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[MUSIC] Hello everybody, and welcome to the Tip of the Iceberg podcast. You're home for Pittsburgh, Penguins, News, and Analysis. You can find us on YouTube at Tip of the Iceberg, or, anywhere you get your podcast from. I'm your host, Nick Belsky. Joined as always by dog daddy, Nick Horwatt. As you can see on YouTube right now, as he is trying to quell his pooches, but we'll get right along with the rundown for the day. First and foremost, we're going to take a look at a few of the more realistic options remaining on the board for the Pittsburgh Penguins at the left-wing side, because it still feels like that is the one glaring missing piece for them, is to find somebody to play alongside Sidney Crosby. So we'll talk about three options that are more realistic to come in and play alongside sit on the top line. Speaking of Sidney Crosby, we'll talk about his placement on ESPN's top 100 athletes of the 21st century. Where did he fall? Did he fall behind any NHL players? And do we think he could have moved up in the list at all? And then we're going to close out the show with a little bit of news and notes, considering the Penguins made a few minor moves over this past week. Let's get started. And let's start with the Penguins' most realistic options on left-wing, because when you look at the Penguins roster right now, they have enough players to field a team. Let's not joke about that, because they have players, but they just don't have anybody in-house, at least in my eyes, that it feels like should fit in that role next to Crosby. Outside of Drew O'Connor, who we'll talk about here in a couple of minutes, but it feels like they're still looking for that left-wing to play alongside Sidney Crosby. I have three options here. But before we get into that, Horwatt, do you think there is a chance that the Penguins say, all right, nothing out there fits what we need, nothing out there fits what we're looking for, especially with the team kind of shifting into a rebuild mode? Do you think there's a chance that they go into the season with Drew O'Connor as that top option on the left side? I really do. I think that might just be where it lands, because a lot of teams are sort of settling into the notion of this is what we got. These are the players we have. This is the coaching staff we have. This is the firm office we have. It is that time of the summer where things have gone quiet. It's definitely in full swing. It's definitely the dog days of summer, if you will. And the moves, at least for now, at least for the rest of July and into August, for most of August, there's just not going to be much. There will be a smattering of small things here and there. Maybe the big names that are left on the free agent board find a home, but it'll be for a year at cheap money. At this point, the negotiation rights are pretty much gone. There's not going to be much left. So I'd say that it's very likely the Penguins go into this upcoming season with Drew O'Connor up there, just because everything else has sort of come to a halt. Everything else has sort of stopped. It's just that time. And they like what they have there with Drew O'Connor. They enjoyed what they saw at the end of the season. And if they believe that that can only improve, I mean, it's not the end of the world for them, if that's what they have to start with. But also just the options are running dry. And the options that are left, maybe won't work out. Maybe it won't fit the Penguins' wall, because also at this point in the summer, you're not usually looking for your top line guys. You're not looking for the top line left winger. I know the Eric Carlson thing was a bit of an exception last year, but I think that was just dragging on. It was everyone knew he needed, he wanted to leave. Everyone knew he needed to leave. It was just a matter of waiting for the right deal to come around from either they was Pittsburgh or Carolina. I think it's what the other team in there was. So there was an exception to the rule last year. I don't see there being an exception this year, because there's no big names like that requested a major trade. And it's almost all sentenced down at this point. Yeah, we've talked about a few names that could potentially be on the market. Obviously, you let off this summer, talking about the Mitch Marner stuff. That has died down considerably. Who knows where that's going to go. We've talked about the Patrick Leine situation. That's still a domino that has the fall. Obviously, I've brought up Trevor Zigres, as well as Nikolai Ehlers and Recker McGrude, and that combo package. And while, yeah, some of those would be good moves if the Penguins made them. Certainly good additions to the Pittsburgh Penguins. They kind of fall outside of the realm of reality, right? You look at what the Penguins have right now, what they're looking to do. Some of those moves are just going to be too expensive. Some of those moves are taking a risk on a player that you just don't know what they're going to give you, i.e. a Patrick Leine. So what we're doing here is bringing up three names and don't get me wrong. Two of the three names are slightly underwhelming, but that's what's left on the free agent market at this time of the year, as you alluded to, saying, you know, typically, teams aren't looking for a first-line left-wing at this stage of the summer. But to answer the question that I asked you initially, yeah, I think there's a chance that if they don't find the right move, Kyle Dubas isn't just going to bring in a guy to bring in a guy because they do have Drew O'Connor. And while he isn't, you know, a first-line left-wing