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You can find us on YouTube at tip of the iceberg or anywhere. We get your podcast from a couple of topics to touch on today. Obviously, we are entering the slow season of the NHL off season. We had an exciting week last week with the opening of free agency. The first wave is through, the second wave is through, and now it's all about patience as each team evaluates where they're at and tries to go out there and add that one or two final pieces to make their team as good as it can be going into the 2024/25 season. So as we get into this slow season, we'll continue to bring you content as we have been over the last several weeks. We're going to talk today about the Penguins being long shots to win the division as well as Lord Stanley's Cup, not that that's anything that Penguins fans didn't already know, but the official odds from Fandall have been released and the NHL is running with them all over their social media. So we'll address where the Penguins stand going into the 2024/25 season as far as the way the sportsbook see it as of right now. And then there was one player that really stood out at Pittsburgh Penguins development camp. You can't look at any tweets, any updates from UPMC Lemew complex today without one specific player being mentioned. We'll talk about him in just a little bit. And then of course, we'll answer all of your questions. So make sure you're throwing them into the comments section. A quick shout out to everybody that's tuned in currently live on tip of the iceberg on YouTube. And start it off with a look at some of the odds because, you know, a wiser person than me once said, never tell me the odds because sometimes that's all it is is just crap for, you know, obviously somebody like me who comes from a sports betting background always enjoys looking at them. But at the same time, a lot of the times, especially with the NHL, these odds are not always very accurate. You look at the odds right now and for the Stanley Cup, first is the Edmonton Oilers. And is the Florida Panthers makes sense. They both played in the Stanley Cup final. Third is the Dallas stars, which also makes sense because they were the runners up in the Western conference and they were a heavy favorite last season to go on to the Stanley Cup. Fourth is the New Jersey Devils, a team that albeit had a very interesting off season. And I even say that they're ready to compete for a Stanley Cup. I don't know if I'd put them all the way up there at fourth. The team that didn't make the playoffs last year simply due to a lot of injuries. So struggles with goal tending, they seem to have figured at least one of those two things out, but that's what odds are. They are educated guesses from a sports book, hoping that they end up getting it right and you end up getting it wrong and taking some long shots, speaking of long shots. That's exactly what the Pittsburgh Penguins are. You look at the Stanley Cup odds. They are tied for 20th alongside the Philadelphia Flyers when it comes to odds to win the Stanley Cup. It's about what you would expect. If you look at the Pittsburgh Penguins last season, that's around where they finished with the 11th overall pick that ended up being traded to the San Jose Sharks. You go into next year. Yeah, you got to give them a little bit of praise because they do have guys like Crosby. They do have guys like Malkin. They have guys like Carlson and Latang and all of those players can carry this team higher than it would go without them obviously, but at the same time you look at the rest of the team around them and you simply say, is this team going to be a playoff team next year? And the odds are, they're going to be a bubble team 100% odds are, they probably aren't when you look at the rest of the Eastern conference. That's going to be a tough task as we sit here today. But of course, we do have to wait and see what Kyle Dubas has up his sleeve for the next couple of months. Cause that's why the season doesn't start until October or not on July 10th, but tied for 20th and Stanley Cup odds. I don't think that comes as a shock to anybody. It's not a bet I'm placing money on personally, but what it gets really interesting is when you start to look at the Metropolitan Division, the odds for that division championship, no, I wouldn't predict the Penguins to win the division either. But when you look at the way that it is laid out from from Fandall sports book, it gets really interesting. Penguins are tied for fifth. Once again, with the Philadelphia Flyers, there's something about Philly and Pittsburgh that I guess Fandall decides is, is very similar. But when you look at the Metro division in total, they have the devils being the odds on favorite to win the division. Really loving their off season moves is Fandall. The Rangers who are the defending champions in the Metro are second. The canes are third. And I think we can all agree that that is undoubtedly the top three in the Metropolitan Division. And there's a little bit of a gap there between them and the rest of the division. This devil's Rangers canes, however, you believe it is, I would probably put the Rangers first again, then the devils, then the canes, but Fandall has something different. But then like I mentioned, it gets really interesting here. New York Islanders at number four, Flyers and pens tied at five caps at seventh Columbus at eighth. No, I'm not going to mention anything about the Columbus Blue Jackets. I think they're right where they belong in this list. The isles at four are interesting. I understand they were a playoff team last year. They ended up being the team that finished, I believe third in the Metropolitan division last year. But at the same time, that team was highly unimpressive. They were the best of a bad bunch going into next year. The only addition that they made is signing Anthony do Claire to a four year deal. I like to Claire. I do. And being your only addition, I'm not exactly sure how that has them above