Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - The Penguins signed Aho...no, the other one!

Episode Date: July 3, 2024

The Pittsburgh Penguins made another signing on Tuesday in defenseman Sebastian Aho, and no he's not the one from the Carolina Hurricanes. They got the depth defender from the Islanders and Hunter and... Patrick discuss what he brings to the Penguins and how there's a sudden logjam on defense. Will he be able to carve out a full-time role for himself? Who will be feeling the most pressure in that defensive group? After that, they discuss the Penguins schedule that was released on Tuesday and they highlight some of the great games and long road trips. They discuss how crazy opening night will be and how the Penguins will play a lot of road games to start the season. They also look at how odd part of this schedule is before ending the show with development camp and who to watch for this weekend. 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.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. As playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up ALL CUSTOMERS with a boost or a bonus, DAILY! That’s right, there’s something for everyone, every day, all summer long! 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 ( Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 The Penguins made another signing on Tuesday, and Pat and I are going to discuss what that means 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 episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Join by my host, Patrick Thamp.
Starting point is 00:00:32 You can follow him on Twitter at Sinem Furwet. 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 lesson slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. And finally, today's episode is brought to you by GameTime, down the GameTime app, bring an account and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. So Penguins president of hockey operations and general manager Kyle Dubus was a little bit busy on Tuesday,
Starting point is 00:01:01 not as busy as he was on Monday, but he still made a signing on Tuesday, signing defensemen Sebastian Aho. No, not the one from Carolina people, the one from the New York Islanders. They signed Sebastian Aho to a two-year contract worth $775,000 per season. He's slated to be the number six, number seven defensemen, somewhere in that range overall. I actually really like this move for depth purposes. He played in 58 games this year for the Islanders. When he was on the ice, they had about 47% of the shot attempts.
Starting point is 00:01:32 So not so great there, but they did have 51.5% of the expected goal share when he was on the ice. That's pretty solid about 50% of the high danger chances the season. Before that, he played in 71 games when he was on the ice. The Islanders had 52.5% of the shot attempts, 49 goals for, 41 goals against 52.5% expected goal share, 53.7% scoring chances for rate. So overall, Pat, I like this move. Very cheap. think something may have to give here on defense at some point.
Starting point is 00:02:07 Yes. And for some of my fellow penguins fans of a similar vintage to me, boy, doesn't this feel like the late 90s, early 2000s all over again? Hey, we got Sebastian Aho. Ah, crap, not that one. Oh, look, we got a pre-mo. Oh, wait, it's Wayne, not Keith. Oh, man, can you believe the penguins got a hatcher?
Starting point is 00:02:30 Oh, wait, it's Kevin Hatcher. But yeah, I mean, overall, this is, this is a solid depth signing. He's very good in a bottom pairing, six, seventh defenseman role. He comes very cheap, less than a million dollars. It's a two-year deal, which again, very variable contract, excuse me, if it doesn't work out at the NHL level. He's shown some ability to play in a good defensive defenseman role so long as he's deployed correctly and,
Starting point is 00:03:02 sheltered a little bit. And again, it scratches that itch for a lot of people that they have for the penguins right now. And it's that they want them to get younger. He's 28. I know that's not that young, but he's got a solid amount of NHL experience in said limited roles. He has had some success. And this is a good depth signing for Kyle Dubus and the Penguins. I will say, though, you are right. This is at some point something's going to have to give here. on the defense because you've got plenty of pieces now who are essentially depth pieces. Obviously, you got your names at the top, Carlson, Latang, Graves, Petterson, but now you've got a mishmash of guys fighting for that bottom pairing spot,
Starting point is 00:03:52 which is fine in theory. You want to have a competitive training camp. You want guys to earn that spot and stay honest. but at the same time, you look at these guys at the bottom of the lineup, Jack St. Ivany, now Sebastian Aho, Ryan Shea, Matt Griswick, a few others, and you're like, what are we getting out of this? Are we getting anything other than having less cap space? So I like the move in a vacuum, but when you zoom out and look at the full picture,
Starting point is 00:04:26 there's a lot to be considered here still. Yeah, I mean, the locks for defense this year, obviously Chris LaTang, Eric Carlson, Marcus Pedersen, assuming he doesn't get dealt. I think heading into this season, I think he'll still be on the team, but there's a chance he could get dealt at a trade deadbone if this team is out of it. But those are my locks on defense heading into this season. I think I would maybe throw Matt Grizzlick in there just because they signed him for almost $3 million on July 1.
