Kyle Dubas finally traded Neylander, something he said he'd never do, which is great. The Blue Jackets have Alex Neylander now. This might be the start of the fire sale, but that is such a Dubas trade.

Dude, that's exactly what was tweeted at me yesterday.Amel Benström.Amel Benström. That's such a Dubas trade.

Man, I want Emil Benström. I need him. I need him on my team.

When someone... Oh, man, who was it? Anthony Petrelli, I think. They tweeted, they're like, Dubas has loved Emil Benström since his draft here. I'm like, Yeah, of course he has.

He does fall in love with… It's like Charlie Brown in that ugly Christmas tree. There's some things where you're like, I see potential here.

I never thought it was such a bad little tree. Yeah. Maybe all it needed was a little love. I mean, Bemström is a funny player. He was really highly touted at one point, made too much money, fell off a cliff. I don't remember if injuries were involved or anything. And now he's making 900 grand. And this is exactly the tinker around the edges deal that he would make all the time in Toronto. And we'd be like, maybe this is something. Maybe this is something big. Do you remember what an unbelievably disproportionate amount of energy we gave to a trade that involved two players and The two players were Per Lindhome and nick Patan. We went to war over that damn trade. I'm pretty sure it helped fracture Dubas' relationship with Mike Babcock because he would put Patan in shitty situations, like despite management.

Yeah. And then Patan got him fired.

Thank goodness. Good. I'm glad. That was the best thing he ever did for this team. Yeah. Thanks there, nick. But he He does these trades where you're like, Yeah, it could be something. They could be a little thing. But they so rarely added up to anything worth getting excited about. Mason Marchment for Dennis Malkin. You know what I mean?

Well, yeah. Mason Marchman turned into a pretty good player.

Just dicken around the edges. He had victories, too. Listen, there are-Tons of them. There are parts of this team that the least have Kyle Dubas to thank for.

Jake McGabe.

Yes, absolutely. Well, and even Bobby McMahon. That was a really smart deal in the minors. But you got to take so many swings to come up with anything that's going to have any impact on your roster.

Well, and isn't it funny that you had a thing? What did you always say about Kyle Dubas last year?

Loves his guys? Right.

I think Kyle Dubas loves his core fours and loves cat problems because he has gone from one team with a core four to a team with a full decade-older core four. And it is a core four. He talked about that in the press conference. He said, We're not going to move on. He had a press conference from Crosby, Malk, and Littang, and Carlson. He's not going to move on.

He should have so many fewer press conferences. However many he has, he should have less.

Listen, it's not over yet. But right now, nobody has mentioned this yet. Nobody wants to talk about this yet because this player is a legend and he's going to be a first-valid Hall of Famer. But as far as fit with the team goes, that Carlson trade could end up being a disaster because it's one of those things-How are you getting younger after making that deal? It's a top 10 protected first rounder that went to San Jose. If they are in the bottom 10 in the league this year, they're going to be fine, and they'll get their first round pick, but then have to give up next year. But when you look at... Let me read you this. He said, Are there moves out there that would allow us to add younger players to the organization that can help expedite things and support the group we already have here? We're trying to look through all of that. If there are scenarios where we can move out some of our younger prospects for players that are a bit older and closer to ready, we would look at that. Younger prospects? This is what I'm saying. Who? Well, So he's gone out and he got Paulea Arvi.

He got Neylander and traded Neylander. Like, he's trying to find-Neylander is like 39. And then he says- He's been in the league forever. No, but he's in his 20s. No, I know. I'm fine. Younger by the... Grating him on a curve here for the Penguins. New energy, that's That's really what we need. Kyle, who did you bring in this offseason? You got Graves, you got Achari, you got Carlson, you got tons of new energy.

A 34-year-old, I think, Riley Smith.

Yeah, unfortunately, it hasn't worked out. He'll be a great add to whatever team picks him up. Vegas.

In a deal. Oh my God! Oh my God!

Send him back. Oh my God!

Do the right thing. That might actually happen. You know what? Because Dubas will do right by the player.

Oh, what?

No, No. Oh, Pittsburgh. Like, dude. If, okay, you go out and you get Carlson. What did we say when it happened? We're like, all right, well, you're certainly committed to going for it now. And then you're not even a full season after that deal. And you're like, we're going to try to get younger. If you hadn't just got here, that's the quote that gets guys fired or gets fans asking for it at the very least. I think he's a really smart guy I think he's going to inevitably do a good job with the penguins. But I cannot believe a dude who came up under the direction of Lou Lamorello.

The tutelage.

The tutelage of Lou Lamorello.

Always uncomfortable with that word.

I'll toot on your tutelage. I cannot believe.

Toot on your lidge. What you're looking for. There you go.

I cannot believe a guy who came up under the tutelage of Lou Lamorello, stuffs his foot in his mouth down to the molars this often.

Kyle, stop. Can we make- Stop. Can we make you more upset, Steven? Do you want to get more upset? Do it.

Because are you bringing up the coyote stuff? No, I'm kidding. Oh, my We should.

We should. We will.

