Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - What would it take for the Penguins to acquire a young RFA center?

Episode Date: May 22, 2025

As the Penguins look to get younger and kick-start this retooling on the fly, one RFA center from the Western Conference is reportedly available, so how can they get him? Patrick and Hunter are once again joined by Kelsey Surmacz of The Hockey News and they begin the show discussing the seasons of Connor Dewar and Conor Timmins and why it might not be the worst idea to just let them walk. Then, they get into some of the young players in the Penguins system, and who Kelsey thinks are ready to take that next step going into next year. Finally, Marco Rossi of the Minnesota Wild is believed to be available, so what would it take for the Penguins to bring him to Pittsburgh? Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.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 TWO HUNDRED 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.

The penguin's stated goal is to get younger. But are there two players who are in their mid-20s they should get rid of? We're going to talk about that and more 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. Welcome in to the Thursday edition of Locked-on Penguins. I'm one of your host, Patrick Damp. You can follow me across all social media.

of platforms at synonym for wet joined as always by the one and only hunter hodies you can follow him on twitter at hunter hodies you can give our show's twitter account a follow at l o underscore penguins and of course as always we appreciate you making us part of your daily routine because we are your team every day don't forget that we are free and available wherever you get your podcasts as well as youtube and the roku channel. Also, if you're following us on YouTube, go ahead and hit that notification button. That way, you can be among the first to know when we drop our daily Monday through Friday episodes. Before we get going, today's episode is brought to you by Fandul. Right now, new customers can get $200 in bonus bets if their first $5 bet wins. Joining us, once again, I'd say she's elevated to one of the best

friends of the show. Kelsey Sirmats from the hockey news is here because we've got to talk about a piece that she dropped earlier this week about two of the penguins pending RFAs. And we will get into that piece in our second segment as well as in RFA. The Penguins probably should target. We'll do all that later on in the show. But before we get into that, let's actually talk about the two players that we are referring to in Connor Timmons and Connor Doer, the two Conners, if you will. This will be part of our season review series. So before we jump into it, Kelsey, welcome back.

Always happy to have you. Always a pleasure to come back here. So thanks for continuing to invite me. This is fun. It is always a blast. And the two players, obviously, I brought them up. Connor Timmons and Connor Dewar, both of them acquired at the trade deadline for nothing but a 2025 fifth round pick from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

And they were very surprising considering that they were basically buried with the Toronto Maple Leafs deeper team, not a lot of room on the roster for either of them. Kyle Dubus, obviously a pretty big fan of both. Quickly before I let you guys talk about Connor Dewar and Connor Timons, let's talk about the stats real quick. Connor Timens, 17 games. with the penguins, one goal, six assists for seven points, and a very impressive plus nine. Connor Dewar, he played 17 games as well, four goals, three assists for seven points.

Some depth that when you parse it out throughout an 82 game season, they looked like they would have been pretty productive bottom six forwards for the penguins, but Hunter, I pose this to you, your thoughts on those two, on what they did for the penguins and what their outlook. for the future is. Yeah, I thought they were totally solid. I kept making the comp that Connor Timmons is kind of like a Ben Lovejoy where he's very steady in his own zone, can bring you a little bit of offense. He's never really caught in transition too much making the wrong read. He's just a very steady player on the ice. That was the word I also kept coming back to Pat. It was just steady. That's how he played down the stretch. And you look at some of the underwings as well, only a 17 game sample,

but after 51 games with the Maple Leafs this year, his shot attempts per 60 rate went up from 49.3% to basically 58% with the Penguins. You look at his goals for rate. He was plus four, the Penguins plus five with the Maple Leafs. His expected goal share went up from 50% with the Leafs to 55 with the Penguins. Scoring chances for rate went up from 49% to a whopping 58.5%. And then his high danger chances for rate went up from 50. to 51. So not as much difference there, but with a couple of stats, it was night and day compared to

his time in Toronto. And yes, people, very small sample. But he showed to me that he can be a capable player in this defensive group next season. If they do want to bring him back, I give him at least a solid, you know, I don't want to, it's 17 games. I guess if I want to do a letter grade, I'll do a solid a minus to be because I felt like he was really good down the stretch. And then for Connor, do where I kept saying it on the show, too, he's. He's a feisty little fella. I felt like he was one of their better four checkers down the stretch. He had no goals this season before potting four with the penguins.