on every team, he was a first-line left-wing on the Penguins last year, and he held his own. And if you go into the season with that, that's not the worst thing in the world. You mentioned it was likely in your eyes. I think that they're going to make a move just because I do think there are moves out there to be made for Kyle Dubas. And I do think that he has obviously had something cooking over the last couple of weeks when there hasn't been really any other moves made. So with that, let's get into the two free agents and one trade target that I have as the three realistic options for the Penguins remaining in free agency and the trade market this summer. Now, the Penguins, according to Puckpedia, have $3.5 million in salary cap space. You can really round that up to $4.4 million because Puckpedia still has Matt Nieto on the act of roster, and he is expected to start the year on long-term injured reserve, which would open up his $900,000 in salary cap space. So realistically $4.4 million, which is more than enough to sign one of these two players. Let's start on the free agent market, and then we'll talk about the trade piece that we've mentioned before, but a piece that I think is starting to emerge as the top option and the most likely option for the Penguins this offseason. But let's start with the free agents. First and foremost, 34-year-old Mike Hoffman. He is a guy that has seemingly been in the National Hockey League for ages at this point, had 10 goals, 23 points last season on the floundering San Jose Sharks team, 20 plus goals in six straight years from 2014 to 2020, excuse me. And then the last handful of seasons. He's been under that 20 goal mark, but over the 10 goal mark. What do you think about Mike Hoffman potentially being a Band-Aid for the Penguins at the top of the roster? If he was able to certainly and for sure find that old rhythm that he once had of being a regular 20 goals score with Ottawa, and then capping out at 36 in his first year at Florida, don't remember him playing in Florida. Yeah. You would have to make sure it's a certainty that he's going to hit that again and it's really not. I mean, the way he's sort of, it looks like it bounced around the NHL a little bit since leaving Ottawa and since he was a big piece of that 2017 run to the Eastern Conference final. He doesn't have the same juice, the same gumption that he used to bring to a lineup. I think the time has just sort of passed on him. I bet he finds a deal somewhere just not necessarily in Pittsburgh and could be his last considering his age. And just, you don't want to say rapid decline in production, but he did drop off 11 points from 23 to 24. Yeah, and part of that's going to be you're playing with the San Jose Sharks. I mean, but at the same time, he was playing with Montreal the year before though. Yeah, and that wasn't a good Montreal team at all. Yeah, I was going to say at the same time, he's 34 years old and there is decline expected, especially when you're not talking about guys like Crosby and Malkin, who are an entirely different conversation when talking about their aging process as when you're talking about depth guys like Mike Hoffman. I mean, if you're looking at what his ideal role is next year is a third liner for a decent team that's going to be able to surround him with solid pieces to get the best out of him. It's not necessarily what the penguins are, but when you're looking at the free agent market, go to Puckpedia, hit free agents, hit UFA's and hit left wing. There's 14 names on that list, and I'm fairly certain three of them have retired. So you're literally looking at the bottom of the barrel and free agency here, but when you're looking at those names, Mike Hoffman has been a proven commodity in this league before. You can kind of count on him for certain things. And when he plays the next to Sydney Crosby, you can potentially hope that he has a little bit of juice left to give for half a season, three quarters of a season and hope somebody is able to step up and take his place. You'd think and you know, you say that it was San Jose, it was one of those teams. The issue with that argument, and it's why I kind of see part of it. The issue with that argument still is someone has to score on those teams. Yeah. San Jose was a bad team the year before, and what did Eric Carlson do? He put up 100 points. Why? Because someone has to do it. Why couldn't it be Mike Hoffman last year? Because Michael Granlin was the one doing it. I mean... And Anthony Duclair, don't forget about Duclair. He earned himself a nice deal in New York. He did. He did. I just... It's... That just kind of shows that even with there being scoring to take. Like scoring up for grabs from that team. Again, I get that the... the sharks didn't have the puck a whole lot and weren't really putting up much offense anyway. I mean, yeah, Michael Granlin took the scoring, but he had what, like 50 points, I think it was. I think he... I might... He might have broke 60, but it still. Good for him if he did, really. But it just... Oh my, there's so much red when you go to their hockey reference page. They won 19 games that last year, by the way. So maybe there's something to be said about... You know, there isn't... Like that whole team didn't score. Michael Granlin did cap out at 60. And Mike Hoffman is still seventh in scoring on that team of 23 points. But it just doesn't strike me as... Because everyone's a year older, because the production has already been declining for them. Even before that San Jose Sharks season. Just not the right fit, especially if... Because his role is going to be different, wherever, if he's signed somewhere