Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Welcome to the offseason, Penguins fans

Episode Date: May 16, 2022

Well, it's now offseason time, Pens fans. Hunter starts the show off by going into how gutted he was for the core after the Penguins fell to the Rangers on Sunday. He also talks about what they've meant to him over the years and how they even inspired him to do many things with this sport (including this show). After that, he touches on everything about that Game 7 performance and where it all went wrong. He goes into the penalty that should've been with Alexis Lafreniere at the end of the third period, but also slams John Marino for making a terrible defensive play. What should Marino have done in that situation? He then praises Tristan Jarry for one heck of a performance, even though he was obviously playing hurt. He shouts out Jake Guentzel for one of the best performances he's ever seen in a series and why a national audience got to see just how good he is. After that, he slams Brock McGinn for trying to be too cute with the puck in overtime and how he, plus the penalty kill cost them when they were needed most. Finally, Hunter gives some quick offseason thoughts on where the team should go from here, and why Mike Sullivan shouldn't be fired. what to do with Letang and Malkin, will Burke and Hextall survive this, and so much more. THANK YOU LISTENERS FOR THE BEST SEASON IN THE SHOW'S HISTORY!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Well, part of the journey, as always, is the end. The Pittsburgh Penguins fall to the New York Rangers 4 to 3 in overtime of game 7, and they vanquish another lead. That's three elimination games in a row where the Penguins probably should have had it, and they just gave it away. For today's episode, I'm going to fully recap that game, where it went wrong for the Penguins, what I liked about the Penguins' performance, and then do a small off-season preview,

just my first thoughts about potentially what to expect over the offseason. So that's all coming up right after this drop. You're Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day. Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes.

I'm going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter. Hodes follow this show, you Twitter at L.O. and score Penguins. Today's episode is brought to you by, well, well, just don't screw that up there. Bet Online.

Bet Online is covered this season with more props, odds and lines than Edward 4. That has been online where the game starts. So it is, it's off season time. The Penguins, of course,

as I said in my intro, they fall four to three in overtime of game seven against the Rangers. Brock Began took a stupid penalty. The Penguins Pekek, screw them all series, and it screwed them once again

with that final goal from Artemipanerner and who actually decided to show up because in the first six games he was absolutely awful. But just to, you know, after that loss, you know, I didn't really scream or anything, which is, you know, it's new for me, I guess, the last three years because when I was a kid, I would just get so mad for so long. I wouldn't be over these losses for like a week or two, potentially more now, you know,

12 hours later, that's almost 24 hours now, you know, I move on with my life. I'm going to be 25 this year. There's just so much more to live for than to just get mad. out online about, you know, a seven-game series going nowhere. You know, I just, I mainly just got sad just because of the core, you know, three players who have, you know, blessed my life for the last 16 years, who have blessed everyone's life that listened to this show and all Penguins fans around the world for the best 16 years this franchise has ever seen.

I mean, I understand Muriel and Yager did their thing back in the 90s and Joe Mullen was there, Artie Stevens, Marty Strachan. Paul coffee, Tom Barrasso, all these guys were just ridiculously good, but they didn't have a record of success like the Penguins had right here in the Sidgino era. And I just got sad just because like this could be the end. You know, I still remember, you know, watching the games with my mom when I was 7 to 8 years old. You know, that first Stanley Cup run in 2006-07 when they got bullied by the senators, was a welcome to the playoffs moment, but the 018 was so much fun.

The 019 was obviously great. I had a blast watching them in the 2010s and all that. And I know I watched the team before Crosby got there. I was a much smaller kid, but I remember everything about watching the team and the Cid, you know, I mean, these three players are, you know, partly responsible for me, you know, being the fan I am today and, you know, pursuing a degree in journalism and pursuing a chance to do this show. and I can't thank them enough for everything they've done, you know, for the city, the organization, the fans, everything. It just feels like this could be it for all three here. And it makes me sit to my stomach to say that because, you know, it's just, they've been so good for so long.

