Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Who is under the most pressure this season for the Penguins?

Episode Date: July 27, 2023

The guests continue to roll in as we are now in the late stages of summer. Joining Wednesday's edition of the show is Matt Gajtka, formerly of DK Pittsburgh Sports, and they first discuss which Penguin players are under the most pressure heading into the season. They look at a player like Jeff Petry, who didn't perform up to expectations this season, along with Bryan Rust, before Matt brings up an obvious candidate in Sidney Crosby as he tries to defy time. They also look at Mike Sullivan and how he's under pressure to adjust before moving on to realistic expectations for Reilly Smith heading into this season. What sort of production should fans expect out of him? Is he going to get the team a few extra points due to his elite play on the PK? How different of a scorer is he, compared to Jason Zucker? The two jump into that before ending the show on a fun "What If?" note regarding what would've happened if the Penguins had drafted Patrice Bergeron in the 2003 NHL Draft? The two go into all kinds of scenarios, especially about future lotteries, before looking back at how great of a career Bergeron had. All that, plus much more, is on this episode of the Locked On Penguins podcast.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go to FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.AG1If a comprehensive solution is what you need from your supplement routine, then try AG1 and get a FREE 1-year supply of Vitamin D AND 5 free AG1 Travel Packs with your first purchase. Go to drinkAG1.com/NHLNETWORK.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable free bets that expire 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) 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.

Who was under the most pressure for the Pittsburgh Penguins heading into the season? I'll dive into that with Matt Geica 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, welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes.

I'm going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the shows, Twitter, at El-a-Montal Penguins. thank you all so much for making this your first lesson slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. Today's episode is brought to you by Fandall Sportsbook. You can make every moment more. Don't miss the chance to get your first, no sweat, first bet up to $200 in bonus bets

when you go to fandle.com slash locked on. Join me now is Matt Geica of Pittsburgh Sports. Now in Pittsburgh Sports Live, former Penguins reporter for DK Pittsburgh Sports. Him and I go way back. Back to the fan side of days, Matt, if you remember that pretty nicely. But really appreciate you hopping on here for the Wednesday edition of the show.

Yeah, it's been at least 10 years, hasn't it? I feel like. Yeah. When I was running City of Champion Sports and you were one of our writers and reporters. So I just call it an even decade. And thanks for having me on the show. I know it's late July. So you bring on the big guns to figure out something to talk about.

Yeah. I mean, it's almost August. We are truly in the dog days of the off season. But there's still content to. make and things to talk about. And speaking of that, discussing with you, who was under the most pressure for the penguins heading into this season? My first player that I would say outside of Chris and Johnny, that's an obvious one to say.

So I'm going to put that out there. Yes, Jari is under a lot of pressure. But outside of that, I would say if he's on the team, Jeff Petrie, I thought he was fine during the season. I don't think he was anything spectacular. I just thought he was overpaid for the work that he put in, 6.25 million. after coming over from the Montreal Canadians. He was okay at breaking the puck out of the defensive zone,

was okay in the offensive zone. I didn't really like his play on the power play. It's funny, when you look at the underlines, they paid him out to have had a much better season than what I thought. It makes in the 60 to 6th percentile for 5-on-5 offense, 55th percentile for 5-on-5 defense. Yet when I watched him this past season, I saw someone who wasn't that good of a fit in Mike Sullivan's system,

even when playing with Marcus Pedersen, and I saw someone who also, I think the wheels are starting to fall off with him. I don't think he was awful or anything. I just don't think the Penguins got what they were hoping for in the deal when they acquired him. Same here with me. I thought he was going to be awesome when he came over.

But I think he's under a lot of pressure heading into the year if he is still on the team and whatever, not with Eric Carlson. but what are your thoughts on that? Yeah, I suppose we have to put a copy of an asterisk by this one because if they get Carlson, Petrie's likely gone, I think, if he'd be one of the contracts moved the way to San Jose. But if he is coming back, I agree with your assessment. I thought I test-wise, it just wasn't impressed.

