Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - What will the Penguins do with Tristan Jarry after the season?

Episode Date: March 4, 2025

The Pittsburgh Penguins will be back in action on Tuesday with a matchup against the Colorado Avalanche. It's their final western swing of the season, and Hunter and Patrick get yinz set for it with a preview in the first segment. They discuss what the Penguins will need to do in order to shut down Nathan MacKinnon and the Avs before discussing Sergei Murashov being called up to WBS. What does it mean? Hunter and Pat give their best guesses as to what's happening with the goalie depth before getting to some of their trade deadline predictions. Finally, the Tristan Jarry situation will have to come to a head at some point during the offseason. How will the Penguins proceed? Hunter and Patrick break down the options, including a buy-out, during the final segment.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Wonderful PistachiosGet snackin’ and get crackin’ with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more! FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new FanDuel customers can get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR 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.

Pittsburgh Penguins will look to get a Rocky Mountain hide tonight against the Colorado Avalanche, and Pat and I are going to preview that game right after this. 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 one of your host, Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Join by my host, Patrick Gamp, we can follow him on all social media platforms.

form is at Sin Nover Wet, and you can follow these shows to order at L.O. owners where Penguins, of course. Thank you all so much for making this your first listen slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. So Pat, the Penguins go through their final little mini Western trip for this season. They play the avalanche tonight in Denver. They will then go to Sin City, Las Vegas on Friday to play the Vegas Golden Knights at the 10 o'clock start.

Tonight's a 9 o'clock start. And then they'll finish a throw trip against the Minnesota Wild over the weekend. that'll be a 3.30 start time on Sunday for the Penguins. So two more late night games for you all, 9 o'clock again tonight, which is honestly not that bad. And then Friday, 10 o'clock, but everyone stays up late on Friday. So no excuses for the late night owls for Friday. It's different if it's a Tuesday or Wednesday game.

I get if people have to work the next day. But, hey, Friday night, 10 o'clock, watch the game, even though we know the team is not very good. But Penguins will be playing the avalanche night. Cindy Crosby, Nathan McKinnon, what else could you ask for? and no people, Sydney Crosby is not going to get traded to the Colorado Avalanche. Can we please stop bringing that up every single day around trade deadline day? It is never going to happen.

But speaking of this Avalanche team, they are playing well. You know, they're in a playoff spot right now. They are fourth in the central division. They have the first wildcard spot in the Western Conference, 35 and 24 and two record good for 72 points. There are seven points up on the Vancouver Canucks right now. also seven points up on the Calgary Flames, who occupy that final playoff spot in the Western Conference. It's looking more and more likely to me that they're either going to get A, that first wildcard

spot, or B, the third spot in the central, which would mean a potential date against the Dallas stars, or they could play Vegas in the first round, which, by the way, sign me up if we get that. But this avalanche team, they're continuing to play really well. You know, Nathan McKinnon, he is doing it all once again this season, 23 goals, 91 points in 61 games. Once again, a prime contender for the Hart trophy. Kel McCar, 22 goals, 67 points of 61 games. He's the best defenseman on the planet. Archeri Lekinen has 24 goals this year.

But outside of that, you know, they already traded Miko Ranson to Carolina. We'll touch on that in a second. They're not getting as much offense from this lineup. It's still more of a top heavy lineup. I will say since the Tuchin has come back, he's been really good. And, hey, breaking news, one of your best players comes back, you know, and makes your team harder to play against. But I still think this team, when I look at it right now, it's a bit too top-heavy. If the Penguins are able to hone in on their big guns, they will have a shot of winning this game.

But once again, as we discussed regarding Toronto, you try to get into a track meet against this team. You're going to lose every time. We kind of saw that on display. In the first meeting, the Avalanche were playing fairly well. The Penguins made it a game pad, especially in the late ages of the second period. But then Colorado kind of turned it on in the third period and it was over from then on out. So once again, you cannot turn this into a track meet against the high flying avalanche with McKinnon on the team, McCar, Nchuschenback, et cetera, et cetera, Lechon has also been fantastic this year.

Yeah, you're definitely right about this Colorado team being pretty top heavy because you look at their top three scores. Nathan McKinin leads the entire league with 91. Marty Natchez is right behind him, excuse me, with 60. 13 points in 12 games since that trade. I will say this man, I didn't really think much of it from Colorado's perspective. I'm kind of like, eh,

they're not really getting fair value back as much. But Nages has been an amazing fit. He's doing wonders on that team. Yeah, he's been a great fit. And you can see he's really turned it on in Colorado. But again, he has 68 points.

