, again, been a theme both this week with Taylor and Jesse as well as just a theme with me in general. I look at a need the penguins have both in the short and long term because we see where the NHL is going. We need some more guys who play a hard-style game. and you look at Marcus's game and not afraid to go behind the net, not afraid to go into the corners,

can battle on the boards. And while his ceiling likely is middle six winger, still the more, the better when it comes to guys like that. And again, when we talk about where the penguins are picking and where the penguins are as a franchise, everybody keep in mind that these are projects.

These aren't guys who you're going to hear their name called this weekend, and they'll be ready in a year or two. These are guys you might not see for three, four years, if at all. Yeah, I think that's the big key here, Pat. These players aren't going to be ready until after Crosby, Malkin, and Lattang, are done playing. You're not going to see any of these players play with the big guns at this point. And with Marcus, yeah, he played in the W.HL.

this year, 28 goals, 74 points in 67 games. Sneaky good release, especially his wrist shot. I think of all the players I watch leading up for my draft big board, he might have the best release out of all them, especially his wrist shot. That is sneaky, and I mean sneaky good. I think placement is key with him.

He knows how to pick the corners where he's coming into the offensive zone. He can also win the battles along the boards. He's not afraid to get his nose dirty all battling for the puck below the goal line. His stick handling, off the charts, good, man. He made countless defenders look really silly with the way he stick handles. I kind of got very, very many, Matt Barzel vibes when I was watching him stick handle in the offensive zone.

I also see him as a middle six-winger if he can make it to the NHL, but he does have all the tools. I think he can work on some defending a little bit more as well. But if he makes it to the league, it's going to be because of his sneaky good wrist shot and his playmaking ability overall. And just to put a bow on this,

I do want to shout out Nikita Artamanov. He's number three on my board. And if he is available to the penguins in the second round, if I'm Kyle Dubas and company, I am running to the stage. Pat, his ranking, it's so different everywhere you look. Some places he's top 15 to 20, others he's top 25 to 30, others he's a bit below that. But in my opinion, if they're able to get him at 44 to 46, he is a flat out steal. When you first see him play, he is towering and he plays like it on the ice.

Big body at Ford, he can forecheck extremely well. I think he would be a fan favorite very quickly. He played in the KHL this past season, seven goals, 23 points, and 54 games. I know some people look at those stats and be like, well, that's not that good. But trust me, people. For someone who was only 18, almost half a point per game in the KHL is pretty good, especially when you're going up against pretty solid players on an every night basis. And his two-way game, I think, is also improving throughout each year.

I think he's defending in his own zone could also take off a little bit this year. but it's his playmaking ability that really shines out when you watch it, both at five on five and on the power play. He was getting second power play time throughout this season for his team. And he also brings a lot of energy each shift, which brings me to my final point. I kind of get Brandon Tanniv vibes off that. But he's capable of so much more.

I think if he's able to make it to the NHL, he'll be a real good offensive threat. Again, energy-wise, Brandon Tanov, that's my comp for that. but skill-wise, it's way beyond that, I think. Yeah, and half a point per game in the KHL is good for just about anybody because it's not a highly offensive league. So if you're able to put up those kind of numbers, it's a solid indicator of your skill level.

It's not like the NHL is. So that's not bad at all for him. But that is going to do it for this segment. NHL draft kicks off tonight at 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. It is at the sphere in Vegas. You can watch that on ESPN. here in the States. Penguins, as of now, do not have a first round pick, so they will not be a part

of tonight's festivities, but they do have six picks, two in the second round, one in the fourth, one in the sixth, two in the seven, six picks overall. But when we come back, we're going to talk about the NHL draft, and I'm going to throw Hunter for a little bit of a loop, because as much as I want to talk about the awards, I got something else I need to talk about. But we will do that right after this, because we have to tell you, about our first sponsor, and that is eBay Motors. Passion drive and patience, the formula for winning championships, is also what keeps your ride or die alive.