else. Yeah, and again, this is most realistic, and we're talking on July 23rd. Free agency, most realistic. It's not a really great place to be. If you're still trying to feel that same role. When you need meal time inspiration, it's worth shopping Kroger, where you'll find over 30,000 mouth-watering choices that excite your inner foodie. And no matter what tasty choice you make, you'll enjoy our everyday low prices, plus extra ways to save, like digital coupons worth over $600 each week. You can also save up to $1 off per gallon at the pump with fuel points. More savings and more inspiring flavors make shopping Kroger worth it every time. Kroger, fresh for everyone, fuel restrictions apply. Bring Glory Home in EA Sports College Football 25. Experience the decibel-shaking soundscape of college football, putting you inside the stadium, alongside iconic rituals and traditions. Test your strategic decision-making with an all-new composure system, player wear and tear, and screen-shaking home-field advantages. Learn more about the MVP bundle, which also includes EA Sports Madden NFL 25 and can't miss rewards at ea.com/collegebundle. ♪♪♪ Other free agent that I see out there that might fit with the penguins have going on right now, James Van Rheemstag. He's a year older, 35 years old, 11 goals, 38 points in Boston last season, kind of the inverse of Mike Hoffman, where he still has those counting stats, 38 points is not bad for a bottom six guy. He's always been a big body, good net front presence. He's never scored under 10 goals in a season, even back to his rookie year. So this is a guy that has filled the net historically throughout his career. Again, if you're bringing him in, you would hope he'd be in a bottom six role, but what the penguins have going on right now, could you see them bringing in JVR to be that top-line left winger to start the season? Now, I like this one a lot more. He's definitely a bit more of a proven commodity, and the decline is definitely a lot slower. I don't know how much I would feel about this one, because it's so middle of the road, I'd say. Like, it is a give or take option. I don't think I'd hate it if they got him. I don't think I'd hate it if they didn't swing for him. Because, like you said, he's never had under 10 goals, which is solid enough, I think. Finding new life in Boston almost helped him out. I'm actually still surprised he's a free agent, even with the age I get. There's a lot declining about him, but it wasn't super noticeable last year. Maybe just being on Boston helped cover that. I think overall, this would be a better choice than Hoffman, but I'm still kind of on the fence about it. Something about, I know, I get we don't want to discuss age and bring that into it, but when Kyle Dubas himself said that they're trying to make the team younger, and yet they have no choice but to enter in other seasons, the oldest team in the league, he's going to try and cut wires and cut age somewhere, and if he can do that by bringing in somebody younger, rather than, what'd you just say, 35 already? I mean, it'd be a one-year deal. I was going to say he'd need that 35+ deal. That's not going to make too much of a difference when it's just one year. But it also just doesn't sit fully right with me, so I'd be a bit more on the fence about it. Overall, I'd say if this was five years ago, fire away. Yeah, of course, if he was only 30 years old, JVR in the net front would be good for the Penguins' power play, but I think the problem that you're alluding to there and kind of dancing around, but not smacking right on the forehead is, these are the options they have left available to them if they can't make a trade. And as we saw last year, Kyle Dubas mentioned, he tried to trade Jake Genssel a little earlier. He tried to find a dance partner for Jake Genssel a little bit earlier, or he said he just tried to find a trade partner to shake up the locker room. It didn't happen. People weren't making trades last year in the NHL up until the end of January. I remember it was a long drought, and everybody's like, "Well, nobody's really doing anything." If Kyle Dubas can't make a trade, these are the options he has left, and you can mention, "Oh, yeah, but you have Daniel Sprung, yeah, but you have Dominic Kubelik, yeah, but you have Dennis Guryanov." And I looked at all those names, but at the same time, these are all guys that have been, you know, at their best, inconsistent at the National Hockey League. These two guys, Hoffman and Van Reemsdike, at least throughout their career, even though they're a bit older, have shown to be able to be consistent in what they are and proven commodities for what they are. And putting that next to Crosby is a little bit more of a sure thing than Dennis Guryanov who, you know, lit the world on fire in 2020 and 2021. And there was a name that I certainly had interest in back then, but you look at the last two seasons, he's just falling off a cliff. And maybe he needs a fresh start in Pittsburgh is the perfect place for it, but you're taking a risk, especially whenever you have, you know, a lot of young guys that you're hoping get opportunities this year, you know, bringing in somebody that, you know, has a very unlikely chance of refining his game as somebody like a Guryanov who didn't prove it over time. I think that's why he falls lower on the list than guys like Hoffman and Van Reemsdike, even though they're at the age of 34 and 35, but like you mentioned, it's not the best case scenario to go out and get one of these two Hoffman or Van Reemsdike. It's the fallback options if you can't perform a trade. Now again, we talked in trades about it'd be great if they