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For Pittsburgh, penguins, news and analysis, you can find us here on YouTube at tip of the iceberg or anywhere you get your podcasts from. I only have one topic to go into today, but it's a big topic that we need to get into considering it has been almost a full calendar month since the contract extension for Alex Nadalkovich. Where does that leave Tristan Jari? We talked about it back then saying that it could mean the end for Tristan Jari in Pittsburgh and since then, all has been quiet on the goaltender front in Pittsburgh. We'll talk about the penguins' most likely scenario when it comes to the goaltending position and then also touch on where he could potentially go if he ends up being on the trade block. Then of course, we'll close out the show the way that we close out every single show here live on tip of the iceberg on YouTube by answering all of your questions. So if you're in the comment section, make sure you drop your questions here and we'll try to get to every single one of them before we say goodbye today. But let's start off with the main topic of conversation today because the title of the show is trade is still on the table for the penguins and Tristan Jari. And I think that is going to remain the case really all season long. And the reason I want to bring this up is because it feels more and more like the most likely scenario for the Pittsburgh penguins when it comes to the goaltending situation is in in season trade. That's where I'm at at this point. That's where I'm probably going to stay at going forward until something else drastically changes for the Pittsburgh penguins. It looks like they're likely to enter the season with the same tandem that they finished with last year, which was Tristan Jari and Alex Nadellkovich. And we saw what happened at the tail end of last year. Tristan Jari, who was supposed to be your bona fide number one goaltender, not just last year, but going into the future. Instead, it's Alex Nadellkovich that ends up being your starter for the last 13 games of the season. Tristan Jari unable to wrestle the net back from Nadellkovich. And we all have the same question. What happens in the off season now? Because do they trust Tristan Jari to be a starter going into the future? He still has several years left on that contract that he just signed a year prior. And Alex Nadellkovich was in need of a new one. Like I mentioned at the talk with the show, Nadellkovich gets a new contract. You go into next year at this point, considering a lot of the hockey moves have happened. A lot of the goaltending moves have already happened. It looks like you're going into next season with Jari in the delkovich. And I think the one thing that they're going to count on is that your Blancfist continues to grow until he's NHL ready. And they're hoping that Joel Blancfist becomes NHL ready towards the beginning of next season, maybe a month or two in the minors to continue conditioning to continue to build and to show that last year was not a fluke and that he can continue the progression positively on his development to potentially get an opportunity at some point this season. And at that point, the other thing you're hoping for is Tristan Jari to have a stellar start, which is something that honestly he's been prone to do. You look at what Tristan Jari's numbers are between October and December throughout his career. He has a 59, 30 and 13 record, a 9/22 save percentage, a 2.36 goals against average, and 12 of his 19 career shutouts between the months of October and December. We all know the story after that, right? New year's day comes, New year's day goes, and so too does the most productive version of Tristan Jari. He folds under pressure seemingly, and when the lights get brighter and when the games get more important, he just has not been able to step up and stand up to the challenge. And at this point, it's getting to the fact that the Penguins need to move on. The question is, can they? Who's on the other side of that? We'll get to it in a second. But that's what to me feels like the most likely scenario for the Pittsburgh Penguins going into the season. They're going to rock with Jari in a delkovich. They're going to hope Jari has a really stellar start to the season. They're going to hope Blungfist has a stellar start to the season as well. And then they're going to trade Jari if possible. If a suitor comes along for as much as they possibly can, selling high on a guy that has been so volatile over his entire NHL career that you just don't know whenever he's going to fall off the edge of the earth. I mean, you can say it's January 1st, but everybody else is going to see that as well. So you're hoping that that's what the case is for the Penguins. They get some good value in return for Jari. They get salary cap space opened up going into the next couple of seasons and they have a clean slate in the goaltending position. And for them, best case scenario is Joel Blungfist comes up, gets some seasoning early in the year, gets the opportunity late in the year. And all of a sudden, you have a cheap goaltender and you have a decent backup in Alex Nadellkovich or one beat in Alex Nadellkovich with a young pairing with Joel Blungfist. And then, of course, as we've talked about last week, you have Sergei Mershev, who was a couple years out, but still looks to be a very dynamic goaltender and a very stellar goaltending prospect for the Pittsburgh Penguins. So that's the most likely scenario for the Penguins is an in season trade of Tristan Jari. I think it's still on the table. I think when you're looking at the pens next year, they're hoping they get the most out of the players they have on the roster, but they're going to be open to a lot of trades throughout the entirety of the season. So I'm intrigued to see what Jari has to say when he shows up at training camp. Because obviously, there's been a lot of talk throughout this off season as there has been the last two off seasons about him. So I'm excited to see what he has to say and how he responds early in training camp and early in the season. Now, as far as where he could land the best landing spots for Tristan Jari, Bleacher reports Adam Grettes put out a piece earlier today and it's linked in the description below about the four best landing spots for Tristan Jari. And this is what he had to say about the fact of trading Jari to begin with. Quote, with UC Sorrows re-signed in Nashville and several other goal tenders, i.e. Jacob Markstrom, Logan Thompson, already changing teams this off season, there aren't many options available in the free agent market or trade market. Teams that are still looking to make a change or look for an upgrading goal could circle back to Jari. And he names four teams, the one that I want to highlight here, and I'm not going to highlight all of them because I'm not going to give away his entire article. Go check it out. If you want to know all four teams, the one team that he mentioned that to me is very intriguing is the Utah hockey club. I mean, that is a team that as Grettes points out, completely restructured their defense, looks like they're trying to break free of the ever-long rebuild that the Arizona Coyotes were going through. And they want to give their fans some excitement in their first year in Salt Lake City. So you look at what they did adding Sargachev. You look at what they did, bringing in John Marino, former Penguin. They also brought in Ian Cole, former Penguin, and they have a lot of young talent between, you know, the young don't kid, the Logan coolies of the