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home huge wins. Keep your ride or die live at eBaymotors.com. Eligible items only, exclusions apply. eBay guaranteed fit available only to US customers. All right, we're back here on the Friday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm Patrick Dam, joined once again by Hunter Hodes as he's wrapping up his vacation before the NHL draft and silly season gets underway. And last night was the NHL awards and no real surprises on the winners other than maybe you could make a case for McDavid over McKinnon, but that's small potatoes. They're both absolutely incredible. And I don't think there's an incorrect answer there either way. But this gets into something that I have talked about on this show a lot.

The NHL stinks at marketing its own product. Now, I understand. Us hardcore hockey fans, we like the NHL awards simply to argue. We don't like them to watch them. It's not a show tailored to us. It's a show tailored to casual fans. It's a show tailored to casual fans. It's show tailored to people who only have a player on their team nominated for an award. You want to see if they win so you can have your bragging rights. However, I think it's pretty obvious. Hunter and I are pretty diehard hockey fans, right? We host a show about the Pittsburgh Penguins.

We talk about the Penguins five days a week. We text about the penguins seven days a week. We tweet about the penguins every single day. And I said this on Twitter last night. until I started seeing awards roll in, I had no idea the NHL Awards were last night, none whatsoever. And that's a problem because like I said, I'm one of the biggest hockey fans in the world. I obsess over this sport. I watch this sport anytime it's on. No idea the award show was last night.

And not that I would have, you know, carved out time to watch them. but I should know when an NHL marquee event is, and I had no idea. The only reason I knew the initial awards for last night was because Jeff Merrick and Elliot Freeman were discussing it on one of their 32 thoughts podcast episodes earlier this week. They were like, oh yeah, the awards are on Thursday. I'm like, wait, they are? I had no idea that they were.

And you saw, I caught a little bit of the awards. I was mainly watching the U.S. soccer team just embarrassed themselves against Panama, just because I can't wait for Greg Burrhalter, excuse me to hopefully be fired. But I caught a little bit of it. And some of it was just so cringe, man. I mean, I saw people getting mad at Nikita Kutrov in the audience. Really? Who cares?

Like, he obviously doesn't want to be there. So why are people getting mad that he's giving short answers when, not going to lie, the jokes that were coming at him just weren't that funny? So I don't know why people were that mad about it. I mean, I only really care about the awards just because I like seeing who people vote for. I like seeing who actually watched the games this year versus who did not watch the games. And most of the awards I was fine with. I mean, here's a hot take for you.

I would have given Kuturov the heart over McKinnon. I mean, I had that take for the last several months. I don't know where that Tampa Bay team is this season without the play of Nikita Kutrov. My top three would have been Kuturov, McKinnon, and then, David. I know, again, that's going to be a hot take to some people, but I still have no issue with McKinnon winning. He was dynamite once again this year for the avalanche. But I just think Kuturov was, I guess, more valuable to his team overall. Again, I know McDavid also had an incredible season. I could have seen him winning it as well, but I still would have given it to Kuturov.

But that's just my main thoughts on the NHO Awards as a whole. I mean, again, I tune in a little bit, but I'm not going to watch that entire thing. There's just no need for it. Yeah. And like I said, you know, not, putting aside the show or the marketing of the show itself, the show itself, again, is not for diehard hockey fans. It's for casuals. It's, it's for people who like award shows. And that's not me talking down to any of these people. Like, I'm a very big live and let live. You like what you like. I'm not going to judge you for it. But the fact that this is another moment where the biggest stars in the NHL are going to be in one place. And this is a chance for the NHL to say, hey, look, these are the best of the best in our league.

You should want more people getting eyeballs on it rather than just being like, I mean, the NHL Awards on Thursday. And then we have the draft on Friday. Like, it's absurd. And for those who may not know if you didn't catch it last night, like I said, McKinnon wins the heart. Connor Hellebuck wins the Vesna. Again, no surprise there.

All three goalies, very worthy of the award. I don't think there's a wrong answer there. Bobrovsky and Demko were the runners up. That makes sense. And then Norris Trophy goes to Quinn Hughes. I think he won that in a landslide. This year there was not a better defenseman during the regular season. Connor Bedard wins the Calder.

Again, he was the odds-on favorite and had a great season. He's going to be a superstar for years to come. Nathan McKinnon wins, in my opinion, the most important award, the Ted Lindsay Award. That's the MVP is voted upon by his peers. Again, don't think there's a wrong answer there between him, Matthews, Kutrov, and even though he was not a finalist to McDavid. And then Rick Tawket wins the Jack Adams, which well-deserved great turnaround for Vancouver. They were great this year, and he had a large hand in it.