teams like the Flyers and the Penguins, who I think are right on par with them. But more importantly, the Washington capitals were very busy this off season. I liked a lot of what the caps did outside of, of course, today's big news being that cap friendly is officially gone and done. And that was at the hands of the Washington capitals. And outside of obviously bringing in Pierre-Luc Dubois, who comes in with a horrendous contract. I like everything else that they've done. Let me pull up their puck pedia right now, because thinking off the top of my head, obviously a lot of people are going to give them crap for the Dubois trade. And it is what it is. They're, they're taking a chance. They're taking a risk on a player that when he's at his best is pretty good, but hasn't shown to be at his best in a very long time and is overpaid. They bring in Andrew Mangeopani. I like that addition for them. They bring in Brandon Duhaim. I like that addition for them. They're going to rely on their young players, guys like Hendrix LaPierre, guys like Connor McMichael for another year. I like that. Matt Wau, excuse me, really solid addition, Jacob Chickering. I liked what they did there. They also were able to get him at a very cheap clip when it comes to acquisition cost. I think the cap should be higher on this list. Honestly, going into the playoffs last year, I said the caps were thoroughly unimpressive to me. I think the additions that they made, they are the best of the four teams right here in the middle of the metropolitan division. I would put it as the caps first, then I'd probably put, depending on how good Motvay Mitchkov is, I might put the flyers there and then I might put the Penguins. The flyers in the Penguins right now are interchangeable. You ask me any day. I might flip. It depends on how good Motvay Mitchkov is and also how healthy the Pittsburgh Penguins can stay this season, because that is once again going to be one of the biggest factors for the pens heading into this season. But I just thought the Metropolitan Division odds are very, very interesting. Obviously, you have the top three, but the aisles at four, that one just doesn't make sense to me. And I might be a little too harsh on the guys from Long Island, but at the same time, that team was unimpressive last year. I think the head coach in Patrick Wa is thoroughly unimpressive, and I think their only addition being Anthony Duclerc is not anything that to me should have them above some of the other teams on this list. I think the caps, I think they, they've done it right the last two years. They sold off two seasons ago. They went young last year and they gave McMichael and Lapierre opportunities. Those guys proved to be decent pieces and now they're going to build off of that this upcoming season and they add some really bonafide pieces on the back end. I like what the caps did and I hate to say it, but I do like what the caps did. And certainly more than the aisles, certainly more than the penguins, flyers kind of held pat, but everybody knows the biggest move that they made was bringing over Motvei Mitchkov and we'll see how good he's able to be in his rookie season. So as far as them being a long shot, that one is, is pretty obvious. I personally wouldn't put my money on them to win the cup or to win the Metro division just because I do think that that is, that is far and away outside the realm of what they should be shooting for at this moment. Because I mean, even the general manager said last week, he alluded to. I shouldn't say he said because he didn't. He alluded to the fact and his moves allude to the fact that this is a team that is going to probably be rebuilding for the foreseeable future while still hoping that the team on the ice overperforms gets the playoffs, makes some money for the organization and potentially makes some noise on the back end as well. Let's move on over and talk a little bit about one name that has been all over Penguins Twitter over the past week, honestly, but today, especially with the Pittsburgh Penguins development camp coming to a close with a four V four prospect tournament, three teams, one team comes out victorious. Oh, and Pickering is the main name on the winning team, but the one name that has been all over Penguins Twitter, goaltender, Sergey Mershov impressive to say the least based on the reports that we're getting out of cranberry friend of the show. Jeff Taylor was there. He was thoroughly impressed based on what he had to say. Taylor Haas of DK Pittsburgh sports has been on the Mershov train really all week doing a great job covering his first development camp with the Pittsburgh Penguins in North America. This guy, for all intents of purposes, has been an absolute stud since he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the fourth round of the 2022 NHL draft. He has ridiculous numbers throughout his entire career in the developmental league in Russia, the MHL and the same goes for his numbers at the KHL. Now he's only played in seven games in the KHL, but his safe percentages are all up above nine thirty nine thirty two is the guy that on paper has been extremely impressive and based on what Taylor Haas has had to say, based on what Jeff Taylor has had to say, he continued that impressive stretch in his first development camp with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Tom Costopoulos was also very complimentary of the young goaltender as well following today's action, but you look at what he was able to do today, specifically on paper for V4 tournament, two shutouts to start the day. And then the third game, the championship game, he gives up one singular goal and that goal comes at the hands of the Penguins top prospect overall, Braden Yeager. So in three games, one player able to beat them. And that's a player that as Tom Costopoulos said after practice today, could potentially buy for an NHL spot in September. I would consider that a long shot as well based on what we have seen the Penguins organization do