I think Crystal Tang just had probably the best season of his career outside of his 2016 season, set of career high in points. His underlying numbers were fantastic. he'll probably finish top 10 in the Norris Trophy voting. Sidney Crosby had another tremendous season. He was well over a point per game. He probably finishes close to 100 points if he doesn't miss the first couple weeks of the season. Evgeny Malkin was a point per game player at 35 years old.

He's obviously not what he used to be, but he's still a pretty damn good player. And if one or both of Lattang or Malkin or Don, it's just going to put a, you know, a wrench into my childhood, I wrench into the team. It's just there's the, there's the. potential for there to be a lot of changes with this team. And I really thought this team could go on a run here. I mean, well, let me hear you phrase. Going into the playoffs, I said they looked cooked because, you know, I didn't think

they would be able to flip a switch. Once that switch was flipped, I definitely thought they could have gone on a run. It was just, again, in this series, I thought the penguins outplayed the Rangers, more than they outplayed the I owners last year. But again, they got dug in by goaltending and their special team stunk. and sometimes those two things out triumph 5E5 play. I know most of the game is played at 5E5. That's where most of it is won.

But if you're not good at your special teams, which the Penguins were not in this series, even though their special teams are really good during the regular season, and you don't have good goaltending. And I know it's hard because the Penguins do not have both their goaltenders for the six of the seven games, or almost six of the seven games. It's a hard series to win.

they did all they could on Igor Shisterken. They let up, they put up, I believe, 25 goals and 7 games on him. That is very good against the Vezna Trophy winner and a potentially heart trophy winner. That should be enough. Again, Tristan Jari starts this series. They probably win. Obviously, that's fantasy land right now. I'm not going to live in that.

We're going to live in the actual moment here where the Penguins lost this series. It's just, it's unfortunate that the Penguins, I thought, brutally outplayed them. But again, they didn't. get the result. It has nothing to do with Mike Sullivan or, you know, any of the forwards who I thought played, most of them played really well. I thought most of the defense was fine. They just, you know, they blew up leads. Their special teams weren't that. And, you know, Louis Doming couldn't make, you know, the saves that he needed to. And, you know, I've noticed people have come into my mentions about this. They've said, well, Hunter, you know, what you expect? He's a third string goalie. And while I

understand that point, I'll come back with this. DeMing has over 100 plus games of NHL experience under his belt. He has two seasons worth of 35 plus games individually as a backup goaltender. You know what his pay percentage in those two seasons was 9-10? That's league average. If he is literally 9-10 in this series, the Penguins win game five. But, you know, he had to be 888 and give up. probably some of the, some goals that I think a 15-year-old could save, or honestly,

an ECH goaltender could save, you know, game six even. That game looks like it's going to overtime. If he makes that save on Chris Crider, again, the Penguins have a 50-50 shot of winning that game in overtime. Heck, you know, who knows if they do? I mean, they weren't given the chance because that goaltending stunk there. But we'll never know if they would have won that game in game six. I mean, I was just, it's a terrible goal to allow.

out. So that is my counter for the people that want to, I guess, the Louis Dimming apologists, I guess if that's what you want to call them. But, you know, just sad for the core, sad for Mike Sullivan because his system obviously works. Sidney Crosby was sensational in this series, nine points, no, 10 points, excuse me, tied for fifth all time for most playoff points by any, an NHL player of Guinea Malkin had six points in seven games, La Tang, I thought was fine. Those are the three players I mainly sad about because, you know, I wanted them to go out with four. You know, three is obviously great.

