Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - The Penguins need a third line center, there's one available via trade!

Starting point is 00:00:00 We all know the penguins still have a need at third line center, and a very intriguing option has now become available via trade. Hunter and I are going to talk about that and more on this edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Your Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello and welcome back to another edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Patrick Damp. You can follow me on Twitter at Synonym 4Wet.

Starting point is 00:00:38 Joined as always by 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. And before we get going today, today's episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code locked on.

Starting point is 00:01:04 on NHL for $20 off your first purchase, terms apply. So Hunter, you and I have been talking about this for the majority of the time the penguins have not been active because I keep saying off season, but it's still not the off season because the Stanley Cup has yet to be awarded this season. It seems like it's never going to end any time in our lifetime because the Edmonton Oilers refused to die and we're still coming out of the COVID delays from a few years ago with the NHL schedule. but we know that one of the things the penguins are in need of is an upgrade at third line center.

Starting point is 00:01:39 Lars Eller had a very, very promising season. He overperformed the expectations you and I had for him going into the season, but we both know that his age, his career, chances are that's probably not going to continue into next year. And he would likely be better suited as the fourth line center rather than the third line center. And as we learned today through various reports, a very intriguing option is on the market and available via a trade. And this is a guy that has fit the characteristic of the type of player we have been yelling that the penguins need to get on their roster to get back to the playoffs. And that is the Colorado Avalanche's Ross Colton. That team right now is not so much up against it when it comes to California.

Starting point is 00:02:32 They've got a little over 16 million, but they have a slew of UFAs that they've got to get re-signed, including players like Jonathan Druand if they want to continue that relationship. He was very productive with them. Sean Walker is also a UFA, and they have players like Casey Middlestat as an RFA. So it becomes a numbers game. And you look at a player like Ross Colton, $4 million. for the next three seasons. He is 27 years old, had a very solid season with Colorado this year.

Starting point is 00:03:13 80 games played, 17 goals, 23 assists for 40 points. And everywhere he's gone, Tampa Bay included, he's been a very productive depth player. He's on a very affordable contract. In the one thing that we have been talking about, he's a little bit of a rat. He's not afraid to get dirty. He's not afraid to throw hits.

Starting point is 00:03:36 He's not afraid to go to the dirty areas. And one last thing I'll say about Colton before I throw it over to you for your thoughts. Very, very effective in the face off circle. He has only had one season, and it was his rookie season with Tampa Bay, where he only played 30 games. He has never been below 50% in the faceoff circle. He has hovered around 52 to 55% for the majority of his career. So this is a guy who could bring a lot of value to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Starting point is 00:04:09 Yes. If I am Kyle Dubus and company, I am very much giving a call to Joe Sackett, Chris McFarlane, and then entire Colorado front office about trading for Ross Colton. You already discussed the contract. He's only 27 years old. You're getting younger with this type of move. He'll bring you good offense. He'll bring you good defense in his own zone.

Starting point is 00:04:28 Sure, he's not going to do too much work on the penalty. kill, but the Penguins already have enough penalty killers on this team. Lars Eller, for example. Brian Rust, obviously, for example. Chris LaTang plays a lot on the penalty kill. Marcus Pedersen also plays a lot of the penalty kill. Noel Chari, if he's on the team next year, he also plays a lot on the penalty kill. I'm not too concerned about that aspect, but he's great at five on five.

Starting point is 00:04:51 He can play well on the power play, especially the penguin's second unit. I mean, this year, for his underlines on the power play, when he was on the ice, The avalanche had 83% of the shot attempts, nine goals for, two goals against, also 88% of the scoring chances, 43 high danger chances for six high danger chances against. He is great on the power play. And obviously, again, he's not going to play on the top unit for the penguins, but if injuries arise, for example, he could definitely step up if needed. But this is the exact type of third line center that I would like the penguins to go after.

Starting point is 00:05:26 again, he brings that much needed offense that I would like to have in a third line center. He's a former 20 goal score. And also for the avalanche here, they might see him kind of as a cap casualty, just because you already mentioned their slew of free agents that they are thinking of bringing back. But you have to remember, they might have to save a spot for Landisog if he's ready to go for next year. And he makes $7 million against salary caps. Obviously, he's still on LTIR. We'll have to see what happens with him.