Kail McCar has 67. And then there is a steep drop off. the next closest out of their top three is our Terry Lekinen with 35. Now, he's only played about 50 games, so had less of a runway. But then even after that, Casey Middlestat with only 33, Devon Taves, still a defenseman, but 29 points, Drew Ann, with only 25, but he also has only played 28 games. But like you said, you look at this team, and it's their big three getting it done. It's Kail McCar, now Marty Natchez, and Nathan McKinnon.

So this realistically, I don't want to overinflate expectations here, but it really is a case of if you can manage those three players, you have a pretty good shot against this team because once again, they've gotten it somewhat figured out in net with McKenzie Blackwood now being their starting goaltender. He's got a 9-16 save percentage. but realistically, you know, we're not looking at this team the same way we looked at Toronto over the weekend, where it's a very well-balanced team with some great top-end talent, solid defense and good goaltending.

Blackwood obviously has stabilized their goaltending situation. He is a solid goaltender. But again, you look at this Colorado team and it's their top three players getting it done. And everybody else, while they're still doing fine enough, you would like to see those numbers pumped up. However, the one thing I mentioned was they dealt with a lot of injuries early on in the year and into the halfway point of the season. They're starting to get healthy.

So a lot of the players that you may look at their stat line right now and think, that's a really overwhelming season. They've been out for a while. So this is a pretty perfect storm for the Colorado Avalanche as we get even closer to the Stanley Cup playoffs because, They have the clear, obvious top end talent, and the guys that they need to contribute down the lineup are getting healthy and looking a lot like the players they're supposed to be. I will still say I think they need a little bit more help in their bottom six. And if you ask me, I think they need a second line center.

Like right now they have Casey Middlestat manning that. And he's fine. But is he a second line center on a Stanley Cup contender? Probably not. So I think if he's your 3C and the Colorado front office is able to go out there and get a 2C before the deadline on Friday, I think that will bolster their lineup even more going into the playoffs. But if the Penguins can play that top line of Lackinen, McKinnon, and Natchez to withdraw along with Kelmaccar and Devon Taves out there at the same time, they will have a shot at winning this game.

You really just have to hold them in check as much as you can while letting your other lines go to work. Because again, I know the Penguins forward lines aren't that deep, but I also know it's kind of the same with Colorado, especially after their top line. Like, yeah, their second line is fine. You know, the Trojcans playing really well. Jonathan Druin's having a decent year. Casey Minot said is fine. But their bottom two lines are really not much to write home about.

If you ask me, I mean, I are the Penguins. But, again, if you can keep them in check as much as you can, hold them to basically a draw especially when you have Crosby, I'll be against McKinnon. The Penguins will have a shot at taking them down and winning this game in Denver, I think. Yeah, and that'll be really tough for the Penguins because McKinnon, aside from the obvious of, oh, his best friend, Sidney Crosby plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He's feasted against the penguins in his career. He has played 21 games against the penguins, 26 points, nine goals, 17 assists.

So he likes playing the penguins. And we love to talk about on this show, Penguins Killers. And there's a handful of them on the Colorado Avalanche. Just said Nathan McKinnon. Taves has registered 10 points in 10 games against the penguins. Another guy who likes playing the penguins. Yep, that was the last one I was going to say. Jonathan Drewan, 20 points in 20 regular season games, 10 and 10.

So these are some players who know how to play the Pittsburgh Penguins. But again, you look at all the names I brought up. Those are two of their three big names and then one of their better depth guys. So for the penguins, you know what players you have to key on. And the last thing I'll say is you got a little bit lucky, quote unquote, on Sunday against Toronto, that Joseph Wohl had a rough game and that it was very much a screw it. It's a Sunday afternoon game. Let's give these people a show.

But you can't do this two games in a row. You can't get into a track meet against a team like Colorado, because if there's one thing that Colorado certainly has over the Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado is fast. They are a blazing fast team. When you're led by Nathan McKinnon, that is the exact kind of game that you're going to play. So this won't be like Toronto where they have some guys up and down the lineup

who are talented but not very fast. Colorado is going to make you play a million miles an hour. And if you try to get into a track meet with this team with the penguins' lack of foot speed, it could be a very, very long night up in the Rocky Mountains. 100%. And, yeah, obviously, I know it's very easier said than done with shutting down McKinnon, McCar and company. But again, I'm just trying to give the keys for the Penguins to win this game. You know, we've seen them use that blueprint selectively at times.