I mean, we are so spoiled in this town here, guys. Three Stanley Cups, four Stanley Cup final appearances, five Eastern Conference Finals appearances, 20 series wins, 16 years in a row in the playoffs. You will never see this kind of success with the Pittsburgh Penguins ever again. So, wow, it definitely stings right now that they lost this series. trust me, you know, it's still stinging me a little bit. I mean, I know it's stinging all of you. Just be grateful of what we've been able to watch over the last 16 years, to say the least. So I want to start off the episode, just by shouting out the core, thanking them that if this is it,

you know, I've had the time of my life watching them. They've brought so much happiness and joy to me over the last 16 years of my life. And I know they've done that for all of you, too. So coming up in the next segment, where I'm going to get into everything that went right and everything that went wrong. For the Penguins in Game 6, go over some obvious situations that were big in that game. But before I do that, our partners at BetOnline continue to be the number one source for all of your betting needs and sports info. You can find all the latest odds news in sports developments, including this year's basketball playoffs, major league baseball source, fights, and even next season's NFL futures. Betterline is your continued source for all of your sports wagering information from live betting to playoffs,

e-sports, and more. You can head to the website today or use your first. phone to learn more about the trends in action that has been online where the game starts. All right. I'm back here on this episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes. I'm not to follow me on Twitter, Hunter Hodes. Follow the shows Twitter at L.O.

HonorSore Penguins. All right. Let's get into the full game here, just, you know, everything that was going right for the Penguins and went wrong. So, you know, starts out bad. Tristan Jari gives up that goal to Chris Crider. Heck of a shot from Crider. I mean, I'm not really going to fall Tristan for that.

That's one of like the first big chances he's seen. Also, I'm not going to really sit here for people dumping on the guy. It was obvious Tristan was not 100%. For God's sakes, the guy had an ice pack on his foot walking to the press conference area and it looked like he couldn't even walk. That bone was probably still a little bit broken. The fact that he was even playing four weeks after that injury is nothing short of a miracle. And yes, at the time, you know, I said, you know, why couldn't he play on Friday?

Well, I guess we found out our answer. They were hoping to save him for the next round those previous two games because, wow, he was definitely hurting there. You know, the Penguins are able to tie one-one off Danton Hyman and the power play finally strikes, even though they were absolutely terrible in this series. Penguins then make it two to one off of Jake Gensel's ridiculous goal kicks it up to himself, goes bar down with the stick. It looked like it was a little bit high, but it was honestly such a close call. I'm not going to entertain the thoughts from these Rangers fans

that want to continue to whine and complain about officiating. You won the series. Stop complaining about it. You know, well, the penguins were on the 50-50 side for all these calls. I mean, why even feel the need to say that? It's just like, I don't have time for these people. You know, most of these calls were very obvious. That one last night was probably 50-50.

It went the Penguins way. Get over it. You won the game. And then Mike, the Mike Matheson, experience comes in, puck goes off his skate, that's probably the 10th time that it's happened in this series.

Evan Rodriguez comes back with 3 to 2, and boom, we get to the big deciding moment in this game. So the Penguins playing a really structured third period, not getting as much offensive zone time as I wanted them to,

but still pretty good. You know, defensively, they're playing very sound, they're not letting the Rangers get a lot of chances outside of that Tyler Mott, short-handed breakaway. Tristan Drey made that nice save. But so they started to get some

zone time around the six and a half minute, six minute mark. And obviously, Alexei left from New York got away with a penalty there. It was intentional. There was nothing accidental about it. That is a penalty. It should have been called. Whatever. You know, he could have put his helmet back on.

Maybe he didn't know the rule. If he does that, Chris Lane doesn't have to come back on, come back on my six. That's set. Lentang was able to get in position, but it was more so John Marino's fault who had a tremendous series that led to that goal being scored. I know what Mike Sullivan said about the rule after the game. He said it stinks. I know what Sid said after the game.

He thinks that costs in the game. You know, they're entitled to their opinion. Again, it potentially costs in the game. But I think what was more egregious was Marino's turnover. He's a puck battle in the corner, six minute mark left. You have to keep playing defense. They're going to pull their goalie probably in the next three to four minutes. And Marino puts the puck.

to the middle of the ice. I think he's trying to get it to Latang, and it gets intercepted. Zabinajad gets it. You know, I'll tip my cap to him. You know, he was awful in the first five games. Game six plays well, game seven. Roofed that shot off Tristan Jari.

