Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Will the Penguins treat the trade deadline as a fire sale?

Episode Date: January 22, 2025

Reports have come out that a "fire sale" is looming for the Pittsburgh Penguins at the deadline, but is there any truth to that? Before Hunter and Patrick dive into this reports, they give an update o...n the farm in WBS! They look at Sergei Murashov and how he has a big opportunity in front of him before looking at how Rutger McGroarty is doing. After that, they address the reports that Kyle Dubas is planning a "fire sale." Is that actually going to happen or is it a bit premature? Finally, it's Wednesday and it means it's time to hand out their weekly MVP award as part of Warrior Helmet Wednesday.Link to the RG article: https://rg.org/news/hockey/report-fire-sale-imminent-for-pittsburgh-penguins-big-name-vets-on-the-blockSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! SelectQuoteGet the right life insurance for you, for less, at SelectQuote.com/LOCKEDONNHL.  GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelFrom the first whistle to the final drive, FanDuel makes the NFL Playoffs even more exciting! Right now, new customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get THREE HUNDRED BUCKS in BONUS BETS – if you win your first bet! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started. 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.

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 With the penguins off yet again on Wednesday, it's time to do a little bit of a farm update and update everyone on the Wilkesbury Scrant Penguins. Pat and I are going to do that. Plus, dig into reports about the Penguins potentially doing a fire sale at the trade deadline 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. Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.
Starting point is 00:00:33 I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Join by my co-st, Patrick Damp. You can follow him on all social media platforms at Send Them for Wet. And you can follow the shows, Twitter, at L.O.R. Penguins. Of course, thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this episode. We are free and available on all platforms.
Starting point is 00:00:54 So Pat, Penguins off yet again on Wednesday. Another much-needed day off, considering they played three games and four nights. They looked like they were potentially going to be gas for that game against the Kings, and then they go out there and they blow the Kings out of the water. So Penguins were off on Tuesday, but still, they're not playing today. The next game is Thursday. 10 o'clock start time for you late night warriors like myself against the Anaheim Ducks. But before we preview that game on Thursday, it's time to do a little bit of an update on
Starting point is 00:01:22 the farm in Wilkesbury. So Wilkesbury's Scram Penguins, they've been off pat for a little bit, but they're getting back into action this week. Sergei Miroshaugh has been recalled. Philip Larson, the Penguins goaltender, who's having a, outstanding year in Wilkesbury. He's a bit banged up right now. He's going to be out for the next, I think, two to three weeks.
Starting point is 00:01:39 So Mirashav is going to be up here with Wilkeshire along with Tristan Jari. We're going to start with that because I'm curious to see how Wilkesbury divvies up the starts here. Do they do a 1A, 1B? Is Jari the starter with Mirashav the backup full time? Or do they really give Mirashav the lion's share of the starts? I would maybe lean towards doing a 1A, 1B here. Yes, you do need Jari to keep playing, even though he's not. not going to be up with the main squad of the Pittsburgh Penguins for a while.
Starting point is 00:02:06 But this is a pretty big call up. Miroshov has lit up the ECHL this year, man. He's been outstanding. He's winning basically every start. He has an elite Sabrescent, well over 920 this year. He has been fantastic. I really want to see what he can do now in the HL, where obviously he's going to face some better competition,
Starting point is 00:02:25 but this is going to be a lot of fun. This is the logical next step for Murashav. You brought up all his ECHL numbers with the nailers. And it's very clear he's too good for that level. But with the sudden depth that the penguins have in the organization when it comes to goaltender, I know everything that's going on in Pittsburgh. I get it, whatever. But when it comes to the goaltenders that they have in Wilkes-Bare and the
Starting point is 00:02:54 goaltenders that they have in Wheeling, there is a log jam right now. So it's very difficult for these guys. guys to get up to the next level. And as for Murashav, he has spent a little bit of time with the Baby Penguins, played two games this year. He had a 250 GAA as well as a 919 save percentage in two games. So at the very small sample size, but at the very least, he showed into two games there that he can handle that workload. Now the challenge becomes can he handle that with a little bit of a more expanded role, a little bit of a longer look. And while it's not going to give us any sort of definitive answer on whether or not he's ready,
Starting point is 00:03:38 it will at least give us an idea as we come to a close in the 24, 25 season, if next year he is deserving to get an even longer look at the AHL level. But all of that is dependent upon what happens with the goalies at the NHL level. Does Tristan Jari continue his time with this organization? or are they able to move on from him this off season? Can Yoel Blumquist take the next step and be a consistent NHL goaltender? What does Alex Nadelcovic's future hold, even though he's only got next year left on his deal?