Starting point is 00:05:56 for next year. But if he's healthy and ready to go at some point, they are going to have him obviously in their lineup. And you have to remember, Miko Ranson, going into the last year of his contract, he makes 9.25 against the salary cap. He's going to be a UFA in 2025, 2025, 2026. So this is a team that has a lot of decisions to make. And if you can get Colton for maybe something of a steel on the trade market, again, I would be all in favor of getting him to be the Penguins third line center. Because if you're a center, depth looks like something like Crosby, Malkin, Colton, and then Eller, especially for another year. That's really sound stuff, I think.

Starting point is 00:06:36 Yeah, there's no doubt that if you can get this guy in as your 3C, you suddenly have very solid center depth top to bottom. And back to Colorado, you brought up that it's not so much this off season that they're probably that worried about. but you look at, like you said, Miko Ranton's not going to come cheap. He may make something similar to the 925. I don't think he's going to get a ginormous raise, but he's definitely going to cost more than what he makes now. You also have, like you said, Landisgog, that's $7 million that could come back as early as next year. And then going into the year after that, they have Logan O'Connor as well,

Starting point is 00:07:20 who's currently on LTIR. And while that's only a million, he's been a steady soldier for them and he's probably going to command a little bit more money, albeit not a lot. But you see a lot of these role players that they have and think, okay, they're going to have to free something up somewhere because more guys are going to be in tune for a raise. Yes, you're going to have a rising salary cap. But then once you get into next offseason, if you've resigned, say, Drewann, Middle Stad, Caleb Jones, Sean. Walker, Landisog comes back, and all of a sudden, you're up against it and you need to, you're in a similar position to the Penguins were about five, six years ago, where you want to keep the Nathan McKinnon window open like the Penguins wanted to do with the Crosby window,

Starting point is 00:08:08 and all of a sudden you might have to shed some good talent. So if I'm the Penguins, while I don't think they can be considered a lead contender for Colton, because this isn't, and I know it's a rough comparison, like Riley Smith last summer, where they just have to shave someone off, even if they don't want to, they have value here. They can get a good return for Ross Colton.

Starting point is 00:08:34 And I'm not sure if there's much the penguins can offer in way of assets to get him out of Colorado. You do also have to be careful. The Colorado front office is one of the best front offices in the league, bar none. Joe Zackick and Chris McFarland are very good. I remember when Rutherford left the Penguins, they were interviewing McFarland. And I was very much on board with him potentially becoming the next GM, just because I knew he was going to be a GM someday.

Starting point is 00:09:00 I just wish it wasn't in Colorado, but he's doing a great job there overall. So if they do go after Colton, in a perfect world, you get him for cheap, right? But I think with Colorado, as you said, I think they're going to make Kyle Dubus and company kind of earn it a little bit, with the way they negotiate trades. It's not often that Colorado, quote unquote, loses a deal, especially these last few years. So those would be, I think, some very fascinating discussions. And again, when you look at Colorado salary cap situation, outside of Colton, I really don't know who they would move.

Starting point is 00:09:36 I mean, obviously, you're not moving any of the big guns. You're not moving Devon Taves. I don't think they're going to move Sam Gerard, though I guess it's maybe sometimes possible, but he also has a modified no trade clause. I don't think Josh Manson is going anywhere either. Casey Mills stands in RFA. He's going to get a nice pay raise for the next few years. But I mean, Miles would potentially, but he also has a modified no trade clause.

Starting point is 00:09:58 You look up and down that roster. There's not many other better candidates that they could move and get something back that aren't like the core, core pieces other than Colton. So that's going to be really interesting to see as well. But even his 5-on-5 numbers this year just circling back to Colton a little bit more when he was on the ice, the avalanche had about 53% of the shot attempts, 41 goals for, 46 goals again. So kind of a little bit of a wash there. Also, 56% of the high danger chances, 54% of the scoring chances all at 5 on 5. So most of his underlines, pretty sound. And I think if you

Starting point is 00:10:34 can put some, at least one finisher next to Colton, maybe that's someone already on the team, or if you go out into free agency and get one another middle six winger, I think you'd have the makings of a really sound third line and maybe you can put Pustin on there too. I think that would be a big improvement compared to last year. It absolutely would and not to extend this conversation too long because we do have to throw a break here soon. I will say this also could be a team the penguins could be in contact with all summer to make a bigger deal because we know that while he bounced back pretty well in the postseason, Alexander Georgiev, little bit of a wild card.

