Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - What's the latest on Malkin & more with Josh Yohe!

Episode Date: March 18, 2021

Just before the Pittsburgh Penguins take on the New Jersey Devils, Hunter brings on Josh Yohe from The Athletic to talk about everything that's going around the team as of late. He starts with the Malkin injury and Josh explains what he's been hearing about the injury as the team just placed him on IR. After that, they talk trades as the deadline looms. Is the team interested in Eric Staal? Could Anthony Mantha from the Red Wings make a lot of sense? They also touch on the outstanding play of Brian Dumoulin, and where Jared McCann slots in once he returns this weekend in New Jersey.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.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.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.IndeedWant your QUALITY short-list FAST? You need Indeed. RIGHT NOW, our listeners get a FREE SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLAR CREDIT to upgrade your job post at Indeed.com/LockedOnJoin our Bracket Challengehttps://fantasy.espn.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/2021/en/group?groupID=3624947 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.

Your Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day. Hello, welcome to this Thursday, late afternoon, early evening episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodys. Remember to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the show's Twitter at L0-1-N-Square Penguins.

Today's episode is brought to you by rockado.com. Amazing selection. or lilo-lough prices all the parts of Chicago ever need, go to rockado.com and tell them locked on sent you. Today we have a very special guest on the podcast. Josh Joey of the athletic returns, he's been on here, I think, three to four times, but, you know, today is a great day with all the swath of injuries that the penguins have

just because they can never stay healthy, even though Jason Zerker was the only injured penguin it felt like just, I think, a week ago. And, of course, we'll touch on some whole bunch of other stuff regarding the team. But Josh, how are you doing today? I'm very well, and as I always say, when I start a podcast, and I think yours in the past, the penguins are never boring,

so there's always a plethora of things for people like us to talk about. So this is a perfectly good day for me to come on, I would say. Yeah, absolutely. You know, like I said, it seemed like a week ago. I was watching the game, like, wow, the team is fully healthy for a change except Jason Zucker. And it was just like, wow, if they can sustain this and maybe they can make some trades,

they'll have a more competent roster. Now they have another player that's out longer term with Teddy Bliger. as Ganyi Malkin was just placed on IR. I guess I'll start there. Josh, is there a sense within the team that this could be a bad injury or do they just not really know anything yet? Well, I mean, I don't really think they know yet in regards to Gino. Mike Sullivan talked about it this morning and was extremely vague. Sometimes he's like that by design.

Sometimes that's just the way it is and there's not a whole lot of information. It didn't sound real good. you know, it's definitely a knee injury from what I've been told. The big one to avoid is the old ACL. Nobody needs that. And I haven't heard anybody in the organization who's worried about the ACL. It doesn't mean that it's not. So I'm not telling you it's not that.

But I've known enough doctors and trainers over the years. They know immediately when it's an ACL usually. They can literally, you know, feel your knee and they just know. So I haven't heard those three nasty letters yet, which is a good thing. Could be an MCL. could be something else. I think best case scenario for Gino, maybe he misses a couple of weeks,

and luckily for the Penguins, they get a lot of devils and sabers coming up. They can probably survive for a bit without them and go on from there. Obviously, if this is some kind of a season-ending injury, that changes a lot of things for the Penguins. That changes quite a few things, especially when it comes to the trade market,

which we'll get to in a little bit. Yeah, being without two of your top three centers, even if it's just for a couple weeks with one of them being out, that's not good. You know, you have Mark Janowski as your second line center. He really hasn't done anything a lot this year. He has not scored. And basically, I think, 25, 26 games now.