And then Jacob Slavin wins the Lady Bing, whatever. and then Barkov, to no one's surprise, wins the Selke. So not a lot of surprises, not a lot of weird picks, everybody who got the award pretty much deserved it. Yeah, there were really no surprises for me. Again, I have my preference for the heart, but I have no problem with McKinnon winning it just because I think he was very deserving this year.

I think this is one of the first years that I can remember at least a few that every award that was given out was given to the player or the coach which obviously with Greg Talkett, that deserved it the most, you know, give or take overall. Yeah, and I will say one thing that is really cool to see the NHL Awards All-Rookie team named on that. Arizona, now Utah's Logan Cooley, West Mifflin's own, Pittsburgh Native. He had a very solid season for the coyotes. And it's really cool to see the growth of hockey in Pittsburgh and to see someone like Cool not just make it to the NHL, but do very well.

I think he's going to be a great piece for Utah in the years to come. He is a very, very good hockey player, and I'm excited to see where his career goes. But that is going to do it for this second segment. When we come back, it's going to be a little bit of a pot-pery final segment. We're going to talk about some things Hunter missed while he was on vacation, as well as get you ready for the draft and silly season, which is fully, fully underway. But before we do that, we've got to tell you about our last sponsor,

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We've got a Stanley Cup champion hunter. And it's the Florida Panthers. They rose from the dead after being almost dead to claim their franchise's first Stanley Cup in 30 years. It was a great game seven. I loved watching it. That was one of the more entertaining game sevens we've seen in a long time. And I just want to get your quick thoughts on game seven of the Stanley Cup final. incredible game i love the way the panthers played especially in the third period i don't think

sasha barkoff left the ice that entire third period it felt like he was out there the entire time and you know shout out to the panthers for the job they did on mac david and dry sidle in that game especially mac david the panthers were giving no quarter to mac david every time he was out there and honestly mac david it looked like was out there for the entire third period as well i mean You can't blame Chris Knoblock for that. I mean, you live by your star players. You're going to die with your star players. And especially in the final five minutes of that third period,

I don't think they left the ice at all. But you got the Panthers, they were the better team overall, just when you look at the body of work in this series, by the slimmest of margins. I know some people are up in arms about Carter McDavid getting the Kahn-Smith. I'll say this. I get why people are a bit annoyed. I have no problem with it, man.

I think when you look at the playoffs overall, he was the best player in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Yes, he struggled in game six. Yes, he didn't do that much in game seven. But I'm not going to let a two-game sample size dictate who, you know, should get it overall. I think when you look at the numbers, look at the impact that he had, especially in that series, I mean, to get the Oilers back to tying the series after being down three nothing overall. he just, it felt like he had nothing left in game seven. That's what it looked like, man.

It looked like he was gassed in that third period just because of everything he did in that series and everything he did in the prior three series as well. So I really had no problem with it. If they did go to Barkdorf, I would have been totally fine with that as well. And that was my prediction at least. But the fact that it went to McDavid, I know some people are annoyed by it. I'm not one of them. I'm totally fine with it going to Connor.

And I'm right there with you. I've said it on the show before, especially when we've talked about, excuse me, the Penguins championships, especially 2016, when everybody debates, oh, it should have been Phil, not Crosby that won the cons might. We often forget, it's not a Stanley Cup final MVP. It's the playoff MVP, and far be it for me to defend Gary Bettman, but he said as much when he presented the con smith to Connor McDavid, even though McDavid rightfully didn't go out and accept the trophy. It's not the MVP of the Stanley Cup final.

It's the MVP of the Stanley Cup playoffs. And there was no better player in the Stanley Cup playoffs than Connor McDavid. Then Connor McDavid. So again, I'm with you. But I can also see both sides of the argument. I understand people's trepidation over it. but at the same time, when you're breaking and sniffing down records in the playoffs that were once thought to be untouchable, I think that makes you a great candidate for MVP.