I don't know if a lot of goleys are stopping that. That it was just a very nice shot. I mean, Jari's goal wasn't even in position. It went just a little to the side of it. You know, it's just it's a play that Marino can't make. he has to either, you know, trap it in the corner or send it around the boards to keep it out of a high danger area. Because that was a prime high dangerous scoring chance for the Rangers in a game where the Rangers did not have many.

Through two periods at all situations, the Penguins had 17 of the 20 high danger chances. They were brutally outplaying them. Igor Shasturkin was doing his thing for the first time in this series, and the Penguins were not able to get that big insurance goal that they needed going into the third period or even during the third period to go up to. If they are up to him in that situation, they still. they probably win that game. They weren't able to do it.

And at the end of the day, you know, they lost. But that's a play that Marino can't make. And, you know, I'm not here to really dump on him. I thought he had a tremendous series. He was leading all defensemen in the playoffs with expected goals for. I think Pedersen was in the top 10 too. This was probably some of the finest hockey I've seen John play. It's just that's a play you can't make in the playoffs.

You have to play it safe there. You are less than six minutes away. from winning a game seven on the row at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers crowd was really not into it as much. At that point, you've got to just make a better decision. Okay, game goes to overtime. Penguins get a chance here or there. The Rangers didn't really get a lot.

And then Brock McGinn steps onto the ice. Brock, obviously, friend of the show, had a blast interviewing him. He's a really nice guy. But he cannot make that play at the Blue Line. That was a horrendous error. you're not Sidney Crosby, you're not of Gennel, you're not of Gennel, you're not Brian Rust, you're not Ricard Raquel, you are not one of the better puck movers on this team. You are a bottom six winger, and your job in that situation is to dump the puck in.

The Rangers do not get that power play and win if he just dumps the puck in. But he tried to be a little cute and be the hero, and then Khyondre Miller comes in on a breakaway and McGinn has to hold him, draws the penalty, Miller does. and honestly, Yins, McGinn is lucky that was not a penalty shot there. Johnny Goodrow had a penalty shot for something a lot less in his series against the Dallas Stars for the Flames. I will say about the refs are, we are very lucky that there was not a penalty shot there. Maybe in hindsight it could have been better because maybe Tristan Jari comes up with the safe.

Maybe he doesn't. But, and then the penalty kill, it screwed them all over all series, and it screwed them there. And that is one of the biggest reasons again why they lost this series. The Penguin Special teams stunk. The PK coming into game seven, the Rangers Power Play, at least. Five for 15.

That is 33.3%. You are not going to win a many playoff series. If you, if you, I'm not like getting mad, just thinking about it. You are not going to win a lot of series if that's how your PK is going to perform. Heck, Look at the Capitals.

They killed off every single Panthers Power Play, and it didn't matter because of how good the Panthers were at 5E5. But the reason they were close in that series and almost took a 3-1 series lead was because of how good their special teams were. If the Penguins were even closer to what the Capitals were doing special teams-wise in this series, the Penguins probably win this series. But they were able to kill off the first Rangers power plays, even though they got lucky because Jari was just bailing them out with save after save,

like he did at times during the regular season. I'm not a big X's and O's guy, but, you know, the Penguins were giving them way too much space throughout this series that there was hardly any pressure. I think they were kind of just trying to collapse in front of Doming and block all the shots and especially true with Jari last night. You've got to play a little more aggressive for that unit and make life a living hell for them.

