Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Will 2026 be Penguins captain Sidney Crosby's FINAL TIME at the Olympics?
Episode Date: August 4, 2025Sidney Crosby will represent Team Canada on the world's stage once again in 2026, but is this it for Captain Canada? Patrick and Hunter begin the show talking about the Team Canada Olympic Orientation... Camp list, which obviously includes Penguins' Captain Sidney Crosby, but is this it for the captain on the biggest stage? They also talk about how this is a period in his career where it's no longer about the accolades and about leaving the game better than when he entered it. Then, the Toronto Maple Leafs settled their arbitration with forward Nick Robertson, but could he still be a trade target for the Penguins? They discuss the pros and cons of trying to acquire the young forward. Finally, they give you a recap of the 2025 World Junior Summer Showcase and how the Penguins' prospects performed. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnhl for 50% off your first year.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new FanDuel customers can get $150 in Bonus Bets if your first $5 bet wins!FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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We may still be quite a few months away from the 2026 Winter Olympics,
but preparation has begun and it touches Penguins Captain Sidney Crosby.
We'll talk about that and more right after this.
Your Locked on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins,
part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.
Welcome in, everybody, to another edition of the,
the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Patrick Damp. You can follow me across all
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year. Got to get a little bit of housekeeping out of the way for all of you today.
First and foremost, our schedule for this week is going to be a little bit wonky.
We are still going to do our three episodes per week, but we're going to record today as
you're listening to this one on Monday. We'll be back on Thursday and then we'll be back again
on Friday. I'm sure if you're a Penguins fan, you know that Thursday is a holiday in the Pittsburgh
Penguins world. So obviously we got to do an episode.
on that. And then Friday will continue our top 25 of the 2000 series, as well as
Fan Take Friday, where we'll get your questions, your takes, and everything in between for
our weekly Fan Take Friday segment. One last thing before we dive into it. Let's give our
boy Hunter Hodes here just a little bit of grace on this episode. He had himself an active
weekend. He was at a concert. He was yelling at the dogs.
He was doing all that good stuff.
So his voice, it's on the mend right now.
So let's just be wary of that.
But Hunter, let's get started.
We, like I said at the top, we're still quite a ways away, obviously, from the
2026 Winter Olympics.
You can just look at the calendar.
It's still 2025.
So we've still got some time.
But this is going to be an interesting segment because hockey Canada invited 42 players to
its orientation camp ahead of the Olympics. A lot of names on that, a lot of big names.
Obviously, one of them is Sidney Crosby. We know he's captain Canada. We know he's going to be
there. So the other thing, before we dive into the Crosby end of it that I want to get a little
bit of a touch on a little bit here to start is there are some interesting names for Canada that
I'm curious to see if they're going to make the final cut. And that includes some names like
Connor Bidard, Macklin Cellebrini.
Ryan Nugent Hopkins,
Evan Bouchard,
and the goaltenders.
This is always going to be Canada's Achilles heel right now.
Jordan Bennington, Hill, and Sam Montembow.
Well, Logan Thompson, my friend, and yes, people,
my voice is totally shot right now.
You can flame me in the comments on YouTube.
You can send me a DM.
Was out a concert?
My dogs are bad all weekend.
I love them to death,
but they were being very bad when we had some comfort.
over so I yelled in them a few times and I lost my voice off that and at this show but that's
neither here nor there but Pat what did Logan Thompson do to keep getting snubbed from this?
It's like the tweet you put out hey should be doing something right now but really can't put on it
right kind of like the Phil Kessel meme a little bit but I will say just because some players are
not at this orientation camp does it mean they can't be invited to team Canada
I'm sure they're still considering other players.
These are just a good amount of them.
But also, Tom Wilson is going to be there.
And I will kind of laugh if Canada takes him on the team and plays him on a nightly basis,
considering that I think there's better players, but that's neither here nor there.
But I wrote about this for hockey news over the weekend.
Cindy Crosby headlines this list.