Now, if they would have gotten swept or gentleman swept and he still won it, I might have had some issues, but he was so great in games four and five that I think that cemented his victory, even if you can bring in game six and seven. But yeah, moving on here, we know that this is about to be a big time silly season for the penguins at the draft and going into free agency. Kyle Dubus has a very full plate. I talked to Josh a little bit about this on Tuesday. The biggest development this week has kind of been more smoke has been developing around Tristan Jari. While we had our game theory after they re-signed to Delkevich, like, oh, what did?

Does this mean for Tristan Jari? Like, could they move him? That was all us just playing armchair general manager. Now reports come out that while Kyle Dubas isn't actively shopping Tristan Jari, he's kind of putting the feelers out there that maybe for the right price will trade Tristan Jari. So Hunter, what are you thinking about possibly trading Tristan Jari? Yeah, I mean, we've had this discussion. I feel like a lot over the last couple of weeks.

I don't really think my view has changed. I think if you're not at least seeing what the market is, seeing what you can get for him. I don't think you're doing your job as a general manager in the NHL. So I'm sure they probably told a few teams, hey, we have them on the market. What do you think? What would you want to pay for this goaltender?

We know it's a long contract. Just what are you thinking overall? And, you know, we've seen the Markstrom trade. we've seen the Allmark trade, which, I mean, I thought he was going to be the goalie that gets quite a bit back. I was kind of underwhelmed by the return that Boston got. But, you know, I think there are still some goaltending needy teams, like, for example, Detroit. I mean, it feels like they're in on basically every goalie that's available right now. I mean, there's been some smoke there with Jari.

There's been some smoke there with John Gibson. So I don't really think much has changed, but at least they're starting to contact maybe more teams and saying like, hey, he's available. You know, the goalie market's going down a little bit. Just what do you think overall? Yeah. And again, it's what you and I have discussed. If nothing else, it's got to be a cap move. You can move him to free up some cap space, which they so desperately need.

And one last thing that I'll add before we wrap up the show here. And I just kind of want to get your thoughts on this. because what I'm going to say here, this is based on vibes. This is based on nothing that I've heard, nothing that I've sourced or anything. But I was reading one of Rob Rossi's kind of off-season primers this week. And there was a small little nugget in there that stood out to me. I'm sure a lot of people probably just read right past it. But Kyle Nubis has been in Vegas since Sunday.

He went out there clearly very early. Now, obviously, he's a little bit hamstrung, a lot of big money deals on the Penguins books right now. Ron Hextall handed out no movement clauses like candy, but I just get the sense that he's digging in. He is going to try, if not make, some big moves this weekend and into next week. Yeah, I mean, he's got them, man. I mean, they only have $10.7 million in cap space right now. I understand that people, I guess, are a little bit impatient right now, but it's still only June 20. The first round of the NHL draft has not happened as of this recording.

It's about 445 right now overall. But who knows, maybe he does have some business, excuse me, to take care of tonight in the first round, even though the Penguins don't have a first round pick. Maybe he does move a Riley Smith. Maybe he does move a Tristan Jari or something like that. I think you're going to see him be very active over these next few days, even though he really hasn't done much this offseason to date. But I mean, time's ticking. The team right now, it's a bit stale.

He's got to make quite a few changes heading into next season to, I guess, bring some much-needed, you know, enthusiasm, energy, whatever word you want to call it heading into next season for this team. And also, we should shout out Sydney Crosby and Eric Carlson being named to their respective countries, four nations face-off teams today. The first six skaters were announced for Sweden, Finland, United States and Canada. Cindy Crosby making Team Canada, of course,

Eric Carlson making Team Sweet. Congratulations to them overall with that. Yeah, very excited to watch that. I know that a lot of people haven't been all that excited for it, but I'm a sucker for international hockey. And this is obviously going to be an Olympic primer. It's not just going to be some arbitrary, like the 2016 World Cup of hockey. Even though that ended up being great,

this is going to be a primer for the Olympics. So that's going to be a ton of fun to watch. But that is going to do it for the Friday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Thank you all for tuning in. Hunter and I will be back with a fresh episode on Monday. But if there are any big moves or any big trades, we will hop on here and do a quick episode breaking them down. But for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp.

Thank you, as always, for tuning in. And we will be back with you for a full episode on Monday.