world. They also just brought in TJ Genla. We'll see where he starts the season, but there's a lot of exciting talent in Utah's system right now and a lot of exciting young talent that is going to be playing at the NHL level for Utah. They need a goaltender. And if they get into the season and they start off hotter than they expect and they start off to look like a team that could vie for a playoff spot or at the very least be a bubble team for a playoff spot and they want a goaltender. That's where Tristan Jari fits perfectly. They have plenty of salary cap space. Their window has not opened yet. They might want to bounce out of the rebuild. They might want to try to push for a playoff spot, but they're not in their contention window. That's a couple of years down the road. So they can buy now on a short-term goal-tending prospect or project interest in Jari. And I think that is a perfect answer for the Pittsburgh Penguins because that's the one where you're least likely to have to retain salary, which we know Kyle Dubas does not want to do. And if you look at what they have, you know, in return, they have a good bit of draft capital because they haven't been going for it for the last several years, which means they've been able to stockpile that. And the Penguins, that's something that they're looking to do over in the next couple of seasons. So shout out to Adam Grettes for a solid piece, stellar piece there for landing spots for Tristan Jari. I like the Utah hockey club as a potential landing spot. The only thing I disagree with is I feel like this is going to get into the season. I think the most likely scenario is a trade-in season. Does that rule out the capability and the potential of a trade to happen during the offseason? No, I think there's still a slim chance that that happens. And there's also a slim chance that the Penguins just say, all right, nothing is worth it. Nobody is offering anything that is close to being worth it. We're just going to ride it out with Tristan Jari and Alex did Elkovich and see if they can build on what they did last year and see if Tristan Jari can, you know, finally find his game in the second half of a season. But I think the most likely scenario for the Penguins is that in season trade for Tristan Jari. Before we move on, I want to know your opinion. Drop it in the comment section here. Do you think that an in season trade seems to be the direction that the Pittsburgh Penguins are going to go? Because to me, you know, if I'm going to put a percentage on it, which I know that's a fool's errand, if I'm putting a percentage on it, I think there's at least a 60% chance that that ends up being the route that they go with the remaining 40% being split between trading them this offseason, waiting out the year next year, maybe trading them next offseason or just hanging on to them and hoping for the best. I know they're a rebuilding team. So potentially they don't really, you know, care if they end up missing the playoffs again. I know that they like to. But if you're Kyle Dubas, if you can get anything out of Tristan Jari and get his contract off the books, I think that is a great move for him. Let's move over and answer some of your questions here because, you know, it is the middle of July. It is a hundred degrees outside and it has been a hundred degrees outside seemingly for the past month, at least in the DMV. So I want to move on over and talk about what you guys want to talk about and get into the questions that you guys have this Wednesday. Let's start with Pittsburgh fan 412 says, is there a deadline for a decision about where Murashov will play this season? He did mention yet last week, Sergey Murashov at Prospect Development Camp that he needs to make a decision in the next couple of weeks. And I think that's what you need to know. He obviously needs to know and the Penguins need to know if they should expect him at training camp. It was a surprise that he showed up to Prospect Development Camp. Certainly a pleasant surprise, but a surprise. Nonetheless, I think you're going to see that decision be made here in the next couple of weeks. There's no exact deadline, but he's going to want to know where he's playing. The Penguins obviously need to get the visa situation figured out for Sergey Murashov and they'd like to know if they're going to have that goaltender going into the year, not just at training camp. But think about what that does at the American Hockey League level, because you already have Joel Blunkfist, who you're hoping makes a vast majority of the starts. Now you're going to be splitting the net between him and Sergey Murashov. And you can send him down to the ECHL, but something tells me that Sergey Murashov is probably a little bit more advanced than the ECHL has to offer. And I think that if that was the case, if he was going to end up playing in the East Coast League, he would just stay in Russia and play in the MHL and potentially play in the KHL as well. So I think that decision Pittsburgh fan has got to come here in the next couple of weeks. There's no hard deadline. I guess you could say the hard deadline is the opening of training camp, but I would imagine that the Penguins want to know that answer sooner rather than later and probably in the next couple of weeks. Peter Swistock wants to know which notable prospects will play in the AHL this season, who didn't play there last season. The two big ones, and one of them did play there last season, one of them played just in the playoffs last season, but the two big ones are going to be forward's Vasili, Panamarev, and Vili Koivunen. Koivunen came over from Finland. He played in the playoffs, scored a goal and an assist in two games. So he's going to be over to start the season. He's also going to be able to buy for a potential roster spot at Penguins training camp in the same goals for Vasili, Panamarev, who came over in the trade, immediately went to the American Hockey League and played for the Wilkesburg, Grant and Penguins before being injured and ending his season on IR. So those two are notable. The other notable name, one guy turning pro, is 2022. I got to get my year straight. 2022 first round pick. It is 20. Yeah, 2022 first round pick. I got to get it. Owen Pickering will be turning pro this year, making his debut in, you know, Wilkesburg, Grant and as a full-time AHL, he's played at the end of the WHL season a couple times. He's come over to Pennsylvania and gotten some work in the AHL level, gotten on some tryout bases at the AHL level, but he will be a full-time professional this year. So own Pickering and also Tristan Brows in a last year, NCAA national champion, two overtime goals in the lead up to that national championship for the University of Denver. He will be at the AHL level as well to start this season. So a lot of young guys going to the American Hockey League to start the year should be very entertaining because a lot of the top prospects for the Penguins are going to be not just starting at the AHL, but being given opportunities potentially throughout the year to make their NHL debuts or if they already have to make a little bit more of a name for themselves at the national hockey league level. Let's run down through here and ask some more questions or answer some more questions here. Let's start with Zach Dorosa, who says, "Do you take a chance on Carol Vomelka?" Always liked him. Vomelka, obviously, of the Utah Hockey Club. We talked about Utah being a potential landing spot for Tristan Jari. And the reason is because Tristan Jari, let's face it, as of right now, is still a better option than Carol