You know, the L.A. game on the road very much comes to mind. The Washington game on the road comes to mind. They've brought in that style out, again, a few times this season. just not nearly enough. So if that Sal comes out tonight, once again, the whole of a shot to win this game. But it's still going to be very hard to shut those guys down, especially with the way the Penguins play in their own zone.

But I'm just looking for, once again, another great cross performance. He loves playing the Avalanche in Denver. And I'll be curious to see which goetner Mike Sullivan goes with tonight as well. Does he go to Jari for this game against Avalanche? Or does he go back to Nadelcovich in this game after? Honestly, I thought he played fairly well against Boston. gave up the goal on the first shot. But outside of that, I thought he really stabilized them the rest of the way

and gave the Penguins at least a shot to come back in this game. But that would do it for the first segment. Coming up in the second segment, Sergey Mershov was recalled to Wilkesbury Scranton on Tuesday. Pat and I are going to give our thoughts on what that might mean for Wilkesbury and Wheeling in the second segment. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about our first sponsor. And that is wonderful pistachios.

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classic favorite. Get snacking and get cracking with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit wonderful pistachios.com to learn more. All right, we're back to you on this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes. Join by my co-os, Patrick Damp. And Pat, I did forget to mention during the opening segment. I am curious to see what's going to happen with that Miko Ransson situation this week. The hurricanes paid a lot to get him, but it seems like they're not really close on a contract

right now. Is Carolina willing to flip him again by the deadline to see? send him to another contender to maybe that contender signs him or is Carolina willing to wait this out and kind of use him as a rental and then see if they can maybe circle back after the season try and sign him. That's a really fascinating situation that I want to see play out this week. It's going to be interesting because, I mean, if he's available, oh boy, that's going to change a lot of things by Friday's deadline. Just want to finally say that. We will learn a lot about Eric Tulski as a full-time general manager in this moment,

because he is one of those wonderkin general managers that everybody was clamoring for their team to hire, and rightfully so, because he has a great track record. But, you know, if he's able to flip Miko Ranson in for a bunch of assets because this isn't working out, it'll be a masterstroke. But if he loses another player for next to nothing after giving up quite a lot for them, there could be some bigger questions to be asked about Polsky's job as a general manager. I think he's done a really good job so far, and I think he's going to have a really good career as a GM,

but yeah, I still want to see if he and also the Hurricanes ownership, Tom Dundon, I want to see if they can get this done either before the deadline or potentially after the season if they try to keep him as a rental. But Sergei Muroshoff, Pat, he was recalled to Wilkesbury Scranton on Tuesday from Wheeling, and I know this has started a whole bunch of speculation.

Oh, my God, there could be a goalie trade in the works, and one of these golies could be getting packaged for a younger player or something around those lines. Everyone needs to pump the brakes. Pat, you pointed this out to me. I also looked at the schedule before. Wilkesbury has four games this week. They play tonight.

They play Friday. They play Saturday. And they play Sunday. This very well might mean, but they just need three goalies for this week because that's a lot of games in a single week. And Wilkesbury is trying to clinch its spot in the quarter cup playoffs. They're going to get in.

It's only a matter of time, but they still want to keep playing. really good hockey here down the stretch because they're serious about trying to win the Calder Cup this year. Marischov has obviously played really well in Wheeling this year. He's basically unbeatable down there. He's also playing outstanding in Wilkesbury when he's gotten the chance. Blumquist is back down there. Philip Larson just had a really good start over the weekend, Pat, and now Marischov is there. So I know a lot of people are speculating about this, but it's probably just that either A, someone is sick or maybe someone is a little bit banged up or B, they just need three goalies.

for four games this week. Right. The biggest difference here is when you look at Wokes Bears schedule this week, they play tonight at home against the Belleville senators, then they go to Hartford on Friday to play the Wolfpack, and then they're back home for two on Saturday and Sunday. They've got Belleville again on Saturday, and then they've got Syracuse on Sunday. When you compare that to what the nailers have coming up this week, they're on the road for three on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, but they're all against the Adirondack Thunder. So it's three games in the same place for Wheeling, whereas Wilkes-Bair is going to have to do a little bit of travel.