He was always going to the net. Very greasy player. Really good job of cycling down low as well. So I liked him. I felt like he was a good fit in the bottom six. And if they bring them back, I'm not going to be too upset. But Kelsey, this is where I hand this over to you. You kind of wrote in your piece that you really wouldn't bring them back for next season.

Why is that? because I felt like what they showed, I was like, I'm totally fine with them bringing both players back. It probably is not going to be that expensive, probably not going to be that much term, probably a two-year deal for both. But I just want to get your thoughts on their seasons and just your stance. Well, first of all, I mean, I agree on all fronts with you about both Timons and Dewar.

They're just really solid players for the Penguins. And, you know, especially when you look at that plus nine for Timons, if a blue liner has a plus stat next to their, you know, on their stat line for the Pittsburgh Penguins, they're probably doing something good because that wasn't a very common occurrence this past season. Pretty much everybody was in the minuses. So I don't typically read into plus minus too much, but I think that's kind of a testament to the situations that Timmons was put in. You know, there were times he was playing top four minutes, especially in the absence of Marcus Pedersen. We saw Carlson play on his offside.

Didn't do too shabby with Carlson. So, I mean, overall pretty solid body of work in that short sample size for Timmins. And then as far as Dewar, I mean, he had three points with the Maple Leafs all season long before coming to Pittsburgh. All of a sudden, he registers seven points, including four goals, you know, in those 17 games. So it's hard not to say that these guys impress in a short sample. All Dubus gave up was a fifth round pick for them. So, I mean, it's not like they threw anything to go get these guys, anything of significance. But just to kind of turn things a little bit, I think the reason I'm looking at this roster and I'm thinking that you don't bring these guys back is purely from a development standpoint.

You know, the Penguins have a lot of forwards that are, you know, kind of placeholder guys already on their roster under contract next season. And I will put an asterisk next to this because if they're able to move out any of those contracts, you know, if they're able to move out of Ryan Graves, or if they end up trading Eric Carlson, or, you know, if they end up moving out Hayes, Achari, any of those guys, I think this changes a little bit. But the fact of the matter is, the penguins have some guys on their roster that are already taking over those placeholder positions. And the more and more guys you sign in this window of development for the penguins where guys like Rucker McGority, guys like Vela Khoevenin, don't forget Philip Hallander. You know, all these younger guys are going to be in the mix for roster spots next season. And the more Connor Dewers, the more Connor Timmons you have on your roster, barring, that they don't move anybody else, that is less room for those guys to get full-time NHL minutes, which is what some of them need at this point.

I think VLA-C coven and a Rucker-Migurdy, again, short sample size, but they showed enough in that sample size that warrants, you know, a larger role at the NHL level next season. I'd argue the same fro in Pickering. So I think there's a lot of ifs surrounding this situation, depending on the movement, on, you know, the current roster. But the fact of the matter is, all these guys that already have contracts, you know, like I said, the Kevin Hayes, the Noel Charis, the Ryan Graves, if those guys come out of training camp and they're still on this roster, you know, they're going to be on the roster come training camp. You know, so it's one of those things. I think this is more of a situational thing.