got Elers and McGrory because that's a great young piece in McGrory and Elers is a phenomenal piece for the next two years. It's going to cost a lot of money, which takes it a little bit further away from reality. The one name that I've started to fall in love with the last couple of weeks, looking at his situation in Toronto, Nicholas Robertson. I mean, 22 years old requested a trade earlier this month. He had 27 points in 56 games last season for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and he's currently a restricted free agent. It feels like this is probably their best case scenario for filling that top line left wing with a young, talented piece that can not just be part of the team next year, but can be part of the future of this team moving forward. Yeah, he could be. It's the young piece, it's a good addition to the future of the Penguins if they were to pull something like this off. Kyle Davis is worried about and focusing on building out that future, building out the prospect pool, building out this team with young faces that can be NHL ready soon or later, and Nicholas Robertson, that's a guy NHL ready now. I, for how he's, I don't want to say disrespected in Toronto, but for the way that he's kind of been pushed down the depth chart on multiple occasions, I'm shocked he played 56 games last year. Now the production doesn't shock me. I think 14 goals, 13 assists for the full 27 is for his situation overachieving almost. Like I said, I'm shocked he played 56 games. So seeing that he got 27 points in that time, usually playing, I believe, depth options, depth of roles, that's solid. Let's see what kind of production he could put up in a top six situation, maybe playing alongside Sydney Crosby. And deals like that was to get pulled off and made it this far in, and not even mentioned the old Kyle Davis connection. Like there's probably some previous eyes already on Nick Robertson from Kyle Dubas's time there. And also Jason Spencer, Wes Clark, and I was thinking of Wes Clark, just that's the big one that I would love to know who was in charge of the draft in 2019 for the Leafs. Was Wes Clark involved in that? Like so now that Wes Clark has moved over to the Penguins, does that connection amplify? It's things to, I'll have to look into that because that adds a huge layer if that is something that the Penguins are looking to do. I don't know who could go the other way. I don't know who the Leafs would have interest in. Because you know the Penguins aren't going to want to pull from their prospects. You know the Penguins aren't going to want to pull from their draft picks. And the Leafs are usually tied up against the cap, so I'm assuming they are again right now. It was just kind of who they'd be willing to take because, I mean, they're not going to take a Ryan Graves off our hands. They're not going to take, yeah, maybe a Ricardo Cal, but the money change there is too big. So there'd have to be some sort of, they would have to be a wild deal that is too big brain for me and you'd even think of right now. Here's the thing, I think it's a draft capital trade. Because the Penguins have acquired some extra draft capital over the next couple of years. Toronto by the way has 2.5 million roughly dollars in cap space right now. But this is a team that is looking at Nick Robertson. He's looking back at them and saying, "I don't want to be here." Like, I trade me. So there's a little bit of that leverage that gets taken away from Toronto because everybody's like, "Well, either trade him or not, but he doesn't want to be there." Like, you can try to mend that fence, but clearly he doesn't want to be there. And if you're the Pittsburgh Penguins, you know, I started this whole thing off saying, he's 22 years old. If you trade a next year's second round pick for Nick Robertson, all of a sudden you're saying, "All right, next year's second round pick is 22 or 23-year-old Nick Robertson, you'll take that. Like, I will take that in exchange." The question becomes like once they start asking, "All right, well, is he worth the first round pick?" No, he's not. He's 22 years old. He has a lot of upside, but this is a guy that, you know, once out of your organization, I'm not giving you a first round pick for him. He's a restricted free agent too, so you don't have to worry about really the contract going either way because he's definitely going to come in and under that 4.4 that the Penguins have left in their salary cap space. So it just feels like going into August where last offseason, August was the Eric Carlson trade. This is clearly nowhere near that, but that feels like outside of the Crosby extension, which we'll talk about in a couple of minutes here, that feels like the best possible scenario for the Penguins is they acquire Nick Robertson, they infuse that youth immediately into their top six and they bring him in and get him a fresh start next to Sydney Crosby. And that'd be a huge boost to his pedigree. Who knows what kind of future he has. I mean, I think when he came around, I believe there was a lot of hype around him. I don't want to say being a better player than his brother. That's at this point, that's going to be a hard mountain decline. But having that comparable because, you know, the relations there, so there's automatically going to be that sort of where you're going to be compared to your brother, probably forever, just the way it is. I mean, look at the knee landers. I mean, Alex, it can't really, he's a good player, but can't really hold a candle to what William's been able to do over the course of his career so far. So maybe there's something to unlock that maybe Nick Robertson can find something