And then you have to elevate Sam Lafferty to the third line center. I mean, he really hasn't done much. I was talking about it on my last episode, Josh. I think he was on the ice on the six on five. You know it's bad when you have to ice Sam Lafferty on the six on five. And he just passed the puck back to the point with five seconds left.

and he was like 10 feet away from the net. And I was just like, okay, that was just. And I actually, I thought the same thing in the last couple. Jankowski was on the ice and then Lafferty was on the ice in the final two minutes. Boy, this is, poor Mike Sullivan, this is not a good situation for the Penguins right now. They are the very definition of a one-line team right now. And that top line's really good. And it needs to be because I don't know where else the offense is going to come from in regards to the Penguins lineup right now.

So we will see. And you mentioned Teddy Bluger. Let's not overlook that injury. Obviously, the Malkin potentially having a serious injury is the big news of the day. But Teddy Bluger has been one of the Penguins' best performers all season. This guy has become such of a good two-way presence every night in the Penguins lineup. And you just know what you're getting with that line when he plays with Tannavenzar, whether you consider that a third line or a fourth line.

They'd be the second line right now with Malkin out. But no matter what, you know that's a line that does a lot of parson. positive things for you. So with him out of the lineup too, at the same time as Malcon, it's not a good thing, Hunter. Yeah, and especially with where it comes to the P.K. I know the P.K. I know the P.K. has been very bad. That's putting it nicely, I guess, is the word to use, for most of the season, but he's been one of their best penalty killers. So having him out for that, and just because he's also great at even strength, it stinks. And it's a big blow to that unit. It's a big blow to the team. I know a Bluger has been awesome, and I've said before

that Zara has made that line go. But, But without Blugher, I think it's going to be a lot tougher on Zard to make that line go just because of how great all three of them, namely Bluger has been this year. I think he has three short-handed goals as well. Hopefully, longer term does not mean eight weeks or something like that. And it means, hopefully he doesn't mean that he's only back for the playoffs because that could happen with Zucker as well. But still, yeah, not a good injury. I guess with these injuries now, Josh, you know, I read your piece. I think I saw something this morning on the athletic where you said,

the most tradable asset that the penguins likely have to go is Marcus Pedersen. I was going to ask you, besides that, do you see another player being moved out in a deal besides him, or is he the one that is most likely still going to get out? He's the one that sticks out to me for a couple of reasons. Number one, if you take Marcus Pedersen off of this roster, you know how good P.O. Joseph is. So we got a glimpse of it. I'm not saying he's the next Bobby Or even though he looked like it for first three or four games. but this is clearly a young player that has the potential to be a legitimately good top four defensemen in the NHL.

Very clear. So you know you have the replacement for him waiting there if you choose to move Marcus out. You want to help your forwards. Marcus Patterson, I don't know what Marcus's value is, but could he at least fetch a good middle six forward? Yeah, I would think he could. And also, I like Marcus. He's only 24 years old. solid player, but at a little bit over

$4 million per year, that's a lot of money for what he gives. I don't think it would be a bad thing for the penguins to rid themselves of that contract. I am not a Marcus Pedersen Hater, however, if you're looking for somebody who is a legitimately tradable asset and who I don't

think would hurt the penguins that much if he were off the roster, he's the guy that just screams out to me as the most likely to be moved right now. If the penguins were completely healthy, who knows? Things would be entirely different. A month ago, I would have said Jared McCann's probably a guy to go because he had played so poorly for the past year and Zucker was playing okay. Well, now Zucker's hurt.

McCann looks great when he comes back. So, you know, who knows what you do with that one. But they only have so much they can move, Hunter. That's the problem. They don't have many draft picks left. They don't have many prospects left. They don't want to trade the ones they already have. So Marcus certainly makes the most sense to me.