over the last couple of seasons. But hey, if that is the level of player that it takes to beat Sergey Murashov, that is a very, very bit of high praise and very big performance from a young goaltender. When you look at the Penguins goal-tending situation right now, yes, it's questionable at the NHL level. You have Tristan Jari, whose future is uncertain to say the least. You have Alex Nadellkovich for the Penguins like and they're going to keep for the next two years. But if you look in the pipeline, Taylor Gautier was one of the best goal-tenders in the ECHL last year. He's not a guy that projects to come in and be a starter for the future for the Penguins, but he is a guy that could potentially be a very solid backup if he continues to progress the way that he has progressed and develop the way that he has developed over the past couple of seasons. And then of course, you have Joel Blungfist, the apple of everybody's eye last year from the American Hockey League and the Wilkes-Barrish Grand Penguins. He was an absolute animal ends up going to the American Hockey League All-Star game and his first professional season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He's a guy that a lot of people are saying could potentially be ready at some point this season. It's somebody that says that it's almost guaranteed that he makes his NHL debut in 2024-25 because he has just been that impressive. If you add Murashov to the list, who up to this point has just been this shadowy figure over in Russia who continues to be dominant in the MHL and KHL. Now we get actual eyes on him. I'm excited to talk more with Jeff Taylor. I'm excited to hopefully talk more with Taylor Haas about what he looked like this week because all reports are saying that this guy has been an absolute animal and I'm excited to see how it progresses from there. Yesterday, Taylor Haas put out a video of Murashov talking to local media. He said there is a little bit in question as to where he plays this year. We'll have to wait and see over the next couple of weeks where that ends up being if that's the MHL again. If he ends up playing at the KHL for a full season, like I mentioned, he only has seven games under his belt at the top professional league over in Russia. And he get a full season under his belt in the KHL. We'll have to wait and see what the future holds for him, but it might be a couple of years out, but Sergey Murashov is certainly a name to start following along with for the Pittsburgh Penguins. And I wanted to bring up the actual quote from Tom Costopoulos. Earlier today, a quote from Penn's inside scoop on Twitter, Costopoulos said this, watching him compete in drills. He's relentless on the puck, which is a great asset for goalies, then watching him in the game. It was impressive. What more can you say about Sergey Murashov? Great to see that somebody besides Brayden Yeager, we knew Brayden Yeager was going to be impressive. He's been impressive since he got drafted last year at the NHL draft. Good to see somebody else step out, be the headline piece of development camp. And that was obviously the goal tender, Sergey Murashov. Very excited to see where he goes this year and how he develops throughout this season. I'm going to take a quick break when I'd return answering all of your listener questions, drop them in the comments below, and I will try to answer as many as I possibly can here over the next 20, 25 minutes. We'll be right back. Welcome back to tip of the iceberg live on tip of the iceberg on YouTube, of course, or anywhere you get your podcasts from, we're about to jump into a whole bunch of listener questions. Thank you to everybody for tuning in right now. Let's go to the first one here and let's start with Chris Powell, who says with Tarasenko gone, any good wingers. You think the penguins could go for over the next couple of weeks, couple of months. We'll have to wait and see. Chris, the one thing I'll tell you is the free agent market is wholly unimpressive, right? You look at what the Pittsburgh penguins potentially are going for. They're not going for a Daniel sprung esque player. The one hole that they have and the one hole they still want to fill is top line winger next to Sydney Crosby. That player doesn't really exist on the open market right now. And I don't think that player outside of maybe a Drew O'Connor, that player doesn't really exist in the penguins organization right now either. So I think with Tarasenko gone, who I thought would have been a great fit and he would have been would have been great to see him join the Pittsburgh penguins, potentially play with Evgeny Malkin and then move some other things around or Kel maybe up with Crosby on his off wing. You know, we went into all of this last week directly before Tarasenko signed with the Detroit Red Wings, but with Tarasenko gone, who I thought was a great piece, I think it comes down to the trades. We talked about it last Thursday on the tip of the iceberg, three names that are still out there and massive names, Nikolite Eelers, who we had talked about the potential of a Eelers Magrority package coming back to Pittsburgh. It's going to cost a lot for the penguins, but you do get a 20 year old that immediately becomes a top tier prospect out of Michigan and Rucker Magrority. I think that might be, I don't know if that's an option. I don't because I don't know if Kyle Dubas, despite getting that 20 year old, I don't know if Kyle Dubas is really willing to give up what it's going to take for a package that includes Eelers, who is a tremendous top line winger and would immediately be that guy right next to Crosby and Magrority, who is one of the top prospects right now in the NHL, not just the Winnipeg Jets organization. So I think that would be a tough one to come by, but I do think that whoever the penguins get, it's going to be through a trade. It might be a name and honestly is most likely a name that none of us are even looking at. So that's what I'm looking at for the Pittsburgh penguins as