Starting point is 00:04:15 But a lot of this is positive. You want to see what he can do at the AHL level with an extended look. Is he developing faster than we'd like? Or is he going to need, say, another season or two in the American League before he makes the jump to the National Hockey League level. Yeah, I would agree. And just going back to one of your points, I do think a little bit of it depends on finding a taker for one of Jari or
Starting point is 00:04:40 Adelkevich. I do think still, net is the easier of the two to move. But I think if you could pick one to move, it would be Jari just, you know, with his contract, you free up the cap space. He just seemed like a broken goaltender all year this year.
Starting point is 00:04:52 He probably needs a change of scenery. I should even say probably. He does need a change of scenery. So I do think part of it depends on that. that. And once a move like that happens where one of these two goalies at the NHL level gets moved, or one of the main guys gets moved, excuse me, that really opens up more avenues for some of these younger goalies to get playing time, you know, say they do move on from Jari and they trade them into a team that needs a goaltender or something like that. You can ride Ned and Blumquist
Starting point is 00:05:20 at the NHL level until the end of the season and figure out something. And then you can really have maybe something like Murashav and Larson in Wilkesbury. And then, you know, you can solve Taylor Godier and Wheeling. I know he had a great year last year, having another good year this year. But it does open up at least another spot. And seeing Larson and Mureshov go out in Wilkesbury with Larson fully healthy, that would also be a lot of fun too. So I'm just really excited to see what he can do with more of an extended look this time.
Starting point is 00:05:49 You said it. Two games, 9-19's favorite percentage, really low sample size. But now he's going to get a little bit of an extended run here. Larsen's going to be out for the next two to three weeks. I want to see if he can get a decent amount of starts here to really show what he can do at the HL level against some better competition. And that's another thing to keep in mind when it comes to the organizational depth of the penguins. And yes, he is hurt, so he's going to be out for a little bit.
Starting point is 00:06:17 But you also have to factor in Larson because he's been, we've talked about it. He's been extremely good for the Wokesbury Scranton penguins with a 929 save percentage four shutouts and a 2-37 GAA. This is a guy who they took a chance on, and it appears at the very least at the minor league level, to have been a good bet. So there's a lot of light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak,
Starting point is 00:06:41 when it comes to goaltending in this organization. But we will see how these next few weeks shake out. Agreed. And the other main player that I really want to discuss during this first segment, Rucker McGority was actually a week ago today that he had one of his finest plays as a member of the Wilkesbury Scrant Penguins Pat, was able to lift the stick of one of the opposing players, beat the defenseman at the blue line,
Starting point is 00:07:04 gets sprung on a two-on-one, his skating is top-notch on that, and fires a beautiful cross-ice pass to Avery Hayes, who makes no mistake. Rock and McGority is playing some really good hockey in Wilkesbury right now. I know he had a little bit of a slow start. Some of the pucks weren't going in when he was starting to play a bit better, but now the pucks are starting to go in a bit more,
Starting point is 00:07:22 and you're seeing that playmaking ability as well. I mean, you look at these stats, this year for Magrorty in Wilkesbury, five goals, 18 points in 31 games, right behind Dasley-Ponamara, who is 19 points in Tristan Bros and Bros. Speaking of him, he's going to be coming back soon. He's been out with Mono for a little bit. So thank God that he's okay, by the way, because that can be pretty serious. He's also been really good this year. I expect him to potentially get a call up maybe after the deadline same with Magrory, but Magrorty is heating up, my friend. Yeah, six points in his last six games. He's had two goals, four assists.