The Rangers had very easy zone entries, when they were also dumping the puck and they were recovering it every single time. penguin skaters were not challenging them, and it led them getting to quality scoring chances on every single powerplay. Heck, I'm surprised their percentage was not higher. And again, they lost a series because of a power play goal against, even though there was only 10 seconds left on it. It's just, it was not good enough. And I expect better from a unit that was finished third in the NHL this year. Mike Volucci has some questions to answer about that. That's It's all I have to say. Powerplay, it stunk. All series, the first unit was out to lunch every time.

I mean, remember, game five, you have a five on three for two minutes and you get like two shots. Game six, the game's tied to two, minute seven of a five on three power play time, even without Cindy Crosby, you can't even get a shot. Not good enough. The second unit had more power play goals in this series than the first unit. That's awful. I mean, I'm sorry. Like, that's, that is unacceptable from a team that had that much talent. on their top power play for it to look that lethargic. I think Tahr Reardon definitely has some questions to answer about that because that was not the power play that I saw during the regular season. Obviously, you know goal tending.

I know that plays a part two. Deming, again, I already said my piece on him early on here. Just did not make enough routine saves. Jari, I thought he was fine last night. Maybe he wants a goal or two back, but, you know, I'm not really going to crucify a guy that was his first game back in about four weeks. I thought Jake Gensel was tremendous in this series. I never want to see anyone say that he doesn't perform in the playoffs ever again.

He had eight goals in this series. The only player to have more goals in a series in Penguins history is Maryole Mew. Had nine, I believe in the 1989 series against the Philadelphia Flyers. Jake was a one-man wrecking crew in this series. Just a tremendous player. He's never been a product of Sidney Crosby. He can play with anyone and elevate their game. and I hope a national, I hope a national audience got to see how good he is

and see what we all are saying to say at the least. Sid was Sid. I thought Gino was good. You know, I think people need to readjust their expectations. Okay, I'm going to save that coming up for my final segment because I'm going to get to my early offseason thoughts, and that's going to include what I'm going to say. I don't know of getting him allkin.

But I think the biggest thing here on this series, it's just a wasted opportunity. you have a 3-1 series lead. You have three leads in a row in elimination games. Two of them were multi-goal leads with less than two periods to play. The other one with less than six minutes to play in the third period. You got to close it down. You know, the 2016 and 2017 teams win those games.

And I know they had obviously Matt Moran for most of those games. They had more Andre Florian for some of those games too. But at the end of the day, you got to win at least one of those games. You can't blow leads like that in the playoffs. I mean, that's, it's bad. Yeah, I'm not going to, I'm not, obviously, I know they had a lot of injuries. I know they're playing a third string goaltender, but I expect you to at least close down one of those games, in my opinion. Coming up in the final segment, I am going to get into my early offseason thoughts and, you know, where the team should go from here.

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That's promo code Lock 15 for 15% off at Bilt.com. All right. I'm back here on this episode of the Lock. on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes. I'm going to follow me on Twitter, Hunter Hodes. Follow this show is Twitter at L.O.N.S.4 Penguins. So let's get to my Hunter's early offseason thoughts. Okay. Let's start with Mike Sullivan.

If you are saying Mike Sullivan should be fired, you are deranged. I will not take your opinion seriously. It is wrong. If anyone tells you that Mike Sullivan should be fired, tell them they are wrong. his system obviously works. It is not his fault. He was getting bad goaltending from a third string goaltender. Or that, that's the main reason.

Or that, you know, honestly, his special team has failed him because, you know, Tarr Reardon coaches the power play. Michael Lucci coaches the penalty kill. You know, Sullivan's, you know, he does all the other stuff with his system and just everything else, what it has to do with your game on the ice, mainly the five-on-five play. I am not going to blame Sullivan for how this series went.

You know, this is two years in a row now where the Penguins have had the better of the play, and they haven't gotten on the right side of it because their goaltending has honestly not been that good. And, you know, a couple of other reasons. You know, there's no other reasons. You know, the Penguins aren't built for the playoffs or anything. I saw that take from someone last night, and it's just a load of BS. I mean, at the end of the day, they got out goaltended because they haven't gotten good goaltending since 2018. You know, Matt Murray was pretty good in that 2018 run.