far as what they're going to get for their next winger. Let's move over to the next question, which is Gunnar Murphy asking about some of these younger players. If one of these young guys could emerge, Sam Poulan, Brayden Jaeger, Vasily Pahnomarev, would you move of Genny Malkin to first line left wing to fill that spot? Gunnar, when you say emerge, they would have to emerge in a big way to be able to be number two centers at an NHL level, especially for a guy in Jaeger who hasn't stepped foot on NHL ice in a regular season game, Vasily Pahnomarev, who has stepped foot on NHL ice, I believe twice, once or twice for the Carolina Hurricanes and Sam Poulan, who has a combined six games. So of the three of them combined for less than 10 games of NHL experience, so it would have to be a crazy emergence of one of those three guys this season for that to happen. Unless you, I mean, even next season where Malkin will still be on the team, I still think it would have to be pretty quick emergence for these three guys. I don't think I would do it though. I do think of Genny Malkin as of right now is not at the point in his career where you need to move him over to the left wing. And also we've seen the two headed monster put together in desperate situations for the Pittsburgh Penguins. I still think the pens are best served with Sidney Crosby as the one see of Genny Malkin as the two see, and I know that a lot of people have seen the dry side of McDavid stuff over the last couple of seasons. I don't think the Penguins are at that point with have Genny Malkin and Sidney Crosby, especially at this point in their career, I think you should stick with Malkin as your two see, because as I mentioned late last season, I mentioned this off season as well. Last year production wise, he was among the top five top 10 when it comes to producing for second line centers. So I think he's perfectly fine there, but if that does happen, and again, this is hypothetical land now, but if one of those three players, pool and Jaeger, Pahnomara of emerge in the next year or two to be a bona fide number two guy, not that you're taking a swing on giving the kid the opportunity, but he's a bona fide guy. They could potentially handle the role of second line center. Maybe you start to look at it. But I think for the next two years, you're going to look at a Genny Malkin as your second line center. G Tots says out of teams that are currently over the cap, which player could be poached from them? And it's interesting because when you look at the teams that are over the cap, Washington capitals are number one on that list, 102 million dollars right now projected on the cap hit. They're going to have to bring that down substantially, substantially, excuse me, Vegas golden nights are an interesting team. They're over the cap. Other teams that are over right now, the Colorado avalanche, the Florida Panthers, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Edmonton Oilers, but that's only by about $300,000. That's cleaned up very easily between now and the beginning of October. Two players I'd bring up, one of them potentially could be on the trade block. And I think is a name that you've probably heard before, if you're tuned into this show. Another name that you've definitely heard of before that's probably not on the trade block, but I like them anyway. The name that you've heard of before that I like anyway, that's probably not on the trade block is Evan Rodriguez of the Florida Panthers was a huge contributor for the Stanley Cup was really good in his time in Pittsburgh. Yes, he went through some down stretches, but that's when he really found his game. It became the player that he is today, which is a Stanley Cup champion, a bonafide Stanley Cup champion. And if you look at his contract right now, three years remaining at $3 million, that's the type of deal that you're looking to bring on if you're the Pittsburgh Penguins. But again, is Florida willing to part with them? Probably not. So Evan Rodriguez, one of the names I'll bring up the other name I'll bring up from the Colorado Avalanche, Ross Colton, another Stanley Cup champion this time. He won it back with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021 scored the cup winning goal for the Tampa Bay Lightning back in 2021. He has three years left on his contract at $4 million. This is a guy that comes in and immediately supplants Kevin Hayes as your third line center and you're hoping, because he's 27 years old, that maybe he can elevate his game in Pittsburgh. He's been really good depth center for really good teams for a while now. I see him coming in and immediately being that third line center bumping Kevin Hayes out of there. But again, the Penguins need a winger. Are they going to bring in a guy like Ross Colton without sending somebody else out in a, in a Lars Ehler in a Nolichari in, they're not going to trade Kevin Hayes. They just acquired him, even though it was basically a, we want a draft pick. That's what we're going to do. But Ross Colton's the name that intrigues me on a team that has too much salary cap space in the Colorado Avalanche. Peter Swiss stock wants to know, do you think Tanner Howe is going to play in the American hockey league this season? Tanner Howe obviously draft pick this year by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Let me bring up his hockey DB real quick because he was, I believe the first or the second 46th overall, he was the second selection of the Penguins in the second round this year left, winger out of Saskatchewan, he's played four years with the Regina Pats, but he does have one year left of eligibility. I do believe, let me look at this age, 18 years old. Yeah. So he's unable to play in the American hockey league this year. So he's probably going back to the OHL or CHL, excuse me, but I'm interested to see, because it's going to be one last year, I'm interested to see how he looks when he comes back from camp in September. It's a name to obviously follow along with. He