Yeah, I can certainly understand that. You know, I've been wanting them to go after, you know, another. center at least, I think, especially with these two being out for however long they're going to be out. I mean, I saw Rob put out Eric Stahl's name. He makes a lot of sense. But the big thing is, Josh, does Ron Hextel really want to go out and trade for a rental? Because I read in another article, I think, from a different reporter, you know, he told him that like, yeah, I'm not really too interested in moving some prospects and some picks for Reynolds. It sounds like he would have to maybe move those for like a player with term. And that brought me to someone from a certain player

from Detroit named Anthony Manta has three more years left on his contract. It's great at both ends of the ice. He is someone that I would trade for in a heartbeat, but I don't know really know what Steve Eisenman want. Do you see Ron going after a player with term with a deal? I mean, obviously, I think they're going to make a trade. Or do you still see him going into the rental market? First of all, I like Manta a lot.

That's a good observation on your part. He would be perfect. I suspect Stevie Y would want a lot for him, however, maybe more and the penguins have the offer. Philosophically, it goes against what Ron Hextall likes to do if you're just going to trade a prospect for a rental. Jim Rutherford would do that in a heartbeat. We know that.

Jim very much was a guy who lives in the now. You're 72 years old. That's how it is. You don't worry about tomorrow. You worry about today. But Ron Hextall, that's never been his MO. I'm fascinated by his situation with the penguins right now because he has this reputation for being a builder,

for being patient, for holding on to his prospects. The Penguins are at the tail end of a Stanley Cup window, however, and I think they have probably exceeded Ron Hextall and Brian Burke's expectations, because since those two guys took over, the Penguins have been a much better hockey team. I don't know if that was a matter of, you know, the principal walking into the room and getting everyone's attention

or just luck timing, whatever, But they've been really good. They look like a legitimate playoff team now that if you added a couple of pieces, who knows? Maybe they could go on a run. It wouldn't shock anyone, I don't think. So I don't really have that much insight into what Ron Hextall is going to do because none of us in Pittsburgh really knows him that well yet or knows what he's thinking. But I think it would be who for him to make some kind of a move if he doesn't have to give up too much.

The bottom six clearly needs some work. But I don't think he wants to trade Samuel Poulin or Nathan LaGuerreier. those are, you know, the two real prospects they have left, and it would really have to be a good young player for a lot of years coming back in return, I think, for him to trade one of those two. Yeah, the fourth line is where it really sticks out, especially with the injuries right now. Even with everyone's healthy, you can still put everyone on Riga's on that fourth line

and Jeremy Kahn's back and everything, but there's still, I think, at least one to two forwards away from, I think, being a true Stanley Cup contender at this point. And, you know, just before we do go to a commercial break, Josh, I was going to get to that. Just, yeah, ever since they took over, this team has done a complete 180. The goal tending has been ridiculous.

Crosby's been great. Gino obviously woke up before he got hurt. Crystal Tang has played his finest hockey of the season. I've been saying it for the last week, man. I think they're a playoff lock at this point or very close to it with the way the Flyers have been struggling. Just what's your read on this team, especially as they, you know, I read earlier today,

14 of their next 19 games are against the bottom three teams in the division. And so far, out of 24 games, the Penguins are 7 and 1 against those three teams combined. Yeah, I mean, let's assume for a second that Malkin is not out for the season, and we don't know that. Presuming he comes back at some point, say, in the next month, I would be shocked if this team doesn't make the playoffs. They're playing at a very high level right now. The schedule is favorable. Philadelphia is a mess. And just making the playoffs means a lot to this group.

It's been 15 straight years. This is a very prideful group of human beings. I mean, they don't ever want to miss the playoffs. You know how much it means to them. And you said that they're best players. It's maybe Latang more than anybody. I feel like everybody's talking about Gino because he's gone into Beast mode the last couple of weeks, and I get it. But Chris LaTang was so bad in January.

It was unbelievable. It was the worst I've ever seen him play. I mean, he was a mess. But I always call it like I see it with him. And as bad as he was then, that's as good as he's been the last couple of weeks. he is playing at a really high level. Partially, I think, because it coincided with the return of Brian Dumlin, who has also been really good.

We cannot deny his importance to this team. So all their best players are suddenly playing well. Yeah, they're a playoff team. And Philadelphia has got some real issues. And other teams in this division have issues, too. The Islanders are in first place, but their captain, Anders Lee's out for the year. Look at their schedule in the next two or three weeks.