that is more toward what his brother has done with Dallas. Again, I'm not saying he's going to reach that height, that level, but give him the opportunity to prove that he is his brother and has the same sort of mentality, has the same sort of gene pool. It's there's something that could be had there and it is a, again, nothing to destroy Connor, but an improvement offensively, no doubt. Yeah. And here, this is not a apples to apples comparison, but Nick Robertson is 22 years old. Even if you trade, you know, draft picks for him, guess who came into the league at 22 years old? Jake Genssel, it's been a pretty good eight years since Genssel joined the league at 22. So you're adding a Nick Robertson. That's what you have. That's the potential you have is, is not a 40 goal score in Jake Genssel, but a potential top six guy for the next decade, because if the penguins were in a better situation, Genssel would have been resigned. Penguins weren't in a good situation. They traded Genssel. They're trying to get back to that type of situation. A guy like Nick Robertson could certainly help them get there. So I think when looking at trade prospects and trade possibilities, to me right now, the top of the list is Nick Robertson. And then there's a conversation to be had. You could, you could potentially put line A at second because what's the asking price going to be for a player that again, you know, is unlikely to go back to the team that he's currently on, but he still has that $8.7 million salary cap hit. So it's probably line A and then you got to get into the zigresses and the, and the eelers where there's going to be a large, a large payday for the team that trades them, whether it be the ducks or the jets, because they are going to command so much in return for the services of these young players that are really good, young in, in zigresses case, eelers is more towards the, the back half of his career. But again, still a player that is extremely, extremely talented and very, very valuable to the Winnipeg Jets. Yeah, it's, yeah, that's the, that's a tough one to pull off because you start thinking of what, when it comes to those big ones, what trade pieces do the Penguins have? And each of those teams you mentioned, because on the Penguins trade pieces, I know I said Raquel, but that's also kind of unlikely. Ryan Graves is extremely unlikely unless it's, unless you're dealing with a team willing to take on cap for the year. Then it goes down to Tristan Jari, essentially. And those teams, I mean, you're not, they're not taking a goalie. The Jets are not going to take on a goalie. They're good with Helibuk, the reigning vesna winner, and whoever they put it back up for under a million dollars because they have the reigning vesna winner. They're not going to take on Jari at multiple years at multiple millions of dollars. The ducks, I mean, the ducks could use a goalie. The issue is they don't need two starters. They're not the kind of team that needs a 1A1B situation, and they'd be trying to send Gibson the other way, and the Penguins don't need that. So that trade just wouldn't work out. Again, with those two teams, maybe there is a trade possible that doesn't involve goal tenders, but it seems unlikely. And at this point, again, where this close to August, what team is looking for a starting goalie still? None, basically. I think there was a team last year that still was. I can't remember exactly. This isn't last year, though. At this point, everyone has their starter, or at least an idea of who their starter is going to be. Jeremy Swamin does still need to be signed, but that'll happen. That's it, though. Everyone has their starter pretty well set, and they're looking forward to their goal-tending dams this year. Yeah, so it's going to be obviously, I would say, a more interesting August than we typically see. But last year, you know, Dubas August Carlson for all our bad players, that was crazy. It's not going to happen again. So you mentioned the top players, the Penguins might want to trade. It's not going to be any of these. Hey, you take our bad players, we'll take your good player, and we'll call it a day. That's just, it was a, as you mentioned, it was a perfect storm last year for the Eric Carlson stuff on August six, I believe. And then August 7th, obviously, Sidney Crosby was birthday. So a lot of interesting things still to come this off season, including Sidney Crosby. Sidney Crosby was named a top 100 player, or athlete, I should say, of the century by ESPN. Now ESPN, surprisingly, through three hockey players. In this list, number 98, they ranked Connor McDavid, which fair enough, McDavid has only been around since 2015 in the National Hockey League. It was professional athletes. So you got to take out world juniors when he was in it. You got to take out the Erie auditors and the CHL when he was in it. So I get it. It's of the century. It's the previous 24 years of existence of professional sports. He's only been part of it for nine. So number 98, Connor McDavid comes in there. Number 54, Alex Avechkin. And then number 22, Sidney Crosby doesn't crack the top 20, but does crack the top 25. And this is what they had to say about Sidney Crosby in that article. Quote, Crosby's teammate, Chris Latang, were called how in game six of the Stanley Cup final against the San Jose Sharks. Crosby vowed that he and Latang would team up on the quote biggest goal of the night. They wound up connecting for a game winner that secured Pittsburgh's fourth cup in franchise history. Latang was understandably stunned by Crosby's fortune telling process or prowess, excuse me, on such a large stage. But Crosby impresses in similar moments throughout his career. So Sidney Crosby, obviously a nice little anecdote there from ESPN, but Sidney Crosby ranking 22nd best athlete of the 21st century. Did you think that was fair? And did you think he could have been moved up this list at all? I think all three of them could have been moved up this list. I get McDavid has only been around for nine years. That's still a long time. That's still a long time. And you've seen what he's done, especially in the last four or five specifically. 