had a couple of nice plays that I've gotten video of from this past week. So it's a name to follow for sure, but I would doubt that he plays at the American hockey league level this season. Chris Powell asks, what position in the Penguins prospect system is the strongest goal-tending? We went over it earlier when we talked about Sergei Mershev. Certainly you don't have that many names stockpiled, but behind Tristan Jari, behind Alex Dadelkovich, you have Joel Blunkfist who seems to be getting very close to NHL ready. You have Taylor Gautier, who's the guy that was one of the best at the ECH level. Now you have Sergei Mershev, who is very young and has a lot, you know, has a lot of room to grow still. I would say goal-tending is probably the highest quality for the Pittsburgh Penguins. After that, you're looking at forward because of all the additions that were made over the past calendar year. Braden Yeager, Villekoy Vounen, Vasily Potter-Marev. You can't really count. Veltary Pustinen, he kind of graduated with 52 games played at the NHL level last year. But Sam Pooland is still in that category and he can still become a pretty decent bottom six player at NHL level. So I would say goal-tending is first, forward is second. If you look at the defensive side, they started to add a little bit more to it this year. Three picks in the NHL draft, not to mention last year. They had Emile Penanyemi taken in the second round and an Owen Pickering in the first round the year before that. Defense is definitely at the bottom of the totem pole, but goal-tending, you look at the names and you look at the potential of a lot of those three or four guys that are down there, 100% the best position, the strongest position in the Penguins prospect system. One crusade checks in and says, "Could Pedersen be traded at the deadline like Gensl did and what is his value?" At the deadline, it's hard to tell because obviously we'll have to wait and see what this year holds for Marcus Pedersen. Not only that, will he be signed to an extension? That's still a question this offseason that remains to be answered. It's a question that until he actually signs or until the season begins, we're not really going to have a great idea about it. So it all depends on those two things, but I 100% we talked about it yesterday. I could see Marcus Pedersen, if Kyle Dubas is committed to this being, it's never going to be a true rebuild because Crosby's not going anywhere, Morgan's not going anywhere, Latang's not going anywhere, it's unlikely that Eric Carlson goes anywhere. So it's never going to be a true rebuild, but if it gets to the point of commitment where Pedersen's the best piece available that the Penguins have to offer, and that's the one piece that they could trade away and depending on the market could potentially get a first round pick. They actually get an A plus prospect for a guy like Marcus Pedersen. It all depends on one, the market to what his contract situation is and three, how he performs by the time we get to the deadline, but 100% he is a guy that has value around the National Hockey League. If he's on an expiring deal, the return is not going to be as great, but I also don't know, you know, how they get him under contract without promising potential, no move clauses if he wants to stay in Pittsburgh. If that's his desire, that's what he's going to want to have in his contract and the Penguins are going to be able to sign him to a bridge deal at this point of his career. So Pedersen is going to be one of the more intriguing storylines to follow, not just throughout the remainder of this summer, but heading into the season as well, especially if he's heading into the season on a contract year, you'll have to wait and see what he's able to do with what I would project to be Eric Carlson on a long-term basis to start the season. How does he perform? How does the market change between now and the trade deadline and how willing is Kyle Dubas going to be to committing to this pseudo rebuild, which is what I think we're going to have to get stuck calling this throughout the entire time? Zach DeRosa says he's just agreeing with one of the earlier questions, saying if you could get a second line center and get Geno over to left wing, I think that's the best move. We're at a point now with Evgeny Malkin, where I feel like the storylines surrounding him are much more wild than the performance itself. We're also definitely far enough separated from the last actual Penguins hockey, which was in early April, we're now in the middle of July, where people are forgetting how good he was down the stretch. And I understand, season as a whole, there were some issues. He struggled at points. He looked, I don't want to say disinterested, but he looked like he was behind the eight ball at certain points in the season, but his overall body of work was still that of a very good, certainly above average second line center. And that's what he has been for the past couple of seasons. You look at the year prior, his first year of this four year deal, he had over a point per game. So when I look at Evgeny Malkin and I see everybody starting to say, well, he's getting to that point in his career, it's coming. It is certainly coming and there have been signs, but when you look at his overall body of work, it is still that of a above average, very, very good second line center. So why are you going to break? What isn't broken? Or why are you trying to fix? What isn't broken? I should say. I think the Penguins have him in sex, slotted at second line center as they have his entire career. And I think that remains certainly for this season, we can obviously reevaluate and have a different conversation about his final season of this contract and what potentially could be the final season of his career. Jay wants to know seeing guys like Alexander Holtz and Matthew Savoy go to teams other than the Penguins hurts after Dubas said they were looking for young talent that shakes loose. Do you think we were in on them