They're playing different teams. So I do think the most likely answer here is that they just want to have some depth at the goaltender position going into this week with the kind of schedule they've got looming. Yeah, of course, there could be an illness. There could be an injury. And yeah, there could even be a trade in the works just because you don't want to see all three of those guys on the same roster. They have stated as much that they want to get especially Blumquist and Murrashav more playing time so they can continue to develop. They don't want them to be backups.

They don't want them to be third goaltenders. So it's a curious decision. And obviously we will see what shakes out tonight. but I do think the most obvious answer here is that Wilkes-Bair has a bit of a heavy schedule this week, and they're just trying to make sure they've got the position shirt up as they push their way towards the Calder Cup playoffs. I think so as well. It'll be interesting to see who starts in this one. But if they keep all three goalies for this weekend's games, all three,

I think Larson will start one, Plumquist will start one, and then Marischoff against the other. Like, I think that works best because everyone gets to have at least one. start. You can rest the other goalie the next night and then so on and so forth. I think that, again, that just makes the most sense for all three goalies in that situation. You don't really want to play one of those guys back to back to back or even one of those guys back to back to back. That really would not make any sense at all. But I think it's just them having depth. And also, I did see that they needed to have Mershov on the roster by Friday to have an eligible for the H.L playoff. So, I mean, this move here basically does that. So I think

you might see each goalie get one start this weekend. But going forward now with the deadline, three days away, man, I'm going to put you on the spot here, my friend. How many players do you think get moved out by Friday? I'm going to say three. I think three players get moved. Yeah, that's kind of where I am.

I think three is the minimum number. I think we know Grizzlic, Bavillier, and I don't know, throw a wild card in there. for whoever your third could be. But I think you're going to see the depth moves that we've been expecting. It wouldn't shock me if there's a fourth and it's somebody that we're not expecting. Right.

Like I was, you know, I'm going to, you know, let me pick up the name that I'm about to drop here. I was talking to the goat of Pittsburgh sports Bob Pompeiani at work last night. And I, I'm still in the camp of Ricard Raquel. gets moved this summer rather than at the deadline. But I also think he brought up a good point that there's a lot of teams that really need scoring right now. And there could very well be a team that makes a rash decision at this deadline and says, we will give you the sun and the moon for Ricard Raquel because we need to make our push.

And it wouldn't shock me if Dubus gets a call and gets that godfather offer you can't refuse. for Ricard Raquel. And then he can get on with business this summer with, say, Eric Carlson or the guy we're going to talk about in our final segment, Tristan Jari. So I think obviously the ones we've been talking about all season long that we think are going to get moved are going to get moved. But I would not be surprised if we see a surprise like Ricard Raquel get moved. I think with how few sellers there are this year, you could see one of these teams.

that's a buyer get a bit desperate and be like, okay, we're going to give all this up. What do you say? And I do think that could give Kyle some pause and have him really think about it and potentially pull the trigger if he's getting, say, again, a first, a prospect slash another really high pick and a young player coming back. I think if he gets that offer, he'd at least very much considerate, if not take it. But still, at the same time, is he going to get that offer? because if he doesn't, I am more than comfortable of holding on to him for the rest of the season before exploring this more during the summer where I still think his value is going to be pretty high.

He has 28 goals right now. He's going to have the potential to hit close to 40 by the end of the season. And his value is still going to be, again, quite high, especially with the salary cap going up, teams are going to look at that $5 million and be like, man, for someone that just scored almost 40 goals in this instance, that's a bargain for us. So we can give up quite a bit to get a player like that. And Carlson, yeah, I know there's been a lot of talk out there, but I still don't see that getting done by Friday. I think that's a summer move.

The third player that I think has a decent chance of getting moved outside of Bovillian Grizzling is Noachari. Never underestimate the hockey men. Pat, the hockey men love to get the grinders around the deadline. They love getting their fourth liners that can chip in a little bit when needed, kill penalties, all that good stuff, that veteran presence in your lineup with someone that can deliver a hard check. I don't think Atari would bring back a big return or thing like that. You're probably looking like a mid to late round pick, if I had to guess. But I still could see a couple of teams come calling.

