Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Who STEPS UP for the Penguins in 2026-27?

Episode Date: July 27, 2026

The Penguins were able to get back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs thanks to several depth players stepping up in 2025-26, so who will do that this year? Patrick and Hunter begin the Monday edition of the Locked On Penguins Podcast by looking at some of the Penguins' new additions as well as some players in their second year with the club and how they can step up to help the team return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2027. (0:00) Then, a Penguins' sixth-round pick had a huge weekend for Team USA at the World Junior Summer Showcase, and while Carter Sanderson may not be on your radar as a big-time prospect, he's certainly someone to keep an eye on. (13:46) Finally, the Penguins' affiliation with the Florida Everblades is fully underway, and yet another talented goaltender will enter the team's prospect pipeline. (20:57)  Everydayer ClubIf you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Join all the action at https://FANDUEL.COMto play Daily Dingers and make your free pick on who’s hitting a homer this MLB season.   OdooGreat organizations win because operations matter. And that’s why you should get Odoo. Try for free today at https://Odoo.com/lockedon.  IndeedNow, you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 Sponsored Job Credit. Just go to https://indeed.com/podcastright now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When the penguins returned to the Stanley Cup playoffs this past year, it was thanks to a lot of breakout performances and players who were ahead of schedule. For the penguins to make it two years in a row, they will need a lot of that in 26, 27. Hunter and I are going to discuss some breakout candidates as well as who needs to step up this year on the Monday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. 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 Monday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your hosts, Patrick Damp, joined as always by my good pal, the one and only Hunter Hodes.

You can find me on most social media platforms at Synonym 4 What. You can find Hunter on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. And you can follow our show on Twitter at L-O-U-U-Square-Penguins. and on TikTok at Locked on Penguins. A Penguins late round pick had himself a massive weekend on the international stage. Yet another goaltender is joining the Penguins pipeline. But before we get into any of that, we begin the Monday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast with this. Training camp is inching even closer and with the Penguins still very much in the midst of their rebuild slash redeploy.

tooling on the fly. Getting back to the Stanley Cup playoffs next season for the second straight year, they're going to need a lot of what they got this past year, which was players like Anthony Mantha having a career year, Ben Kindle being ready for NHL action full time at just 18 years old, and other depth players stepping up and having big years. So Hunter, that's kind of going to be the topic of this first segment. who needs to have a big year this upcoming season.

So let's begin with the obvious one. The guy who is going to be essentially your Anthony Mantha replacement, and that is Andre Kuzmanko. Since his 74 point nearly 40 goal debut season in 22, 23, he's only eclipsed 20 goals and 40 points once for the penguins to get back to the Stanley Cup playoffs next year and even potentially win a round or two, he is maybe top of the list of a player who has to have a big year this coming year.

Yeah, it'd be nice to see him break out again because you're right, Patty. He had that great season in Vancouver, burst onto the scene in 22, 23, 39 goals, 74 points. The year after that, he finished the full season with 22 goals and 46 points in 72 games. Hell Pat, even if they get that type of season from Kuzminco, you will gladly take that because he is not having,

had another 20-goal season since the 23-24. And yeah, I know. He's played on quite a few teams during that time. He's been traded quite a few times as well this past season. Played with the LA Kings had 13 goals, 25 points in 52 games, half a point per game, basically. So not bad. But if he can get to around that 20-25 goal range for someone

that potentially plays a lot on the third line, but we'll probably mix up on the second line as well, I'm just basing that on injuries because the penguins have been banged up quite a bit over the years, you will take that for someone on a one-year contract who's trying to bounce back in a way because was Kuzmenko bad last season? No, he just wasn't up to par from where he's been before.

But I think if he can get 20 to 25 goals, you'll be sitting pretty. So I think he's definitely a big breakout candidate for me this year of the Penguins. Elmore Sotomoblampat, he came over from the Red Wings, flashed right away at the end of the regular season and into the playoffs. I want to see him have a breakout, get double-digit goals.

Hell Pat, maybe if he can even get to, I don't know, 14, 15-ish goals in a full season on the fourth line, I will gladly take that as well, considering how good Connor Dewer and Blake Lizard are for the Penguins when they're healthy. And if Sotomblum does win that spot on the fourth line, I think you can see him have a breakout season as well. That's one of my biggest ones away from Kuzmanko is the glue guy, Elmer Sauterblum, because I liked a lot of what he did after coming over from Detroit. He's only 25 years old, turned 25 a couple of weeks ago.