It's unbelievable. You know, they are no sure thing to make the playoffs. even though you have to like we're there on the standings right now. So it's going to be an unbelievable battle. Assuming Malkin comes back at some point, say, by the end of April, I have a hard time believing this team won't at least be in the playoffs. And when the playoffs start, I think this postseason is the ultimate crapshoot. I really believe that.

I mean, I think Tampa's earned the right to be the favorite, probably. But anything could happen in these playoffs. We don't know if there's going to be fans. We don't know anything. People are going to be exhausted, but penguins look like a pretty darn good hockey team right now, if they're healthy. Yeah, I mean, if the penguins get in, as it is right now, I would take the penguins over Washington, I think, in a seven-game series. I think I'm on the fence about taking them against the Allenders. The Bruins, I think, is the one team.

They always struggle against them for as many years as they have, and that's the one that always just, I think, gives them the most fits. But, yeah, I mean, I do think that they are going to get in. you said it best they are playing their best hockey and you know we are going to touch on more on brian dimlin after this commercial break just because i think this is the best i've seen them play in three years but before we do that maybe it's kind of talk about two things one being that online it's the fastest and easiest way to bend all your sports action football might be over but the NBA college basketball and angel in full swing it has you covered for all the news scores and odds it's the best way to place your bets and it's free to sign up for it you can head to the

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Follow those shows Twitter at L.O underscore Penguins. So two things, Josh, we'll get to the Jerry McCann thing in a second, but I'm glad you mentioned Brian Dumlin. I've been touching on this a lot lately. the hockey that he has played since his return. He's looked like a completely different player. I remember in the bubble when I was watching against Montreal did not look the same.

His skating was way off. Defensively, he looked like a mess. Even in the offensive zone with some of his pinches, he was just making mistakes that you don't really see him make. And I've always said it too. He's the perfect compliment to Chris Latang. Just because of how great Latang is in the offensive zone, he'll take those chances.

And then if he sometimes screws up, which he does quite often. Doomlin is always back there to cover for his mistakes and just get the puck out of Hum's way. So having him back has been so huge to this team. I've seen people say that it could have been a trade candidate this past summer or at the deadline or something. I'm like, that's just ridiculous. I know you could get a lot for him, but a certain someone named Crystal Tang would be worse off for it. What have your thoughts been on Brian Dumlin thus far?

No, I agree with me. Let's not forget. He got hurt from his November of 2019. And that was a nasty injury in St. Louis. He tore his ankle ligaments. It was Thanksgiving weekend. And he came back a few months later. He wasn't even close to the same player, Hunter.

His skating, excuse me, which is one of his greatest strengths, was not the same. And you saw it in the bubble in Toronto. You're right. He was not a positive influence for the Penguins the way he always is. I mean, always. He is one of the most dependable players in franchise history. And then at the start of this season, I still didn't like how he looked. I didn't like how a skating look.

He didn't look himself at all. And it was easy to blame La Tang for all the mistakes. And yeah, he was making a lot of them. But so was Dublin. He was making some uncharacteristic plays that we really have never seen from him during his tenure in Pittsburgh. So I was really curious to see how he looked when he came back into the lineup a couple of weeks ago. I had the eagle eye on him. And let me tell you, he has been spectacular.

I mean, he has been almost perfect. You mentioned his pinching ability, which is one of the most underrated aspects of his game. Every single decision has been perfect. He's really helping the penguins in the offensive zone. He's making great reads. And you've seen the difference it's made in La Tang's game. Chris is so much more comfortable playing with Brian Dooblin.

And Dumlin's been one of their best players since he returned. They've only lost a couple of games, in fact, since he has come back into the lineup. Their record is markedly better with Dumlin. I think there are eight and seven when he misses game. So they're a 500 team without him. They're way better than that with him. So, yeah, I would not be trading Brian Dumlin any time soon.

