Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - The Penguins welcome the Islanders for the home opener!

Episode Date: October 9, 2025

The Penguins kick off their home schedule tonight against an old foe, the New York Islanders! Hunter and Patrick begin the show discussing some cryptic posts by the Penguins that could be teasing a new third jersey for this season. Then, they get into the Islanders' lineup, what the Penguins need to do to get a second straight victory, and a potential new addition to the lineup. Finally, they share their bold predictions for the 2025-26 season, including which players are expected to have big years, who will be traded, and more!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!IndeedNow, you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 Sponsored Job Credit. Just go to https://indeed.com/lockedonright now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnhl for 50% off your first year.FanDuelDownload the FanDuel app now by visiting FanDuel.com and win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins.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.

The Penguins will welcome in an old enemy for Thursday's home opener, and Pat and I are going to get you all set for that game. Plus, give you our Bull predictions for this season 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.

joined by my co-s, Patrick Damme can follow him on all social media platforms at send him for wet. You can follow the show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins, and you can follow the show's Instagram account at Lockdown underscore Penguins. Also, thank you all so much for making this your first listen slash watch today. We are free and available on all platforms. And finally, today's episode is brought to you by Fandul. Down my Fandle app right now by visiting Fandual.com and win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. Pat, we have made it to the home opener. The Penguins are 1-0 after their 3-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-8-7-0-Gat-Rater on Thursday.

And now the New Yorkans will play another team from the New York area. They'll play the New York Islanders in their second game in the season, first one at home inside PBG-P's arena on Thursday. This will be the Islander's first game of the season as they've been gearing up throughout training camp and the preseason you know it's going to be a packed house inside pbg there's going to be standing ovations for crosbie malkin and let's hang as usual and they're going to want to put on a show for the fans that will be out in full force for this game but pat before we get to the game against the islanders penguins might be teasing a little something here

before the game might be a third jersey announcement they put out a very interesting tweet on tuesday before the game has a few symbols. here. You have a little upside down triangle. You have a little egg glue. You got a couple other things. Seems like we're going to get a third jersey announcement before this game. And I wonder, do the jerseys make their debut against the Islanders in this game? My hope, I might get some hate. I want a gold Robopenn jersey. I will buy 12 of them. I love the Robo pen. Others don't. I get it. That's

what I'm hoping for. But Pat, what do you think this could be? I'm honestly flabbergasted because if you know me dear listener and hunter dear co-host I spend way too much time on the internet I get made fun of it for it I know I'm on the internet too much but I have been searching like all the usuals across social media the websites the blogs this has been locked down but I think you saw it at practice the other day every reporter saw it on Wednesday that they were wearing yellow helmets a couple players. And maybe we don't get it as a jersey in game tomorrow or tonight against the Islanders. Maybe we get an announcement before the game and they just wear their regular home uniforms for the home opener.

But here's the thing. I may not be the biggest fan of the Robo Penguin because I've made that statement clear about why I don't like it. But if they can reimagine it a little bit, I can get on board with that. I've never been a fan in a league where you lack creativity of when they just slap an old logo on something and go, here you go. Now, the penguin's current jerseys, those are the best jerseys they've ever had. That design from the late 80s, early 90s and into now, those are their best jerseys in the team history, in my opinion.

and so I'm fine with them resurrecting those because you don't need to improve perfection. But if they can kind of put a modern spin on the Robo Penguin, do the right thing with gold or yellow or however we want to describe it, I'm open-minded to it. But it's been very cryptic on the Penguin's social media and then you mix it in with some players wearing yellow helmets and think we're on the brink of getting a New Jersey. 100%. I still, I've seen.

sent you the one that I've wanted them to do, Pat, it's like that gradient with someone Photoshop Sid into that Robo Penguin jersey. It's, it's so beautiful. Please, at some point, I want them to make that jersey. That's the only Robo Penguin jersey I truly love. If they can do that one, oh my God, I'll buy 13 just to outdo you. I don't think they're going to do that one this year, but if they do a gold Robo Penguin, I'm going to buy, again, 12 of them, something like that. But hey, stay tuned because I think they're going to be announcing the third jersey before the game. And I wouldn't be surprised if they wear this during the game. And they'll wear it probably during select games throughout the season.