Starting point is 00:11:16 So maybe they're looking for some better goal tending. Maybe there's something there. Maybe there's a bunch of pieces they could move back and forth. So I look at Colorado as a team that Kyle Dubas could be in contact with all summer and really pull something interesting off here just because they are two teams that have almost opposite needs and they could be of service to one another. and it's two very smart front offices where they try not to lose deals, they try to get the best value out of everything they can,

Starting point is 00:11:49 and they could work in concert pretty well together, also because it's East and West. It's not like you're throwing these players to a division rival that could come back to haunt you. Right. No, I hear you. I will say with Georgiev, he definitely struggled a little bit to start that series against Winnipeg,

Starting point is 00:12:06 but he did rebound a little bit as that series went on and then as the second round series went on against Dallas, I know Colorado lost in that round, but I still felt like Yorgiv was playing at least a little bit better after the first couple of games of that series against the Jets. He makes $3.4 million for this year before he's a UFA. I do think they could use another goalie on the roster, but I don't, my guess is that I don't think they would be in on Tristan Jari,

Starting point is 00:12:32 though anything could happen. But I do think if you were to ask me, they're probably committed to Georgiiv for this next season before maybe thinking about changing some things up there, just because they've been kind of rotating that position for the last few years, just trying to get by with only average goaltending and not going out there and getting like a bona fide stud. Yeah, so we'll see.

Starting point is 00:12:53 But I definitely think that's an intriguing option if the penguins can find a way to pry him out of Colorado. But that is going to do it for this first segment. When we come back, we've got to talk about how as of yesterday, the Metropolitan Division has really started to load up. and it might be time for Kyle Dubus to react to a division that's starting to turn again. But before we do that, we got to tell you about our first sponsor, and that is game time. It's summertime and my pirates and hunters nationals are in a battle for the NL Wildcard.

Starting point is 00:13:27 And I love going to baseball games in the summer. Pittsburgh, we know PNC Park. It's absolutely beautiful. It's one of the most fun things to do once summer's here, especially once we get out of this here. wave and game time is an authorized ticket marketplace of Major League Baseball, which makes getting tickets faster and easier. Prices on the GameTime app actually go down the closer it gets the first pitch, and with killer last minute deals, all in prices, views from your seat and their lowest price

Starting point is 00:13:54 guarantee, game time takes the guesswork out of buying MLV tickets. You can pick out any specific game or matchup that you'd love to attend, including those pitchers' doles if you want to see our boy Paul Skeen's take the mound, and you can find great deals for all of these games. And you can use in-app features such as customize your spot, which will get you both last-minute ticket deals, flash deals, zone deals, and it'll be very easy to find tickets here in Pittsburgh. You'll also get a view from your seat.

Starting point is 00:14:22 And of course, don't forget the lowest price guarantee that also has event cancellation protection and more. Last-minute deals can save you up to 60% off buying tickets for sports, concerts, comedy, theater, and more. All-in prices let you toggle that feature. see the total up front so you're not hit with any of those last second surprise fees. I already talked about the seat view where you can get a panoramic view of your seat in the app before you buy. And of course, the lowest price guarantee is sitting right there for you.

Starting point is 00:14:49 And if you find a better price, game time will credit you 110% of the difference. So take the guesswork out of buying MLB tickets with GameTime, download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code L-O-C-E-D-O-N-H-L for $20 off. Download game time today, last-minute tickets, lowest price, guaranteed. All right, we're back here on the Thursday edition of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm Patrick Damp. That's Hunter Hodes. And boy, oh boy, it is silly season in the Stanley Cup, has yet to be awarded.

Starting point is 00:15:33 and it's especially silly season in the Metropolitan Division. We touched on it briefly yesterday. We were talking more about the Markstrom deal to the New Jersey Devils and how that affected the potential value of Tristan Jari. But a lot of other things did happen in the Metropolitan Division. Obviously, New Jersey suddenly has a very solid goaltending tandem with Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen. The Rangers waived Barkley Grudrow,

Starting point is 00:16:02 and he is now with the San Jose Sharks. That saves them a good bit of cap space to make some more improvements on a roster that already did pretty well this past year. And then, of course, the Capitals get PLD. While there are question marks there, he's got a track record of success a little bit in the NHL. He's young enough. He can maybe bring some life into that Capitals roster.

Starting point is 00:16:27 So Hunter, what do the Penguins need to do to get back on track in the Metro Division? Well, I mean, you don't want to make a reactionary or panic move, right? You got to make the right move or moves, I should say, to get back into contending for a playoff spot in this division. We all know, I mean, I feel like this division is going to be better next year. I don't think it's going to be, you know, just two teams and then kind of everyone else that you saw this past year.