You know, he's a year left on his contract. Teams are always looking for a veteran presence, someone that can deliver big checks, penalty kill, and all the good stuff. And honestly, it wouldn't be surprised if we did see a Pittsburgh Buffalo trade by Friday. That continues to pop up. Over the last several months, you keep hearing all these reports like, oh, yeah, Pittsburgh's talking. walking to Buffalo. They like a lot of their younger pieces.

Now with a deadline this Friday, couldn't see that first in action, especially with how desperate Kevin Adams is and how Kyle Dubas continues to talk with Buffalo. That doesn't happen, though. Couldn't happen this summer. But again, keep hearing that noise wouldn't surprise me if we get it this Friday. You beat me to the Noel Achari one. That was kind of the other player in my head that I think could get moved. And you brought up the exact point that I wanted to bring up about a chari.

He is a classic deadline depth move where he is not going to move the needle. You're not going to get some sort of King's ransom for him. But there are always teams willing to spend a late round pick, a fourth or a fifth, or some kind of contract that they want to get rid of to bring in a guy that can kill penalties, a guy that can play physical. And he is that classic intangible guy that coaches and general managers absolutely love. So that's a player that I don't want to say he has a ton of value because he doesn't, but he has value in the sense that I feel like for what Dubis wants to do,

for what he wants to do by getting all these draft picks and all these prospects and do the retool on the fly, Noel Achari is worth quite a lot to help in that in that plan because every general manager, every coach, every team will be like, yeah, we can play that guy in our fourth line, throw a fourth round pick for him, whatever. Right. And as I mentioned on Monday, he just really doesn't fit where the team is right now. And I think once you move him, you can bring up a younger player to play in his spot on the fourth line. Like I think he's just kind of blocking a younger player or two at this point.

And he really, at least on this Penguins team, he really doesn't serve that much of a purpose as maybe he once did when they first signed him a couple seasons ago when they were still at least at that point all in on trying to make up on a playoff spot. but now as they're rebuilding on the fly, it doesn't really make much sense to keep him on this contract. So if a team comes calling, I definitely think Kyle Dubus will listen. And if he gets a good offer, I think he will trade him by Friday. But I think that'll do it for this second segment. Remember everyone, once Kyle Dubus makes a trade, whether it's today, Wednesday, Thursday, especially Friday, Pat and I will have a breaking news segment out right after the trade is officially released and we'll have our full takes before breaking it down even more on the next full episode

of the Locked on Penguins podcast. But again, that will do it for the second segment coming up to end the show, what to do with Tristan Jari this summer. That's going to be a big topic of discussion once the season ends. Pat and I are going to give our takes on that 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 him on my co-host, Patrick. So Pat, Tank Commander Tristan Jari is back up for potentially the rest of the season.

We'll have to see if he gets to start. tonight against the Colorado Avalanche. And I'm curious to see how this goes. He can try and rebuild his value a little bit for the rest of the season to maybe entice a GM to maybe buy low on him or this thing could get a whole lot worse. And I would not be surprised if it gets worse considering how he has played this season. And that leads into our discussion here what to do with Jari this summer. Bury him in the minors, buy him out, or trade him.

Obviously, to me, a trade is the best case. scenario, you might have to attach a sweetener to a team taking that contract, whether it's a high pick, a player, something like that. Penguins already have a boatload of picks over the next few drafts. So if they were to trade him, I really don't think they would mind giving up one of those picks because they have so money and they're going to be getting more picks back at the deadline and probably over the summer as well as they potentially take back some players on teams that maybe need to create cap space heading into the summer pet.

So I think to me, they'd be kind of like, okay, we'll attach one of our 30 plus picks that we have amassed over the next few drafts to get rid of Jari. And I think that's the road that they would rather go down rather than burying him in the minors or buying him out. Calvin Dubus doesn't like buyouts. I don't think any team likes ballots. And honestly, you look at this contract right now, it's too much. money for too many years to buy him out i think a trade has to be the situation that they go down

for the summer i just don't think you can buy him out like could they yes they did they did it with jack johnson people but i really don't think they want to do it especially with the money that it's going to cost them i'm going to disagree with you i mean obviously i think that the ideal world is you find a sucker and make a trade and just absolve yourself of the Tristan Jari contract. But if you go to Puckpedia and you put Tristan Jari in the buyout calculator, it actually makes a lot of sense to buy him out because next year you save $3.6 million on the cap. And then in two years, you're paying him essentially what is his contract already in about $5 million.