No surprise.
He's going to be the captain.
He is chasing his third Olympic gold.
We all know that Canada is stacked going in.
to this, they have the best forwards. Defensively, they are also very good. Goaltending,
though, other countries have them beat. We all know that the United States, they will have a
better starting netminder. That's just one team that I can throw out there. But again,
as long as they have the forwards, and as long as they also just get average goaltending,
they still should be fine with this tournament. But this is still a big opportunity for say this
is going to be his first Olympics since 2014. It's crazy that it's taken this long,
for the NHL to go back to the Olympics.
And Pat, there is a very real chance that this could be the last time he represents Canada
on the Olympic stage.
Maybe he's still playing in 2030.
We'll have to see he turns 38 later this week.
So, of course, that's why we're doing the episode on Thursday.
But he's going to be into his early 40s the next time the NHL goes back to the Olympics.
There's no guarantee that he is going to be playing at that point.
Obviously very well could be.
He's been aging like fine wine.
But this still could be the last.
time he represents them on the Olympic stage. So he's going to want to go out with a bang,
but I'm just really excited that we're seeing this orientation camp for Canada. It happens later
this month in Calgary, August 26th through the 28th. So just want to get the dates out there for
everyone again. Apologize for my voice. I don't want to speak too much today. So Pat,
take it away. For sure. It wouldn't shock me at all if Crosby is still playing into his early 40s,
Because his, like his counterpart, Chris LaTang, it doesn't get talked about as much, but his fitness and in workout routine is stuff of legend.
He takes extremely good care of his body and does a lot to stay ahead of the game, which is kind of the underrated secret sauce for how good he is because he trains like a maniac.
And that definitely helps with longevity.
One thing I want to touch on real quick, just because I know he's a rival for the penguins and you brought it up.
I could see Tom Wilson making Team Canada, but in a sort of lifetime achievement award role, where love them or hate him,
he has kind of redefined the power forward group for the modern era.
And while I don't see him among the best Canadian forwards, it's a guy who has had a pretty good
career and Canada could bring them along just to say, hey, listen, you're going to get a game or two in
the preliminaries. And then once we get to the metal round, enjoy the ride. You're going to get yourself
a medal. You're going to enjoy the Olympic experience. And you can go about your merry way.
I can see both USA, Canada, other countries doing that with some NHLers who you would definitely
put on the fringe. And you just look at them and go, listen, you were good soldiers, you were good
for the national programs, you're good for the NHL. You're not going to be a main roster.
player, you're not going to be an every game player, but you've earned the right to hang out at
the Olympics and get the experience. And we know with the I, I, I, I, WIHF, that they have expanded
roster limits so you can bring a few guys who you might never play. I think of Mark Andre Fleury
at the 2010 Olympics. He was on that gold medal winning team. He didn't play. He just hung out.
He was the third goalie. So that's something you can do.
The main crux for me wanting to do this segment today is not that this is big breaking news,
not that we ever expected Canada to suddenly be like, yeah, you know what, Sid, you're not coming
because he's Sidney Crosby. That's, it's a given. He's going to be there. I want to, I don't want
to breathe life into the annoying, oh my God, Crosby's got to go somewhere else. They owe it to the
league to send Crosby to a winning team.
I think this is something that's going to keep him in Pittsburgh because, yes, he's a legendary
competitor.
He has the competitive fire that none other have.
We hear the stories all the time.
He won't leave the ice until he wins a friggin shootout contest.
He won't leave the locker room until he gets the last shot of tape into the garbage
can when he's taken off his gear.
But I think he understands that.
He understands and agrees with Kyle Dubus's plan to rebuild, retool this team to get him some
talent when he's on his swan song in a couple of years.
But he's also got the Olympics coming up.
So he's got to play well.
He's got to work hard.
He's got to stay sharp and work towards that while the penguins on a parallel track are
going to probably not be that good.
It's not like all hope is lost.