Vomelka. Vomelka has never finished a season above 900. He does have that capability to go on a couple of runs and play above his skis, but I see him similar to the way that I see in Alex Nodelkovich, a guy that is going to, for the most part, be a backup, potentially a 1B for you in certain situations that he might be able to, if he gets hot, be good enough to go on a run where you win for two weeks straight with him behind you. And he gives you the great chances to win holding opponents down to two or one goals. But I don't think Vomelka is an answer for the future. And I think that more so, they already have a guy like Carol Vomelka and Alex Nodelkovich. So I understand it. Last year we were talking about him as a potential option to back up Tristan Jari and Pittsburgh via trade. I don't think that he's an option for the Penguins going into this season. Unless, of course, the Utah Hockey Club need to send a goalie back the other way, then the Penguins can bring him in, especially if Joe Blancfist isn't ready by, say, December or January like that, like I laid out in that earlier instance. This episode is brought to you by Beyond Natural Pet Food. Beyond Pet Food helps me care for what matters, my pets and my world. They help me nourish my pets with high quality natural ingredients, like wild caught salmon and organic free-range chicken. Beyond also has responsible sourcing practices and a long-term partnership with the Nature Conservancy. Beyond Pet Food, your pet, your world. Learn more at beyondpetfood.com. Walmart has the trusted brands and products your kids need for school. Like HP Chromebooks? Yep. Reebok hoodies? Yep. Pokemon pencil cases? I think you know the answer. But just in case, yes. Go back in a style with Walmart. Mickey wants to know, how do you think Grizzly will fit in with the Pittsburgh Penguins? It's going to be interesting for Matt Grizzly because he was brought in in a clear, this is a rebuild type of signing, right? You look at Matt Grizzly, he had a rough couple of years under Jim Montgomery with the Boston Bruins last year and the year prior. He's looking for a fresh start with Pittsburgh. He's a guy that, you know, as I said several times has cut his teeth in this league being a top pairing guy playing with Charlie McAvoy. So can he play with Grizzly Tang? That's going to be the question. I think that's where he slots in. I think that's where the Penguins want him to play because I think they want to see Ryan Graves start the season on the third pairing alongside Jack St. Ivani. So how is he going to fit in? I mean, this is a guy that has played heavy workload, heavy minutes before in his career. And I think that's where he's going to fit in with the Pittsburgh Penguins. You look around. Obviously, they brought in Sebastian Ajo who might be able to get some time in the lineup. But I think Grizzly is going to be the guy that gets that first fit. And as far as how he fits playing with a guy like Chris Latang, I think if you see the Chris Latang that we saw early last season, it's going to be a good pairing for Matt Grizzly because the Chris Latang of early last season, people aren't going to want to hear this and people aren't going to agree with this because we're so far removed and people already have this ability to go back and just ignore everything that Chris Latang did positively. But at the beginning of last season, he was very good defensively. He was tasked with a different role. Eric Carlson was the power play one guy. Eric Carlson was the, you know, bulk majority of the offensive zone face off guy. He was the guy that goes with Crosby the majority of the time. So the tag had to take a back seat and he had to kind of change his game early in the season. He did that at a very high level. If he's able to get back to that and obviously health is going to be a major factor for Chris Latang going into the season and if he's able to go into this season healthy and start off the way he started off last year, I could see Matt Grizzly fitting really well on that second pairing with Chris Latang and your top pairing being Marcus Patterson and Eric Carlson. So that's how I think you'll fit. Obviously, we'll have to wait and see. It's been a couple of pretty bad years. Everybody wants to point out the fact that he was a healthy scratch during the postseason during the majority of the games for the Boston Bruins for I think Wather Spoon. I don't remember his first aim. I want to say it was Spencer, but you know, things just didn't work. And you can go back to a specific point where things started going in the wrong direction. It was due to a couple injuries. It was also right at the change of Bruce Cassidy to Jim Montgomery. So we'll see if a new regime, a new coaching staff helps out Matt Grizzly. I'm certainly keeping my eye on him as one of the guys that if he pans out and again, the Penguins are in a weird situation. They don't want to call it a rebuild. I'm calling it a rebuild. We need to label this somehow. The Penguins are in a weird situation where yes, they would like to see this team outperform expectations, make it to the post season and make a little bit of noise. But at the same time, if Matt Grizzly goes off, he's 30 years old. He's on a one year contract. If somebody else needs a left shot defenseman to play in their top four, Grizzly is performing well. Is he going to end up on the trade block anyway? Is he going to end up being traded in return for a second round pick, a third round pick at the trade deadline? That's going to be one of the biggest storylines throughout this season to watch, especially considering the Pittsburgh Penguins are in that weird situation when it comes to their rebuild. Christopher says, who would we get to replace Jari on the short term? And I mentioned it earlier. I think that it's literally trade Jari. If you're ready to hand the keys over to a certain extent to Joel Blancfist. I think they have a lot of faith in Alex Adelekovich and he showed you late last season while he didn't take the world by fire. He didn't go out there and shut every single team out. He played for two and a half weeks straight against some of the best competition the Eastern Conference has to offer. And the Penguins were by and large one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference down the stretch last season. They fell short and that's due to the fact that prior to that stretch, they were abysmal for certain stretches, especially the one that led up to the trade deadline and a couple of games following the trade deadline. But you saw Alex Adelekovich be able to carry a team for a couple of weeks. And if Joel Blancfist continues, and again, this is not two weeks of Joel Blancfist looking good at the AHL level. This is one to two to potentially three months of him looking like that all star that he was in his rookie year last year. I think they could go short term. Just a Blancfist Adelekovich duo. I was not very confident in that earlier in the summer, but the Penguins have a lot of confidence in Adelekovich. That's why they gave him a two-year contract. And obviously they have confidence in Joel Blancfist as well, because whenever they got to the trade deadline, they traded Magnus Helberg. And I know a lot of people saw that deal and said, you know, that's, that's a nothing deal, whatever. They ended up getting a goaltender back that was an ECHL guy and Ludovic Weber. And he's already gone. He left the organization. But at the same time, they were still in a playoff race. They were still saying that they wanted to go for it in the playoffs. They sold off Gensil because that was the