Starting point is 00:16:57 I mean, the Islanders were very mid this year. the capitals were very mid the penguins were very mid you know the devils were kind of in that category a little bit as well same with the flyers it was really just two teams that were contenders in that division and then everyone else was just okay to flat out bad like Columbus was i think next year you're going to obviously see the rangers be very good you're going to see the hurricanes be very good and i do think you're going to see the devils get back into that category as long as they stay healthy they have the goaltender now after we saw that trade on wednesday i do think get everything goes right for them, they will be in the playoffs next year.

Starting point is 00:17:33 Now, that said, what happens with the Islanders, capital of penguins? We'll have to see, but, I mean, we've been talking about the Penguins' needs for quite some time now. Everyone that's listened to the show ever since the penguin season ended knows where we stand on their needs. Third line center, potentially a top four left-handed shot defenseman that can play on either the top pairing with Crystal Tang or the second pairing with Eric Carlson, another middle six-four that can play on the third line to maybe in the top six. if injuries arise, and then if there's an upgrade to be had in goal, you can look at that as well. We've remained consistent, I think, with those. But you've got to make the right moves, and you've got to be patient overall.

Starting point is 00:18:13 I think some people are definitely getting a little bit antsy for moves. I mean, I definitely am just because, you know, we obviously love content on the show. We love giving our thoughts and everything this team does. But there's still, you know, about right now close to a week and a half, before free agency. Stuff is going to start happening. Fairly soon, we already saw some stuff happening on Wednesday. But once this final ends, whether it's tomorrow or whether it's Monday, right after that,

Starting point is 00:18:41 you are going to see a slew of moves. I will say this. I know I'm going to be at Ocean City Maryland next week, and we'll discuss that a little bit for our plans for next week for content on the Friday edition of the show. But I think you're going to see a lot of action next week, and I would be stunned if the Penguins we're in on any of that action. So what I would say to everyone is just, you know, chill out a little bit, see what happens until the season ends.

Starting point is 00:19:06 But right after that, it's going to be all gas snow breaks. But I think overall, just, you know, find that right fit at third line center. If you can get another top four left-handed shot defenseman, that would be great. Everything else we've said on the show also holds water as well. But, you know, they have quite a few areas to improve if they want to get back to the playoffs. Yeah, this is going to be huge because now, obviously, I think we kind of touched on it yesterday. With the devil's now having a solid tandem and goal, and hopefully they stay healthy with a new coach, that's going to be a very good team.

Starting point is 00:19:42 They will compete for one of the top three spots in the division. Obviously, the Rangers are still going to be very good. They've got just about everybody they need coming back. They've got to make some improvements on the margins. But when you have the best goaltender on the planet, anything is possible. Carolina is always going to be Carolina. They're going to find everything in the nooks and crannies of the NHL to make them a great team.

Starting point is 00:20:08 And I think they've got a very solid general manager now in Eric Tulski. Obviously, I think the Flyers are going to take a step. I don't know if they're going to be that much better, but they are going to be a team that competes with the Penguins for a spot in the postseason in the Metro Division. Obviously, Columbus is in a rebuild. we don't have to worry too much about them. The Islanders are the Islanders. They started to come on a little bit at the end.

Starting point is 00:20:31 They started to find themselves a little bit. And Patrick Wa is getting another opportunity at the NHL level. And he showed plenty of promise. So I look at the Penguins, and all the needs we've talked about this summer are paramount for them to get back to the Stanley Cup playoffs. I think the hiring of David Quinn is actually going to be more consequential than people think. I think that's going to unlock something in Eric, Carlson. I'm hoping it can help develop POJ and get Ryan Graves back on track. Overall, though,

Starting point is 00:21:04 I think our pal Josh O'Hoh, he talked about this in his story today on the athletic. Kyle Dubus's biggest focus is going to be improving the penguin's depth. And I think that's the most important need. Yes, you've got your question marks and goal. Yes, there's some question marks on defense, but the bottom six has to get better. We've seen it the last couple of years. We know the top six can produce. You make a couple tweaks here and there, a guy or two bounces back. Your top six is solid. But the bottom six has to find somebody that can chip in. If they don't find that, they are going to find themselves in the exact same spot they have been for these last two seasons. Well, it's more than just one guy that can chip in.

Starting point is 00:21:45 They mean multiple guys that can come in and chip in down there. There's no way Dubis watch that entire season was like, oh yeah, that's what I envisioned from the bottom six. There's just no way. So, yeah, improving the depth is paramount. Getting that third-line center is paramount. Getting another middle six-winger or two is very big, especially if you can move out potentially someone like a Riley Smith that opens you up to almost $20 million yet again in salary cap space.