I remember him scoring some big goals against the penguins in particular, one in the playoffs and the bubble a few years back. But generally speaking, him using his big shot to great effect and being an offensive dynamo. And I just didn't feel like I was seeing that. Yes, as you said, there was more good than bad that happened with him on the ice this past season. Maybe just suffered some bad finishing luck, maybe some bad goaltending luck as well, a combination of both. The one thing with Petrie, though, Hunter, is that as long as Chris LaTang is on this team,

he's just not going to get that much power play time because they're going to play four forwards more often than not. And so it's going to be LaTang on the first unit. and we all know the first unit gets about a minute 20 to a minute 30 to a minute 40, something like that on every given power play. So it's just not, conditions aren't where they were for him in Montreal to shine a bit. Kyle Dubus talked about his training. Maybe he needs to adjust his training and how he goes about his business off the ice as he gets into his mid-30s in order to maintain that explosiveness because they talk about how good of an athlete he is.

And I'm just not sure I really saw that in his first season, maybe only season, as a penguin. Yeah, I didn't really think he's skating was there either. I always thought he was a bit step slow in the defensive zone, whether he was going one-on-one against a forward or whether he was behind the net working on a forward. I just always thought he was a step slow in the defensive zone. Just kind of met from him this past season.

And yeah, sometimes the power play is on there for 80 to 90 seconds, but also Matt, I feel like a lot of times Mike Sullivan will put the first power play out for only 55 seconds to a minute, especially if the unit is not really doing anything, especially not gaining the zone because we all know how bad the penguins are at gaining the zone on the power play with that stupid drop pass that they do that they just have to get rid of.

But if that continues, you could see Petrie on the Power Play more this upcoming season, but in a perfect world, you're only seeing him out there for, you know, 30 to 35 seconds with the second unit. Another player who I do think

is under pressure heading into this season is Brian Rust. 20 goals this past season, 46 points in 81 games. and you might look at that and say, oh, that's not that pattern of production for someone who plays in the top six. But when you look at his numbers

compared to last season, when he had 58 points in 60 games, yes, he missed 20 plus games that season before, it feels like a step down. And he's now at the age range where it can go at any time. That's the biggest thing. And I'm concerned about that

heading into the season. His shooting percentage plummeted this past year. I hope that that rebounds heading into this upcoming season. But if he's still kind of playing at the level that we saw from him this past year and the next season, I don't know, Matt. I think he could find himself potentially off this team pretty soon, even though he has a full no move clause.

So he dictates where he wants to go with that long-term contract. I just wasn't fully impressed within this past season. I want to bounce back considering how great he has been for the organization. But he's under pressure to perform because I don't think it was good enough this past season. Yeah, this is an interesting case because I've always felt like he gets more out of his talent than maybe he should. And I'm not sure what to attribute that to. Maybe because he plays a pretty direct game, it's harder for that type of game to go into a slump. But he did go into a shooting slump this past year.

Didn't finish nearly at the rate at what we're used to. I think underlying are pretty close to what he has been at during what should be his prime. But as you mentioned, we're getting toward the back end of the prime now, at least as it has been for most NHL players over the past 20. 30 years. So I agree with you there. Here's one that might sound obvious, but I think is, I think for me, it is the player with the most pressure. And that's Sidney Crosby. This whole thing is built on him maintaining at least a point per game pace, you'd have to imagine. And he has found, it's another worldly level that he's found. It's otherworldly consistency, I should say, because, yeah, he's not quite at the McDavid level. He's not quite at the tip top of offensive producers.

anymore. But he's in that five to 10 range. And he's essentially been there for like seven or eight years. He's extended out his prime beyond what anyone could have ever imagined. And it's a credit to his dedication. It's credit to, I think, also his hockey mind. He's able to maybe make up for perhaps a little bit of a drop off physically with just knowing so much about hockey and refining every little aspect of his skill set. So full credit to him there. But like I just said at the at the top of this. This is built. This whole concept of bringing in Dubas here to try to get one more squeeze out of this orange. It's built on Crosby staying at the very least in that five to 10 range in the NHL in terms of top offensive producers. And though he's about to turn 35,