smart move to do, but they didn't really sell anything else off. They wanted the team to make the post-season. And if they did that, their number three was, was Joel Blancfist. They had the faith in Blancfist to be that number three, because that's what Helberg was brought in to do initially at the start of last season. So they had faith in them to be the number three last year. Something tells me they're going to have faith in them, especially if they get that sample size going through December and the early portion of January, where Tristan Jari's trade value goes up. Maybe Joel Blancfist's stock is rising as well. And all of a sudden, you see a Blancfist Nadelkovich pairing down the second half of next season. Let's finish off with a couple more questions here. Matthew Clark says, I'd like to see bros and how get a bottom six role in this team. Tanner Howe is who you're referencing, obviously second rounder this year. He's going to go back to the WHO. He signed his three year ELC, but I think it's going to get pushed. I think he's going to end up at 18 years old back at the WHO. And I think that you're going to see him for probably another year, maybe another two, depending on how he does with their Regina in his last year, this year, before he gets to the NHL level. Tristan bros, again, another future type of piece. I don't think he's close to start the season. We'll see what he does once he starts to face professionals. But that's a large jump to make going from the college game to professional. He's got to make that jump at the American league level. He's got to get to the point at the AHL level to where they want to see him make the jump to the NHL. So I think both of those guys, Matthew are a little far off, but I'm excited for both of them, especially Tanner Howe brings something that'll not a lot of prospects in the Penguin system have. And that's that grit. That's that sandpaper. That's that, that dirt bag type of quality. He's hard to play against. He loves the net front. And I'm excited to watch him when he goes back to Regina this year. But I just think that that's where he's going to end up. Kyle has a question here that says how likely do you think it is that pool and gets a real look at a roster spot? Sam Pull and had a lot of opportunities last year. But for similar reasons, he wasn't able to capitalize injuries and poor timing really hurt Sam Pull and last year. And they heard him the year before as well. And obviously he took time off for mental health reasons. And that did have an effect on his timeline. But if you look at last year, Pulling could have come up on a couple of different occasions, but he was injured. And then when he did come up, plays in three NHL games and then ends up with that illness that was tearing through the Penguins towards the end of the season. And by the time he was over that, the Penguins had already been winning and they weren't going to change the formula. They wanted him to get some playing time. They didn't want him to just sit in the press box. So at that point, they sent him back down to the American Hockey League. I think he's going to get an opportunity. I do. I think that it's likely that going into camp, their desire is for Sam Pull and to earn a spot out of training camp. And again, the one big thing in the one big domino that has to fall is I do think there's a trade coming. And I think that outside of the in season Tristan Jari trade, the trade that's coming is one of the centers at the NHL level, whether that be Lars Ehler or Nolichari. I would think Ehler has a higher upside and would garner a higher return. But I feel like one of those two guys are on their way out because Blake Lazazza center as well. Vasily Pahnomarev is a center as well. Sam Pull and is a center as well. So I feel like one of those roadblocks might be taken away from Sam Pull and but I also think that he's going to be given a shot in training camp. And if he can do what he did last year in training camp, which was come in and he started it. The prospect challenge in Buffalo last year, he was one of the better players for the Penguins in the prospect challenge. And he continued to impress throughout the majority of camp, fell off a little bit late. And then of course got injured early in the season for Wilkes Fair, which stunted any momentum that he built throughout the summer. So I think if he can build that momentum again, he's certainly going to get opportunities. And two years ago, he played three games in the NHL. Last year, he played three games in the NHL. This year, he's going to get more than three games. He's going to be given that opportunity if he can stay healthy. Team Crusade wants to know, who would you not be surprised that won't be on the Penguins during training camp that don't get talked about? Sorry, let me read that through again. Who would I not be surprised about that isn't going to be on the Penguins during training camp that doesn't get talked about? Not be surprised about. That's a tough one. I would not be surprised if obviously a lot of people are mentioning Jackson Ivan. I think he's a lock to be sitting in that spot, you know, pole position as a certain Pittsburgh coach likes to say he's going to be in that spot on the right side third pairing. Philip Crawl is an interesting name. He was brought in 24 year old, played over in Europe last year was a Maple Leafs draft pick when Kyle Dubas was the general manager, actually was part of the first draft class with Kyle Dubas, his general manager in Toronto. Left shot defenseman. I don't think Owen Pickering is going to be close to the NHL. They got another couple of young guys down there. I wouldn't be surprised, especially if John Ludwig is not ready to go at the start of the season that Philip Crawl battles it out with guys like Ryan Shane, Sebastian Ajo to potentially make the opening night roster. But again, that's just based on the fact that we haven't seen all of these guys together on the ice. That's a name that I'm very intrigued to see about where the Penguins view him and how they view him going into this season. Let's see if there's any other questions here. Let's close it out with this one. Rags 15061 says, didn't he just get a five year contract last year talking about Tristan Jari. He did. And then he immediately did all the things that the Penguins were hoping he didn't do. And let's also not forget the fact that last year the Penguins needed a starting goaltender. They were really only looking at Casey to Smith in the organization going into the offseason. They wanted to get a starter. They wanted to be contenders again. They wanted to bounce back and be contenders that season. The best option available was Tristan Jari and that was the going rate. So they gave him a five-year contract and that I feel like they gritted their teeth through it and said this was the best option we had. This is the best we could do. We got Jari. He's shown to potentially at his best be a very good goaltender. But at the same time at his worst, we know what he is. And he ended up showing at his worst, which was the end of last season. He struggled from January 1st on and then he lost his net, got sick and was not able to get it back from Alex Nadelkovich. So he did just get a five-year contract last year. But a year changes a lot of things. And right now the Pittsburgh Penguins are in need of a different goaltender. And Rags has a follow-up here and says, "Won't that make him tough to trade though?" It does. But again, look at the options out there. Some teams might want an upgraded goaltender like Utah who does not have a very stellar