Starting point is 00:04:54 So I think he's going to play most games. But after that, Pat, Jackson and I haven't he. Ryan Graves, he's going to be given a shot for some redemption in year two. I think he might have to earn that spot, though. You didn't mention John Ludwig. He's going to be in consideration for that number seven, number eight job. Ryan Shea, Sebastian Ahho, we already just said St. Ivany. And I mean, I thought heading into the season, he was going to be the number six,
Starting point is 00:05:18 but I think he's really going to have to earn it now as well. The competition on defense is going to be a lot of fun in training camp to see who the first six are for this season. Again, we already know three of them, maybe even four, but who's going to get those final, at least two spots on opening night? And putting aside for a second, the contract in his performance last year, Graves is a fascinating case going into this season because I have a lot of faith in David Quinn as a defensive coach because we've seen him succeed with a lot of defensemen. Now, obviously, you think more to the top end guys, but he has a solid track record of dealing with defensemen, but you also weigh in the fact that at the end of the
Starting point is 00:06:10 year presser with Kyle Dubus, Dubus isn't a guy who calls people out. That's not his style. he did everything short of calling out Ryan Graves at the end of the year, basically saying that he has to figure this out. And part of that is necessity because of the contract that he's signed to. That's going to be extremely difficult to move and get out from. But also, they brought this guy in with expectations. It's not like they just ho-hum through a, they're not a San Jose Sharks type team who just had a ton of
Starting point is 00:06:46 cap space and needed bodies and decided, hey, look, we got some money. Ryan Graves should get paid. Let's give him money. They brought him in with expectation and he failed them miserably. So he's a fascinating case going into this season because they need him not only to redeem himself to live up to the contract, but for the betterment of his career, he is going to have to show something this year. And while I'm not putting money on that he will,
Starting point is 00:07:16 you look at all the circumstances building up to it. He gets called out at the end of the year. He's had a solid career up into this point. And you put him on a team now that has a bunch of competition for depth defensive slots. He's going to have to earn it. So if nothing else, I think they're putting him in maybe not so much a position to succeed, but a put up or shut up kind of position. Right.
Starting point is 00:07:43 I mean, this really is put up or shut up time for him. I mean, I really think if he is on the team for next season and he performs just as bad, if not somehow worse, which I don't know how it would get worse, but maybe there's a small chance. But if he performs at that level, I don't think he's on this team past this upcoming season. I think they will try everything in their power to get out of that contract. I think they'll maybe try something this off season potentially get out of that contract just because of how many defense from they have on the roster right now. The biggest thing with Graves for me, you've got to find the right partner for him, whether that's St. I mean, whether that's someone like, you know, Ludwig, Grizzlick, Sebastian Ahio, you've got to find the right partner for him.
Starting point is 00:08:24 It's not Eric Carlson. I've already dove into those numbers. They were awful together. It's not Chris LaTang. Their numbers together were also awful throughout this past season. If he's going to play, I hate saying it, man, but it's probably going to be on the bottom hearing. I think Grizzlick's going to have to play over him.
Starting point is 00:08:39 Even though Grizzlick wasn't good this past season, it was still better than Ryan Graves. Well, it also gets back into what we were just saying of like he's going to have to earn this. And I also think that applies overall to what they're going to do with him. They're probably going to start him on a third pairing because for all intents and purposes, that's what he earned after last year. If nothing else, he probably earned a spot in the press box. But I digress, they're going to make him start on a third pairing and look, good on a third pairing. And if he looks good on a third pairing, okay, maybe we give you a little bit
Starting point is 00:09:19 more responsibility on a second pairing, hopefully not with Eric Carlson. And then maybe we keep increasing your minutes if you continue to produce and play well. So it's like I said, it's giving him a put up or shut up, go out and earn it kind of year ahead where you're going to start in the basement. You're not going to get paired with Chris Latang right off the hop. You're not going to be given high leverage minutes. You're going to be sheltered. You're going to be put on a third pairing. You're not going to go up against the top competition.