And the thing that I think gets lost with Sauter Blum is, yes, he is 6-8. He is 252 pounds. He is built like a WWE superstar. But don't mistake his size for a lack of speed, a lack of skill, a lack of hockey IQ. He isn't just a battering ram, though he is one. He's not afraid to go to the corners and work hard on the forecheck. We saw that in the playoffs against the flyers, but sneaky player with sneaky good skill, sneaky good hands.

And this is essentially the type of player that the penguins have been in the market for the past couple years, a player who, while you don't project them to be top of the lineup, you don't project them to be. project them to be superstars, but you see where they are, and whether it's Detroit who has been spinning their wheels for the last 10 years or teams that are already set up to be contenders. You have these players who they're not going to break out of a certain role, be able to rise much higher in the lineup, but you look at Sauterblum, played pretty well, given a little bit more of an opportunity with the Penguins, steps up in the playoffs, has a solid time here in 20 games.

He has 10 points. It was very impressive for a guy that you didn't really have any expectation for. He's a player who next year needs to take that next step. Another one that I'm looking at, which is another off-season acquisition, is Nick Robertson. We've talked about him quite a bit since he was acquired. But the thing for him and the challenge for him remains to be, this needs to be much like I said about Soderblum,

a year where he takes another step. Because with each passing year in Toronto, he's gotten a little bit better. He looks like a genuine middle six forward. This year, he needs to play to a way where, whether it's Dan Mews, whether it's us on this podcast,

whether it's Kyle Dubus or the fans, can look at him and go, should we have him on the third line or should we bump him up to the second? Yeah, that's going to be interesting. I still think he mainly will play on the third line. this year just because you look at the top six as it is right now, unless anyone else gets traded,

you know, Tommy Novak, if one of Ricard, Raquel, or Brian Rust, get dealt. It's a different story where Robertson maybe goes up to the top six. But I'm speaking, as we're recording right now, 12, 15 p.m. on July 27th, he's slotted on the third line going into this upcoming season. His goal production has gone up bit by bit the last few seasons. We've talked about it a little bit, Pat.

if he can hit 20 goals on the third line, you know, that's considered a quote-unquote breakout for me. He's come close these last few seasons, but if he can do it this year, now would also go a long way towards this team, potentially getting back to the playoffs for a second straight year. And on that contract they gave him, that's third line money right there.

It's actually a little bit more than I expected. And when I saw that number, I'm like, okay, they're expecting you to be in a top line role. in at least a third line role for next season. He's someone that can also play in the top six of injuries arise that they do keep a lot of these forwards heading into this season. But I'm with you. He's definitely another breakout candidate for me.

Those are the main three. Honestly, Pat, one more I'll give you. Declan Carlisle. I know he played half the season last year in Tampa, but is he ready for a full 82 games on the left side, whether it's the second pair, whether it's the third pair, if he potentially breaks out like Watherspoon did, penguins could have themselves a pretty solid option on the left side for years to come.

So I do think he's a breakout candidate as well. That to me is of, I don't want to say a dark horse because he was an offseason acquisition in an off season where the penguins have not been very active. So you don't have to, you know, he's not someone that's going to get lost in the shuffle. But when you do- 42 games, so just over half the season last year. Well, at this point, that is.

half the season because where we're going next year. But with the way you had success with Watherspoon, that is rightly or wrongly, that is the bar for someone like Declan Carlisle. And that may be a little unfair, but those are the expectations because if you rewind the clock one year and you listen to our show last off season, we didn't think a lot of Wetherspoon. We thought, oh, you know what, that's depth help. That's a guy that's going to be on your, second, maybe third pair. And if he plays well, maybe you can flip him for more because he's on an affordable contract and he overplays it.

And then he slots right in next to Eric Carlson and there is zero looking back after that. So that is essentially the bar that has been set. Here's the last one for me. And we're not going to do your majorities, your covenins, et cetera, et cetera. We know where they are. We know that they're getting very close to put. up or shut up time when it comes to being prospects more so coven and then McRourty, but I digress. It's an obvious one, Sergey Murshov, because here's the thing.