But, you know, if they don't, assuming they don't move out any of those contracts this summer, I think those are two guys that they kind of have to let walk. Yeah, I mean, it's a really good point. and it's one that I struggled with, especially when we really started to dig in into what this offseason could and should look like for the penguins in Kyle Dubus. And it's no disrespect to Dewar or Timans. I think we have all said it at this point that they really surprised. And Dubus gave up nothing but a 2025 fifth for both of them.

and if you get two guys who give you, one gives you solid bottom six production, one gives you some production on the blue line and does not look out of place, that's a real, real low price to pay for all of that. And it fits right in line with what this team wants to do because you look at both players,

they're in their mid-20s, they're not stars, but they are good pieces that can help you once you start to turn that corner. The other problem with that is, Once you start to turn the corner, these guys are going to be in their late 20s and early 30s. And while they won't hurt, the decline for them will begin because, again, they're not superstars. And we have seen over the past decade, 15-ish years, that superstars have started to lengthen their primes,

but role players start to fall off a little bit quicker. So that could really be an issue with both players. But for now, we're going to table the conversation and keep it going. In the second segment, we'll talk about some of these younger guys that could be knocking at the door, as well as a couple of draft prospects that Kelsey has been looking at over at the hockey news, because we know where the penguins are right now, and that means we've got to look to the future. And we will do all that when we come back. So stick with us.

We'll get into that conversation right after this. But first, we've got to tell you about today's sponsor, and that is Fandul. The NBA playoffs, they're in full swing, and every night delivers highlight-worthy performances, especially if you're watching Nick's Pacers, major momentum shifts, and can't miss moments. Whether it's a game-winning shot or a breakout player, there has never been a better time to get in on the action. Fandul, it makes it easy to stay in the game before tip off and right after. With player props, performance trends, and same game parleyes, fans have more ways than ever to play smart and win big. Which players are going to show up in the biggest moments, whether it's Halliburton or whoever else on the Indiana Pacers, you can track them and that can help you build your next bet.

If you've got to read on a player who's heating up, why not back that up with the same game parlay? new to Fandul, it's the perfect time to sign up. Head to Fandul.com and place your first $5 bet. And if it wins, you'll get $200 in bonus bets. Make every moment more with Fandul, an official sports betting partner of the NBA. Welcome back into the Thursday edition of Locked-on Penguins. I'm Patrick Damp alongside Hunter Hodes and our good friend from the hockey news, Kelsey Sirmats. So let's keep this discussion going here because,

Kelsey, I want to give this right off to you right away. The topic of the article that you wrote, which we have referenced in the first segment, is basically that they can let Timmons endure walk because they've got a lot of young players knocking at the door. The question I posed to you, obviously we know the big ones. We know Rutger McGrady. We know Velae-Koevenin. But who else are you looking at specifically that you think is ready to take that jump? I get the feeling.

It's a lot of the players we've already talked about, but it's always good to get a third voice in here outside of just Tweedle D and Tweedle D. All right. Well, I can start on the blue line. So I mentioned Owen Pickering before. You know, I think when he first came up last season to the NHL level, I don't think that's a call of anybody was expecting necessarily when it happened. But he did show that he was capable of kind of even slotting on that second pairing, you know, showed some good capability there. I think his play started to fall off a little bit towards the end of his stint.

You saw I was starting to become a little bit overwhelming for him. He went down to Wilkes-Ferry. He actually struggled for a bit. But then he started to find his game again. And I think what we're seeing from Owen Pickering is, you know, I would argue he's kind of starting to mold himself more. to a shutdown rule. I'd like to see how that develops in his game as he continues to develop,

but a larger role in the NHL roster, especially given the, you know, bleak assessment of the left side of the Penguins defense right now, he should be a part of this roster next season in a full-time capacity. I think Harrison Brunich is another one, and Dubas specifically pointed to Brunich in his presser and his postseason presser. And, you know, Brunick got that small sample size. again in Wilkesbury Scranton for their playoff run and about 10 games at the end of the season.

The beginning of that run, we saw some mistakes. We saw maybe some overzealousness from, you know, Brunich trying to do a little bit too much on his own. Because if you aren't aware, Cam Loops is a terrible team. Brunich was doing pretty much everything himself there. And, you know, while that's a good thing, sometimes that can kind of have a reverse effect, too, because we saw that in his first, you know, handful of games with Wilkesbury where he was just trying to do too much. Once he kind of settled in, it was more the Brunick we saw in training camp last season.