You could get a boatload for him. That's great. But he makes the Penguins a better team. He just does. Yeah. And seeing him back on the PK unit as well with his long reach, it's night and day. I've just been so happy to see him back. Another player you touched on a little earlier in the episode with that article.

You know, Jared McCann, you had it added in his article. I think the pre-trade deadlocked. article like you know what are you going to do with this player just because he's kind of struggled a little bit you know but then you know after that I looked into the numbers a little bit he's been even before I think he got hurt some of his underlying numbers were pretty good I think to say the least and then after that of course you know basically just told told you like hey you know I'm gonna I'm gonna start playing even better and I think he leads the team and I think almost shot at times per 60 like points per 60 a whole bunch of other underlying stats he looked great

on that Balkan line when he came back and then it stunk that he got hurt again. But Josh, it looks like he's going to be back this weekend with full contact and practice today. That's going to be a welcome return. It doesn't look like that they're going to trade him at this point. I love his shot. It's such a awesome weapon, I think, is the way to describe it. And just his playmaking ability is also really underrated as well. With Malkin being out, where do you see him, do you see him then putting him at center first or at the wing to start? well I do think we will see him this weekend in New Jersey if I had to guess Jared McCann he is a very important player for the Penguins in general but

specifically right now I expect him to be their second line center until I'm getting Malkin returns whenever that may be and this is a role in which McCann has thrived in the past I will take you back the last season Sydney Crosby has the surgery the or tourney surgery, misses a couple of months. And those 28 games that Sid missed, Malkin was obviously the number one center. Jared McCann slid in behind him as the number two center. Those 23 games, McCann put up eight goals, 16 points. Not bad.

That's a 23 goal pace. That's pretty good for your number two center. You will take that. It was only after that when his role changed a little bit that we really saw his performance dip. So McCann is always kind of a mystery. he's kind of like when he started dating that girl that's like perfect on paper but then things don't always like work out and you're not sure why that's always how i think of jared mccann you know what i mean like he's got all the attributes but then like something doesn't add up and you can't really put a finger on what it is that's always how i view mccan but that said he's young and he's talented he's one of my favorite people on the team too works his tail off and the mackan that we saw those few games when he came back into the lineup it was like whoa like Who's this guy? This is the guy we saw when they traded for McCann from Florida a couple of years ago, right? If this is the version of McCann they're getting, that's a big deal because he's the top six talent.

There's no question. And he's a perfect guy to fill in for Gino while he is out. When Gino comes back then, then that's where things get interesting. What if everybody's healthy? Do you go with McCann or Zooker on the left wing? Because McCann look better playing with Caput and Malkin than Zoker did. That's going to be a nice problem to have for Mike Sullivan. I'm glad you brought that up.

Just because, you know, if not like his penguin's tenure here, they've always struggled to, like, put him, like, next to good talent. You know, you saw last year, I think, that Marlow McCann-Hornquist line, that's not going to really do anything. I mean, Marlowe was kind of playing, like, a corpse at that point. No disrespect to Patrick Marlow. He's an all-time great. And Patrick Hornquist was not all, well, he was playing decent hockey,

but not up to this year's level. I mean, good grief. He has, like, 10, 12 goals or something like that right now with Florida. But it's just they haven't like, they didn't figure out that right role from him. But, you know, I think when, when Gino comes back, you have that McCann-Malkin-Captan line, and then you can slide maybe Zulper down to that next line if you go out and get another center. Then we're cooking a little bit there. I think that would be awesome.

I think that's the ultimate master plan for the penguins. And let's just pretend in a perfect world where they're healthy. We know it will never happen because it's the penguins. But let's just say that it did. in some utopian state. You leave the Crosby line as is. He loves playing with Rustin Gensel. It's a great line.