Last year was magical. None of us expected that. We on this show were talking about how they're going to potentially be in the race for Gavin McKenna. They're going to sell everybody off at the deadline. A bunch of these young guys are going to get the back few months of the season after they sell everybody off. And instead, they make a run to the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The other side of that is that the penguins did all this with mostly average goaltending. No disrespect to Stuart Skinner, no disrespect to Arter Sheelovs. They played perfectly fine. But if Sergey Mureshov can be a consistently above average to good goaltender this year, that helps them quite a bit getting back to the Stanley Cup playoffs. Yeah, and especially, you know, this is going to be his first full season, assuming again, he does make the team out of camp in preseason, and I have every indication to believe that he will. But again, you don't want to rush someone like this.

You take it one start at a time. But if he does play at least average, if he does play potentially above average to good, that will have everyone feeling really confident about him going into the future, even though it was only one season. I still want to see how he does. I do think, again, in terms of potential out of all the prospects, I think he has the highest ceiling, considering it is franchise goalie. But again, we say that about other goalies around the league, and it's very hard to reach that ceiling just because that's just how this position works. But I want to see how he does this year.

I'm really excited. But I'm with you. He's a potential breakout candidate as well if he's able to potentially take the NHL by storm. But let's just go on a, again, pat a start by start basis. with him. Only played a few games so far. Let's see how he adjust. Excuse me, especially when teams and coaching staff start to get some more tape on him. Yeah, that'll be the big challenge is how does he adapt? But again, if he can step up and be pretty good this year and he and she loves battle for the net throughout the year, that is really only a net positive for the team as a whole.

But that will do it for this opening segment. When we come back, a prospect, you, may not have been thinking of had himself quite a weekend on the international stage. Hunter and I are going to talk about that when we come back right after this. But first, today's Locked-on Penguins episode is brought to you by Fandul. Baseball fans, if you think you know who's hitting a home run today, Fandul is giving you a free chance to call your shot with daily dingers. It's easy to play. Just make your free pick for who you think will hit a home run.

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Play ball and swing for the fences on Fandul, an official partner of the MLB. We're back here on the Monday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Patrick Damp and Hunter Hodes here with you. One of the things that will help the penguins not just get back to the Stanley Cup playoffs, but back to contention is finding players all over the draft. And we're not putting the cart too far ahead of the horse here, but this is something that does need to be monitored. In this past weekend, a late round pick of the penguins showed up and showed out on the

international stage. A 2025, sixth round pick Carter Sanderson had himself a weekend for Team USA at the World Junior Summer Showcase scoring a hat trick for Team USA against Sweden. Hunter, tell us a little bit more about Carter Sanderson. Yeah, so Team USA, Pat, they were kind of split into two separate teams on Sunday. Sanderson played for one of them and they played Sweden and they crushed them. And that game, Sanderson was especially really good. His first goal came off a really nice feed from Wyatt Cullen, was able to score from right in

front of the net. his second goal, also from right in front of the net, and then his third goal, which obviously gave him the hat trick. Really nice shot from the left circle beating the Swedish netminder. And he's on some serious momentum right now. I had a really nice season. The USA Cheldes past season, 17 goals, 34 points in 54 games. He had four goals and seven points in 14 playoff games. He comes to development camp.

And in the tournament, again, I know it's glorified practice. players are only going about 60, 65%, but I still felt he was one of the quote-unquote standouts from that tournament. Does that come in the summer showcase? I still think he has a bit of ways to go, Pat, to make the full Team USA World Junior roster. But I think he showed the coaching staff that, hey, I'm a potential option because he played really well in that game. He was all over the ice again, especially from right in front of the net, from the clips

that I saw, of course. And this is someone who I think fans should at least monitor. That's a good word for it, monitor, because again, only a sixth round pick from last year. A lot of times those players are able to make it to the NHL, but he had a good year this past year. He's been having a good summer. He's set to go to Calgary in the W.HL this next season before going to North Dakota for the 27, 28 season.