You know, I don't personally think there's anything left for him to prove in juniors. I'd love to see him get at least, you know, that nine-game trial run at the NHL level next season. We'll see. But he's kind of a wild card. I think it depends a lot on what happens with Carlson, too. And then Jack St. Iven, he's another name that was brought up by Dubus. He actually, you know, he was injured for a lot of last season. Right after the Penguins sent him back down to Wolksbury, he ended up missing almost two months.

So he kind of had to come back from an injury, started to play again well towards the end of the season. And I still think he's, you know, a seventh option, six-seventh option for the Penguins potentially. So that's a blue line, but up front, you know, you. You mentioned Rucker McGority, Vaila Coivinen. I'm not going to go into those guys too much. We know we've seen that they very much appear to be NH already. Obviously, I think, you know, some of the guys we saw in and now Vasily Panamarev is one of them. I'd love to see Tristan Brose maybe get a crack at some point next season.

He was another guy that missed two months of Wolfsbury's season because he had mono. But he came back pretty much picked up right. where he left off. So those are two guys, but the guy I'm really, really fascinated about, and I mentioned him earlier, is Philip Hallander. Because I think he's kind of flying under the radar for a lot of people. If people don't know, he was just named the Swedish hockey leagues forward of the year. So he had a really good season over in the SHL, obviously re-signed by the Penguins to a two-year

contract. I think he's going to get NHL minutes. I think he's going to occupy, you know, one of those bottom six spots. And I think he can be an impact forward for the penguins. You know, he has good two-way potential. You know, he plays a really like hard-nosed game down low. He has decent size. It's pretty physical.

So I'd like to see what Hallander can bring because I think he's kind of a name that not a whole lot of people were talking about. Yeah, Pat and I have really talked about Hollander for the last couple of weeks ever since the Penguins brought him back. And he's going to have a legit chance to make this team out of camp and I think he's probably going to iron out one of the spots. He'll probably be in the bottom six somewhere. I'm excited to see how he does in the NHL if he does make it, of course, because he was really good this past year in Sweden. He was really good last year, too. Honestly,

ever since he went over there, he worked on a couple parts of his game and he turned into an even better offensive player. His production was fairly decent in Wilkesbury, but it blossomed even more overseas in Sweden. I'm excited to see if he can bring those elements back to North America and the Pittsburgh Penguins. I agree with the old about Pickering. Pat and I recently discussed him and how we think he's probably going to get a roster spot out of camp. But this also goes back to even more discussion about the blue line because you guys were talking about Timens and how if he walks, then there's potentially another slot to fill even if Harrison Brunick isn't ready just because if you trade Carlson, which I think Pat and I expect to happen at this rate,

you then have two spots open on the right side and then at least one if not too open on the left side. So you're going to have to be really even more aggressive in terms of really reshaping the blue line. And this is probably not going to be a one year thing. It's probably going to take multiple years to really get the blue line that you want until you're ready to start contending again. Because again, all due respect to Chris Lattang, we both love the guy. Kelsey, I know you're a big fan of Latang too. He can't handle the top pairing minutes anymore. So if you do let Timmons go and you don't resign him even though he's in RFA,

you're going to have to replace him somehow some way. And Brunich, I like him a lot. He was very close to making this team last year. If he can have a training camp like that again, if not a little bit better, he will have a legit shot to get the nine-game trial. But still, we have to see if that happens. I think the best case is probably you get someone to play those minutes. And if Brunich, again, blows you away at camp in the preseason,

that'd be great. and you can try them out for a few games. But this still goes to the notion that there's going to be, I think, a lot of changes to this blue light coming this summer and then probably next year as well. But I agree with all the other names that Kelsey mentioned as well. Absolutely. And real quickly, I don't want you to spoil it, Kelsey,

because I want people to click on your article and actually read it, rather than us just spoil the whole thing here. You dropped another draft prospect profile today for forward Justin Carbino. And I read this not long after you dropped it because I've got the alerts on. And I just have, I do so much productive, so many productive things with my time. But this is a player that wasn't really on my radar. But after reading it, after looking at some of the highlights, I'm intrigued. Yeah.