goaltender. Their goal tenders are 900 type guys. And if Jari does, you know, as I mentioned at the start of the show, if Jari does early this season, what he was able to do early every season of his career, which is play stellar hockey from October to December, his stock's going to go up and somebody's going to take a risk on them. Somebody like a Utah hockey club who has not very much to lose going into next season because nobody's expecting them to be a playoff team. But if they're able to hang around in the Western Conference, which we saw last year, the last couple of spots in the Western Conference were kind of a crapshoot down in the late parts of the season. If they're able to hang around, the new owner seems like he's a little giddy to get his team into the postseason. And they might look for an upgrade in Tristan Jari over a guy like Connor Ingram or a guy like, is it Connor Ingram? I don't remember Connor Ingram, who's the backup out there, or a guy like Carol Vomelka, who we talked about a little bit earlier. Zachary DeRosa, let's go to your question here, who says, "Do you think Columbus would be crazy enough to do a hockey trade between graves in line A?" No, I don't think anybody is crazy enough to give a potential 40 goal scorer away, even though it seems like his time in Columbus is over. I don't think Don Waddell is going to give that away for Ryan Graves, who, you know, to Rags' point, as of right now, why would anybody trade for Ryan Graves? Five years left on that contract at four plus million dollars coming off the worst season he has ever had as a professional. I do think he's going to bounce back, but I think the Penguins are really counting on it. And I don't think that anybody's crazy enough to make that trade. Patrick Liny, even at two years, 8.7, even though that cap hit is large and they don't feel like that he's going to play for them, I don't think they'd be crazy enough to pull the trigger on that. Although it would be something, it would be, you know, the new Taylor Hall for Adam Larson, the deal was one for one. That would be even crazier if it happened in that lens. The Columbus Blue Jackets and the Pittsburgh Penguins, two teams that are technically rivals. I mean, they're interdivision rivals. I wouldn't call them rivals per se, but they're got their teams that have to battle with each other. And you would think the Columbus Blue Jackets aren't going to take a defenseman coming off his worst season for a guy that has the potential of a 40 goal scorer and just needs a fresh start. So in a dream land, it'd be nice. And you did say it is CBJ, which I get it, but at the same time, you know, it might be a new era in CBJ. Don Waddell did a pretty good job down there in Carolina. We'll see if he can carry that over when he gets up to the Blue Jackets. Pittsburgh Heather, welcome back to the stream. Heather says, could the Penguins trade Eller for some picks and then put Hayes at Third Line Center and choose between Pawnemarev, Coppenin and Koivounen for fourth line center? I think that Eller for some picks is something that is 100% on the table for the Pittsburgh Penguins this year. I think that, you know, Eller was great for the pens last year. We're one of the most consistent third line centers that they have had it in several years. But I think for that very reason and for the reason that he's on a contract year, he might be enticing to a lot of teams, especially a guy that has a Stanley Cup ring that always adds a little bit of intrigue around the league. So I could a 100% see the Penguins looking to offload Eller or floating Eller out there for some draft capital, especially for how hungry Kyle Dubas is for that draft capital right now. I think Hayes starts the season at Third Line Center regardless, though. You know, we've mentioned it a couple of times talked about Kevin Hayes yesterday on tip of the iceberg, the full podcast version of it. And I think Hayes starts at Third Line Center. And I think if Eller's not traded, he bumps down to four C and you're looking at Crosby, Malkin, Hayes, Eller, straight down the middle, moving to Charlie over to the right side. And if it is vacant, if Eller moves on, and there is a vacancy at four C. Ponomarev, Coppinin, Koivunin. First of all, Koivunin is a winger. So he wouldn't be a center fourth line center. I think Blake Lazat is a name that could 100% be thrown in there. I think Sam Poulan is a name that can 100% be thrown in there. But I do think that there are plenty of options that the Penguins have to go for C at that point. And if none of those guys are ready, because remember, a lot of these guys don't have NHL experience or at least any more than a cup of coffee. Ponomarev has, I think, one game or two games. Koivunin doesn't have any games, Coppinin had a couple of games for the Penguins last season. They can always put a Chari back there. It's not the best scenario. It's not the best answer. But it's an answer anyway. The last thing you want to hear when you need your auto insurance most is, "Thank you for calling. Please listen to your list of 46 possible service options." 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So, give it a try at mintmobile.com/switch. $45 up for three months plus taxes and fees, promoting for new customers for limited time, unlimited more than 40 gigabytes per month, slows, full turns at mintmobile.com. Couple more questions that just came in. Let's go with Matthew Clark's to start. If Jari does get traded to Utah, what does the package look like or what prospects or players would you want? I think the first thing they would look for is I bring up Utah's page here. The first thing they would look for is the draft picks because Utah has a lot of prospects that they have plans for. So, I think they'd be looking to get some of those draft picks and let me look here at which draft picks they have available. Not only do they have $9 million in salary cap space, close to $10 million still with 23 active roster and 45 contracts on the books, they have multiple third round picks next year. I could see that being included. I don't think the Penguins are getting a first round pick. That would be wild if they did, but I could see a third round pick next year, 2026. They have three second round picks. I could see the Penguins targeting one of those picks as well. As far as looking at their prospects, which I think they're going to be a little bit less open to parting with, I mean, I do love me some Teajuginla, but they just drafted them and that is there's no way they're going to trade him. Certainly not at this point. I think it's probably going to be a draft pick. If I'm looking at this, I think it's going to be strictly a draft pick trade. I want a second and a third if you're desperate. If not, the other big piece of this is if the Penguins can get it without retained salary, that's huge for them. They open up five plus million for the next four years, I believe, for Tristan Jari. That's a huge asset for a team that's rebuilding because that allows them to do more things like what they did with Kevin Hayes. Take on a contract, take on some salary, get a draft pick and return, and they did it with Hayes and listen, say what you will about Kevin Hayes. He had a down season last year. It's not the worst piece in the world. If he can bounce back, if he can be what he was in his last year in Philadelphia on the ice, then it could be something good for some of these young wingers that the Penguins have coming up and they're going to give them some opportunities. Any other questions? Let me scroll down through here. Gordon says, "Where are they