Just keep an eye on Carter Sanderson. That's all I'm saying. Yeah, that's the best way to put it. is that it's somebody to keep an eye on. And you look at his trajectory the last couple of years. He's been really good in junior. He's going to go to a team in Calgary that the name Ben Kindle sound familiar. That's where he was before he came to the Penguins.

And then he goes to North Dakota or is expected to go to North Dakota in 27, 28. and that is one of a handful of NCAA programs that churns out NHL talent. It is a program that, yeah, I know that Sanderson's already been drafted, so we're not looking at North Dakota developing him. But that's a program that will get him ready to take the next step into becoming a pro hockey player. but he has been on an upward trajectory since he was drafted by the penguins. It did really good when he was in the USHL. He's going to see how good he can do in juniors in the WHL.

And then we'll see how he fares in the NCAA. But right in front of him now is having another solid impression on team USA management because while it's hard to argue against the Hattrick performance, much like you said about the development camp stuff, the World Junior Summer Showcase isn't that much more of a step up. This is, these are, I don't want to say the guys on the fringe, but it's the guys who are going to fill out the roster. You pretty much already know who your top guys are going to be.

You know who your top six forwards are going to be. You probably know who your top three-ish defensemen are, and you probably know who your goaltenders are. for everybody else, this is an opportunity to say, hey, I am an option to fill out this roster. And putting up three against Sweden in a big effort does a lot of good for him. Yeah, and he also played on the second line in that game. We should also take note of that too.

And to go off that as well, it's kind of like a tryout in a way because you're right. The coaching staff, the management staff, they know what most of the roster is going to look like. So maybe for a couple of those final spots, It's kind of like a try out to see who can get on the team in Sanderson. I still think right now he's on the outside looking in. That was a really nice performance to at least, especially get on the radar more of the coaches of the management staff. Let's see how he does the rest of it.

Let's see how he does the rest of the all season. We have the Prospects Challenge coming up, Pat, in mid-September. I believe it's in Detroit this year. We'll have to see if Sanderson plays in that too because that could also go a long way, not just for that, but for potentially the Penguin system at large. But yeah, keep an eye on him, everyone. Nice weekend for Carter Sanderson. But again, I will continue to bring this up,

is that the model I think that is going to get adopted by most NHL teams moving forward, especially in a rising salary cap environment, in an environment where players are really controlling their own destiny on where they want to go, this is how you are going to have to get back to contention, the Carolina model of it doesn't matter that the odds tell you that a sixth round pick probably won't make it to the NHL. You still have to take those swings on those players late in the draft. And you don't expect them to turn into superstars.

You don't expect them to turn into guys who can fill out the top of your lineup. Would be nice if they do because that has happened in the past for not only the penguins, but just about every NHL team. But if you have these talented players later in the draft that can maybe take five, six-ish years before they're ready to make a jump to the NHL, if they are legitimate options to be in your bottom six or your middle six or your bottom pairing or even your backup goaltender, that is a really good place for you to be to get yourself back to contention. It's making sure that you use every option.

that you have available at your disposal. But speaking of goaltenders, yet another goaltender is joining the penguin system. Hunter and I will talk about that when we come back right after this. We're finishing up the Monday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast, Patrick Damp and Hunter Hodes, right here with you. Now, the new affiliation agreement between the Pittsburgh Penguins

and the Florida Everblades has led to, to a lot of emotion, a lot of hot takes, but the fact of the matter is, it's here, it's happened, and it is officially underway. This past weekend, the baby penguins announced that they have signed goaltender Cam Johnson for the 26, 27 season, and he has got quite the resume. He is a four-time Kelly Cup champion with the Florida Everblades. He was the MVP of the Kelly Cup playoffs this past year with a 1.88 goals against average in a 923 save percentage. The Penguins goaltending prospect pipeline now gets even stronger having a bona fide

ECHL superstar goalie in their system. I will say Pat, that he is mainly an ECHL. ECHL lifer. He's also 32 years old. I don't think you're going to see him make a really big jump for the rest of his career, but he has been fantastic in the ECHL. You rattled off his resume. Four-time Kelly Cup champion. He was fantastic once again this season. Even during the regular season, 1.84 GAA 923 save. You brought up his playoff numbers. Yep, the MVP. Hell, even last year in 2425 was 921 during regular season with a 1.92 GAA in 2324, 2.21 GAA 921 save. This is just good depth to have in the organization.