But okay, let's get into the opponent that the Penguins will face in this one. An old nemesis, the New York Islander is a team that I'll say it right here. I hate watching them. They are boring. I'd rather watch my water boil for pasta. I'd rather watch paint dry. It can be effective. But again, I'm not going out of my way to watch Islander games just because,

I have other things to do than just be bored for two and a half hours. That said, this is still a team that has some good talent on it. You have Matt Barzell coming back. He missed a lot of last season. Really good game breaker, great playmaker especially. He's on the line with Anders Lee, penguin killer, Anders Lee, by the way, and Kyle Palmeri, who has also killed the penguins at times start his career. You also have Jonathan Drewan, who has killed the penguins at times with the lightning.

He's with Bo Horbat on the top line. You have J.G. Pajos still in the fourth. fold on the third line with Holmstrom and Maxime Shabanov, which I am very curious, by the way, to see how he does in the NHL. The Islanders signed him over the offseason. There were rumors that the Penguins are looking at him. He goes to the Islanders. He does have some skill, but he's also a bit short. So I'm curious to see how his lack of size translates over to the- Not that I would know anything about a lack of size. No, people. I mean, paths barely taller than Frodo Baggins.

out here, but that's okay. That's a discussion for a different day. But you have Anthony Duclair, Casey Sizekis on the fourth line. Defensively, you have Romanov and DeAnglo on the top pair, Adam Pelick and Ryan Pulock on the second pair. And then first overall pick, Matthew Schaefer with Scott Mayfield on the third pair and then Ilya Sorokin in the starters net. They haven't announced who is going to start, but I would be absolutely flabbergasted if it was not Ilya the Sorokin. One of the top goalies in the league when he is on was a bit up and down last year. But as for this Islander team as a whole, I said it for the Ranger game. This is an Islander's team that can be had.

I don't think they're going to be very good this year. I think they'll be in the conversation for a little bit. I just don't think they have enough high-end talent to really push for a full playoff spot this year. Look, I look at the eight teams that made it last year, for example, Pat. All eight of those teams are still better than the Islanders this year. in my opinion. And have a new GM in place. He's taking the long game a little bit here.

I think they're finally starting to embrace a little bit of a mini, we build here. They can't do it all yet. But I think they're starting to go in that direction. I think Schaefer's going to be a really good player for them. He's going to be getting top pairing minutes at some point. But I really do think this is a matcher that the penguins can win. Similarly to the Rangers where, you know, you look up and down this lineup.

You know, I think a penguins bottom six is better than the Islanders. Bottom six, I think even the top six, the penguins had an advantage there as well. But, you know, under Mike Sullivan, these Islanders were very hard to beat. Curious to see how DMUs adjust to that because this is a team that always gives the Penguins problems. This is not quite two teams looking in the mirror at one another because there are obvious significant differences. But it's two teams kind of in the same place as one another. The Islanders and the Penguins are both teams in transition. Obviously, the Islanders got a huge break getting Matthew Schaefer at the draft

that really kind of put them in a better position to where they don't have to really rip this whole thing down. They can slowly but surely build around him. And they've got a good infrastructure in place. You named a lot of names there that I think very similar to the Penguins, still very good players, but a team as a whole that I think just like the penguins are going to hang around for a long time this year. But ultimately they're not going to be one of the 16 teams to make the postseason. You look at that top six.

I mean, I think Horvats a great player. I think he does not get nearly the props he deserves. He's a very good talent. Matthew Barzal. Well, his draft position and reputation kind of sunk his reputation, but he's still a very, very good player. Like you said, Lee and Palmieri, always give the penguins fits. And when you got a goaltender like Ilya Sorokin, and if and when he's healthy, I haven't checked on his injury status. I don't know if he's on the retirement I are or not, but Simeon Varlamov is also always good.