It's not like we're at the time period where the NHL told their players,
you're not going to the Olympics.
You're going to have nothing to.
It's not like he's going to have nothing to play for.
He's going to have that in his view.
He's going to have that as his motivation.
And let's be honest.
I mean, we know that Canada is never going to cut him from the roster until if he's
done playing in 2030 or if he's a shell of himself in 2030.
But he still has to.
to stay sharp. He still has to be Sidney Crosby. So he's going to have something to play for.
Not all hope is going to be lost for him. And he's going to get to help mold a new generation of
player, both here in Pittsburgh and for Team Canada. So when you're a guy like Crosby, who has done
everything you can do at the NHL level, at the international level, and so on and so forth,
The last thing he's going to give back to the game is handing it off to that next generation.
Right.
And you can see how much fun he had playing with someone like Rucker McGority down the stretch,
even someone like Ville Covingnan for the Penguins.
And even after the season ended, right?
He also had a lot of fun playing with Celebrini at the role championships.
I think that's going to carry over to the Olympics as well.
Connor Bidad, it's still, to me, a TBD if he makes this team.
That might be a hot take to some people.
He just wasn't that good last year.
He's going to be on Team Canada for a long time,
but they're also so stacked right now that it would be kind of funny
if they didn't put him on this year's team,
but also had him on, you know,
2028 for the World Cup, the next Olympics after that,
Olympics after that, so on and so forth.
But he can still help mentor him as well.
So, Breening, I think right now actually has a little
bit of a better chance of getting on the team, but they might just take both.
Why not?
Your team Canada, you're going to be stacked no matter what, but you're right.
He can help mentor some of those younger players who are going to be the faces of team
Canada for many years to come.
And same here with the Penguins.
And I can also tell you, Pat, he hates being asked about, oh, like his future and all
that.
Penguins' PR also hates it.
They will get mad at you and they will make sure you get flamed basically forever.
honestly. So don't make the mistake of asking about it, talking about it, doesn't go anywhere.
So yeah. And it's not it's, I'll say this and we'll head to break it to our next segment.
Not a one to one comparison. Obviously they have their differences and they're not close to the same
player. But I kind of look at Bedard similarly to the way I did Sid in 2006. Like obviously,
with the benefit of hindsight,
not taking Sid to the 2006 Olympics
was pretty dumb on Canada's part.
But they also kind of looked at Sid like,
listen,
you're going to be the face of Team Canada for a long time moving forward.
We're going to give some of the veterans their one last ride.
And then it's your time.
It wasn't like Hockey Canada completely snubbed Crosby.
They weren't like, nope, you're not part of this yet.
Get out of the way.
They were like, listen.
your time's coming.
And I think that's the same for Bedard.
So we'll see what happens with that.
But that is going to do it for our opening segment.
When we come back,
Nick Robertson,
been a popular name among a lot of trade speculation,
especially with the Pittsburgh Penguins and his connection to Kyle Dubus.
His arbitration is done.
But it might not be the right time for the penguins to pull the trigger on a trade for
Nick Robertson.
We'll talk about that when we come back right after this.
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We're back here on the Monday edition of Locked on Penguins.
I'm Patrick Damp right alongside Hunter Hodes and let's dive right back into it Hunter.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and forward Nick Robertson have settled their arbitration case.
He has signed for one year at 1.825 million.
And I understand that this is a very appealing trade target for a lot of people in the Penguins orbit.
even putting aside the relationship he has with Kyle Dubus and West Clark.
Those two are responsible for drafting him into the Toronto Maple Leaf system a few years ago.
But I keep coming back to this with a lot of people, whether it's free agents, trade targets, whatever.
I just don't think timelines completely match up right now when it comes to Robertson and the Penguins.
And it's not that I don't think he ever will or that he wouldn't.
I wouldn't be upset if in two weeks we find out the Leafs are trying to make money work because they're getting close to the cap.
They've got an absolutely unbelievable amount of forwards right now.
They have to move some money and some bodies around.