Starting point is 00:07:56 and he really has come on strong over the last month and a half. He's really started to round into form and look a lot like the player, the penguins were hoping to get. I will say this, Josh Yohe, our friend, had some reporting this morning, basically saying it wouldn't surprise him if McGrady spent the entire season in Wilkes-Barre. And I think that's probably the best move for him. I know that everybody was excited to see him at the start of the year. but you could really tell when he first started the season due to some injuries in the NHL
Starting point is 00:08:29 that it wasn't that he isn't ready yet. It's that he's just not ready to be utilized in the way that they want to utilize him. He's not a bottom six player. He's not going to benefit from playing seven, eight, maybe nine minutes a night. He's a guy that you want to play in Wokesbear in your top six. You want them on your top power play. you want to be able to trust him in big moments. And the biggest thing that he's got to work on,
Starting point is 00:09:00 and it's been the report on him ever since he got to the National League level, as well as on the radar of a lot of scouts, is he's got to work on his skating. His skating is not quite to an NHL level yet, but it's very close. You give him more and more time to work and to build in the American Hockey League. It feels like, and this is also based off of Josh's reporting, that when they call him up, that's the only time they want to call him up. They don't want to have him busing back and forth from Pittsburgh to Wilkes-Barre,
Starting point is 00:09:36 changing rosters, changing level of competition. They want him to be able to be a dominant force in the American Hockey League to the point where they say, all right, he's got nothing left to do here. It's time for him to develop into an NHL player at the NHL level. Right. And I know some people are going to freak out after what you just said, Pat, oh, how could he spend the whole year in Wilkesbury? We gave up Braden Yeager to get him.
Starting point is 00:10:00 Sometimes this is what has to happen for a player's development. You know, he's playing against good players in Wilkesbury. He's developing more assets of his game. Once he has all that down, they're going to call him up for good. It'll be in the NHL and hopefully be a really solid middle six contributor that can also potentially play on the top line if needed at times. I still maintain that I think he might get called up after the trade deadline for the final month of the season, Pat, to maybe get him some games, see what he can do.
Starting point is 00:10:27 And I think that could also help his development a bit more. But if he were to stay in Wilkesbury the full season, I guess I wouldn't be surprised considering how they're handling him. But again, I still think there's a good chance they're going to call him up after the deadline. I just don't want people freaking out about it. Yeah. And to bring this kind of. These type of trades take time, man.
Starting point is 00:10:48 Like, they really, really do. And to bring this full circle with. what we're about to talk about in the second segment about these reported fire sales in Pittsburgh. If you look at a lot of the contributors that have made the Washington Capitals, one of the best teams in the National Hockey League, not counting the guys they acquired in the off season, guess where they spent a lot of time? Yep.
Starting point is 00:11:10 Hershey. They spent a lot of time in the HL developing into legitimate NHL contributors. And yeah, it's annoying because we have been in such a win now, mode and in such a we want the immediate results in Pittsburgh as we should because of how good this team has been for the last 20 years. But to where this organization is now, you're going to need some of these guys like McGrorty, like bros, like a couple others who are going to spend half a season and even full seasons in the American hockey league. But once they come up, they stay up. Yeah, man. And that's the biggest thing because I know some people,
Starting point is 00:11:52 like to rush all these prospects, but sometimes this takes time. You know, someone like Ponomero, we got a glimpse of him earlier this season, looked apart, but it was still obviously he needed a little bit more seasoning. But the time is definitely coming when he's going to come up full time. Same with someone like Billy Coyvin. We haven't seen him at the NHL level full time yet, but he's still playing really well this year, Wilkesbury. 10 goals, 27 points in 33 games.
Starting point is 00:12:14 These players, their development is going really well, but you never want to rush it. I just see so many weird takes about, you know, Magrory and all that, and why isn't he up here? we traded Braden Yeager for him. It's like, again, sometimes this stuff takes time. And when he's fully ready and some of these other guys are fully ready, they're going to come up and hopefully, hopefully they're going to make a difference. But that will do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, Pat and I are going to address these little fire sale rumors and reports that we've seen make the internet rounds these last couple of days
Starting point is 00:12:43 and give our takes and what's actually going to happen at the trade deadline. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about our first sponsor, and that is select quote. In sports, having a winning strategy is everything. It's how the best teams make it to the Super Bowl, the World Series, and the Olympics. The same goes for life. Having a strategy like life insurance from a select quote can protect your financial legacy and keep your family's future secure. Select quote makes it easy to find the perfect life insurance policy as one of America's leading insurance brokers with nearly 40 years of experience.