So that's the great equalizer in hockey. If you've got a great goaltender, you can hang around. And Sorokin is one of those. But I agree with you in the sense that when you line up these rosters head to head right now, I would say the penguins have better talent up front. I think what's going to really make or break this game, as it always does with the Islanders, is defensive play. If we get the kind of team defense we saw at Madison Square Garden,

I like the penguin's odds. but then I look at the defensive units compared to one another, and I would give a slight edge to the penguins, but not by a whole lot. I also think Schaefer is going to be very good. Mayfield's always been solid. Pelican Pooleck, two guys that fit into my category of, the kind of defensemen that you never notice them throughout the season,

but by game 82, you go, solid years. So we'll see how this one goes. I think, like you said, though, game very much there for the taking and can continue what's been a good start so far for the Penguins. Right. If the Penguins can get past the Islanders stingy defense that they play in their own zone, I think they'll be able to get a bunch of quality tight danger chances. But that's been the problem over the last few years. The Penguins just haven't been able to get, you know, to the front of the net. They haven't been able to get those really good quality chances because the Islanders just do a great job of shutting them down.

Now it was under Mike Sullivan. This is under Dame U. So we got to take the Sullivan stuff and send it away because there's a brand new coaching staff. It was not a secret that Sullivan, especially towards the end of his career, was struggling to beat the Islanders. So now with a new staff in place,

curious to see how they attack this same system here. But that's going to do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, we're going to continue this conversation about the Islanders also discuss a player that might be coming in the lineup for the Penguins on Thursday and a lot more, so stay tuned for that coming up after this quick break. Before we get to that, though, we have to tell you all about our first sponsor, and that is Fandle.

The NFL season is here, and Fandle has an offer you do not want to miss. Right now, new customers can bet you has $5 and get $300 in bonus vets if you win. That's right, pick a bet, put down $5, and if it hits, you will unlock $300 in bonus vets to use across the app. I love using Fandle because it gives me so many ways to play. I have built parles, try to play our props, and even if all the live lines during games, it makes watching football even more exciting

when you've got a little something riding on the action. Whether you are a casual fan or love diving into the stats, Fandall makes the game day experience so much better. So what are you waiting for? Visit fandul.com to download the Fandle at today and get started. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Lockdown, Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes. That's my co-host, Patchdamp. And Pat, just a couple of Penguins things to get out of the way before we get back to

some stuff about the Islanders. It does look like Philip Hollander is going to be making his regular season debut on Thursday. I was at practice on Wednesday, and he was taking the place of Philip Thomasino on the third line with Ben Kindle and Tommy Novag. There's something I talked about during the Tuesday episode where it was fine to scratch him for a game, but I didn't think it was going to be for that long because I felt like they wanted to get a good look at him before they see, you know, what they want to do potentially long term. And it looks like as of right now, I mean, we're recording this the day before. So this could always change. But as of right now, it does look like Philip Hollander is going to be getting into the lineup, which is a plus.

I've wanted to see him in a regular season game to start the season just because of the years that he's had in the SHL, these last two. He's been very good over there. He's going to bring that game now back over to the NHL. And I want to see what he can do with Kindle, know that he was taking line rushes with them at practice. The odd man out potentially could be Philip Tomasino. He was rotating on the fourth line with Blake Lazade, Noel O'Hari, and Connor Dewar.