I still think the main one tune Wilkesbury for this upcoming season is going to be Yowell Blumquist and Taylor Gaudier, but it sure doesn't hurt to have someone like Cam Johnson in the system. They still have Gabriel Digg in the system as well, Pat. TBD on what happens to him just because, you know, does he stay in Wheeling, for example, we still think that's probably going to be the affiliation of the Columbus Bootjackets. Again, he's still a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins, but does he stay there? Does he go back to Junior?

Does he get traded to the Everblades, potentially? A whole bunch of options are on the table for Gabriel Tegg. But what Johnson, it's at least fine depth. I'm not super concerned about it. I saw some hot takes about the move on social media. I don't think he's going to take too much playing time away from someone like Blumquist or Gaudier. If you need a third goalie for a rotation to give those guys a night off, I think that's fine.

And he's played really well for the Everblades for the last several years. I'm fine with it. Well, and here's the other thing. The oldest member of the Penguins goaltending pipeline at this point is now Cam Johnson at 32. The next oldest is Sheelawls at 25. And the same goes for Blumquist. The same goes for Gaudier. Obviously, Sergey Mureshov is all of 21.

So there is a lot of youth in the penguins' goaltending pipeline right now. And that's a good thing. Not going to try to spin this as a negative. We know the penguins as an organization are aiming to get younger with where they want to go. But having a guy who has been an ECHL lifer, a minor league goaltender, and I say that with no negativity. I'm not saying that as an insult. You are at some point going to need a bit of a veteran presence to just show these guys the ropes.

Just show them this is what it takes to be a professional. This is how you conduct yourself as a goaltender who is developing in the minor leagues, who, yeah, it sucks that you're not in the NHL. It stinks that, you know, there's a bunch of guys ahead. of you, but here is how you conduct yourself as a professional. Here's the way you have to operate. Here's how you practice. Here's how you rest.

Here's how you train. Here's what you do when you're in a slump. Here's what you do when maybe another player comes around that takes your spot. And here's how you continue to have value. So as much as we do want and desire for the penguins to get younger, you still do need veteran presence there to show some of these guys the ropes. And we both just went over Johnson's resume. He knows what he's doing.

He has done quite a lot in his professional career. So having him is a bit of a stabilization guy for some of these younger goalies will be a positive for them. Yeah. And he's also played in a lot of big games as well, especially in the Kelly Cup playoffs for the Everblade. So having that experience where Blumquist and Goals and Odea can kind of potentially lean on him for those experiences, that's something as well.

So I'm good with it. No real issues at all. Honestly, Pat, I don't have much else to say about it. It's a totally fine depth move for- No, it's a solid depth move. It's a solid depth move for what is a solid goaltending pipeline. And like I said, this is a good mentor move to make for the baby penguins because, again, these guys all do have.

over the past few years. Gaudier has been around for a while. Blumquist has been around for a while. Obviously, Murshov is expected to make the jump. Shilovs will be on the roster as well. So when you have that, like I said,

you have that inevitable frustration for some of these younger guys that are going to be in Wilkes Bear, that are going to be in Florida. I almost said Wheeling. I'm really going to have to get used to that. And some of these guys who are going to be in Florida, you need some of those round the way veteran been in the ECHL, been in the AHL for a long time,

just to keep these guys honest, just to say, listen, this is part of the process, this is how it works. When you're here, this is what you do. When you want to move up, this is how you're going to have to get to that point. Because Kyle Dubis, the coaching staffs, all the management, they can sit there and tell them till they're blue in the face, here's what you need to do. is what you got to do to move up. Human nature that they're going to go, you've been telling me this stuff for three years, man, when's it going to happen? But when you have a peer that is able to do it, that has been around the block, that knows what they're talking about. It's a lot easier to get

that message than it is to get from the authority figures. But again, solid little depth signing. It shows that we're well underway here with the new affiliation agreement. And hey, guys a damn good goal tender. So if you're looking for the minor league teams to win, could be much worse options to have in your pipeline. But that is going to do it for the Monday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Hunter and I will be back with a brand new episode for you on Wednesday. And then once again on Friday.

But for now, for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp. Thank you as always for tuning in. And we will talk to you once again on Wednesday. day.