if I do the quick math, actually 36, pardon me, 2023 from 87. So 36, that's pretty old for an HL player. And you've got Malkin there as well. You've got Latang there on top. But both those guys are important, but they're not as important as Crosby because he continues to carry the load. He continues to drive this ship, pick your metaphor. And I just really wonder how much more we can expect out of this guy. It's been nearly two decades. I agree. And I'll also go a step further, Matt, and say that the pressure's on the other two big guns as well of Gennie Malkin and Crystal Teng. I don't think Letang had the season that he wanted to have this past season, and for all these reasons. The guy had a stroke. His dad passed away. He was banged up at times. But

he needs to show that he can play at the level that he showed when he came back from all that because I thought down the stretch, Lattang played some of, I think it was his best hockey of the season. He looked like the Chris Latang from last season, the season before, and the season before. So honestly, again, I would take it a step further and say this whole ship is predicated on all three of them performing at an elite level. Because if they don't, the season can go down the trade fairly quickly. If you have anyone else that's under pressure heading into the season, Matt, I'll hand the floor over to you before we get to our next topic.

I'm going to go non-player Mike Sullivan. I think he's got to, this is so cliche, make some adjustments. That's what everyone wants them to do. Make some adjustments with the heavier quotes. And sometimes I think that's a little overblown. Hockey is a player's game. It's not so much a coach's game. This isn't football where you're drawing up plays every tennis stats.

You've got to rely on the players to both make the plays. to execute the system, but also to go outside the system when things break down and figure out a way to get things done. And I think in a large extent, the players have let Sullivan down over the past two or three years. But we'll also see how he adjust to a roster that has a little more depth. I'm not sure I was totally blown away by the first offseason, the first free agency session for Kyle Dubas. But I think it's unmistakable that he's raised the floor of this group. You're not going to see a huge falloff and I guess to borrow another football reference you're not going to be losing the battle of field position as much as you were last year where you're relying on crosbie and malkin to dig your

way out of the defensive zone and push play back into the offensive zone. Chris La Tang is a big part of that too as well maybe the most important part as a defenseman. So there is that to factor in but I think Sully is reaching the point now. It's a tipping point season for me with him because I've given him a break here for a couple of years just because I feel like his body of work speaks for itself. But at a certain point, the body of work starts to turn a little bit sour. And we just haven't seen the results in the big moments from his team that we did in his first two, heck, maybe three seasons until they were knocked out by the caps in the second round in 2018.

I do think that's fair. Don't get me wrong. I will say he has had some goaltending issues that really haven't been his fault. He hasn't gotten at least average goaltending in a lot. of these playoff series you go back to 2021 with Tristan Jari you go back to last year with Louis Doming even before that in the bubble with Matt Murray he didn't play that well and 2018 19 of the Islanders sure Robin Lanner played out of his mind but Matt Murray was just kind of there in that sweep and honestly I'll kind of put that sweep on everyone's shoulders the team was

absolutely horrendous yeah that series yeah that was the one jack Johnson was still applying so yeah so I get what you're saying I do think this is a big year for him I don't think he's in serious jeopardy of losing his job, but that can certainly change at the end of the season, especially if the Penguins don't make the playoffs. I think playoffs are busts for sure right now. I mean, you have to make the playoffs this upcoming season. Missing them two seasons in a row, that is not an option for this franchise, especially in the twilight years of the Xindy Crosby, Evgeny Malkin, and Crystal Tang era.

That wraps up this first time. And coming up in the second, what are some realistic expectations for? or Riley Smith, Kyle Dubes, his first big move that he made before free agency. Matt and I are going to dive into that. But before we discuss that, take your first swing at betting MLB on Fandu and get 10 times your first amount of bonus bets up to $200. That's right. Just about 20 bucks and you'll win.