going to get for Jari?" A bag of pucks. Duke can't stop a beach ball. He can from October to December. That's going to be your window there. October to December and maybe he pushes it into January. We'll have to wait and see. It all depends, of course, on where the trade market is at. What teams are desperate for gold tenders? What teams are all of a sudden looking like they could contend for a playoff spot, despite the fact that coming into the year they didn't expect to, and they didn't have a goaltender of today. Justin Jari could potentially be an upgrade for teams in that aspect, and that's why I think Utah has come up so many different times. Peter Swistock says any Penguins with 30-plus gold potential, certainly. Certainly they have players that have 30-plus gold potential. One, Sydney Crosby scored over 40 last year. I've got any mark, and I think this year going into it, I could see him potentially pushing for 30 again, because I see him having a better year with some better line mates, including Michael Bunting, who I saw is in a question here in a little bit as well. I think those two for certain, and of course, those are the obvious names. Brian Rust last year was a 30-goal score. He played as a 30-goal score. If he's healthy, he does it. I think that that same thing goes for this year, and I think that might be it as of right now. I was going to say Bunting, but I don't know if I'd go that far with Michael Bunting. I think he's going to have a pretty good season for the Penguins. I don't know if I'd go as far to say 30-goal score, unless they put him in the front on the power play, and David Quinn and Eric Carlson and Sydney Crosby worked some magic, and that power play looks like it was supposed to look last year, and Bunting ends up being the net front presence that just puts away a bunch of garbage goals, and scores a bunch of goals off his shin pad, then maybe, but I think if you're looking at which players have 30-goal potential in 2024-25, it's down to those three. Crosby, Malkin, and Brian Rust. Speaking of Brian's, Brian has a question about Michael Bunting saying, "Bunting filled a huge hole as a net front presence guy. Do any of the other additions add that specific aspect?" No. They really don't. I mean, Beauvillais is not a net front guy. Blake Lozat, not really. He is a guy that I think you're going to see as more of a branded TANF guy. TANF wasn't really let me sit in the net front type of guy. He was antagonistic. He was good on the forecheck, but he wasn't necessarily that Patrick Hornquist. I'm going to stand in that front and just be in the way. So Lozat, not really, but can give you a little bit more of what characteristics you're looking for. It's really Michael Bunting. It's Michael Bunting and it's something I'd like to see sample and add to his game. It's something that I think Drew O'Connor is trying to add to his game as well. I mean, he talked at the end of last season. I think it was huge for him to see what Michael Bunting unlocked for a player like Evgeny Mulk in late last year. I think Drew O'Connor going into this offseason knew, "Hey, I need to be a little bit more physical. I need to be a little bit better at finishing in the net front." I think that's one thing I want to see from him this year as well. So Bunting is the main guy, but I could see O'Connor potentially building towards that same with Pulan and Lozat's going to be not quite like that, but Lozat's going to be somebody that I think a lot of Penguins fans like. Karen says, "Why not go back for Jared McCann in Seattle?" Seattle's not going to trade Jared McCann. He's one of their best players, their team that going into the season with the new head coach, they're hoping to bounce back to what they were, a couple of seasons ago when they were a playoff team, when they were knocking off the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in the first round, they're not going to put Jared McCann on the trade block. And that's of course everything goes wrong once again, but I still don't think that McCann would end up on the chopping block if that ends up being the case. Pittsburgh Heather says, "What would a package look like for Elers and Magrurity? It starts with a first round pick. It probably includes one of your top prospects. Maybe, again, I don't think I'm willing to trade Yeager, and I think Kyle Dubas is along the same lines there. I don't think he should be willing to trade Braid and Yeager, but it's probably one of your top prospects such as a guy like, it's tough. I don't want to say one of the goalie guys because I like them, but that might have to be what they go for. And it might have to be a guy like Murashev. It might have to be a guy like Owen Pickering. It might have to be a guy. I don't think they trade away somebody they just drafted, so I don't think it'd be Harrison Brunick. I don't think it'd be Tanner Howe, but it's got to be one of their top prospects and probably more draft capital as well because you're getting, you know, Nikolai Elers is a bonafide top line winger. Rucker Magrurity is a top 20 prospect across the entire NHL. So you're giving away a first potentially, I maybe set maybe two first round picks. And I don't know if that ends up being worth it unless it gets to the point where the Winnipeg Jets just need to offload it, which again, I don't think that they're going to get to that point. So, as I kick my entire table, I'm going to say it's going to be expensive. It starts with a first and probably one of their top five prospects in the Penguins. It might take another top 10 prospect, another first or a second at some point in the future, but it's going to take a lot to get at that package for Elers and Magrurity. It'd be a dream because you're bringing in immediately your top prospect, Magrurity and Jaeger can try to take you into the future. And you bring in a guy in Nikolai Elers who has plenty of run left on the tires for him and he helps the team this year. So it's perfect situation if you can pull it off, but the price is going to be very steep, Heather. Dapton says, if pull in doesn't make the NHL line up and his end as a mainstay, is it time to move on from him? This is a massive year for Sam Pull in as I'm looking at some of these other questions real quick, but it's a massive year for Sam Pull in. I put him yesterday when I revealed my top 10 prospects list him at number eight. This is the last year that he's a prospect, right? This is the year in my eyes that he goes from being a prospect to just what he is and what does that become? Like what ends up being the answer to the second half of that statement? Is he an NHL bottom six guy? Is he a fourth liner? Is he a healthy scratch every game type of guy? Or is he an AHL player that can occasionally come up to the NHL? I think he has the potential to become that NHL mainstay. Maybe you have a similar season to what Valtteri Pustin had, but maybe it a bottom six role and not that middle six winger role. It's a big year for him. You know, it's kind of a crap or get off the pot situation for Sam Pull in. I don't know if it would be time to necessarily move on from him, but certainly you're turning your focus and you're turning your attention on the other prospects in the system because at that point, he would have aged out. He would have had opportunities and he just hadn't been able to put them all together and you have to move on at that point. I mean, whether that's via trade or whether that's he becomes an AHL guy that looks for a shot and spot starts here and there, but it is a massive year for Sam Pull and going into this year. And it's