that much? I'm, I'm not going to be able to say it at this point. Like nobody's going to know for certain. I would say that if Kyle Dubas was truthful and honest about his desire to look at those type of players, they certainly fit the archetype of the players that he has been talking about for the last several months, you'd have to imagine that he at the very least reached out. Whether or not they were truly in on them, AKA being able to truly compete with the teams that ended up eventually being able to get them, that much will never know. But I would be, I would not be surprised at all if Kyle Dubas had conversations with their teams about acquiring their services because those are exactly the type of players Jay that you probably, you point out and it's the reason you brought this question up. Exactly the type of players that Kyle Dubas has been talking about over the last couple months is the players that he wants to bring in to get this team to be a little bit younger. Brandon wants to know this fat chance we have someone in the top pipeline to be a first line left wing spot. But what are your thoughts on Cuyvunen stealing a spot next to Malkin on the right side, bumping Raquel up to Crosby's left side? Again, this is a guy that has not stepped foot on NHL ice for a regular season game. But Cuyvunen is a guy that has played extensively and found extensive success against professionals over in Europe. He had a great year last year in the top professional league over there. He's coming over to North America, we'll see what he's able to do at the American league level. And honestly, we'll see what he's able to do in training camp because Kyle Dubas has mentioned it. When I look at the roster right now, I think there's been interesting roadblocks placed ahead of some of these young guys. But you would have to imagine one or two of them squeaked through is Billy Cuyvunen, somebody that's going to be able to do that potentially. I think if you're looking at one of these younger guys, whether that be Cuyvunen, whether that be, I think, posting in this roster spot could potentially be in question to start the start the season, start training camp. These guys are probably going to go on that third line with what they hope is Drew Conner on the left side, what they hope is not what they hope, what they basically alluded to with a guy like Kevin Hayes in the middle and let those young wingers, Cuyvunen potentially Potomarev, if he bumps over the wing, he could play center as well, a guy like Valteri Pustin in. What they want is Kevin Hayes to regain his form as a playmaker, as a set up guy, and those other guys to get those opportunities, those young players to get those opportunities and start showing their goal scoring prowess. That's what they want. And I think that's where they would start it. But again, I'm not going to say I wouldn't rule it out. I think there's always a chance that one of these guys comes in and lights it up in the preseason and you see them get a plus spot, which is a top six spot with a, of getting Malkin with a Sydney Crosby. But I do think that that is still as the theme of this entire show, that is a long shot. Quentin Bruce says, Brunst, excuse me, sorry, Quentin says, any chance we could see zigress in a penguin's uniform. That is another one of those trade options that is floating around out there. But at the same time, acquisition cost makes me back off of that a heck of a lot, because I feel like the Anaheim ducks who have a lot of young talent, Leo Carlson was impressive in his rookie year last year. They've certainly added to that young talent whenever they went out and got cutter go T.A. from the Philadelphia Flyers and that intriguing mid-season trade last year. It's still going to cost a lot to go out and get the services of a guy like Trevor Zigress. His contract lines up perfectly with the penguins right now with that two years remaining. You get them for two years on a pretty team-friendly deal. If you can play to the top of his potential and stay healthy. And then after that two years, guess who falls off the salary cap of any Malkin does. Got a couple of other guys that fall off the cap because Kyle Dubas has been doing some one to two year deals in the interim. You have an opportunity to resign zigress and hope that he moves on to become your star player. At the time, I just don't think that the penguins are going to be in on Trevor Zigress. The more, because I'm the one that brought it up in the first place a couple months back, the more I look at the situation, the more I look at the market, it doesn't feel like the penguins and the market are lining up to be right in line with the Trevor Zigress of it all. Next question we'll go to says I think the penguins need to at least bear minimum prove that this franchise is still a contending team. Do you agree? I don't think they're a contending team. They need to prove that they're a playoff team at this point because they've missed the playoffs the last two seasons and they're not a team that has so much future promise that you can say similar to the devils who missed the playoffs last year and finished 10 points out of a playoff spot that you can say that they're going to go from out of the playoffs to into the contention window. Nothing that they add over the next couple of weeks is going to make you believe that they're a contender or at least make me believe that they're a contender. So when I look at what they need to prove bare minimum bare minimum, they need to prove that they're a playoff team that they can compete night in and night out with the top 16 teams in the national hockey league and they did for a large portion of last season. You look at the tail end of the year, they play a lot of tough talent on that run that they were able to go on to, but they just weren't able to stay consistent. It's something that I'm seeing a lot right now with the Pittsburgh Pirates. They're going for a third straight win tonight and I might lose some people because not a