So as of right now, we could see Thomasino potentially be a scratch. But Pat, your thoughts on Hollander potentially getting back in. It's good. This is really in the area of what I was saying all off season, is that I want to see Dan Mews be a mad sign. scientist. We raved about how well they played at Madison Square Garden, and rightfully so, they played one hell of a game and got the result they very much deserved. But that still doesn't take away from what we want to see from Dan Muse, where we want to see these young guys get

opportunities. We want to see him try different combinations in different lineups, because he's going to be able to. We really loved a lot of what we saw from camp. There were very few players in training camp who I would say had their stock fall. Pretty much to a man, a lot of players really raise their value with good performances, both at practices and in preseason games. And Hollander was definitely one of those, so he's earned the opportunity. Now, on the other side of it, I do want to say this. It's a reiteration, but also a word of caution.

We said on our Wednesday episode that it's one of 82. Let's not start booking playoff seats and all that stuff. Let's also not start Barry and Tomicino, but he wasn't that noticeable against the Rangers. And what have we said about Tomasino? He doesn't need to dominate. He doesn't need to become one of the best players on the team, but he's got to make an impact more often than he doesn't.

Now, again, it's one of 82. he's going to eventually get back into the lineup. I don't think he has to improve greatly from what he did against the Rangers, but he needs to take a step up from what he did against the Rangers. And to put this all together, along with Muse being a mad scientist this year in trying all kinds of different combinations, I also don't think it's the worst thing to kind of send that message like he did throughout camp of when you get your chance, you got to take it, you got to run with it, and you got to earn it,

and have that internal competition. We'll see what this does if it works for everybody, if it doesn't. But at the end of the day, I'm excited to see what Hollander can do now that he's back in the fold. And then when Tomasino, should he be scratched and not play in the home opener, when he gets back in the lineup, I want to see how he takes that opportunity. That's fair. And honestly, I kind of felt Tomasino was totally fine. the opener. He had a really good scoring chance off a great feed from Ben Kendall, wasn't able to

put it in the back of the net. He had a chance a bit later in the game, didn't go in the net. He had a couple of good quality chances, just wasn't able to finish. But you know, you and I talked about that. The inconsistency at times is definitely a little bit annoying. So if he is scratched, he'll be able to clear his head a little bit and he'll be back in in no time. The more curious situation is who is going to come out of the lineup when Brian Rust is ready to return because he was back to practice on Wednesday. Really good to see. He's full contact. It's been about a week now since the Penguins announced that he was going to be out for a minimum of two weeks. So if you follow that timeline, he'll be back during the California trip.

But hell Pat, maybe he's back this weekend against the Rangers, for example. Maybe he comes back a bit earlier than expected. But he seemed to be in good spirits on the ice. He was skating pretty well. He was taking some line rushes with Cindy Crosby and Ricardwick. he was kind of rotating in for Ville, Glegoagman would not be surprised in the slightest if you saw Rust reunite with Raquel and Crosby on that top line, but I also wouldn't be surprised if you see him with Malkin because he was also rotating in for Justin Buzzo on the second line.

So that's going to be the more fascinating situation to me, who comes out of the lineup for him outside of that. Goaltending-wise, I think you got to go back to Archer She-Lovs here. He gave you a shutout. I understand, you know, you have Tristan Jari sitting on the bench there and he's a veteran, but he wasn't as good during training camp in the preseason. And I think after the start that Shilov's had, and yeah, there were a couple sequences where it was a little bit shaky with not loving a couple of shots.

He still played really well, didn't allow any goals that he made the saves he needed to make. I would reward him with another start for the home opener here. I think you just have to. And it's not even an indictment of Jari. I mean, I would have been, if, if say on on Tuesday, they win like three to two, two to one, four to two, whatever, then I think it's perfectly fine to say, okay, we're going to go with Jari at the home opener, just start the year by rotating starts between these two and whoever starts putting up more consistency after a couple of weeks

is going to be the guy who gets the saddle. But the fact that he pitches a shutout, he kind of. he kind of earned the next start. And I know that this podcast in our community and Penguins fans are very out on Jari. But at this point, we're just talking about a guy who put up a shutout, played pretty well in the season opener. In the opener of a season where expectations are not high. They still aren't, but the fact that they go out, beat the Rangers 3-0, he pitches a shutout, he kind of ties Muz's hands here.