going to tell you a lot about what his future holds in the Penguins organization based on what he can do. And I think the biggest thing for him is stay healthy. Because when he was healthy last year, he was good. You know, a lot of people are forgetting how solid him and yes, a pull your v look together for that three week, four week stretch at the American hockey league. And also, I thought Pull and looked pretty good when he played the national league level last year for his three games. He's obviously going to need a little bit more run. He's going to need to stay healthy throughout an entire season. Those are going to be two of the biggest things. But if he can put it all together, I have faith that he could become a a mainstay as it were, not a guy that's, you know, shuffling back between the A and the N. But I think it is a huge year for him. And if he doesn't make it, a lot of the focus starts to get taken away from him and put on some of these other guys, like the Tristan Browses, who is making his, you know, professional debut this year, guys like, you know, Owen Pickering, guys like Koi Voon and Pahnomarev. And then of course, Jaeger coming down the pike, potentially, you know, likely scenario that he starts in Moose Jaw, but he's a guy that they're going to look at for a very extensive time in training camp here in a couple months. Akro says, Pustin on Sid's, Pustin and Sid rust first line that he threw down a lot here. O'Connor, Malkin, Bunting, second line. Pustin is interesting on the first line. The problem with that is Pusti, I believe, let me double check. He played on the right a lot last year, but is he a natural lefty? Well, Terry Pustman, bring it up here. Sorry, this is horrible. For content, he is a righty. So he's a right winger. So is Brian Russ. So I don't know if that necessarily would work. O'Connor, Malkin, Bunting on the second line. Same thing, Bunting and O'Connor both on the left side. So as much as I like Valtteri Pustman, and I think that, you know, he has the skill set to play, especially if he's playing with a center like a Sydney Crosby or a New Guinea Malkin, he has the skill set to be able to play and score goals at that level. But I do think that he's starting the season battling for a bottom six position, because the way I see it as of right now is unnamed acquired piece on the left side for Sydney Crosby. I still think that they're going to look to go out and get somebody for that role. Sydney Crosby, Brian Russ, then Michael Bunting of Guinea Malkin and Ricardo Raquel on the second line. That was your second line to end last year. Raquel started coming around. Obviously, we've talked in this episode about how good Michael Bunting was for ever Guinea Malkin. So I think that's where you start the season if you're the Pittsburgh Penguins with your second line. Mack Brunson says, "Why not trade Jari and Raquel for Vortrano and picks simply because I don't think, I don't think that trade goes through. I don't think who is Vortrano even on right now. Frankie Vortrano is on the ducks, I believe, unless he got traded. He is a member of the Anaheim Ducks. First of all, I don't know if they'd be interested in bringing back Ricard Raquel. Secondly, I just don't think that the Anaheim Ducks are going to be interested in acquiring Jari and Raquel for Vortrano and picks when they still already have John Gibson. That's a similar situation to the Penguins. When you talk about, "Oh, who could the Penguins go out and get in net?" It always, that conversation has to start with, well, they have Jari, something has to give their first. Something would have to give an Anaheim with John Gibson for them to want to trade for Tristan Jari. I don't see that happening. Frankie Vortrano would be a nice piece for the Penguins this year, but at the same time, I don't see the Anaheim Ducks wanting to pull the trigger on that move. Dante has a questionnaire that says, "Who is your pick for most improved penguin?" That's a tough one because I think Ryan Graves could be put in this category because, I mean, he performed so poorly last year. The bar is set so low that even if he returns to what he has already been in the NHL, he's going to be massively improved from year one to year two with the Penguins. So Ryan Graves is in that category. I would say Drew Connors in that category because you saw last year that he started the year in a good spot, but still, the spot that he was in at the beginning of the year and the spot that he was in at the end of the year was such a drastic change. He had so much growth throughout last season, and I think he's going to take that, transfer that into this season, and I think you can see him continue to make another jump this year for the Pittsburgh Penguins, which would be huge, especially if they can get him in a much better situation, which I understand. It's a great situation playing alongside Sydney Crosby, but for his skill level, if he can go up against other third-liners, he's going to do absolutely crazy things for the Penguins in the bottom six. So I would say as of right now, the two names that spring to mind immediately are Ryan Graves and Drew Connors in those ones. Let's see. Any other questions here? Jim says, "Yager Sid Rust." I'd love that. I don't know if that's likely because, again, Braden Yeager is going to have to come in and do some crazy, crazy things. He is the golden goose for the Penguins. Now, I understand that a golden goose with the potential to be a second-line center at best right now, which is where I think his current projection is, is not phenomenal, but that's where we're at with the Penguins prospect pool. But Yeager is going to be interesting. I think Yeager in training camp is going to have a lot of eyes on him. I think that Mike Sullivan is going to do the thing, and he's going to put Yeager with Sid early in camp, just to put him with Sid. We've seen that happen in years past, Pustin, and two years ago, played with Sidney Crosby in the first couple of weeks of training camp, and everybody said, "Wow." He's felt very Pustin about to make this team out of the camp, and no, it was just learned from Sid, see how he operates. I could see the same thing happening with Braden Yeager, but of course, you know, he might make it hard on him. He might make it hard on him. I don't know what decision they're going to make. I don't know where they're leaning, but I would say the most likely scenario is him back to the WHO for a year, but man, is it going to be fun to watch him in training camp again with everything that he was able to do and build throughout last season in juniors? One to 100 from Jean-Claude Vondance has one to 100, 100 being an AHL Calder Cup champion. How close is Wilkes to competing for the Calder? That's a tough one. They finally, not finally, they made it to the playoffs a couple of years ago, but they got back to the playoffs last year. They were a team to be reckoned with last year, and I think this year it's going to be, you know, they got a lot of talent down there. They switched over a lot of things, including the coaching staff. I think this year you're looking at a similar situation for them going into the year. That's where I'm at, because a lot of these guys, none of them practically, have played together. You got a lot of guys making professional debuts, playing a full professional schedule for the first time, like bros, like pickering. The goaltending situation is going to be interesting. Do they end up losing your blunckfist at some time this season? Do they get Sergei Murashov to start the season? Is he going to come over or is he going to