It was just Washington's year. 2019, I thought Murray was fine. Probably could have a bit better. The last three years, though, they've gotten rotten goal-tending. You know, there's really not much else to explain them. That the Penguins finishing was actually pretty good in this series compared to it was in the early parts of it during the regular season. I will not sit here and stand for Mike Sullivan Slander. If you think he should be fired, I would like for you to come up with names who you would replace him with.

And if you think Barry Trotz is coming here, good luck. Winnipeg is calling his name, Philly is calling his name, and now Vegas is probably going to call his name. Okay. Free agent wise. Okay. The number one priority, I may get heat for this. The number one priority should be Chris LaTang. I'm not going to sit here and argue with people that say, well, you know, he's easily, he's easily replaced and all this utter nonsense or, you know, don't even, don't even argue with those people. Anyone who thinks, let's say, Tang sucks and they could easy replace him. They're not worth responding to.

They're casual fans who don't know what they're talking about. I would pay Chris Latang first. You cannot replace him. There's only John Klingberg on the market. He's going to get a lot of money from someone else, probably Seattle, and you have no one in-house that can do what he does with the minutes that he plays.

There's probably going to be no one on the trade market that can also do what he does that will be available. He is should be, he is and should be, their number one priority this off season. And obviously that's going to make the New Cross be happy because he gets to keep playing with one of his best friends, one of his favorite teammates. I would give him a three to four year deal,

maybe around four times eight. I mean, that potentially can do it. I'm comfortable paying that in my opinion. I mean, maybe the last year is not so good, but with how great he was this past year, I think for at least half that deal, if not two-thirds of it, he's going to keep playing out of high.

high level. I would sign Crystal Tang every day if I could. So there's my number one thought on what they didn't do there. As for Gini Malkin, I would bring him back. I would do three years, tie him to Cindy Krazy, which is what Elliot Friedman was reporting

on 32 thoughts today. I would give him the sweet spot for me 6.5 to 7. I don't think any if he hits the free agent market, I don't think he would get like 7.5. I don't know if the Penguins don't have to offer him that to stay here. You're not going to get a massive discount from him.

You are going to get some sort of discount. Just because, you know, he's five-on-five play. Still good, not what it used to be. His overall play, still really good, but he's not vintage, Gino, from what we saw, you know, from 2009 to 2016 and honestly, 2019. You know, he's still obviously a great player. I love the guy.

But, you know, he's definitely, like, at least lost a little bit of a step. I would give him a three-year deal. Again, 6.5 million. per if you can upwards to seven. I think that's fair. Ties him to Sid. They'll both be free agents at the same time.

They can potentially both retire. I think, in my opinion, that is totally okay. Malkin still is a difference maker on this team. Had a point per game during the regular season, had basically a point per game in the playoffs, three goals, six points, and seven games. What I do think, if it happens and Gino comes back, people need to lower their expectations with him.

he's no one going to be worth 9.5 million. Obviously, he's not going to make that in his next contract. He's still a very good player. He is not bad elite player that he used to be. I'm tired of people, you know, just thinking he's going to be that when he's, he's not that anymore. People just need to temper their expectations. Is he still going to be a point per game player?