Starting point is 00:09:49 And you're also not going to get put with the top players at forward. You have to prove to the coaching staff and everybody else that you belong in those high leverage moments. And he's yet to do that. But he has a shot at redemption going into this season. Right. And I don't want to make this entire segment about Ryan Graves, but I feel like we did have to talk at least a little bit about him just because expectations for him this year.
Starting point is 00:10:14 Going to be fascinating to see if he can carve out a full-time role just with how many defensemen they have. And as for Sebastian Alho to kind of put a bow on this, I do think he's a smooth puck-moving defenseman. He'll bring a bit more offense compared to defense in his own zone in 2022, 2023 in 71 games, five goals, 23 points in 71 games this year in 58 games, two goals, nine points in 58 games for his career, 190 games, 11 goals, 50 points in those games.
Starting point is 00:10:44 At worst, it's a number seven, number eight guy. At best, it's maybe a number five, number six guy. I again, am totally fine with this signing, and I'm curious to see if maybe he can carve out a full-time role with this team and see what he can do in camp and preseason leading up to October 9th when the Penguins will open the season against the Rangers. Do you have anything else to add on Aho in the defense? Yeah, just one last thing with Aho. I like this guy's track in his journey into and in the NHL.
Starting point is 00:11:14 He was drafted fifth round, so late pick in 2017. He played a lot of time in Sweden's top professional league. He's a guy who has really had to earn his job in the National Hockey League. This isn't a highly touted prospect who had all the expectations in the world. and fell short of them. He's essentially playing to the type of player he's supposed to be. And like you said, it's a very low risk, high reward signing. It's two years for less than a million. He's a depth defenseman.
Starting point is 00:11:47 If he rises as high as your fifth defenseman, then you are paying less than a million for a guy who's producing very well. If he stays at your sixth or seventh spot, you're getting exactly what you paid for. So overall, fan of this move, I'm interested to see what he does in training camp in the preseason and then into the regular season. And Aho, St. Ivney pairing definitely intrigues me for this season.
Starting point is 00:12:11 Aho, the player that I think can bring more offense compared to St. Ivey. And, you know, St. Ivin, I think he's a bit better in his own zone. I know small sample size, but I think what I've seen so far, he's better in his own zone compared to Aho just a little bit more. So that pairing intrigues me a little bit when I look at the potential pairings for this season as a whole. But that I'll do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, the Penguins' 24, 2025 schedule was released on Tuesday,
Starting point is 00:12:38 and Pat and I definitely have some thoughts about that. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about our first sponsor, and that is GameTime. It's 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 gets to the first pitch. And with Killer Last Minute deals, all in prices, views from your seat in their lowest price guarantee, game time takes the guesswork out of. of buying tickets. You can get flash deals, save even more with exclusive in-app deals on select seats ahead of the game or event. There's also zone deals. Save even more when you choose a section
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Starting point is 00:13:47 Download game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes. Join by my host, Patrick Dam. So, Pat, the Penguins will open the season on October. 9th at home against the one and only, the New York Rangers. That's going to be a crazy home opener to say at least. I mean, the crowd's going to be fired up. The Rangers are coming to
Starting point is 00:14:15 town. It's going to be awesome. I really hope I can be there for the home opener. But after that, the main thing I noticed to start the month of October, seven of the first 10 games for the Penguins will be on the road, including the Western Canada trip. The Penguins will be getting that out of the way really early in the season. They'll also have a seven-game road trip later on in the season. That's the first time in the Crosby-Malkin-Latang era that they have had a seven-game road trip. They'll also close the season against the Washington Capitals. That could be for playoff implications, at least maybe for the Capitals,
Starting point is 00:14:52 maybe for the Penguins, we'll have to see how the season goes right now. I think we both think they're going to miss, but I think for the Capitals, that could have playoff implications overall. And also one more thing that I really noticed, circle October 29th, my friends. That could be Mark Andre Fleury's final appearance in Pittsburgh at PBG Payne's Arena. I think that could go down as the most emotional game of the 2024, 2025 season. Once tickets go on sale, I think those are going to go very quickly considering how much Flurry meant to this team, meant to this city, everything. So just want to throw that out there for everyone as well.