Malkin, McCann, and Capitan just works. I mean, it just does. You could see it for a few games. The chemistry was unbelievable. So in that perfect world we're talking about, then that Teddy Blugher line can be your fourth line. And that's how you win Stanley Cups when a line like that is your fourth line.

That's the kind of depth you're talking about, right? You move Zucker down to the third line on his own line. Then you need someone to play. with him. And maybe you can have a third wheel who's already somebody in Evan Rodriguez or somebody, but you would need a big time center to play with him, maybe an Eric Stahl, who, by the way, did play very well with soccer in Minnesota a couple of years back. Now, it's easy to look at Stahl's numbers and say this guy's washed up. He's no good. You don't want him. I would caution you, however, that I don't think anybody who is playing for the Buffalo Sabres right now cares at all.

I really don't. And I still think Eric Stahl can play. I know for a third. fact that he has great relationships with Sid and Gino for what it's worth. Of course, his brother Jordan played with him for many years. So the penguins are very stall friendly. They know Eric, well, I think it would be a really interesting fit if that happened. They have to get healthy to make something like that happen.

But Stahl doesn't make that much money. Financially, they could absolutely make it work. Yeah, I know Rob mentioned him in an article a couple of weeks ago or last week, and for good reason. He makes all the sense in the world. He really does. I know the old two-ninner wants to see it happen quite badly. He's been trumpeting it for weeks.

And if they can get healthy, it makes sense. Or even if Malkin isn't going to be back for a long time, maybe it makes sense in that regard, too. Yeah, absolutely. And then you can just, you have that Astonies-Bueger-Tanel line whenever Bluier comes back. And then if you have a Zucker stall, Rodriguez, third line, I mean, you're rolling four lines at that point. And then the team looks so much better. We're going to get to more trade stuff here in the next segment just to finish off this episode. of Lockedown and Penguins. But before we do that, it is time to talk about rockado.com.

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right below prices, all the parts of your car will ever need. That is rock auto.com. All right, welcome back to this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. Remember to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the show's Twitter at L-O- underscore Penguins. So, you know, deadlines, what? 25, 26 days, something like that.

I think it's 25 days. Josh, you just mentioned Eric Stahl. Are there any other names that you've been hearing that, that they could be going after. I've also been on the Bobby Ryan train from Detroit. If they want to go after a rental, he makes all the sense in a role as a bottom six-winger, has, I think, six-seven goals with the Red Wings this year.

If you want to go up a little further, go up above the border. Evgeny Dadenov, with Ottawa's been really good offensively. But have you heard any targets that Hextall and Burke have been thinking of, or is still too early just with the trade market? I would love to drop some names on your listeners right now, but I really haven't. Bobby Ryan is an interesting guy.

One of my favorite people in the league, just unbelievably good guy who's, you know, dealt with a lot of demons in his life and kind of a feel-good story to see how well he is doing now. He can still score a little bit, too. And if you put him with players who could score, other fellow talented players, I still think there might be something there with him.

And don't forget, it was Brian Burke who drafted Bobby Ryan way back one in Anaheim. So there is a relationship. there. He makes some sense. You know, you don't want to rely on him too much. I don't know that he's a top six answer now, but as a third line guy,

could he be effective? Maybe. I also think he can still help you on the power play. The Penguins can always use a right-handed shot on the power play, whether we're talking about the first or second unit. He's a guy who makes sense. You know what's funny, though, when you look at teams like Ottawa, Buffalo, Detroit, all the really bad teams in the league,

they all have players that you'd like to have. out. Like, none of them, you don't look at any of those rosters and say, well, these guys all suck. I don't want them on my team. Like, no, there's like five or six guys on all those teams that could absolutely help. It tells you just how even the league is right now. The top team to the bottom team, like, you know, there used to be this huge gap, and it's changed. It has.