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Starting point is 00:13:46 Go to selectquote.com slash locked on NHL today to get started. one more time, that's select quote.com slash locked on NHL. Select quote, they shop, you save. All right, we're back here in this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-host Patrick Dam. So, bad, there's a couple of these little fire sale reports we've seen this week. This first one, well, the main one, I should say, came from RG.org. If I'm saying his name, correct, his name is Marco di Amico.
Starting point is 00:14:17 I hope I pronounce his last name, right? I apologize if I did not Marco. but he basically is reporting that a fire sale is imminent in Pittsburgh and there's very few names that are safe. He basically, I'm reading this verbatim, Sid, Evgeny Malkin, Brian Rust, and the two kids, Tomasito and Pickering, they are off limits for now, but everything else can be had for the right price. And then he asked a source when asked to clarify that long time, painless defenseman Crystal Tang was not on the list. The source applied, I don't know right now. I'll put the link to this in the description box for
Starting point is 00:14:49 everyone that wants to read it. I will say this. I want people to be very careful about what they read on the internet. This is not being reported by really anyone else. I listened to 32 thoughts last week from Elliot Friedman. He even said the big guys are not on the block. Yes, Dubis has forwards defensemen and goalies available, but he even said none of the big guys are available.
Starting point is 00:15:08 Pierre LeBron had his rumblings blog on Tuesday. He even said, yeah, there's no fire sale that's imminent. I read this morning from Josh Yew. He said the same thing. There is no fire still imminent. The players that I think are available, are as follows, or that I think we'll get traded are as follows. Matt Griswick, Anthony Bavillier, Marcus Pedersen, Joe O'Connor, maybe one of the goalies,
Starting point is 00:15:31 maybe Noachari, maybe Matt Nietto. I'm sure a whole bunch of other players are available for the right price, but you're not going to be doing a fire sale at the trade deadline. If you're going to make potentially bigger moves, that's probably going to happen over the summer. And I don't think that they're even going to trade Christletang. I'm not going to have my. bias influences conversation.
Starting point is 00:15:52 I just look at this objectively. I look at the contract. I don't think a lot of teams are going to want that. And also, I think he wants to retire as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins, obviously same with Anthony Malkin, who's not getting traded, same with Sidney Crosby.
Starting point is 00:16:04 Eric Carlson, I think that's a situation you potentially deal with in the summer. You maybe go to him and say, hey, do you want to go anywhere? Do you want to go chase a cup? Do you want to go back to Ottawa? Stuff like that. That's not going to happen at this deadline, though.
Starting point is 00:16:16 So I think, again, people need to be careful what they, read on the internet. I don't expect a fire sale. That's not going to happen. There will be players that get traded. They're going to sell people. Don't get me wrong. But to say that, all these big guys are on the block, pretty skeptical about that. The thing that baffled me about this is it's just describing the penguin's plan that has been the plan the whole season, just using a different word to make it look a little more flowery. There is going to be what is, a mini fire sale for the Pittsburgh Penguins at the deadline.
Starting point is 00:16:53 Because a lot of the names you brought up, Anthony Bavilié, Drew O'Connor, Matt Needo, Matt Griswick, Marcus Pedersen, you know what they all have in common? They're pending UFAs. They are going to be free agents at the end of the year. And they all have differing values for teams that might be actually contending, especially Marcus Pedersen, especially Drew O'Connor. and the way he's been playing this season, Anthony Bavillier. These are players who provide value to contending teams that are on expiring deals,
Starting point is 00:17:27 and those are what get you solid returns at the trade deadline when you're not a contender. Kyle Dubus has been saying this for pretty much the entire season, dating all the way back to this past off season. The penguins are in the business right now of stockpiling draft picks and stockpiling young talent and hoping that they can develop them into NHL players to see the big three off into the sunset and then carry this team into the next generation. Does that mean that in this process they're going to find the next Sydney Crosby or of Gennie Malkin? It's extremely unlikely because they're never going to be bad enough to get a first overall pick or pick in the top three. But if they decide to get aggressive this offseason and say there's a team like Ottawa or a team,
Starting point is 00:18:15 in that realm that is kind of sniffing around the playoffs like the penguins are, or maybe a team that had a disappointing season, like say a Nashville, who might not pick extremely low this year because they might miss the playoffs by a wide margin and they can trade up and get a higher pick in the first round. Maybe they can do something like that. But at the end of the day, they're just describing what the penguins have said they're going to do at this deadline and for the next year or two. It's not really that groundbreaking.