But I look at it this way.
The Leafs are going to need Nick Robertson a lot more right now going into this upcoming season.
than the penguins would.
We know where the penguins are right now.
They're in the middle of this rebuild.
They're not looking to win.
They're not looking to go on any sort of Cinderella run.
They're looking to still stockpile assets, get younger players, and all of that.
And yes, Robertson counts as a younger player, a younger talent.
There's a lot of untapped potential there.
But then you look at the leaves.
You look at their forward group right now, especially Sands, Mitch,
Marner, they're going to need Nick Robertson to take that next step.
They're going to need to have him in their top six or at least their top nine.
And if you trade him away, unless you get a legitimate top nine or top six forward,
that's going to be a bit of an issue for the Leafs because you look at this forward group.
The top of it, really good.
Obviously, Austin Matthews, one of the best modern day goal scores,
William Nealander, underrated superstar, just quietly gets it done every single year.
Matthew Nyes, he's going to be a force for a while.
John Tavares, they got him on a really good deal, still a very good player.
And then after that, it's Max Domi, Dakota Joshua, Nicholas Waw, Callie Yarncrow, David Kompf.
They're going to need Nick Robertson this year.
I agree with you.
and I still think they're going to regret letting Marner go.
It's very hard to replace 100 plus points in one off season.
They're trying, but they're still not there yet.
They're a playoff team to me,
but I think a little bit less of them as a contender,
now that Marner's gone, and yeah, I know they had to change something up
with the core four era,
but it's still very hard to replace 100 plus points
when you look at it objectively.
As for Robertson, though,
even if they trade him,
they're not getting a top six, top nine player back.
That's ridiculous.
Like Nick Robertson, I like him as a deaf player.
He's still really young, only 23 years old.
But again, 29 goals combined these last couple of years, 15 goals this year,
22 points in 69 games.
So all my mad is not going to get back a top six or top nine forward.
I'd be pretty surprised.
And the main reason we are talking about this is because Elia Freeman dropped on a summer
edition of 32 thoughts that he had been called by some people wondering if the penguins could look to
trade for Nick Robertson. I would still be all for it if you can trade away, you know, some type of
pick, you know, even a prospect that you're maybe not as high on, something like that. Again,
I don't think it's going to cost a lot to pry Robertson out of Toronto. It's not going to be some
big package that you're going out there and getting a true top six winger. No, Robertson will be a, you know,
Third-line winger, potentially on this team, maybe a fourth-line guy.
But you also have to consider right now, Pat.
Penguins haven't made any subtractions from their lineup before.
They've only made additions.
Brian Russ is still here.
Rickel is still here.
Some of the other players that could be available via trade,
Noel Chari, Dayton Hinen, Kevin Hayes,
they are all still here too.
So if you add Robertson, you know, that only adds to the surplus of forwards on this team, in my opinion.
But don't get me wrong.
If he were available this offseason and the price was not bad,
I would still be all over it.
You're trying to get younger.
He's only 23.
You're trying to give him more of an opportunity.
There you go.
He can play full-time, bottom six minutes.
He's shown an ability to be a depth score these last couple of years.
Why not?
However, and as I wrote for the hockey news,
they just signed him and they may look to deal other players
while keeping Robertson going into the season.
because they feel like they may need him.
And they are also still trying to sign Jack Roslovick.
It sounds like they're still in on him.
Best Ford is still available on the market.
I think there's four to five to six teams still in on him.
So you have to factor that into account as well.
So all that said, if he's available this off season, sign me up.
But if not, might make more sense for next year when it's funny, Pat, he's going to be an RFA again
so we can do the same song and dance again next summer.
Well, and that that is also kind of the point I was getting at is one, they only have just a shade under two million dollars, the Maple Leafs available in cap space.
Right.
So whatever you do, this is going to have to be money in, money out for the Maple Leafs.
They can't just throw some things away and take on a bunch of salary.
And then you add in what you said.