have to give them that start. And then when you go to California, when the Rangers come in, whenever, then you can give Jari a look. I can see them doing that as well. But you got to reward the hot hand here. And hey, if he keeps us up, you know, maybe we have a conversation that he could be the 1A this year and Jari be the 1B. I know I said on Tuesday that by the end of the year, Jari is going to have a smidge more starts than she loves. It's only, it's only been a couple of days, Pat, but I feel like that would take me age like milk just because of the way Sheelows played. But again, it's only one game. They're both going to get a fair share of playing time this year. But, you know, She-laws can keep going here potentially take over as

one-a if he continues to play well. So it's a good problem to have. I mean, we talked about it when they acquired him. His kind of similar in a way to what I was just saying about Philip Tomasino. If Archer She-Lovs can find some consistency, that's a good problem for the penguins to have because either it can make Jari more expendable if you can protect Jari and give him better starts and inflate his value a little bit or if nothing else, you can look at Shilovs and go, there's a lot of teams need goalies and we're not exactly married to this guy. So send us some assets for Archer Shilovs. Well, we'll see if the Rti party continues on Thursday.

Again, we're recording this day before morning skate hasn't happened yet. So we will see who starts. One last thing, though, about this game. Special teams, always a big part of it. I like the penalty kill on Tuesday. I loved seeing that forward press really high be a lot more aggressive compared to what we saw these last couple of years. Under Mike Belugi, the three players stood back a little bit, but they were still aggressive, especially along the boards.

They were getting pucks out with ease. The Rangers power play really didn't get anything going in that game. And you're going up against an Islander's power play that ranked 31st in the league last year. Again, I know that's last year. but this is a unit that's basically almost everyone is coming back. And the Penguins Penalicle has an opportunity to really keep riding that momentum. I want to see a little bit more from the power play. I wasn't too enthused while watching it.

But again, it's Chris Lattang and Eric Carlson on the same one. Once Brian Russ comes back, I think you're going to see this unit take off a bit more. But I still want to see that unit better because the Islanders penalty kill was also 31st in the league last year. So special teams battle is also something to my first. monitor for this one. Real big. And I agree with everything you said. I think that the power play is going to take a minute just because of the mix of players. We're going to have to figure out there to find roles. But the PK against the Rangers was tremendous. I just want to see that continue into the game

against the Islanders. Right. 100%. And I think that I'll do it for this second segment and this preview against the Islanders. Again, this will be the home opener for the Penguins. They'll then play the Rangers on Saturday. And the next week, They go to California for an early season. California swing, a lot of late night hockey coming up. My favorite time of year, love staying up till, you know, 12, 30, 1, 130, heck, maybe even 2 a.m. Well, the game's not going to go to that late, but I don't mind staying up that late. I'm just a sick of a like that.

But again, that'll do it for this. But coming up to end the show, yinns have waited long enough. It's bold prediction time for Pat and I. We're going to give a couple of our bold predictions for this season right after this. All right, we're back here on this episode of the locked on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-host, Pat, Tampett, Pat. We were going to do this on Wednesday, but there was just a ton to talk about when it came

to the penguin season opening 3-0 win over the Rangers. We also had to do Warrior Helmet Wednesday. So we decided to push bowl predictions back to our Thursday episode. And Pat, I'm going to hand this to you. What is your bowl prediction for this season? Yeah, I feel like one game into the year is okay. for us to push back bold predictions. I don't think we're going to get any big knowledge out of one game.