So every team has players that you might like to have. Yeah, absolutely. You know, even with Buffalo, I was watching those two games, and I know that the effort wasn't there, but Sam Ryanhart, Eric Stahl. I know Jack Eichel wasn't in, but Rasmisd-Dahl. Jeff Skinner was a former 40 goal score who has lost his way. There were some serious talent there, even with New Jersey tonight. Jack Hughes, Pavel Zaka, Nico Hesier, Kyle Palmeri is a trade candidate,

definitely a rental candidate. I think the Highlander's going to link to him because Anders Lee is out. But to finish up here, Josh, you know, this stretch coming up here is huge for Pittsburgh. Like I said, you know, 14 of the next 19, the bottom three teams. They can make a run for first place here, especially with their three points ahead of Boston still. I know they have a couple games in hand. They're six points ahead of Philadelphia for that, even that last playoff spot. That's ginormous.

The Flyers play the Islanders on Thursday night. They have a tough schedule coming. I was reading some tweets from Flyers fans last night. They say, you know, this is the game that gets someone fired after they almost allowed 10 goals. That was just, that was something else to watch. Do you see the Penguins potentially making a run for first year, even though they have a swab of injuries? just because the schedule is so light. I mean, I know any given night you can't play down to bad competition.

The Penguins have five straight right here against New Jersey and Buffalo. Three straight against the Devils. For those that forgot, the two weekend games week are one o'clock games. So plan accordingly, the Penguins at one o'clock games are always a bit weird. But just what are your thoughts on that. That's right. The batonets are indeed coming. First of all, I was out at dinner last night.

and I saw the Flyers were losing 9-0. And we had to go to Target afterwards. But we decided to scrap the trip to Target just to get back to watch the third period of the game. I was very disappointed the Rangers did not finish off the 10th spot. But nonetheless, that was some seriously good theater to watch. The Flyers might be in trouble. I mean, they've been going in that direction in general the last couple of weeks. And that was a game last night.

that's some serious red flags. There's something going on with that team. So keep your eye on that. As for the Penguins, these three games against Jersey will not be easy. They doubt they're going to go. They never play now in New Jersey to begin with. Right.

They never play well in that building. I doubt they're going to go three and all in these next three games. I know people don't want to hear that, but I'd be a little bit surprised if they did. I know Jersey is terrible. But this is a beaten-up Penguins team, a tired Penguins team. The top line needs to be great.

Crosby needs to really go off here in these extra games, and he may. Jersey's not a good defensive team, but my feeling on the penguins, I truly believe they are a playoff team. I think health will probably dictate whether or not they are a real Stanley Cup contender. Hextal will probably make a move or two to help them. I don't know that those moves will be any more significant than their health. I think it's all about that. If they can be healthy, they get in the tournament.

They have a chance. There's no reason they won't have a chance, so we will see. But you've got to feel good about the trajectory of how they're playing right now. Let's just hear about the injury report here in the next 48 hours. That will obviously dictate a lot. Yeah, absolutely. I'm sure Solomon's going to have an update after the game, especially on Gino, because he just went on IR.

I think he said earlier as soon as I get an update, I'll have one. I guess he probably has one and just hasn't shared it with the media just yet. Finally, though, Josh, a couple of minutes before I let you go. One more thing. You set the Penguins fan base off in a nuclear. War this week with that Jim Rutherford article. You know, there are some interesting things he said in there that are just like, what? First being the Mark Andre Fleury thing.

Apparently he tried like, heck, to bring him back. And the reasoning was just, that was the one that got me. Because he's like, yeah, that was part of the reason we bought out Jack Johnson. It was like, part of the reason you bought him out. It was just like, obviously the fan base is going to go berserk with that. And, you know, myself included, I kind of got a little chuckle out of that. But, you know, it just seems like every time, you know, he's kind of, and it's not just for like, it's anyone that's written a story on him. I think he went on this podcast even a couple weeks ago.