Starting point is 00:22:13 It'll be about 18 if you can move on from that entire contract. And again, I would also kind of be surprised like a lot of other people would be if Smith is on the team come October. But they really need to change up that. unit. And again, I still think you look at that top four defensively. I like three of them quite a bit, man. I like Chris O'Tang when he's fully healthy. I like Eric Carlson when he's healthy. I like Marcus Peders when he's healthy. Outside of that, there's just a lot of question marks when it comes to can Graves bounce back? Can POJ play in the top four for all 82 games if he

Starting point is 00:22:48 comes back? You need another guy there. So that's obviously a big need too. But for the depth, just the bottom six in general, that's where you really got to make your mark and start over there a little bit. And I'm going to be curious to see how he changes up these bottom two lines after how this past season went. Most importantly, I agree wholeheartedly with what you said at the top there.

Starting point is 00:23:13 You can't have a panic reactionary move on this. You can't. You can't look at what everybody's doing. And I know we're kind of doing that in this segment talking about what the Metro is done, but you don't want to go out and make a trade just to make a trade. You don't want to make a signing just to make a signing because you feel like you have to. We've talked about what a delicate balance it is with where this franchise is currently.

Starting point is 00:23:36 We know there's two, maybe three good years left and then it's time to start rebuilding. So you don't want to accelerate that timeline by signing an albatross, by acquiring an albatross. You don't want to do hope plays. It's what I kind of talked about yesterday with everybody saying, oh, well, with those goalie trades, you know, get rid of Jari and bring in Nadelcovich. I like Nett. I think he had a solid end of the year. I don't know if he's a starter. And yeah, we can say the same thing about Jari, but I would rather sure that up with a better 1B than I would relying on a guy who's been teetering between a 1B and a backup for the rest of his career.

Starting point is 00:24:16 So I look at this and I think the penguins still are in a good spot to make a few moves. put themselves right back in the mix, but Kyle Dubus cannot miss. Yeah, this is a big offseason for him, man. I mean, there was a reason why I gave him a C on July 1 last year. A lot of people, I know that commented before you came on, they didn't like that grade, but it ended up being kind of right when you saw how a lot of those players played throughout the season outside of Alex Delcovic and Lars Deller, obviously, but, you know, Achari Nietta, who barely even played Ryan Graves, obviously, again, there was a reason why I kind of gave him an average grade.

Starting point is 00:24:56 It needs to be a lot higher. And I know some people are a little down on him after his first year. I'm not there yet. I think it's a little premature to get to that point. I think he's had his hits and misses, as I think most GMs do in this league. But this summer is a massive one for him. And I think we'll know just how good of a GM he is once this summer concludes. because I feel like a good GM learns from his mistakes that he made.

Starting point is 00:25:25 Let's see what he can cook up this summer. Yeah, this absolutely has to be a home run of a season. But he did have a lot of a mess to clean up coming into last season because there was a lot of damage done by the prior management. So we will see what he does. I'm very excited and very curious to see what happens this off season. And speaking of that in our final segment, We know he loves his guys, and one of them is available now.

Starting point is 00:25:54 Hunter and I will talk about whether or not that's a viable option for the Pittsburgh Penguins. But before we do that, we have to tell you about our next sponsor, and that is Ultimate Hockey GM. Hey, locked on, Penguins fans, I want to take a moment to bring up one of our partners, the mobile game, Ultimate Hockey GM. Have you ever dreamed of becoming an NHL GM and managing your hockey franchise? Do you think you could do a better job running the Penguins than Kyle Dubus does, right now, well, your dream can come true, and this game is most definitely for you. Manage every strategic aspect of your team and play through seasons and lead it to glory.

Starting point is 00:26:29 Hire the right coaching staff, the staff, trade players, or draft picks, navigate through free agency in the draft, all in a challenging, realistic game world. As Penguins fans, we know there is no off season. GMs are constantly making moves at every point of the year to improve their team's chances, and that's why I think you're going to love the game. I certainly do. I have been leading my Pittsburgh pennies to several championships in this game. It's a ton of fun.

Starting point is 00:26:55 It's great. I'm enjoying it. And Ultimate Hockey GM is completely free and playable offline. You can play on the go and as you want and where you want to. By the way, Locked on network listeners get a 100% free boost to their franchise when using the promo code locked on NHL in the game store. So make sure to check it out. To download the game, just visit HockeyGM.