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That's fandle. dot com slash locked on. Fandle, the official partner of major league baseball and locked on. All right, I'm back in this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes. I want to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the show's Twitter at L.O.Nsar Penguins. And of course, thank you all so much for making this your first list and slash watch

of the day. We are free and available on. all platforms. So as I teased heading into the segment, Dubas's first move was made during the draft. Riley Smith to the Penguins for a third round pick. It's funny, Matt, that pick was originally acquired in the Teddy Blugher trade. So in essence, the Penguins traded for Riley Smith and traded away Teddy Blugher. Coming into this season, I think he can definitely outperform Jason Zucker, especially in areas of transition. In my opinion, I think Smith is a better player in turn at transition than zooker was you're going to get more goals from smith off the rush

than you did with zooker zoker zoker obviously he can fire it from anywhere on the ice but he was also really good in front of the net or just in that high danger area 10 to 15 feet out he scored so many of his goals this past season in that area smith he can do that but his greatest asset is scoring off the rush I think, in my opinion. He'll also give you great play on the penalty kill. He has been awesome on the PK throughout his career ranks in the 84th percentile for penalty killing among all forwards. He's definitely going to give them a big boost in that.

I should go with step forward and say that he's going to lead the Penguins in short-handed goals this upcoming season. All that said, I think he's probably going to be in that 25 to 30 goal range. he can hit 30 goals, even though he is above 30 years old. He has the talent. He's going from playing in the top six in Vegas to playing in the top six in Pittsburgh, likely with Hedgini Malkin and one of Brian Rust or Ricard Raquel. When you look at Smith, what are some expectations that you have for him this upcoming season? Well, first of all, I want to say fairly well to Jason Zucker, because I felt for him when his injuries were a huge issue when he first got to Pittsburgh,

and I felt like there was potential there for him to break out and have a big season. And he did. So I'm happy for him. I don't know if I'm happy for his destination necessarily. We'll see how that pans out. But the Riley Smith acquisition was Kyle Dubus's concession to a salary capital. You just probably weren't going to keep Zucker. So to go get Smith, I think is about as good as you can do. And like you said, he's a different style of player. And maybe that rush opportunism, if you want to call it that, will fill in some gaps in the penguins where there were some weaknesses this past year. It's a team that's getting older. So typically older, teams don't do so great off the rush, at least when it comes to generating things offensively.

So Smith adds something there. Expectation-wise, I'm a little cautious on it just because I don't think he's a pure finisher. But much like Jason Zucker, he's had those seasons in his career where you can point to and say, well, when he stays healthy when he's on the ice, when he's playing with a good team, he produces. So I think where Zucker was points-wise this past year was a pretty good projection. I don't know if it's going to be a one-for-one replacement.

and it's going to be tough to replace the energy and the enthusiasm that Zucker brought to us. But Riley Smith is just a competent hockey player and he's not too old where you really fear a huge drop off. He's in that Brian Russ zone that you talked about earlier. So Smith, we've seen him play. We saw him be an intriguing player for Florida. And then we saw him blossom in Vegas. And hey, it doesn't hurt that he had that recent experience of winning. He's going to have the hunger to repeat for sure.

but I think also the hunger to prove that, hey, I'm not over the hill just because the Knights drop me off to the Pence. I agree with that for sure. And I also think he'll give them some good value on the powerplay. I know Jason was not really on PowerPlay one very much. It's because the Penguins have better forwards than him that they can put out there on the first power play. You combine that with Crystal Tang.

But Smith can really replace Zucker on the second PowerPlay. Again, he's not going to be like that net front presence that maybe some fans are looking for, but he's going to be someone that can really fire the puck, you know, 20, 25 feet away. And I think someone who probably will have the best shot on that unit, in my opinion. Yeah, you bring a penalty kill too. That's been maybe a secret or a low-key sore subject for the Penguins. At least it was last year, they had previously been pretty good under Mike Sullivan penalty killing-wise. So that's goaltending, of course.

The cliche that your goaltender has to be your best P-K or I think to a large degree that that does pan out and Jari's say percentage shorthanded and dismiss a safe percentage shorthanded. It just didn't cut the mustard in the second half of last season. But I think we can all agree they could afford to give up less high danger chances, less cross-crease passes, cross-slot passes, the type of plays that often lead to glorious scoring opportunities. The penguins could do a better job.