Starting point is 00:18:51 And yeah, people say, oh, they didn't put Chris LaTang on the list. And I'm of the same school of thought as Josh Yohe, where I could see a world where maybe they move him if somebody's a taker and he wants to go. But I still think it's extremely unlikely. It's just a general manager doing his due diligence of, if I get a call on someone and it's an interesting enough offer,
Starting point is 00:19:18 I'm not doing my job if I don't listen. So at the end of the day, they just took what the penguin's plan is and just gave it a little bit different language. Yeah, I hear you on that. Again, if there's going to be bigger moves, I think that happens during the summer. Like, you know, the big blockbuster.
Starting point is 00:19:38 I think the biggest trade you'll see at the deadline is Marcus Pedersen. And, you know, I don't think we're looking at a Jake Gensel type of, turn here for Marcus Pedersen, you know, Gensel, 40 goals score a couple of times as Pedersen. Really good second pair D can play on the top pairing, but I don't think he's going to be bringing back that type of haul. I think at best what you're looking at in that return, if you can somehow get a sucker to give you a late first in something else, like a prospect, you know, roster player, one of those two, because I think you're probably going to get
Starting point is 00:20:08 two things back. If you can somehow get a sucker to give you a late first, that'd be that'd be awesome. by the way, but it's probably going to be, I don't know, second round pick with a prospect or hopefully a young roster player that can come back and play in the NHL for the rest of the season and they can see what they have in that guy. I think that's probably what you're looking at in a Pedersen trade. Again, I hope that he just keeps pumping up that trade value to hopefully get a desperate GM to maybe give the Penguins a late first,
Starting point is 00:20:35 which, hey, they could maybe dangle that for immediate help during the summer to get a young player that could really help for now with Crossy, Malkman-Latang, and well into the future, once all three of those guys retire. So again, they're going to make the big, big moves. Like, if you're example, even like a Raquel trade, I think that would be a bit of a bigger move. That might happen in the summer. Same with Eric Carlson. I don't think he's going to be dealt with a deadline.
Starting point is 00:21:00 And I'm sure the Penguins really don't want to retain any money on that, considering how much money it is. I think that would happen potentially in the summer if he gets moved at all. Again, I don't, yeah, Crosby's not getting moved. Malkin's not getting moved. Brian Russ is not going to get moved. And yeah, I would be absolutely stunned. I will say this.
Starting point is 00:21:16 I wouldn't be shocked if they make one of these bigger moves, whether it's with, say, Raquel or Eric Carlson. I wouldn't be shocked if they retained a little bit of money because next year, all of their big, big retained money comes off the books in the retention of Jeff Petrie, the retention of Riley Smith. And then all you have left is 900,000 on Jackson. on the Jack Johnson buyout. So they'll have retention slots. And with a cap that's about to go pretty far up, they probably can afford to retain a little bit because they're not going to go big game
Starting point is 00:21:57 hunting and free agency or on the trade market. They're not going to go out and get a $5, six, seven, eight plus million dollar player on the market. So if you're able to say, you know, hold on to a million for Ricard Raquel or a million for Eric Carr, Carlson, it's not going to torpedo their plans. But again, that's something that they'll address in the summer because those are moves you make over the summer. We saw it when they acquired Eric Carlson. That was, you need a damn near an advanced calculus degree to figure out all of the moving
Starting point is 00:22:29 parts in that deal. And I know people say, oh, that's the job of the general manager to be able to figure that stuff out. Listen, when your only focus is roster and cap management in the off season and not making sure your cap compliant during the season and, making sure your rosters are hitting all the right spots and you're looking at evaluations from the minor leagues. It's a lot easier to make those big deals in the summer than it is during the season. Right, 100%.
Starting point is 00:22:52 I agree with that. And I think that will do it for the second segment when we're discussing this fire sale. Coming up to end the show, it's Wednesday. You all know what that means. It's time for Pat and I to give out our warrior helmet for this week's MVP. And considering what happened last weekend, pretty sure all of you know who we're going to give the helmet to for this week. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about our second sponsor. and that is Fandall.