But you know what? I'm going to go with what I think might be my hottest one to start. And it probably is going to feel like a reaction to the home opener, or the season opener, excuse me, but I promise you that it is not. The Penguins will not be mathematically eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs until the final two weeks of the season. I think, though, my reasoning for this,

I kind of went over this in an earlier episode last week. The Eastern Conference isn't that strong. I don't see the Eastern Conference as a place where there's a ton of contenders and a ton of top-tier teams. I just think it's going to be a log jam throughout most of the year. And you look at the team that the Penguins have. There's still plenty of talent on it. I think if some of these young guys continue to progress and show that they're a little bit further ahead of schedule,

it's going to keep them competitive. I don't think that they're going to be as bad as everybody thinks. I do think they'll still be in the mix for the lottery. I do still think they're going to miss the playoffs. But I think we're going to get to watch at least entertaining and competitive hockey for the vast majority of the 25, 26 season. I mean, buddy, if we get games like we saw against the race, Rangers, even if you lose more games this year, I want to see the fight and compete and the effort like that what I saw against the Rangers.

Like for a lot of times last season, it felt like this team was going through the motions. The effort wasn't there. The intensity wasn't there. The compete wasn't there. All of that was there plus the defensive work, plus everything else on Tuesday night against the Rangers. But I said it before the game against the Rangers, I just want to see a team that gives a damn every single game this season.

And again, you and I have talked about it. Like, you can be bad this year and we don't expect much from this team, but I still want to see them play their asses off every single night. That's what I want to see this year. My first bowl prediction, though, may get some hate for this. Eric Carlson, 70 plus points this season. I loved what I saw on opening night. His positioning was sound.

He was making great decisions. He was generating offense from the point. His skating was on point as well. Just an aspect. absolutely flawless performance from Eric Carlson. Yeah, he did have that one giveaway that led to a chance. Archer Shulov's made a nice save. Other than that, just an outstanding performance for the Penguins number one defenseman. I really do think a new coaching staff is going to pay huge dividends for him. And, you know, only one game, but you saw it pay off for that one. And I think

that this is going to continue for a full season. Honestly, I've had this full prediction well before this first game. So I was vindicated for one game. I hope that it continues for full 81 games, but I had this for the season that was saving it for now. Eric Carlson, 70 plus points this year. That'll get his value up. And I could lead to some teams calling Kyle Dubus during the season. Hint, hit Vegas, by the way, because Petrangelo is out for the entire season. They get that whole cap relief. Just throwing that one out there. But that's one of my bold predictions for this year. It kind of feels like he's been waiting to pop, right? Like, like there have been been moments the last two seasons where you look at Carlson and think it's right there.

He's just got to reach out and grab it. And I think you're right. I'm going to agree with you on that one. But speaking of Carlson, here's my next one. The first player traded off the penguins this year is not going to be Rust. It's not going to be Raquel. It's also not going to be Eric Carlson. It's going to be Blake Lazott. I look at Blake Lizott and I look at the penguins this way, right? I do think eventually they're going to find takers for Carlson and Raquel. I think both of them have proven their value and I don't subscribe to, oh, their value is just going to fall. They're not the kind of players who fall off of a cliff. They're the kind of players who definitely decline a little bit slower, but I still think their value is very high. And with an Eastern conference where everybody's looking for every kind of advantage in a Western conference that is just a every man for himself death match at this point. There's going to be a lot of teams that want that the services of those two. As for Rust, we've talked about it before, unless things get bleak. And I mean like five plus game losing streaks. The team has no life. I don't think

Russ is going anywhere. I think he wants to stay here. And unless somebody comes offering the sun and the moon, Dubis will hold on to him. But Blake Lazot, it's a bottom six center, gives you some moderate production on an expiring deal that is also very affordable. You're not going to get a great return. You're not going to get a bunch of stuff for him, but you will get a good return. And I think that is going to make it a little bit easier for Dubis to move him rather than the other guys. I don't think you're going to get a lot for him. I think maybe mid round pick. if he really pops this year, you could even try to somehow squeeze out a second. I think that's probably wishful thinking, especially right now.