98's far, far, far too low for Connor McDavid. It just is, especially when you look at some of the, some of the players and athletes directly in front of them. Like what's Chris Paul doing? Was it Chris Paul? I think it was. What's he doing on this list at all? Yeah. I mean, no offense to Chris Paul. Great basketball player, but what are you doing here at all? Especially considering some of the names that really were on here. And as for the Crosby anecdote, before I continue my rants, I also, I forget if it was that series or the Tampa Bay series, there was one where they were setting up for an over time. They were setting up for a face off and over time. Crosby just pointed at the ice and said, Connor Shearer, you go right there. I'm getting the puck to you on this face off. You're going to shoot it. It was that series. It was game two. Game two. I remember watching Cross just put his stick down pointing. Go there. You be there. And then he won the face off. Connor Shearer scored and the look of, did you just wizard that? So Crosby's got a knack for that. Oh, and he should also be hired. I mean, maybe not too much because again, it's ESPN and they shaft hockey all the time. Um, so I understand why there's only three and why they're all kind of not properly rated, but I'm not going to get too much of on too much on a soapbox about it. Uh, it's, it's almost expected that Crosby was the top hockey player though, um, because of that longevity that I think that's that longevity is what put what would put him in over McDavid in the situations because he's been around since 2005. He has got three championships. We're not taking gold medals into this, but we are. We are. I mean, look at, look, oh, he's a confessional. So not world junior stuff. Yeah. So professional. So couple gold medals, world, world cup of hockey, if you really want to count that. And then, and then a world championship for team Canada in the, in the world championships. Uh, it's, it was deserving to see him up at the top there and Ovechkin chasing down a scoring record. I mean, should be higher than 50th. Yeah. Looking to break one of the quote unquote unbreakable records in the sports that is enough in itself to really push him up there, especially since he could do it this season. Yeah. This season. I don't think of that. And he still has years left to add. Yeah. Um, I think, I don't, I have a, I have a name that they should, that they definitely missed out on that, um, is a little less expected, but I also want to just say I'm not shocked that ESPN did it like this. Yeah, no, I'm not either. And you could tell, you said, I don't know, if they're including Olympics, they included Olympics heavily. I should have thought of that because Olympians were all over this thing. Look at their top 10. I mean, Kobe Bryant at number 10, Usain Bolt at number nine Tiger Woods at number eight, which is an entirely different discussion for an entirely different day. Simone Biles at number seven, Federer at six, Brady at five, LeBron at four, Messy at three, Serena Williams at two, and then, you know, clearly they're taking Olympics into the account here. Michael Phelps, the top athlete of the 21st century. So yeah, they're including that, which is why I think you saw Crosby so much higher than Alex Syvechkin, despite the fact that everybody else puts them neck and neck in everything else. But, you know, it was, it was interesting because they started releasing it 25 at a time, starting from 100 to 75 and kept going. And I kept scrolling. I was like, I know Crosby's like, as soon as I saw McDavid at 98, I expected Crosby to be lower similar to like where a veteran was, but 22nd from ESPN that feels like a little more respect than I could have expected. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, where a lot of respect would have been had because you got to hear me out on this because he's played in the NHL, started before 2000 and up until I think it was the 2017-18 season or something like that. Jarmer Jager was not on this list. Yeah. He played for 18 of those years in the NHL, but the Czech League is still a professional league. Yeah, but they weren't, they weren't looking at Czech hockey. I'm surprised they looked at North American hockey for this list. Then you don't need to, I then you don't need to count the Czech League in that. Fine. How about those 18 years he played in the NHL? Yeah. At the age of plus 30 plus 40 and still produced, was still an all-star and also carried the pedigree from his 90s days, which played like the entire decade there too, that I was, to be honest, whenever I was scrolling through the list, I was expecting to see Jager pop up because of, look, maybe they would mention, and he's still playing professionally and has been since at the age of 50, whatever, because that's a huge deal. They do this in the 90s or 80s, or whatever it was. Gordy Howe would have made the list. Easy. He's playing in his 50s. He is, and why? Because he has the pedigree to carry it over. Jager has the pedigree to carry his over and is still playing professionally. Also just had his jersey retired, had that whole moment. I think you didn't have to put Jager high. You didn't have to put him in the top 50. You didn't have to put him in the top 60, even whatever. Just being on the list at all would have shown that ESPN kind of cares because the way ESPN I think is looking at it is, well, we've started caring about hockey again for the last three years, three or four years. Yeah, those are the years we're going to look at, not everything in between. Oh, Jager still playing. How many people do ESPN know Jager still playing? I shouldn't have said that out loud, but it is what it is. I was expecting Jager to be on there, especially considering 24 has basically been the year of Jager. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, at the end of the day, Crosby at 22nd, I'll take it. I'll take it. There's discussions to be had, especially Tiger Woods at eight, that one, that one's crazy. But, you know, I digress on that point. Before we switch over and just touch on a couple of news and notes here to close out the show, any concern about Crosby not having a contract in hand in sign by now? No, there's no concern in it. However, the longer it goes on, and especially if we get into August, if we pass up his birthday and there's still no contract signed, expect that speculation to come right back. Because really, it should have been done already. It should have been. I mean, everyone expected me before free agency opened. Everyone expected that July 1st extension to be announced. And then the couple days after it was, oh, he's just letting Cal Dubas work on the team, letting him focus on free agency, focus on any deals that need to get done. Okay, fine. That's understandable. He's Crosby. He's here anyway. It's not like he's not under contract. Then nothing came of it. Rob Rossi put out on July 8th, a week after the opening free agency that a deal is close to being done, something along those lines. Okay. Nearing a new deal, yes. Nearing a new deal. And then for the next two days or so, it was the discussion of, okay, here's his legacy. Here's this, that, the other. It has been radio silence ever since. Nothing else has happened. I'm not saying there's anything to worry about. But we were told there's something close. And it's been two weeks. It's been, it's been a longer gap between being told there's something close than the opening free agency to that, to that update. So is, was it close? Or what are we doing here? That's why I said I give it until after his birthday before the speculation ramps back up. Yeah. If we go into the season and there's nothing signed, I mean, look what Tampa just went through with Stampco's. I'm not, and I'm not comparing this at all. Because like I said, there's nothing to worry about, but Tampa was going into, going into, going into the off season. It'll get signed. He's in his last year. He's the captain. He's going to get signed. Going into camp. I mean, he had that fiery press conference, but there was still no worries. He's going to get signed. He's the captain. He's Tampa Bay. He's going to be here. And the whole season goes by. Still nothing. Are we doing something here? No, he's leaving it free agency. All right. So it's the comparison is going to be there. Just be ready if nothing is signed by August 8th. Yeah, it's going to get really loud north of the border if he's not signed by the army. I wouldn't be shocked to be in America too. I really wouldn't if they care. But we said that entire conversation, but at the same time, it'll get louder up north than it will down here, but at the same time, it will be a story down here if he's not signed by the opening of training camp. Again, I'm not concerned. I'm a little confused as to what's holding this up. And we might never know the answer that, but, you know, we obviously went through everything two years ago with what the hold up was with Malkin and Latang. And, you know, they don't value me. They don't think I'm good anymore. We saw all of that get thrown into the news. Crosby, expectedly taking a different route here. Very quietly. That's why I think everybody's curious as to, okay, it's July 23rd. You've been eligible for three weeks now. The excuses are fading away as to are a Kyle Dubas. While there's still work to be done, Kyle Dubas's docket is a lot more clear now than it was three weeks ago. You can knock out a deal that is considered to be, you know, if you take all accounts into consideration, considered to be pretty simple, especially if he wants to, if his commitment to Pittsburgh, which was part of Rossi's thing, is this new contract is going to be a show of his commitment to the city of Pittsburgh and hockey and Pittsburgh of itself. If it's that simple, where's it at? You know, Crosby can be in his cottage only once. Pat Person, this is the, this is Pat Person's regular season. This is Crosby's off season. And Pat Person's the guy that's negotiating this, not Sidney Crosby. Obviously, you're going to make calls, but Crosby doesn't have to be in a boardroom, doesn't have to be at his desk. So what, what's holding things up? That's why I'm confused, not concerned. And it's not like Crosby hasn't been in front of cameras a couple of times this off season already, speaking about the four nations face off. Hey, so what's going on with the, with the contract? I'm saying anything and it's not going to, but he's going to say I'm going to keep it as private as possible. Okay, that's cool. Um, and then, I mean, there was no, no media, but he was then seen with the Canadian soccer team. I mean, seems to be doing stuff, seems to not be at his cottage. I think, um, well, there, there is a sign these days. I mean, yeah, it's not like he has to come to Pittsburgh to sign the deal. Although