I don't think right now, if he blossoms into a true top six forward, which is still,
very much in offer still very much a possibility he isn't that yet so you're not going to get a big
return for him and to get a legitimate top six forward it's going to cost money forget about
the trade package itself it's going to cost the money on the salary cap and they just don't have
it so that kind of all weaves it together for me in the sense that if the penguins are going
to try to get him, the Leafs aren't going to get a big return.
This isn't going to be the Rustor Raquel trade.
That's just not going to happen for Nick Robertson.
So then you put all that together.
The timeline just doesn't really match right now because the Leafs still very much,
even if they are expected to take a step back this year from where they've been,
from being a team that we talk about at the start of the year as a Stanley Cup contender
to just a playoff contender,
they still have to get there.
They still have to have a productive season
and make the playoffs,
do well in the Atlantic Division,
and to do that,
they're going to need Nick Robertson
to blossom into that top six forward.
So getting rid of him,
save for maybe having somebody else step up
or signing Ross Levick,
they still need him.
So I look at it as
to also bring it to what you said at the end of your your your your what you said
realistically he's going to be an rf a again next year and if he goes out and has a big year
this year the leifs have a big decision in front of themselves which doesn't even get into
the context of how did they do because if they underwhelm if they have another leaf's
style season where they got all this hype going into the playoffs and it looks like
they're finally going to do it and then they disappoint, you know that they're going to
try to make big changes again.
And if you compound that with Nick Robertson having a big year being an RFA, wanting a lot
of money, then I think this could really match up for the Penguins where he's an RFA.
You can trade for his rights or you can make an offer sheet to send a
offer sheet as way because you'll have the cap space and the timeline works out a little bit
better. So we'll see on that. But like you said, I don't see this being realistically a thing
that they're going to do right now. It could happen. I just think very similar to a lot of things
I've talked about with UFAs and trades for the penguins right now. The timeline is maybe one year
too early for Nick Robertson and the Penguins.
That might be fair, but again, we still have to see what else the Leafs decided to do this
offseason.
They still have to make, I think, several moves before the start of the season.
With their cap situation, the United of forwards they have, still being in on Ross,
LeVick, especially if they get him.
That's another move they have to make to try and clear up cap space.
So they still have, I think, a lot of irons in the fire right now.
But, hey, if something makes sense before the start of the season for him, by all means,
do it. But I think as right now, the more likelier scenario is that they keep him this year.
And then we do the same song and dance in 2026. But hey, I've been wrong before.
For sure. We'll see what happens. Obviously, like you said, like I've said, if they find a way to
go get them, not going to hear us complaining. That's a good young forward to add into the mix.
But right now, I'd put my marker down as saying it's probably unlikely at this point. And that is going to do it for
our middle segment when we come back the world junior summer showcase is in the past let's take a look at
how some of the penguins prospects who were in attendance did we'll do that when we come back right after
this we're back here on the monday edition of locked on penguins i'm patrick damp right alongside
hunter hodies who's gutting through it you got to love the heart you got to love the grit from the one
and only hunter hodes he's crushing it right now so let's let's finish strong here hunter let's talk about
the World Junior Summer Showcase.
Really, I'm not starting off strong this third segment,
but hey, you know what?
It's a Monday.
Let's keep it rolling.
Big headline coming out of the end of this showcase,
and we've said this before,
you don't need to read too much into the game results.
You don't need to read too much into really the whole thing,
but you do want to keep an eye on it because it's prospects,
playing in national programs with other top talent.
you want to see how they mesh there.
But for the Penguins, the big headline, as I said, Ben Kindle gets a pretty nice goal for Canada in their final day.
And all things considered, I think the Penguins prospects put up a pretty good showing in this showcase.
They were featured alongside top talent.
They were featured alongside some higher draft picks and higher rated prospects.
they did not look out of place.
And again, you don't want to read too much into what is a glorified summer hockey camp,
but there are aspects of it that can give you a little bit of a roadmap to say, okay,
we know where this player is, we know where they can go.