And I want to throw out Jesse Marshall's name here. I'm a friend of both of us. He actually appeared on my podcast Puckson ad a couple weeks ago. And he had a glowing endorsement of Carbono. And it kind of made me look further into it because he wasn't somebody that was necessarily on my radar either. But this guy has a lot of skill. And Jesse even said this too. He said, you know, aside from the top three guys in this draft, he might be the most like raw skilled player in, you know, this crop of players.

that the penguins could potentially select. You know, he can dangle for days. He's got great hands. He's got great speed, too. He's great in transition. So there's a lot of things to like about Carbono's game. And he's also been working on, you know, rounding out some of the aspects of his two-way game

and the defensive details. There's still a little bit of work to do there, I think. But, I mean, from what I've seen, this would be a legitimate, you know, selection for the penguins. As is, I think, a lot of guys in the same area. area. I've talked about Jacob Bryan a lot. I'm very high on Jacob Ryan. I like Cache on Acheson a lot. And that's another guy that Jesse and I discussed quite a bit. But, you know, I think regardless of what happens, there is going to be a few guys that drop to that 11 slot. We see it happen every year. I wrote about Brady Martin as well. But Brady Martin's draft stock is rising. I highly doubt he's going to be available at 11, but that's going to push some guys back. possibly even Victor Eklund.

So, you know, between you got Carbino, you got O'Brien, you got Acheson, possibly Eklund. You know, I think there is going to be a pretty good player for the Penguins to draft in that slot. But Carbono is one of them, and he's just like you said, he wasn't really on my radar either, but once Jesse brought up his name, I had to look into it. And if you haven't checked out Justin Carbano highlights, I think you should. I think you should. He's got a motor. You know, he can kind of exploit defenses.

He can get to those danger areas. He, you know, has a little bit of a scoring touch too. So check out Justin Carbonow highlights. You won't be disappointed. All I'll say is this is Victor Eklund somehow falls to 11. I would just sprint to the stage right away. He's like on my dream list now, now that the pick is 11, but there is a legit shot that he falls to 11.

I agree with you about Carbonino, though. I have them a bit below some of my other players on my board right now, you know, below Eklund O'Brien, I have ahead of him, Acheson, who I kind of, I don't like making a lot of comps, but if I had to, he's kind of like a hybrid version of Brian Rofalski and Nick Cromwell, especially with how physical he can be along the boards. I know some people are concerned that his offense won't translate to the NHL, which is fair just because he's doing this in junior, but his all-around two-way game is spectacular to watch. And I'll throw Ben Kindle out there as well. I think at 11, I think he'd also be a really good pick. But Carbino, 100%. I'm glad that you

through his name in there because he's also going to be right around that range for the penguins. I have him again below a few of those guys. But if he were the pick, I'd be totally happy about it. Don't worry, Pat. I'm going to drop my big board in the next probably couple of weeks on one of these episodes. I'm almost done with it. That big board, it's coming just as soon as the next Guns and Roses album, people. It's a day away from being a day away.

I kid, I kid. Well, we have to see if they're going to make a new album. They just tour all the time now. But, Kyle, if you're listening and Victor Eklund is available and you want to get our our own Hunter Hodeys here, some cardio, go ahead and take him so Hunter can get his sprints in and get himself into shape. That is going to do it for this second segment. As I said, go to the hockey news, read Kelsey's article about Carbono.

It is a fantastic read. And that will do it for this segment. When we come back, we've got one more young player to talk about as well as. clue everybody in to a new segment that Hunter and I will be debuting tomorrow. So stick around for that. We will do that when we come back right after this. Back here on the Thursday edition of Locked-on Penguins, I'm Patrick Damp right alongside Hunter Hodes and Kelsey Sermats.

So we have been talking about the future of the Penguins, whether it's RFAs, potential draft picks, players who are already in the system that we're looking forward to. But there is one name that has. come up on the trade market and the offer sheet market. And if we're going to talk about sprinting towards something, if this player is available for offer sheet or trade, Kyle sprint to that phone, sprint to that word document and make it happen.