I'm sure Pittsburgh would like to have him in Pittsburgh to sign the deal to make a big PR thing about it. But at the same time, you know, it's, it's Crosby. He's been here for 20 years. I think we expect him to be here for the next three to close out his career or four, whatever it ends up being. So again, I'm not concerned about it because at the end of the day, whenever somebody asks me, do you think Crosby will finish his career in Pittsburgh? The answer has always been unequivocally yes. I'm a little confused that it's taken this long to get that deal done. But hey, I'm not going to complain because we're going to need something to talk about in August. Yeah. And I'm not, I'm not concerned either. I think the concern will grow if training camp opens and there's nothing happening. Yeah, I don't think it'll get that far. No, but again, I didn't think it'd get this far. Right. But that, and that's when the concern O meter will start ticking is if training camp opens and there's nothing signed yet. I need to make a graphic that goes in between us. That's the concern. The, the confusion O meter though is that thing is skyrocketing. I think is off the charts because really, if it is, especially considering the rumor deals seems affordable, three years, 10 million at most, knock that out in a day. Come on, what are we doing? And the question and the no movement clause is a pre is a prerequisite for this entire conversation. Of course, again, there's minutia to contracts that we don't always talk about. Maybe that's what they're talking about. Maybe he's trying to negotiate partial ownership. Who knows? Again, that's again, jokingly, you cannot negotiate that into an NHL contract. That would be unheard of. I mean, other than let me you, but times have changed. The Crosby memoir of this portion of his career, this this couple month portion of his career is going to be nuts. Really? Because who knows what is going on behind the scenes? Do you think he's gonna release a memoir? Someone's gonna write it. Somebody will write it. Ross if Rossi's right in the book on Markin. Joey on Crosby. Someone's doing that. Someone's doing the Crosby one. Someone's doing it. Maybe Brian Metzer. We'll throw that out there. Give it to Mets. We love Mets on this show. Let's close things out with our our news and notes. We're not going to dive too deep into it, but want to keep everybody updated on the happenings of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Pensville out their AHL coaching staff, hiring Nick Luco and Sheldon Brookbank to flank Kirk McDonald down at the American Hockey League level. Luco was the head coach of the Jacksonville Iceman. Also the general manager, I believe, or front office member of the Jacksonville Iceman of the East Coast Hockey League previously coached under McDonald with the Redding Royals, a team that Luco had played for. So big ECHL presence in Nick Luco and Sheldon Brookbank. Of course, I missed that one. That one apparently happened prior, but Brookbank and Luco to join Kirk McDonald at the American Hockey League level. And then the only other thing we got to mention here, Penguins signed Harrison Brunick to his entry level contract. Brunick was the Penguins 2024 second round pick, a right shot defenseman who had 21 points and 49 games played for the Kamloops blazers of the WHL last season. So now we look at it. Both Penguins second rounders of 2024 have signed their entry level contracts. Both will be heading back to the WHL this season, but not before a pit stop at Penguins training camp this fall. Horaw at any thoughts on the news of the this past weekend. However, small it may have been. I'm from a small it may have been my only reaction to it really is. And Braden Yeager continues to wait. That's fine. Which is fine. Yes. He's going to sign event again. It's the same thing. It's called he's signing eventually. And it's unlikely he's ever you know, it's unexpected for him to play at the NHL level this year. So why worry about it? So you're right, why worry about it? But also it's possible he gets that nine game sample size. So he's going to need a deal to have that. And it's going to be an ELC. We're not worried about term, length, money. It's yeah, it's going to be a walk in the park to sign. It's just a matter of finally giving him that message in that note, you know, to find the agent. Hey, here's the deal, pen to paper, please. Yeah, moving on. See you at camp. And also I have very little concern about Braden Yeager's love for Pittsburgh based on everything I've read everything I've heard. And literally every single game he played in Moose y'all last year wearing a Penguins. The Penguins gear that he was given at training camp last year that the kid has loved his time with the Penguins said he was super excited to see Tanner how a friend of his get drafted in the same organization because he loves it here. He's going to sign his ELC eventually. It's just a matter of when and not if. But nice to see that Brunick and Tanner how are both now under the umbrella officially signed to the Pittsburgh Penguins. But that is going to do it for this episode of the tip of the iceberg. Thank you guys so much for tuning into this one. We'll have a special guest on Thursday's episode to give Kyle Dubas his grades for this offseason because at this point there's only a handful, you know, moves left to give. We'll talk about best move, worse move with the special guest host, including Nicole why he's not going anywhere. So there's going to be three of us on Thursday. That's basically all I'm going to say there. But we will see you guys on Thursday. Thanks for tuning in. Have a great week, Penn Spans.