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Starting point is 00:24:02 I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes. Join my host Patrick Dam. So, Pat, I will start with this one because I know you have the same pick. The Warrior Helmet for this week for me goes to Penguins' Goldtender Alex Nadelcovich. scores his first NHL goal, also gets an assist in that game against the Sabres, becoming the first goalie in NHGEL history to record a goal and an assist in the same game. He is now also scored in the NHL, ECHL, and the AHL. And he's had two back-to-back great starts of well above 900.
Starting point is 00:24:32 Was a big reason why the Penguins won that game in Buffalo and was a big reason why the Penguins just won in Los Angeles, made some really nice timely saves outside of the Oilers game. I think those, these are his two best starts of the season. Great stuff from him. Easy pick for me. Yeah, real easy warrior helmet this week to pick for the week that Alex and the Delcovic had. Like you said, 952 save percentage against the Sabres,
Starting point is 00:24:58 962 against the LA Kings. Two very solid starts from him. For the Kings game, wasn't tested a ton, but made the big saves when he needed to make them. As for Buffalo, the penguins got severely outshot against the sabers. And while it was a lot more quantity over quality from the sabers,
Starting point is 00:25:19 still you make 42 saves in a game. That's a pretty solid performance after you face 44 shots. Same thing in L.A. A little bit different where, yeah, there were some quality chances, but he made the saves he needed to make, including after the Kings get on the board on the 5 on 3 power play, they were starting to build a little bit of momentum.
Starting point is 00:25:42 They were starting to come on. He makes a big save. The penguins immediately go down the ice and turn it into offense. And those are the kind of saves that for the most part, the penguins have been missing from their goaltenders this season. Then, of course, you add on first goaltender in the history of the league to have a goal and an assist in the same game on top of, like I said, making 42 saves.
Starting point is 00:26:07 That's a pretty good night of work. So huge week from Alex Nadalcovic this week. Easy warrior helmet pick. And I got to add this on Hunter. We're starting to agree a little too much because, as you know, I am keeping track of our warrior helmets this season. This is the sixth straight week that we have given the warrior helmet to the same person. So last few weeks, let's go through it.
Starting point is 00:26:32 Week nine, Ricard Raquel, week 10, Sydney Crosby. Then two weeks in a row, we give it to Michael Bunting. Last week, it goes to Brian Rust, and obviously this week, Alex Nadelcovic. But that said, that's kind of the way this penguin season is gone. There haven't been exactly a laundry list of players for us to choose from. Everybody just seems to have one good week, and then we got to figure out who has the good week the next week. It feels like either Crosby, Raquel, Rust, or Bunting are in the lead right now,
Starting point is 00:27:04 because I know we've given quite a few warrior helmets to those guys. I mean, it makes sense. They've been some of the Penguins best players this year. But I know Sid's right up there. I know Russ is up there. And I especially know Raquel is up there, especially because the year that he's having. I actually would not be surprised if Raquel is leading the back.
Starting point is 00:27:20 Raquel is pretty high up there. He's got two. So does Michael Bunting. Crosby's got two. Brian Rust has three. So yeah, you're pretty much right on point there that it's been the penguin's biggest contributors being the penguin's biggest contributor.
Starting point is 00:27:38 this season. I'm hoping we can give one to Gino soon because I think he's starting to heat up a little bit more. Hasn't gotten a lot of love with the warrior helmet lately, but I do think the time is coming when we're going to give the warrior helmet to him because I do think he's starting to get his legs back. I really do believe that. But Pad, do you have anything else to add for this episode before we close out today? All good for me. Let's get ready for the rest of this late night hockey couple of weeks because I know you are absolutely. your element. 10 o'clock start time on Thursday for the Penguins game against the ducks. Again, people, laying out hockey is awesome. If you need to drink a coffee, drink some other beverage,
Starting point is 00:28:17 do it. Have a snack. Do that too. Stay up, watch some late on hockey. It is a lot of fun. But at least this weekend, they play Seattle. That's an afternoon start time. I know the Sharks game is going to be a bit later as well as the Utah game. Trust me, people, laying out hockey, it's not much better than that. But again, I think that'll do it for today's episode of the locked on Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much. taking the time to listen to slash watch this one. Pat and I will be back with another episode if you all on Thursday to preview this big game against the Ducks and discuss any other Penguins-related news as well. So for Patrick Damp, I am Hunter Hodes. Thank you all so much
Starting point is 00:28:51 for tuning in. We'll be back on Thursday.

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