And he said, I don't know what podcast that was. It was a couple of buddies, a couple of his buddies or something like that. But he said some stuff on there about making trades that did not go over well with the Penguins fan base as well, that you know you should try to be fair with them. You don't want to get too much value in return. It was just like, okay, whatever. Anyways, Josh, what were your thoughts when hearing just some of what Jim Rutherford had to say, especially with the Mark Andre Fleury and the Jack Johnson situation, and just, I guess, like with trades and everything?

Well, the Flurry situation was fascinating to me because I don't view goaltending as a weakness for the Penguins. And I, you know, Tristan Jari didn't make the All-Star game last season. and I'm a Mark Andre Fleury fan. I still think right now he's one of the five best goaltenders in hockey. Anybody who dismisses that is just somebody who doesn't like him. If you look at the numbers, he's putting up, you watch him play, he's playing out of his mind right now.

This season, he's been awesome. Yeah, he has, no question. And Jim, the most fascinating part to me was that Jim actually tried to make a trade for him in the middle of the playoffs when Vegas was still in the playoffs. You might remember, word leaked out that Robin Lainer was going to get a five-year deal. And when Jim heard that, the next day he's calling Vegas' GM

trying to make a trade in the middle of their playoffs. He said he's never done it before. He would never do that again. But that's how badly he wanted to bring him back. You know, it's funny. I get this a lot as a member of the Pittsburgh media. People always say, well, you just like Flurry. So that's why you say nice things about him.

And he's the one athlete in which I will say, actually, yes, that is true. like I actually do like him and I probably did go a little easy on him at times because he's just a different kind of human being than anyone I've ever known in my life. And I admit that. And I think that even impacts Jim Rutherford. And he said it. He said there's just something about Mark Andre Fleury. He puts you in a good mood when you see him at work every day.

You want him around. And I really think that was part of why he wanted to bring him back. He just likes him. And Mark Andre is a different kind of guy. He obviously can still play. Jim Rutherford made an offer. I don't know exactly what was in that offer, but he told me it was significant.

It never really got to the point where talks were serious because I think Vegas got cold feet before they ever really thought about trading him. But it was very interesting that in Jim's final months, as general manager, he legitimately tried to bring Flurry back to Pittsburgh. And I know there's Flurry fans out there. That's all they want to see.

want to see him back in Pittsburgh one last time. It came that close to happening. I would have loved him to fly on the wall in that room to hear what he was offering Vegas because I think it probably would have sent the Penguins fan base into another oblivion to be honest with you. That said, I am kind of glad that there is a change. I've kind of been wanting a change at the GM spot for a little bit now. I mean, I think though like just seven games into a season, it must have been like,

you know, something must have really happened that made him snap and that. had he resigned or something like that. I know he won't go into it. Maybe he'll go into it at some point in detail. But, you know, it's definitely, I guess the word is fishy. I think it's the word I've been using for a while now. And, you know, I'm glad that Ron Hextall and Brian Berker there. And I'm glad that they're kind of bolstering the front office.

I'm really excited to see what they do in the future. But I think that will do it for this episode. I'll be locked on Penguin's podcast. Josh, I really appreciate you coming on. And I'll be looking forward to those. Are you doing the 10 post-game thoughts tonight? Is that saving that for this weekend? Indeed, they will be showing up this evening.

We don't need Rob Rossi writing tonight. He does enough. He can get out of the way and let me write about the game. That's perfectly fine. The 10 thoughts will be coming after the game. It's a devil's game, so that means it might be boring. So I might have to manufacture a couple, but whatever. I'll find a way.

Yes, the devil's penguins games, especially at the Rock, they call the Prudential Center in Newark. Oh, it's going to be 2-1. You know that. Yeah, I just, the penguins always stop on that building, which is just always frustrated. But like I said, Josh, thank you so much for coming on this episode. You can find his work at The Athletic. It does outstanding work there. And I'll have another episode breaking down this game of Friday.

So talk to you all then.