go back to Russia? There's a lot of factors at play here, but I think that's going to be a very young team and Wilkes Baron. Typically, they're not, you know, younger teams in the AHL are not considered called her cup favorites, especially with how good the Hershey bears are, the back to back champs down there. So one to 100, since he phrased it that way, I'll, I'll give them 60. I'll give them 60. I think they have a chance to be a playoff team. Once again, this year, I think it depends on how quickly a lot of these young guys mesh, how quickly a lot of these young guys are able to assimilate to the professional game. And I think that's going to be an important aspect as to what we see them do as far as AHL success this season. So I'll say 60. Penziel says, just Barry caught Ganyemi. I mean, let me look up what his current situation is. Just Barry caught Ganyemi is currently, dang, internet is slow today is with the Carolina Hurricanes. He's a guy that last couple of years has had some varying degrees of success in Carolina. I don't know if he's necessarily an option for the Penguins because I'm not sure that Carolina hurricanes are looking to trade them. But if they are, pens are looking to get younger, I just don't know where he would fit on the current roster. And I also don't know about bringing in guys that are going to become roadblocks for the guys in the organization. You know, your, your Koi Vunans who could be a Middlesex guy this year, your Ponomaras who could become a decent scoring option in the bottom sixth this year. You know, I think you want to see what you have in some of those options this year. And I think that's why you saw a lot of one-year deals or two-year deals signed by Kyle Dubas this off season, mainly one-year deals unless it's Blake Lazat, because those guys at that point, if you want to get rid of them, it's easier to offload them and it's also easier to bury them. Thomas Gable says, or gamble, excuse me, my apologies, as we're going to only going to answer a couple more here. Let me just sign those couple more, we're going to answer. And then that is going to be it for today. Let's start with Thomas's who says, what if Gino moves up to the top line winger? Look at what the Oilers did. The Oilers did that with Drycidal and McDavid because they literally had no other options. And I get it. Now the Penguins don't have very many other options, but still the best bet for the Penguins is going to be to keep Gino as a second line center because we've seen what they had to do whenever everything was on said and Gino the last two years. And that was not playing together. It was all on them to score, all on them and Eric Carlson and Chris Latang. And it just wasn't good enough. You need to spread your scoring out. So I don't like the idea of for an extended period of time putting Gino on Sid's wing. Not only that, Gino production wise was still one of the top seven second line centers in the league last year. And I think that you're fine with him at second line center going into this year again. Let's answer chicken a la king. Nice name says has Volucci been resigned? Volucci was under contract. So Volucci is still Mike Volucci that is is still with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He will still be coaching the offense. Sorry, the forwards he'll still be coaching the penalty kill as of the last time we heard. So Volucci is still a member of the Penguins coaching staff. Uh, railfan Matthew says, do you think the Penguins have a shot at getting McGreary? We talked about McGreary a little bit earlier, but we'll touch on it here. And who do you think they'll go after if they want to top six guy playing with Sid? Um, I think again, Rucker McGreary would be a fantastic piece for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He's going to be a costly piece for the Pittsburgh Penguins. It's going to be a first rounder. Might be another top prospect. It's going to be a pretty hefty price, especially if you include Lars Eller, which goes to the second part of your question there. Matthew is, you know, Nikolai Eelers is a, is an interesting name there. And Nikolai Eelers is a name that everybody wants to see. You know, every team that needs a top winger right now is zeroing in on Eelers, zeroing in on line A zeroing in on Zigres. I, I think that of the three, they would be able to get probably line A. Um, but again, all of these deals, you're giving something up and it kind of goes against what Kyle Dubas has done all off season. Um, certainly not the earlier trade that we talked about with line A, which was line A for grave straight up. But I think of those three line A is the most realistic. The one that I want the most is Nikolai Eelers. But, you know, that's, that's just blind hope, blind optimism that they bring in the best candidate. And to me, that's Eelers. And again, I'm not sure what's going on with Zigres, because he, he's on the trade block down there. But, you know, he's still a very talented young player on a team of very talented young forwards. So what do they end up doing with him? Who do they want to trade him to? And what's the price going to be? Because the ducks don't have to trade Trevor Zigres. They don't have to. And if they don't have to, and they don't get the offer that they want, they probably won't. Uh, last question we're going to answer. And then we're going to say goodbye for the day is from Justej Benapal. Sorry if I butchered your name, uh, but says, what do you think Owen Pickering ceiling is in the NHL? Do I have an NHL comparable? I don't currently have an NHL comparable. What I think his ceiling is is a top four guy, mainly a second pairing guy, but a guy that can play top four minutes. A guy that's going to be pretty good for you on the penalty kill. That's just where I think he's at coming out of juniors. Again, you have to see him fill out. He said that he gained another 20 pounds this offseason, which has been a nice, you know, storyline to watch as he continues to put on weight. He continues to get a little bit bigger. I think he's six foot four, six foot five at this point, closing in on 200 pounds as he's starting to fill out and become a little bit bigger. I'm intrigued to see how it transfers with playing the professional game. There are a lot of people, including friend of the show, Jeff Taylor that told me he kind of got pushed around at player development camp a couple of times. And it's not a great sign for a guy, but he's still young. So I'm intrigued to see what he does. Well, lessons he learns and how he adapts to the professional game this year. But I still think his ceiling is to be maybe a second pairing guy and the NHL. And I mean, you look at the penguins, their second pairing guys right now are, I mean, grizzlic, who's been that in the past. He's been a top pairing guy. And I would put Chris Latang there as well, not that Pickering's ever going to have the offensive capabilities of Chris Latang. I don't think that's within the realm of what I would look for him for him to do. But I do think that he's a he's a top four guy. If he reaches that peak and he reaches that ceiling. So again, first professional year, let's see what he's able to do. But that's going to do it for this episode of tip of the iceberg live. Thank you guys so much for tuning into this one. We will see you guys tomorrow for another full episode of the tip of the iceberg. Have a couple of good topics in store for you with me and my cohost, Nick Horropper. Remember, you can find us on YouTube at tip of the iceberg or anywhere you get your podcast from. We'll see you guys next time.
