NHL writer Sean Gentille from The Athletic joined the show. The Penguins season begins tomorrow night – yes, already – in Philadelphia, where last season came to an end. Why doesn’t Kyle Dubas want to talk about Evgeni Malkin and his contract? Sean said Malkin was incredible last year and that gets lost in the shuffle across the league. Sean doesn’t think it’s realistic to see Kris Letang change the way of his game this late into his career, but he can still be a viable option on the second defensive pairing. Like the Steelers, Sean thinks the Penguins are trying to thread the needle of a team that is trying to rebuild while also still winning. Sean said the presence of Sidney Crosby changes the calculus for the Penguins because he is still too good for the team to be bad. Sean expects that to stay the same as long as Crosby is on the roster. The Penguins didn’t land Jason Robertson this off-season, but they did acquire his brother, and Sean believes Nick Robertson can be a 20+ goal player for them. Sean labeled Declan Carlile as a ‘classic Dubas guy’ that will likely start on the top defensive pairing aside from Erik Karlsson. The odd deal of the off-season was the Penguins signing Ville Koivunen to an 8-year deal seemingly out of nowhere – is that a dangerous deal for Pittsburgh? Sean thinks the Penguins finish 5th in the Metro, but do not make the playoffs.