lot of Penguins fans and Pirates fans as well, but they haven't been able to put together three state wins. That was the same thing as the Penguins. They would win a couple, lose a couple, always one step forward, two steps back. That was the Penguins last season. They didn't prove that they could put together five six game win streaks on a consistent basis or at the very least win four of five, win three of four consistently. It was way too much of a roller coaster season for them to be considered a serious contender for anything, certainly not for the Stanley Cup, but the one thing they need to prove this year beyond all is at bare minimum that they are a playoff caliber team, which is what they weren't for large portions of last season. Brian says any chance we see a center moving to wing apparently appear to be overloaded at the center position. I think there's more of a chance. Well, there is going to be centers that move the wing. Nolichari is one of those guys. We looked down through here as well. Nolichari is one of those guys whom else am I going to think of here. Blake Lazott is one of those guys that is a center but could potentially see himself starting on the wing this season. And outside of that, I think there's going to be a trade because as you mentioned, the Penguins are a little overloaded at the center position, especially depth because you have Crosby, Malkin, one and two end of discussion, but then you have, you have Hayes, you have Eller, you have Achari, you have Lazott, you go down to the miners, you have guys like Gruden who can play center, you have Poulan who is the center, you have upon Amarev who is the center. They're overloaded. As you mentioned, I think that because the Penguins are going to need a little bit more salary cap space, especially if they're going out for a big gun for a big name to bring in to be that top left wing. I think you could see one of the centers, not just moving over because you're going to see that all season long. Mike Sullivan loves players that can move from center to wing. So you're going to see that all the time, but I think you see one moved out before the start of the season. Zach DeRosa asks, do you think Brayden Jaeger gets a look this year, even for a couple of games. Brayden Jaeger is going to be an interesting case to follow throughout the season. He had a great year with Moose Jaw last year, took them all the way through to the Memorial Cup playoffs. From the WHL Championship, first time in Moose Jaw history that they were able to do that. And he was a major, major part of that had a great year, came in. All reports are indicating that a pretty good player development camp. We're going to be able to see. I mean, Tom, Tom Costopoulos, excuse me, said that he's a player that he wouldn't be surprised if he goes out there and continues to improve and potentially vise for one of those spots in camp. I think that the door is not closed on that. I think the Penguins would love to see Brayden Jaeger come in, impressed him through the point where they have no other option, but to give him that first look at the National Hockey League to start the year, they do have that, they still have to sign up to an ELC and then they can do the ELC slide. But he has that nine game sample size, right? He has that nine games where he can play at the NHL and still be sent back because he's not AHL eligible at the moment. I think that it all depends on how good his start is at training camp in September because, like I mentioned, the door is not completely shut on it, but he's going to have to come in and be increasingly impressive to pass over guys like Poolan who are going to be vying for positions, guys like potentially Pustinin, potentially Koy Voonin, all of these names we've mentioned. Then you throw in the guys that were signed this off season, Blake Lazat, Anthony Beauvilla, is like Kevin not Kevin Hayes is a center, so maybe not him, but he's going to have to outperform guys like that, especially because there's no spot for him at the American Hockey League. So I think it, again, theme of the show, long shot, but I do think the door is not closed on Brady Diego getting an opportunity early this season if he is that impressive in training camp. Goofy Goober says, do you think it's best for the team to deal out Mulcan and/or Latang to get assets for the future? I think the ship has sailed on that one, mainly because both of them have full no movement clauses and they're not going to go anywhere, not to mention the fact that basically whenever Kyle Dubas said last week was it January 1st, whenever that was last Monday, whenever he said this is not a strip it down to the studs type of rebuild, it's directly referencing guys like Mulcan, Latang, Crosby, Carlson, Brian Russ could be thrown in there this year because he hasn't full no movement clause, those guys aren't going anywhere. And I don't think it's best for the team because honestly, maybe it's best for the future because you do a full rebuild, but I think what the teams trying to do this year, it's not best because they're still trying to be at least contending for a playoff spot this year. That's what Sydney Crosby wants. Seemingly what the Pittsburgh Penguins want, seemingly what Kyle Dubas wants, seemingly what Mike Sullivan wants, seemingly what FSG wants because they want the stadium to still be fooled. They still want to sell the tickets. They still want to make their money. So based on where they're trying to go right now, I would say it's not best for the team. If they were doing a full strip it to the studs rebuild, yeah, it'd be best for the future of the team. But at the same time, these are guys that have been trying to say they're penguins for life. I don't think they're going anywhere. Jordan has a follow up to the Trevor Zegres question said I would also like to see John Gibson return to the hometown. Could our goalie depth make the move for Zegres a little stronger? No, because I'm not trading, certainly not trading one of your goal