And then the year after that, it's about $4.4.000. and a half million. And then the last three, it's under a million. And we look at where this team is going mixed with where the salary cap is going. It's not going to be that big of a deal because, yeah, I get that those two years in the middle where you're paying them five and four, I'd be fine paying him not to play for them because I don't know. That's just a lot of money, man.

Here's the thing. Here's the thing. By that point, you're probably paying Sergei Murashov and or Yoel Blumquist, and they're not going to command gigantic contracts. They're going to be first year, full time in the NHL deals. They're not going to be expensive. You're still going to have a lot of cap space to spend. And where this rebuild and retool on the fly is going, the same goes for a lot of the players that you're expecting to be big contributors by that point. They're not going to be making a ton of money. And you mix all of that together with, you'll still have cap space if you want to shoot your shot in two years.

And I really don't see unless I should couch this a little bit differently. We know Kyle Dubis is a very skilled trading and general manager. I say this about him all the time. And I think the track record speaks for itself. He may not always win trades, but he never loses a trade. You go back all the way to his Toronto days. He may have made some trades that had you scratch your head,

but he didn't come out on the wrong side of them. It was either a tie or a win. And the same has held true here in Pittsburgh. The trades he's made, he has done extremely well. So there's a world where he can find a way to move the Tristanjari contract and a trade. But I think at the end of the day, buying him out is not the worst idea. have two years where it's rough. And I think next year would actually be better because if you want to

maybe take a shot on signing one of those younger players you're going out to get or even making an offer sheet on an RFA, you will have the money to do it and the capital to do it. And yeah, that five and then four million in 26, 27, and 27, 28 will definitely be a challenge. But again, you're not going to be a team that's so tight up to the cap and have to resign so many big names. If you can buy them out, I think it's worth, I think it's at least worth exploring. It's worth exploring, but I think those numbers in the middle, especially, you know, I have Pock Pete up right now as well. Those numbers in the middle, I just think might spook dubous enough to the point where it's like,

I don't really know if it's worth doing this. I'm just going to see if I can attach a sweetener to his contract and get out of it that way. I think that's going to be the avenue that he tries to go down pathwise. But if not, I mean, he's going to obviously have to get a bit more creative to get out of that contract. He's not going to finish his career in Pittsburgh. It's after this season, one way or another. He's probably done as a member of the Penguins. We'll also have to see if that remains true with Ryan Gray's because I could also see them trying to maybe attach another Swedener to try and get out of that contract.

Or if you can just get out of it in general and not even have to attach a Sweetener, that's also. the dream. But with the way he's played this year and last year, don't really know how likely that is. Honestly, I'd say it's probably more unlikely than it is likely. But now see on the other end of that. Yeah. The reason I bring up the buyout is if you try to buy out Ryan Graves, it's bad. Yeah, that's a bad. Or next year you'd pay him just a shade under two and a half million and then three million, three million, three million, and then under a million. So when you look at the two worst contracts,

on the penguins in Graves and Jari. Graves, you may just have to deal with this. And hopefully somebody comes along and tries to save you. Jari, you have options here. You can bury him in Wilkes-Barre and save about a million dollars a year. You can hopefully find a sucker and get him to move. But if you buy him out, it's two years of pain. And in those two years, what he'll be making is not going to,

or what he'll be making against. the cap as a result of the buyout, it's not going to be that much of a big deal. It's not like if it was this year or the previous couple years, yeah, four to five million against the cap, that's a problem. Yeah. In two, three years, you can live with that, especially if you're not a team that is just bursting at the seams with prime talent that you need to pay. Well, hopefully it doesn't have to come to that.

And hopefully he's able to at least recoup a little bit of value here down the stretch and actually play decely well. so maybe that's a nice little audition for a team or two to come calling during the off season to try and say like, hey, we saw how he played, we think there might be something still here with this goalie. What do you say about that? Again, that's best, and I mean, best case scenario, but I had to throw it out there for everyone.

But I think that I'll do it for today's episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this one. Pat and I will be back with another show for you all on Wednesday to recap this game against avalanche, make our picks for what you're. Helmut Wednesday and discuss everything else relating to this team. Maybe there's a trade to discuss. Who knows, Kyle Dubus, he's working around the clock this time of year, as is every other general manager in the NHL with the trade deadline now, only three days away.

But again, that'll do it for this one. For Patrick Damp, I am Hunter Hodes. Thank you all so much for tuning in. We both appreciate it, and we'll be back on Wednesday.