Starting point is 00:15:32 As soon as tickets go on sale, folks, if you want to go to a game, October 29th is probably going to be the hardest ticket to get. Because like you said, that is going to be likely the last game that Mark Andre Fleury plays in Pittsburgh. And I know I've had my takes on the guy, but he always has beachfront property in my heart. He is an all-time penguin. he is going to go to the Hall of Fame, and he is just not only a Hall of Fame goaltender, but a Hall of Fame human being by all accounts. So that's going to be a great game.
Starting point is 00:16:08 You brought up the early Western Canada swing at the end of October. They go through Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver in the span of a week. And that's a bit of a double-edged sword when you think about where this team is right now, because that swing, getting it out of, of the way early is nice because you're not looking at it as, oh, we've, we've dug a little bit of a hole or we're not off to the start we want to. And now we got to go to Canada in, say, November or December and then you go through that gauntlet. But at the same time, you can dig yourself a deep hole early if you go to Western Canada and don't succeed. And you look at that schedule. It starts off easy
Starting point is 00:16:55 enough. You got Winnipeg and then Calgary. Winnipeg's still very solid, but they're not as good as they once were. Calgary obviously is just a mess. So you should be able to get some points out of that one. But then you end it with a back to back. You start with Edmonton. You end in Vancouver. And those are two of the better teams in the Western Conference right now. So that is going to be a very, very difficult trip. So if they don't get a hand. handful of points out of that one. They could be fighting against the current for the rest of the season. The other thing that stood out that was very odd to me in this, in this schedule, was that
Starting point is 00:17:39 they are only playing the blue jackets one time in Columbus. And it's in, I believe, yes, mid-November, November 15th, they play the blue jackets in Columbus. And that's the only time they go there. Really? not only is it the only time they go there, they turn right back around and come home to play San Jose the next night. So this is a very odd schedule this year.
Starting point is 00:18:04 And I know that it's kind of thrown out of whack because of the Four Nations face off in February. But it's just this schedule feels weird to me. Am I alone in that? No, it is weird because why is there only one trip to Columbus? It's such a easy drive for people in the Pittsburgh area. Penguins fans always invade Columbus. I know Columbus Blue Jackets fans are very good. They were selling out every game this past season,
Starting point is 00:18:31 even though they were one of the worst teams in the league. But when the Penguins play in Columbus, a good chunk of that crowd is Penguins fans. I also should add, Pat, Carolina only visits Pittsburgh once this season. That is October 18th. Very weird as well. Also, the annual Thanksgiving Eve game against the Vancouver Canucks once again. And they play Vancouver quite often,
Starting point is 00:18:55 it feels like, in that game. That's going to be a lot of fun. And I should credit Bob Grove for this. This is this seven-game road trip that they have, January 17th to the 29th, second longest road trip in team history. The longest was eight back in 1997. It's crazy.
Starting point is 00:19:13 I knew when I saw that, I was like, okay, that has to be close to some sort of record because I've never seen them have a seven-game road trip. bit felt like in the Crosby Malkin-Littang era. And also the host of flyers, excuse me, twice, December 23rd and February 27. So if you want to get tickets to Penguins Flyers, definitely do that pretty quickly once tickets go on sale.
Starting point is 00:19:36 Yeah. And the other thing I'll add in here real quick before I give my last thought on the schedule is I don't want people to think I'm like saying there's any sort of bias or anything crazy because we know that in the NHL, the majority of venues are multisely. purpose. Most of the Canadian venues are dedicated strictly to hockey, but in the States, a lot of multi-use facilities. So there's concerts, there's other professional teams, whether it's basketball or something else. And then there's obviously your Madison Square Gardens that are just filled to the brim every night with some kind of show. And then you have everything else from
Starting point is 00:20:14 concerts to circuses to WWE and other events. But the one thing I think that's really cool for the schedule this year is that if you want to go see the penguins on a weekend this season, you got a lot of chances. 10 Saturday home games. They have six home Sunday games and four Friday night home games. So if you're looking to catch the penguins on a weekend rather than a weeknight, you've got a lot of opportunity this year. Another thing, thank you for saying that, by the way.