sending prospects for John Gibson. John Gibson is somebody that there is a long time where, yeah, I did want John Gibson to come back to Pittsburgh. With that contract, you're essentially trading for a hometown Tristan Jari. That is, that's what John Gibson is at this stage of his career. He's older than Tristan Jari and he's more injury, I don't want to say more injury prone. Jari's had his injury issue. So I won't say that. But I do not want John Gibson, if I'm the Pittsburgh Penguins, if you're going to trade out Tristan Jari and bring in John Gibson, I think that is a lateral, if not a negative move. Certainly, certainly not giving up one of Mershev or Blungfist or even Taylor Gautier for a guy in that situation, even if it does bring in Trevor Zegres because you're also bringing in, I think, $11 million a salary cap. You would have to probably get rid of a lot of salary cap space to make that work in general. Last question we'll answer today off topic a little bit. That's fine because it's the summertime. We can talk about golf. We could talk about baseball. That's about the extent of my summer expertise grilling potentially. We could talk about that. If it's off topic enough, I'll just save them to the end of the show. But off topic question a little bit. Some might be a stupid question. There are no stupid questions at all. But do you think Crosby is the greatest penguin of all time, better than Lemieux? See that is far from a stupid question. That is a sports radio question to a tee and I'm glad we're closing things out on this one. Honestly, this is a tough question for me to answer because I never got the opportunity to watch Lemieux in his prime. I was born in 1996. I didn't get to watch Lemieux live in his prime. Yes, I can go back on YouTube. Watch that. I have a bunch of old penguins VHS tapes that I watch, which is great. I've gone back and I've watched full games of those 91, 92 Stanley Cup runs, which is tremendous. But watching it live and feeling it live is an entirely different story. So I don't know if I'm the most qualified to answer this, but I'll give my take. Nonetheless, it came very easily for Mario Lemieux because he was that naturally gifted. That is the undisputed fact of Mario Lemieux. You look at what he was able to do despite everything he went through and I'm not saying Crosby didn't go through a lot, either the neck injuries, the concussions, they're horrible and it creates a lot of what ifs and it's the same story for both of these stars. There's a lot of what ifs, but at the same time, what Mario Lemieux was able to do, especially you look back on those 80s teams that were not very good when he came into the league, you look at what he was able to do at the height of his powers when still dealing with cancer, still dealing with the back issues, it's hard for me to go against Mario Lemieux. There's a lot of what ifs with both players, there's less with Crosby. I think Crosby is Hall of Fame, no doubt, first ballot, no doubt, Mount Rushmore of hockey, no doubt, unfortunately for him or fortunately for him, whichever way you want to look at it, he's in the same organization as somebody that is just that much better, right? I think Sidney Crosby is the best player of his generation, hands down. We can have that conversation about OV, I've had it multiple times. I think Crosby is the best player of this generation. I think he is a top four all time Mount Rushmore type of guy, but I think Mario Lemieux edges him out. And again, this is from somebody who hasn't and never got the honor of watching Mario Lemieux live. That's where I end on this one. I think Mario Lemieux, if I had to pick one, greatest penguin of all time, it is Mario Lemieux, also because the way you state that, not just greatest penguin player, but greatest penguin when it comes to embodying the team on and off the ice, both of them, tremendous ambassadors for hockey in the city of Pittsburgh, tremendous ambassadors for the National Hockey League as a whole. But what Lemieux has done for this team, buying it, making sure it stays here, making sure it doesn't go to Kansas City of the new arena, which continues to get upgraded over upgraded, over upgraded, which is still in my eyes as somebody who lives in the DMV and goes to games at Capital One Arena, you don't understand how gorgeous that arena is at PPG paints arena. I understand there are better arenas at this point, but you don't understand how nice that building still is until you go to cap one down here. It is far and away, much, much better. And that is a lot because of Mary Lemieux. So greatest penguin of all time, I'll still give it to Lemieux, I'll still give it to Lemieux when Crosby inevitably passes his records for points, for goals, I believe he still has to chase him down on, I don't know if he'll, he might catch him in goals, but Crosby will chase him down and catch him in a lot of those records. I still think I would go with Mary Lemieux, especially for something like greatest penguin of all time, just because of what he was able to do for the organization, even after his playing days are done. But I mean, even his playing days, absolutely ridiculous. Dude was a stud, despite going through some of the hardest things a lot of hockey players have ever had to go through and still be at the top of his game, still be that much better than everybody else you're playing against. I got to give it to Lemieux. And that's just, it's my opinion on it. Let me know in the comments section what your opinion is on it, but I'm going to go Lemieux over Crosby, but that's not to say that Crosby isn't one of the greatest players in the history of the game. I already said it multiple times, Mount Rushmore for that one. But that is going to do it for this episode of Tip of the Iceberg Live. Thank you guys so much for tuning into this one. Remember, you can find us on YouTube at Tip of the Iceberg or anywhere you get your podcasts from. We'll see you guys next time. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)