But if he pops, maybe you could look at that, especially that Anthony Bavillia got a second round pick and return last season. But again, he's got to really pop for that to happen. But maybe a third, fourth. But if it's a seller's market like it was last year, maybe you could squeeze out a bit more value. I definitely can see teams calling on him around the deadline teams are always looking for more centers going into the playoffs you can never have enough at that time so i definitely think was i hear you on that i don't think that's bad at all my last one pat i've been on this train all summer

he was totally fine i felt like on opening night tommy novac 20 plus goals this season if he's not traded of course i'm all in on tommy novac for this year i think he has a really good release i think he's a strong playmaker you can play him up and down your lineup you can play them on power play I think he goes for 20 plus goals this year. I think he's also going to get time with Afghani Malkin and the top sakes. I don't think this is going to be someone that just stays on the third line. I think he's going to move up to the second line at some point. I am high on this player.

I could be way off, totally dead wrong. I'll take the L if I am. But I am going with that for Novak this year. That's my second and final board prediction for today. I think it's there for him, but I will put a caveat on your bold take. I think it depends upon his. usage. If he does get some extended looks in the top six, I can absolutely see it. But if the top six looks good, Mews keeps it together, Novak doesn't get an extended look up there. I think you might fall a

little short on that one. But if he gets that usage, he has shown in his career that he can be that guy, especially if you give him a good center or a good winger depending on where you put him. But yeah, I think that really depends upon where he's used. I'm going to, I wrote down three and a bonus. I'm going to use my bonus here instead of my other one. I was going to say 100 plus points for Sid. I think he's going to get 102. We'll just leave that one out there. Sid being Sid, La-di-da, who'd have thought. Here's my last one that I think might rile some people up. When the Olympics are in the rear view mirror, when the team's return, the players return to the NHL calendar, at some point between the end of the Olympic break and the end of the season,

if getting Malkin is going to sign a one-year extension, it's not going to be for a lot of money. I'm thinking like six or seven million one year, especially if some of these younger guys continue to progress, the team continues to show potential. I think Malkin will get that one-year deal. And here's why. Everyone went off that one report where the, oh, the penguins are not going to resign Malkin.

This is going to be it. I think if Malkin continues to have that little bit of fire that we saw in the opener, if he continues to perform well, these young guys develop, he's going to want to come back. And really, at the end of the day, I just, I look back at that report. And everyone left out the second half where Dubis was like, yeah, we're going to talk after the Olympics. and we're going to see where he's at. And in no world was that do by saying, nope, we're not giving him a deal.

He's out of here. He's either going to retire or we're going to get rid of him. I think if Gino has a pretty good year and this team shows some potential, he's going to want to come back. And I think it's also going to be cheap, by the way. He's not going to be commanding a lot against a salary cap. But also, the penguins have, as it stands right now,

50 plus million of cap space going into next year. So that won't be a problem. problem anyway, but I'm still saying he's not going to cost a lot. He'll sign a one-year deal. Cid's also going to be going into the final year of his contract for next season. So maybe he'll kind of frame it as, hey, kind of want to go out like that and play one more year. But I don't mind that prediction. I could easily see him going, hey, I'm playing right now, playing well right now, because he's been coming out of the Olympic break. I think I got one last year in me where I can right off into the sunset, especially that now that, you know,

sit is going into the last year of his contract next year, but I think you and I both expect him to sign another one-year extension after that. I'd be surprised if he didn't, but I can definitely see Gino doing that. So might revel some people's feathers, not mine, that's for sure. I could always use at least one more year out of Afghanistan. And, you know, Chris Lank will still be on that team as well. Hell, Pat will be 21 seasons of those three together. We're already at 20 this year.

It would be 21 if that happened. next year. But I don't have any other bull predictions. I don't think you do either. So I think that's going to do it for today's episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for take the time to listen to slash watch this one. Pat and I will be back with another episode for you all on Friday to recap this game against the Islanders and get you all set for Rangers Penguins Part 2 on Saturday, the return of Mike Sullivan to PBG-P's arena. So for Patrick Damp, I am Hunter Hodes. Thank you all so you're tuning in we appreciate it we'll be back on friday