Starting point is 00:20:43 Look at this schedule in October and November, especially. They have one game on a Sunday when you combine October and November. I don't think they want no part of going up against the Pittsburgh Steelers this year, especially like games at home for the Penguins. For example, you look at November, there's no games at home on a Sunday. Heck, there's no games in general on a Sunday in November. So the Steelers, they'll get their own day in November. The Penguins will also get their own day in November as well. So I saw that as well. Yeah. And also one last one last marquee game, I think is worth checking out if you're looking for a good holiday road trip and you want to go check out
Starting point is 00:21:24 what apparently is one of the best arenas in the national hockey league. New Year's Eve, they play the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena up in Detroit, 8 o'clock game. You can catch the penguins on New Year's Eve and what's supposedly one of the best rinks in the national hockey league. So if you're looking for some fun on New Year's Eve, want to ring in the new year with some penguins hockey, maybe that you can say, hey, that was the low point. can start anew in 2025.
Starting point is 00:21:51 So that that'll be a fun game that, you know, maybe if I got some time, maybe I'll make my way up to Detroit for New Year's Eve. That would be nice. And I know, last thing here, I know the Penguins might be out of it, potentially, March, April. I will say this. When I looked at this year's schedule compared to last year's schedule, this year's end of the schedule, you know, March into April, it's not nearly as much as a gauntlet as last year's schedule was where the penguins are playing a playoff team.
Starting point is 00:22:18 every single night. They'll get a bit of a break at times during March and April, especially in April where they'll play. Actually, the Chicago Blackhawks both times in the month of April to end the season. But those are most of our thoughts on the schedule. Let me know your thoughts on the schedule down in the comments on YouTube. You can also send us a DM. What games do you want to go see this season as a Penguins fan?
Starting point is 00:22:40 But that would do it for this second segment. Coming up to end the show, the Penguins Development Camp Schedule was released on Wednesday. And Pat and I are going to go into that. us look at P.O. Joseph joining his brother in St. Louis. That's all coming up right after this. All right. We're back here on this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your hosts, Hunter Hodes, join on my host Patrick Dam. So, Pat, do you have any weekend plans this upcoming weekend? Well, if you don't, you may want to go up to Cranberry and take a look at Penguins Development Camp. It takes place July 6th through the 10th in Cranmerie at the Lemieux Sports Complex.
Starting point is 00:23:14 All six of the Penguins draft picks from this year, including Harrison Brunick, Tanner, Hal and Max Swanson will be there as well as Braden Yeager, the 14th overall pick from last year. Owen Pickering will also be there, as well as Villic Coybinent and Cruz Lucius. A bunch of other players will also be there. So if you want to take a look at the next wave of talent in the Penguin system, you will have your shot from July 6th through the 10th. There will be a lot of on-ice workouts, a lot of off-ice workouts. There will also be some scrimmages as well.
Starting point is 00:23:44 So I always look forward to this. It's fun seeing the top prospects come together. What are your overall thoughts on development camp for this year? Yeah, I'm looking forward to this one because they have nearly 50 prospects going there. All of their picks from this draft will be in attendance. But the main thing I'm looking at is that we will get another look at Braden Yeager. Now, obviously, this is a little bit different than training camp because he's going up with a lot of guys who are at the same level as him. they've played some kind of European hockey or major junior or collegiate.
Starting point is 00:24:20 So I want to see in this regard watching him this coming weekend, how does he look against this competition? Because he should look like one of the better players on the ice because he's going to be one of the people who's really the furthest along, so to speak, in their development. Obviously, there's a couple guys in there who have had some better experience, but still you want to see him stand out as say with around 50 players, you probably want to see him be top five in this in this development camp. You want to see him really take that next step.
Starting point is 00:24:54 Also very excited to see what all of the draft picks from this past draft look like because if you've been paying attention to this show, to any of the draft analysts who cover the Penguins or just the NHL draft in general, the Penguins draft class this year was spoken very highly of. Obviously within reason. We're not sitting here saying that any of these guys are going to make a difference in the next couple of years. But you look at a lot of draft analysis from this year. And even some of the national people were saying, hey, Penguins got a lot of steals in the draft.