And you're looking at guys like Laura Zeller as well to try to carry some of that low. But Riley Smith is also a piece of that puzzle. I agree with that for sure. and definitely on the penalty kill, Matt, because too many times this past season, I thought the Penguins were way too passive on the PK. I always thought they let the opposition get in way too freely. The zone entries were easily allowed,

and then the opposition can just set up, you know, go east-west, back to the point, get to the slot, boom, puck is in the back of the net. There are so many instances this season where the Penguins PK lost them games late in third periods because the PK wasn't able to do its job. Sure, the goaltending aspect of that is also big. Tristan Jari was not good on the PK this season.

Casey DeSmith was not going on the PK this season. But adding Smith to that is going to make a difference. And I think the Penguins will have at least a couple extra points this upcoming season just because of his impact on the PK and why he's one of the better penalty killing forwards in today's game. Like I said, he's just a competent hockey player. He's solid at both ends of the ice. And you can expect him to do his job more often than not when he's out there.

And the Penguins had a few players last year who that was not the case for, whether they be younger, old, honestly. It wasn't necessarily exclusively an aging problem. It wasn't exclusively a rookies or young players problem. It was just they didn't have enough good players. It was a quality problem across the board for the Penn. So at the very least, you lose Zucker, but it's fairly identical. Not identical, but it's pretty close to that patch.

for the pens and for Dubas to get Riley Smith. Like you said, for not much in the end. It ends up being essentially a straight-up trade for Kay Bluger, who really didn't even play for the nights at the end of their cup run. He's probably a fourth-slash-fifth-line NHL are on a good team. I agree with that too. But that wraps up this second segment diving into Riley Smith. Again, really looking forward to watching and play.

He hasn't spoken to the media yet, but I think that's going to be coming at some point, but really looking forward to seeing what he can do in the top six on the penalty kill. and on the second paraplegal unit coming up to end the show, going to dive into a pretty fun topic with Matt. What if the Penguins selected Patrice Bergeron in the 2003 NHL draft just because Bergeron retired from the NHL on Tuesday? That's coming up right after this.

All right, we're back in this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm Hunter Hodes. That is Matt Geica. So, Matt, you saw it. The whole hockey role saw Patrice Burge announced his retirement from the NHL on Tuesday, capping off a wonderful 19-year career. In my opinion, he's the best defensive forward of this generation. He was absolutely spectacular at both ends of the rank.

I hated when the Penguins would go up against the ruin just because Bergeron would always do such a great job of shutting down Sidney Crosby. And that 2013 series, I'll say it here. Patrice Bergenin had Cindy Crosby in his back pocket. That is just how much of nothing that. Sid did in that series. And I know the Penguins didn't really show up in that series as a whole Tuka Rask was over 950 when it comes to a save percentage. But the work that Bergeron did on Crosby in that series was unbelievable. And the Penguins only beat the Bruins eight total times

when Bergeron was in the lineup in Boston. That's just how bad the Penguins struggled against that team. But I loved watching him. Six Selke trophies. They should honestly rename the award after him, he won at six times, was nominated 12 times, I could watch him on an everyday basis shut down the opposing team's best lines. And when you think about it, the Penguins met, they had a chance to draft him in the 2003 NHL draft. That was the draft that the Penguins selected Mark Andre Fleury, number one overall. Penguins then had the number 32 overall pick in the second round, and they took Senator Ryan Stone of the Brandon Wheat Kings. He only played 30, games, seven points in those games.

He was out of the NHL in 2009-10. Bergeron did not go until the number 45-year-old picked by the Bruins. When you look back at that today, had the Penguins taken Bergeron, much would have been different because you look at the standings for that season. And the production Bergeron had,

Bergeron would have been fifth on the team in scoring, fourth among all forwards. Penguins finished with 58 points, one less than. than the Capitals, I believe it was the Blackhawks as well. Does Bergeron get them an extra win there or two to not have them get of Guinea-Malkin in that lottery or not have them get Sidney Crosby in the 2005 lottery?