Starting point is 00:27:17 or look it up on the app stores. Ultimate Hockey GM Start Your Dynasty today. All right, we're back here for the final segment of the Thursday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. One more time, I'm Patrick Damp. That's Hunter Hodes.

Starting point is 00:27:33 And we know Kyle Dubus loves his guys. And one of his guys has been granted permission by the Vancouver Canucks to seek a trade via his agent. And that is Forward. Ilya McKayev. And I don't know about this one.

Starting point is 00:27:52 I don't know if they've really been linked, but we do know that Kyle Dubus loves guys he has had in Toronto. He had him for several seasons with the Maple Leafs, including his career best year, where he scored 21 goals and 32 points in 2122. So Hunter, juice worth the squeeze on this one. I've gotten a couple of DMs about this from a couple of the listeners of the show, just asking for my thoughts on McKeyev.

Starting point is 00:28:18 And I'll answer it here as well. No, I don't think the juice, the juice, excuse me, is won't the squeeze on this one. McKayev, he was great to start the year, but he only had one goal in his final 61 games of the season, including the playoffs. He scored one goal after the calendar flipped to January 1st of this year. I understand that 2024 wasn't that good for him

Starting point is 00:28:46 that maybe people could think, oh, he could bounce back for the next season. I personally don't see it, to be honest. I also think he's kind of overpaid at this point. His underlines this year, I mean, they were fine when he was on the ice. The Canucks had almost 53% of the shot attempts, 41 goals for 37 goals against, 53% expected goals share, 54% of the high danger chances, same with scoring chances. So those were all fine and dandy, but he wasn't turning a lot of those good numbers into goals. Again, only one goal in 2024 makes too much money. Even if you knock some of that

Starting point is 00:29:23 salary down, which I don't think the Canucks want to do, by the way, they want to get rid of that entire contract just because they have some salary cap concerns of their own. I still think there are better options to look at other than Ilya McAev. Yeah, in that 475, it's not a lot, but for what he has done in the last year, I think you're looking a little too pricey. And if you're really, really going to try to make that winger move to bring in somebody like we talked about to sure up the forward depth, there gets you some better options in the top six. You've got other options that granted, they're going to be a little bit pricier,

Starting point is 00:30:00 both in trade as well as salary cap, but you think if you're going to do that, try to get Nikolai Ellers out of Winnipeg. If you can really pull it off, Patrick Linae out of Columbus, there's so many better options via trade than McKayev. I think he's got potential, but at this point, we've talked about this. You're not going for potential right now. Yes, when we say we want guys who are younger, it's guys who have had a better track record of success. And when you're looking at McKayev, for what you're going to pay them and what you're probably going to have to pay to get them, I'd rather get a top six forward than a middle six forward. First off, I'm going to fire you for

Starting point is 00:30:43 calling Nikolai Eelers-Ellers just a few seconds ago. So you're fired for that, by the way. But just going back to McAev a little bit, yeah, the Penguins need, I think, more sure things heading into this season compared to kind of a little bit of a hope and a prayer with McKeyev that he can bounce back a little bit. I mean, yeah, his best season came in Toronto, 2021, 2021, 22, 21, goals, 32 points in 53 games. He also shot 14.3% that you. Yeah, the year after in Vancouver, he was fine, 46 games, 13 goals, 28 points during that time, also shot 14.3%. But those are the only two years that he's had a shooting percentage of over 10%.

Starting point is 00:31:25 Everywhere else, it's been 8.2%, 6.5%, and then 7.5% this year. He's a career, if you average all together, he's a career 10% shooter, but that's only because he's had two years reshot over 14%. If you get McKay-up, I kind of think you're going to get what you've gotten for most of the years that he's been in the NHL where he's scoring, you know, 11, 12, 13 goals and not that 21 goal season that you saw on him have in 2021,

Starting point is 00:31:54 2022. Yeah, so I really do hope that even though he is going to be available, Duvus likes his guys, I just hope he takes a pass on this one. Nice idea if the Penguins were to different place in their franchise right now, I might be talked into seeing if he can figure it out here. But right now, just not someone I'm all that interested in bringing in. And Hunter, unless you've got anything to add, I think that is going to do it for the Thursday

Starting point is 00:32:24 edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. We will be back on Friday. We will get ready for game six of the Stanley Cup final and any other news that Kyle Dubas may bless us with in the next 24 or so hours. But for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp. Thank you, as always, for tuning in. We will be back with a fresh episode on Friday.

Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - The Penguins need a third line center, there's one available via trade!

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