Yes. Is he still going to be a difference maker? Yes. Can he still play at 5B5? Yes, but not what he used to be. That's all fine. And I want them to sign him. back. But again, I want people that, you know, hate on him to just, you know, you have to lower your

expectations level. You know, this is not Sidney Crosby. He's a top five player in this franchise's history. But, you know, just because of what kind of player he is, his body breaks down a little faster than, you know, someone like Sid, who's just, you know, I mean, he's a menace. So I would still bring those two back. Brian Rust, I think he's gone. Detroit might be calling his name. He's going to get a lot of turn and a lot of money. The Penguins are not going to be able to for him. Evan Rodriguez, I would bring him back. I don't know how much money you can get him for. If you can do three to three point five million, I would probably do it. Three would be the nice five. Three point five, I would think maybe hopefully four. No, if he wants four million to let him walk,

I'm not going to do that. Ricard Raquel would love to bring him back to replace Brian Rusty. If you can get him on a three to four year deal, maybe four million per. I would do that. The Penguins are going to get credit. creative with a salary cap, obviously. Casperi Captain, he can walk. I would love for them to maybe explore. I hate saying this because I love the guy in Brock McGinn. If they can get out of that contract, I wouldn't, you know, be opposed to it.

Brian Dumlin, I think he could be trade bait. That $4 million is looking juicy. And, you know, his play has also been dipping down. I would definitely be curious to see if the Penguins try to use him as trade bait. I certainly would, to say the least. I think Jason Zucker, they may try to use him as trade bait. I personally would like him back, my opinion, though. Marcus Pedersen, I know his cap hits a bit much.

I would keep him. Goaltending-wise, I think they do need to bring in a veteran backup. Casey dismanted as a UFA. I don't think he's going to come back. Louis Duming is a UFA. I don't think he's coming back either. I definitely think they could use a backup. And I know people are going to point to,

oh, what about Mark Andre Fleury? You know, if he's signing for less than $2 million, go ahead, do it. You know, but if it's more than that, I'll pass because he's kind of just washed at this point. This is this is going to be quite the offseason for the Penguins. Probably the busiest offseason that, you know, I've seen in my lifetime, just because this is such a pivotal point in the franchise's history. And, you know, I will not be afraid to say this.

I am definitely a little uncomfortable with Ron Hextall and Brian Berg leading the charge for the most pivotal point in this franchise's history, or at least in the last 20 years. They've made good moves. They've made not so good moves, such as, you know, signing broccoli in after dumping Brandon Tenev and Jared McCann. The Jeff Carter extension was awful when he's not scoring goals.

He's terrible. Protecting Spurray captain in the expansion draft. While it looked right at the time, it has definitely backfired in a big way. Excuse me. Sorry. But just, again, it's been hit or miss, I think with them. I know I listened to Rob Rossi on 937 The Fan today.

He said Ryan Burke may not be back. Ron Hextall could be also could be gone. Also said the Penguins lowball, Latang and Malkin three years, $15 million. I'm not sure how much I buy all that. I have a hard time believing you're going to offer only $5 million per contract to do your franchise cornerstones. something about that seems fishy. I don't know if I'm going to fully believe that.

Again, you know, I don't believe everything I read or here on the internet, but it's going to be busy. You know, keep it right here on mockdown Penguins. I got everything for you. I got all the off-season content coming. But lastly, though, I just want to thank all of you. You are the reason, the listeners, yes, you, you are the reason why I do this on an everyday basis.

every season. This was the third season of the show. By far, the most listened to season of the show, and it grew in ways that I never thought it would. Top five in Apple Podcasts in the country last week during the playoffs, 99% audio audience increase, 526% YouTube audience increase. I love each and every one of you that take time out of your day to listen. Listen to me blabber about this team for 30 minutes. Without you all, there is no Locked-on Penguins podcast. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for another amazing season talking about this team. I know I want a deep playoff run with this team for this podcast, especially because I'm tired of having early off seasons.

But I have to hope that's going to come at some point here down the road. Again, thank you all so much for listening to this show this season. grind does not stop. I have a lot of offseason content planned for you all player reviews. You know, clean out day as obviously tomorrow. Free agents I would go after, trade rumors, all the silly stuff. Action is going to come your way. Again, thank you so much from the mod of my heart for listening to another season. And no, I'll continue to be five days a week until free agency. So I'll have another episode on Tuesday. Again, I love all of you. Thank you for another tremendous season covering this team.

Thank you.