I think that's a discussion worth having and it's a fun one to have at that. Yeah, Bergeron was a late bloomer looking at his stats. He wasn't that two-way dynamo until about the 2009, 2010, 2011 Stanley Cup championship season for Bob. And at that point, he went on an incredible run, redefining what a two-way player means in the NHL, providing just as much offense as he prevented at the other end. So, yeah, first of all, kudos him for taking the Selkie conversation to a new level.

It used to be guys like Guy Carbono never scored, or rarely scored. But now it's about you have to produce at both ends if you want to win the Selki. And that's largely attributable to Bergeron's career. But he was not that player early on. He was a sub 50% faceoff guy. I think face off's a lot with Bergeron. I think two-way excellence. Just looking at some rough numbers, obviously, plus minus,

but he was a minus 20-something in 2006-07. So the Bruins were very good. He wasn't very good. It took him a while to really find his legs, unlike a Crosby or a Malkin. But I think, unmistakably, you put him in that lineup for the pens. He probably plays a ton, first of all,

because he's going to be on that first line because of his quality, which would have been out right away. And you have to figure he gets him at least a few more points than the standings, which changes the lottery math, of course, which ultimately could change the big lottery math from 2005 when the Penn's won the jackpot of all jackpots. So butterfly effect, that's why it's so weird sometimes. It leagues like the NHL with the reverse order draft, which everybody does it in North America. At some level, it encourages bad decisions until you get to that tipping point where you had to start making good decisions. decisions, but those bad decisions can help get you in a position to make great decisions.

So it's a weird thing to try to analyze people like me who like things to make sense all the time. It actually hurts my brain. In that case, the penguin's picking Ryan Stone probably helped them, quote, unquote, get to where they wanted to go, which was the plan with the X generation in the first place. It helped them win, not just the O-4 Water, even though they didn't technically get the number one overall pick. They still won it when they got of Guinea-Malkin. that honestly

If you finished last, you were going to get someone great that year because you were going to get second place at worst, which the penguins did, yeah. Yeah, of course. And, you know, say the penguins still finished with the same record had Bergeron been the pick, right? I'm just a hypothetical here. Say they still finished with that record,

maybe it was 23 and 47 and 8, something like that, 58 points. Say they still get Malkin, say they still get Crosby. Now going into the 2006 NHL draft, where the penguins took Jordan Stahl. I don't think the penguins take him there. I think they are set up to have Crosby and especially Bergeron be that locked down two-way center for the foreseeable future like Stahl was

until he was traded to Carolina to play with his brother. He still had Evgeny Malkin. Man, watching that core, Matt, with Sergei Gonsan and all those guys, that would have been quite a lot, quite a lot of fun. And, you know, do they beat Detroit if they play them in 09? Do they beat them in 08? What happens in 2007 when they go up against Ottawa Senors?

If that even happens, there's just a whole multitude of things that could happen if that were the case. And also, I should have added this as well, Penguins took Crystal Tang in the third round of the 2005 NHL draft. So do they still get him? I mean, that would have been really fun to see the big three plus Bergeron, but then also they don't get Stahl. But then you take away Stahl's moments in the 2009 cup final, whole bunch of different scenarios. there. But I definitely think, had they drafted Bergeron, had Malkin and Crosby, been there and had the Penguins won those, quote unquote, won those lotteries, especially the 05 one, and they got Chrysletang, I do not think they would have taken Jordan Stahl. No, and I think ultimately you run into

the same problem he ran into with Stahl, which is that he wanted to play more. He deserved to play more. And he wasn't even as good as Bergeron. So if you have Crosby, Malkin, Bergeron down the middle, that's only going to last for a few years. It would have been a few great years to watch. and maybe they pick up another cup along the way in those early Crosby-Malking years. But it was only going to be five or six seasons, and then you would have had to move on and find a way to get some value for, I would presume, Bergeron moving on, but who knows what the decision might have been made there by XGM Ray Shiro.

So the lesson isn't a salary cap league in a league where there's only one puck to go around as well. You can't compel that level of All-Star team without someone being a little bit upset or someone wanting more opportunities. And when you have an embarrassment of riches at that position at center, like the penguins would have had or actually did have with Crosby Malkin and stall, it's a situation where you just try to make some hay while the sun shines and take advantage of those early entry-level years. Everything all worked out in the end, which is great.