And that is Minnesota Wild Center Marco Rossi. Absolutely incredible numbers the last two years. He has hit the even 100. mark over the last two seasons. He has scored 45 goals, 55 assists for 100 points combined the last two seasons. He is all of 23. He will be 24 when the season begins. But I pose this question to the both of you, Kelsey, I will send it to you first.

If this player is available, what is realistic and what would you want to see the penguins give up to get him? If it's not an offer sheet, if it's a trade, what would you be willing to trade for him? Well, it kind of poses the question about what the Wild are looking for in a return. Because, you know, you think about the Minnesota Wild and they need center depth. So it just seems very odd that they're willing to deal Rossi. I think that seems to be more of a philosophy thing. I don't want to speak on some things.

I don't know. This is just me spitballing. but, you know, he's a little undersized. He's 5'9, but he's a good player, and he's shown that. But he was playing, you know, fourth line center in the playoffs for the wild this season. And, you know, he saw his minutes start to dwindle towards the end there. So you got to wonder what is a miss there and what they're looking for in a return because if they don't value Rossi as a center, you'd think that they want a center in return,

but maybe not. You might be able to, like, create a package around another piece. that could work for them. They need offense. They need offensive players. And I think they kind of need higher-end prospects, just the NHL-ready prospects in their system, too, especially on the forward front. They have a lot of defensive depth.

So I wouldn't count on defensive depth. But I think this is definitely a player on the Penguins end that you give up a first-round pick for. I mean, this is somebody, you know, we talk about that Rangers conditional first-round pick. We don't know what's going to happen with that yet. we may not know until 48 hours before the draft. I think we'll know sooner than that, but you never know. If the penguins do get that 12th overall pick for the Rangers, that's a pick that I send for Marka Rossi,

in addition to a prospect slash current roster player. And, you know, I've kind of, this is a tough one, because to be honest, I'm not sure that the penguins have the assets that the Wob would be looking for. And that's just kind of, what I'm stuck on because when I look at the Penguins prospect pool, you know, the best center prospect in their system right now that's closest to be in NH already is Tristan Brose. And I don't think Triss and Brose in a first necessarily gets this done. So, you know, you might have to throw in something

else there, whether that's another pick, whether that's a roster player, you know, it might get a little bit hairy there. But I think you have to think about the centerpiece of this trade. And I don't know that the penguins have that. But, I mean, if they're looking for offensive players, I know they're not young, but I wouldn't discount the possibility of a Brian or Rester Ricard Raquel going there just because they need offense. I mean, this is a team that just needs to inject more offense into its attack anyway,

and they're veterans. They're not centers. Raquel can play center. We saw that that was a little bit of an experiment this season that didn't exactly go super swimmingly for the penguins. ones, but, you know, if they need offense, they can look to create a package around those guys, maybe send that first with that. But to be honest, I'm just not sure that they have the return that the wild would be looking

for. But I definitely send that first. That's somebody that you trade a first round pick for. Yeah, especially if they also can get, you know, say a first back. Even if they trade Raquel somewhere else this summer and you get a first back as part of that package, you can maybe dangle that first round pick plus more. But as you said, Kelsey, like they don't have. have like a true forward prospect or even a center prospect that I think Minnesota would really

be all over the moon for like the prospect system for the penguins it's better but it's nowhere near you know top 10 top 12 in the league they're trying to get it to that point but it's still nowhere near it right now like that this is still very much work in progress that said if this price isn't astronomically high or anything like that you still need to be in on this this is someone who can help you not just right now, but well into the future. He had the best season of his career this past season, 24 goals, 60 points in 82 games. As Pat said, he has 100 points in his last two seasons. He's a left shot center can play up and down your lineup. I mean, Penguins already have Tommy Novak coming back to be their third line center next season. If you wanted to bump him to wing,

for example, you can put Marco Rossi as your third line center. That's totally fine. Heck, if you want to go your top four of Crosby, Malkin, Novak Rossi, you can do that as well. You can even experiment Malk into playing at wing at times next season if you want to do that with move Mote Novak up to the second line and put Marco Rossi on the third line. They will have no shortage of options if they were to go and get Marco Rossi. The underlying numbers are very good for this past season, plus 13 goal differential at five on five. 53% expected goal share, 51% scoring chances for rate. This is a player who I would be all over in a trade and science scenario. I don't think this is going to be an offer sheet situation, excuse me.