Now let's work toward that.
With some of these prospects getting the opportunity to play with higher end talent and not look out a place,
it shows you that, yeah, they might not turn into superstars.
More likely than not, they don't turn into superstars.
But you can see the building blocks of they could be good, consistent NHL contributors.
There you go.
I 100% agree with you on that.
There's still just some wild comparisons for prospects and some projections that we just got to settle some fans down.
I know.
It's exciting having these young prospects.
It's something that Penguins fans haven't been used to for the last 20 years, basically.
But hey, it's good now.
They have a better pool, but we still need to keep our expectations in check.
Speaking of, though, Ben Kendall had a really nice goal to end the Summer Showcase.
It looked like there was no room when he was driving to the net,
but he was able to somehow jam the puck through the Team USA Net Miner, by the way,
Team USA did not play well at the Summer Showcase,
lost five of six games. Canada really didn't play that well either, but they were able to
beat the team USA in that game. And it was nice seeing Kendall get rewarded. Brunick did not play in that
game, Pat. He didn't play in all the games, but in the games that he did play, it was nice
seeing impaired with Matthew Schaefer. We talked about it last week and how that really, I think,
sends a message saying how much Team Canada values Brunick can seize the talent in him that they want
to pair him with Schaefer. Who was the top pick in the 2025?
and initial draft.
Next, Brunich will be obviously the Prospects Challenge in Buffalo next month.
And then after that, training camp,
and we'll have to see if he can pick up where he left off from last year.
Also, I thought Will Horkoff had a really nice summer showcase,
had a couple of goals, used the front of the net really well.
And Chris Peters is one of my favorite prospect writers.
He writes for Flohockey,
and he kind of did an early look at who could be, Pat,
on the next role junior's team for team USA.
And he has Will Horcoff on that team.
And I would expect it.
He played very well during this.
Max Watson, I thought, was okay.
Melvin Furnstrom for Team Sweden had a couple really nice sequences,
including a goal during the summer showcase.
So all in all, I'm totally happy with the way the Penguins prospects played.
But again, this was a glorified summer camp.
Got to see how a lot of these guys do with the Prospect Challenge.
and then this fall with their respective teams.
And I would love to see Horkoff at the World Juniors,
because we talked about this when it came to him not long after he was drafted.
And we've talked about it the last couple of weeks.
The biggest thing for Horkoff is he's at one of the best collegiate programs that he can be at as a prospect.
Yes.
And if he continues to show growth there, it's nothing but positive.
And the same thing will go with the world juniors.
very similar though as to I've been as what I've been saying is manage the expectation for him though if he does make it to the world juniors.
I would be very surprised if he lights it up at the world juniors.
But if he is a good solid contributor at the tournament, it again shows us okay.
He might not be a top tier, top level prospect, but you put him with good talent and he's not.
out of place with where the penguins are in this rebuild.
That is realistically the goal of a lot of these players is they're not going to be the franchise.
They're not going to be the guy that you build around.
They're going to be the people you use to build around the franchise player that show that they can.
When your team gets back to contention, be those role players who help push you over the edge and become a true contender.
because you're going to have a deep team.
So all in all, really good showing from them at this showcase.
Again, I know glorified summer camp,
but you wanted to see how they played surrounded by a bunch of other elite talents.
And a lot of them really showed that they are worth the penguins drafting them.
Obviously, it could all be for not.
But we will see we're going to keep an eye on them and how they develop throughout the season,
as well as into next summer.
and hopefully when they eventually make their debuts with the professional organization.
But that is going to do it for today's episode.
Like I said at the top, we will be back on Thursday to celebrate the one and only
Sidney Crosby on 8.7.
And then we'll be back on Friday to continue our top 25 of the 2000s as well as fan take
Friday.
But for now, for Hunter Hodes, I'm Patrick Damp.
Thank you as always for tuning in.
and we will be back on Thursday.