I will add this on Bergeron before we wrap up here, though, Matt. Again, loved watching in play. But I think deep down, even though Cindy Crosby's won three Stanley Cubs, he's beaten almost all the Penguins rivals at least once in a series. I think deep down he wishes he could have taken down Bergeron and Marfan at least once in a series. And I know we only saw it once and it went really poorly. And I also wish the Penguins would have played the Bruins one more time in a series.

But I think deep down Sid is wishing, man, if only I could have played him one more time and beaten him in a series, that would have given me, or given him, excuse me, just the, what's the word I'm looking for here? I don't want to say like trifecta, but just like the situation where he's beaten all of his, the rival teams at least once in a series. Whether that's the Islanders, whether that's the Rangers, the Flyers, the Blue Jackets, Washington, and you add the Bruins there. They've beaten the hurricanes, obviously.

But that was getting him. They've really beaten any team. Yeah, they've really beaten any team that has been a contender or pseudo-contender since they've come up. It's just luck of the draw, right? The two teams did not have concurrent good playoff seasons except for 2013. And that one had way too quickly, even though all those games, well, most of those games were close and could have gone either way. Three out of four of them could at the very least. Yeah, I was always rude for that.

But if they do get together now, it'll be a different look and it'll be a little bit lesser without Patrice Bergeron. but Sid versus Marshaun is buddy from the maritime provinces, his workout buddy in the summer too. I think that would be really compelling. Remember, they teamed up for a fantastic first line for Team Canada in the World Cup in 2016. Last time we had Best on Best. That's right. And there's also a time, Matt, where everyone in this city was hoping that Brad Marshaun was going to become an understricted free agent and then come to Pittsburgh to play with Crosby.

Did not happen, of course, because he extended in Boston. He's going to remain there for the rest of his career. you know, that would still also be fun. I know Brad Marsh and rouse people up around here. But overall, Patrice, congratulations on a wonderful career. In my opinion, I think he's a first ballot Hall of Famer. Again, the best defensive forward of my lifetime or of my generation, I should say, and all the best to him in retirement. But that will wrap up today's episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast. Matt, tell everyone where they can follow you and just what's coming up with your work. I was going to say, follow me on Twitter. Maybe it's called X by the time this show gets out.

Anyway, Matt Geiker, there you see my name under there. Remember to take a screenshot because it's hard to spell from memory, I'm sure. But that's basically me on all social media accounts where I post all my work. I'll be back at it with some Penguins Postgame shows on Pittsburgh Sports Live this upcoming fall. I just started to miss hockey this week. I realize, I would love that game to talk about tonight, but we'll have to wait another couple of months. Also continue to run Pittsburgh Golf now from afar. That's part of the Pittsburgh Sports now family of websites.

So look for our various content on the sport that I love to play, especially this time of year. You're a great time to take your mind off hockey and hit the link. So that's where you can find me. And like I said, just general nonsense as well on social media. But thanks, Hunter, for having me on. First time on your show, I think, at least on this show in particular. And good to get my hockey fix here in the middle of, well, getting toward late July. as we still have some wilderness to trudge our way through here before we get to training camp.

I believe the last time you were on the show was almost two years ago, I think at this point, when I think we did like a home and home or something like that. Oh, yeah, that's right. We did do that. Okay, I take it back. Take it back. But it has been a while. So thanks for the invitation.

And I hope everyone enjoyed the show, putting the minds together here, trying to come up with some stuff. Yes. Thank you all so much for listening slash watching this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I very much appreciate it. I should have. the new co-host on by Friday. You all want to keep guessing who it is in the comments are in my DMs. Go ahead.

I only saw one person who was guessed. Keep guessing other people. I just want to see who people can come up with, to say the least. But should hope we have him by Friday. If not Friday, then definitely next week. But again, thank you all so much for listening to slash watching this episode of the podcast. Hope you all have a great rest of your Wednesday. And I'll talk with you all again on Friday.

Thank you.