Starting point is 00:25:30 A lot of guys who could end up being NHO contributors a few years down the line. So I want to see how these guys look, how they conduct themselves. coming into a professional development camp. And overall, we're at a point now where it's not back by any means, but suddenly there's some hope in this system. Is it going to impact this era of Penguins hockey? Probably not. But it's not as bleak as it was two to three years ago.
Starting point is 00:26:03 Suddenly there are names to remember guys to keep an eye on in some potential for the next five to ten years. Right. It's nice having a farm system where there's legit talent there. Now, compared to a few years ago where there just really wasn't much there overall. I'm also looking forward to seeing Tristan Bros. here at Development Camp, he was great for the University of Denver this past season. 16 goals, 40 points in 43 games. He'll now have a chance to play in Wilkesbury this upcoming season. But I'm still curious to see how he does at Development Camp over these next few days. So again, there'll be some on-night sessions on Saturday. Same for Sunday. Monday and Tuesday, and then a tournament will conclude on Wednesday, July 10th, so a week from today, that will be at 12 p.m. next Wednesday, July 10th. The first practice, if you want to get out there on Saturday, July 6th, that starts at 9 a.m. That's a goalie on-night session. And then groups 1, 2, and 3 will take place from 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. Group 1 at 10 a.m., group 2 at 11 a.m. and group 3 at 12 p.m. And then the cycle will kind of repeat itself for Sunday, Monday,
Starting point is 00:27:08 and Tuesday. But outside of that, we do have one more thing to cover for today's show. Congratulations to P.O. Joseph signing a one-year contract with the St. Louis Blues. Very cheap contract, not even a million. And he'll reunite with his brother, Matthew Joseph. He was traded to the St. Louis Blues from the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday. So the parents, they won't have to wear different jerseys anymore. They'll get to wear the same jersey no matter what. And I'm happy for P.O. man. I know the penguins replaced him with Matt Grizzlik. They didn't really want him anymore, but I'm still excited to see what he can do in St. Louis. I felt like he had a really nice end to this past season with the Penguins. I'm curious to see if he can carry that momentum over to next season with
Starting point is 00:27:54 the Blues. Yeah, it's nice to see him land on his feet. You know, I've been saying it the past few days, there was a lot of people kind of up in arms over losing P.O. Joseph, but we have to keep that in perspective that he was mostly a disappointment for the penguins. He never really lived up to the potential. They hoped they were getting with him when they traded for him back in 2019 in the Phil Kessel trade. He looked strong to end the year. I would love to see him keep that up.
Starting point is 00:28:24 But the inconsistencies were a little too much for me. But overall, I think it's a really cool story that he lands in the same city on the same team as his brother. we don't see that that much anymore in the national hockey league. So really cool to see that. I'm excited to see, especially if they both are on the big club, come the start of the season, that what his parents will do, all the clips out of that
Starting point is 00:28:51 and all the mic'd up segments, that'll be really cool. So good for POJ, happy to see him land on his feet. We'll miss them a little bit, but at the same time, you know, it just felt like it was time to move on. Right. I don't think it's that big of a deal that he moved on. I mean, maybe I could argue that they could have kept P.O. Joseph over Matt Grizzling,
Starting point is 00:29:10 but at the end of the day, I still don't think it's that big of a deal overall, but I just hope that he does well with the Blues in general. But I think that I'll do it for today's episode of the Lockton Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this episode. We will not have an episode on Thursday since it is the 4th of July in the state. So happy 4th of July to everyone listening in the United States. It's also happy late Canada Day to everyone listening up in Canada. I hope you all had a great Canada day earlier this week.
Starting point is 00:29:40 We will be back with another episode for you all on Friday, potentially with a crossover edition, with a certain host on the Lockdown NHL Network. That's just a tease for what we'll have on Friday, it looks like. But for Patrick Damp, I'm Hunter Hodes. Thank you all so much for tuning in, and we'll talk with you all on Friday.

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