I just don't think they're going to pony up the draft picks to do that. I just don't think they are in a position in their rebuild on the fly right now to kind of do that because you look at the money he made this past season, guys, only 863,334. He is going to get a pretty big payday in this next contract as an RFA, no matter what. And with that, you know, again, the higher the money is with the tiers, the more you have to give up for an offer sheet. And I just don't see the penguins doing that right now. This is very much to me.

Trade for him and then he assign him to a long term contract. So I would be very much in on him. But as Kelsey said, some teams might be able to offer more for a player like this. But still, if Penguins were to get him, I'd be over the moon. Absolutely. The two quick things I will say on this because I'm pretty much in agreement with everything that you guys said is one, I don't think you need to give a. up the sun and the moon.

And when I say that, I mean, they're going to ask for that. You don't have to go for that. He's not that much of a need. I would love him to be a penguin. He's right in that wheelhouse of what they're looking to get in what they're trying to do in this era of penguin's hockey. At the same time, though, you bring up how much, how much Minnesota is in need of offense.

Kelsey, you brought up Ryan Rust, you brought up Ricard Raquel. Those guys are luxuries for the penguins right now. I love both of them. I would love to see them continue to be penguins, but if we want to talk about this team getting back to contention sooner rather than later, wouldn't hurt to part with them, especially if that's what you get in return. You also have to bring up that I've got a ton of picks over the next few years.

This is a guy who it's worth giving up picks for because he will be part of your team for the foreseeable future. So you're essentially just getting a guy who is NHL ready. It might as well be an early first round pick. But at the end of the day, if the opportunity is there, Kyle Dubus absolutely should take it. Before we go, I teased it at the end of the second segment. Hunter and I are debuting a new Friday segment that we will do each week

throughout the offseason. And we are calling it fan take Friday. what we will do after our Thursday episodes once we upload them. We will put a post up on YouTube. We will put a post out on our Twitter account. And we're going to ask you, the faithful locked on penguins listener community, what's your hottest take? What's a take you think makes sense?

What's a historical what if? Doesn't matter. If you've got to take about the Pittsburgh Penguins, send it our way. This is not like a mailbag. You don't have to ask a question. you can just throw your take out there and Hunter and I, and if we have a guest on Fridays,

we will discuss it. We'll talk about if it's possible, if it makes sense, if it's silly, it doesn't matter. We want to hear from you. We want to hear your takes so we can discuss them every Friday during the off season. But for now,

that is going to do it for this episode of Locked-on Penguins. Before we go, Kelsey, let the people know where they can find you, what you're working on and anything else you want to plug. So as Pat has mentioned, you can find me on the Hockey News Penguins website. You can bookmark the page, follow the page. You can get all the latest updates. I'm going to be doing a lot of draft coverage, just a lot of, you know, stuff about the

penguins off season and what they might be doing here. But lots of draft coverage to come and as well as the coaching search. We've been following that pretty quickly too, or pretty religiously too, rather. And then in addition to that, I run Pucks in that, which is my podcast to check that out. And I'm also going to be on the hockey news playoff frenzy live after every single playoff game. We go live and I'll be on it tonight and tomorrow. So I'm covering some other playoff hockey games. So check that out.

Obviously, we are going to be following all of that because we are total hockey sickos here on Locked on Penguins. But again, that'll do it for this edition of Locked on Penguins for Hunter. Hodes for Kelsey Sermats. I am Patrick Damp. Thank you as always for tuning in. Send us your hot takes once we put the post out and we will discuss them on our Friday episode before now. Thanks again for listening. We'll be back on Friday.