We will. We'll get there. We'll get there.

Because Kyle Dubas- Maddie put the thumbs up.

She wants fire.

Kyle Dubas did your favorite thing. What? He spoke to the media. He talked to the athletic. That's where some of these quotes came from.

He just has to stop.

I want to give you this quote that was in The Athletic when he spoke to them. Kyle Dubas said, Dubas said his immediate plan for the Penguins is to the current group. He wants to give them a chance to improve their postseason standing. I think we've had enough moments throughout the season when we're at our best that we show we can play with anybody. It just hasn't happened enough, Dubas said. We're looking for that in the next stretch here.

That's a big old No, nothing burger.

Can you go a little bit back, Jesse? Mm-hmm. Look at what Marcus Petterson said.

Marcus Petterson said he wanted Dubis to say he believes in us like we believe in ourselves.

And he shouldn't. Kyle shouldn't. That would be so disingenuous. Love you, Marcus Petterson. Would love for you to be a leaf. I hope they're selling you because if it doesn't work out with Anderson, I would really love Marcus Petterson to be a leaf. But it's great that you believe in yourself. That's awesome.

Why are you looking to make changes if the belief is in this group? I don't understand.

The group's good.

Why are you making changes?

He shouldn't give quotes to the media.

He's got to stop. The dissonance, though, is that he stacked the team. You had an older core, you knew that. You had Lataing, Malkin Crosby, and you're committed to that. So what do you do? You go out and you add another bunch of olds. What most people would do is they would go, Those guys are a little bit old. Probably should add some young.

I really didn't hate a lot of the moves he made. Ryan Graves was obviously-I told you guys, that was a terrible deal. Man.

Told you.

I was like, What? You were on that shit from day one.

I was on the Penguin Stink from day one. This is not a well-constructed roster.

But I love Achari. Me, too. I liked the Riley Smith deal when they made it. Of course.

You can like certain players and go, That's not a fit.

Well, and then you're like... It's tough because that deal was made very shortly after Vegas won the Cup. And you're like, Yeah, Riley Smith is great, and he just won the Cup. And then you're like, Oh, he's in his mid-30s and just played hockey till the end of June. And that generally doesn't lead to good seasons the next year. You know what I mean? Unless you're a super-duper Star. Man, he wore the we can and we will phrase around his neck for half a decade, and he's making the same mistakes. Shut up.

Stop. Okay, so he's saying they need new energy in there. By the way, Sydney Crosby is having a... If he's not nominated for the heart, I'm going to be...

He won't be.

That's bullshit, by the way.

If they make the play, No. He may.

He may. Who cares? Nominated for the heart in what order?

He's got to be top three.

No. There's three guys ahead of him.

There's too many good players.

There's Matthews Kujarow, McKinnon. But it's value to the team. But it's value to the team. Connor McDavid is probably four.

Here's what I would say to that. I would argue that if the Pittsburgh Penguins didn't have Crosby having an otherworldly year this year, they would have sold already. Oh, they'd be in the toilet. In fact, Fenway Sports Group might be selling the franchise.

Yes, but there's four other guys who are more impactful to their team this season.

I think that's poopy caca. I will take that.

You can have that opinion, but- I believe- It can be in the conversation.

It was the same argument I had in 2017 with McDavid. The Oilers didn't make the playoffs, but where the fuck What would they have been without him?

I understand. That's my point. I understand the point Adam's making.

I understand it. Yeah, but if you look at the numbers, like what Kuturov does in comparison to his next closest team, I think he's 30 points ahead of Braden point. I mean, the lightning. He's second on his second point.

The lightning- Wow, it's even in the name.

They would straight up not be in a playoff spot with him.

No. Exactly. What Nathan McKinnon is doing in terms of their one-line team, we keep emphasizing that, is very impressive to his team. Plus, those teams are winning. I think you have to take that into account. If Matthews puts up 75 goals, he should be ahead of Sydney Crosby in the heart battle.

And everybody else, by the way.

Artemi Panarin, what he's been contributing to the Rangers and dragging them throughout the season. Now they're playing more as a team, so he's less valuable for the heart. And then David Poshinok, if you want to throw him in there. I think there's six guys here, plus Sydney Crosby's probably in seven. There's a lot of guys having impressive individual seats.

But he's 36, and the penguins are garbage if he's not in their lineup.

You know you're allowed to just say he's extremely good. He doesn't have to be nominated for anything.

No, he does. I believe that he does.

I believe that he does. I think Potter McDavid is ahead of him on the Heart Ballet. I think Kucharav is. I think McKinnon is. I think Austin Matthews is.

I think the Heart Ballet is aptly named because he has so much heart. I'm glad it's not the Jeffrey Award for the best- Jeffrey. Most valuable to his team, the Jeffrey Award. Most valuable, Jeffrey. H-a-r-t. It was actually named after somebody. Weird. I think if you're- Brett, the hitman. If you're looking at the Pittsburgh Penguins, who I don't believe outside of the top 10 protected. If that's not a part of it, if they end in the midsection of the league, they're not going to have a first rounder this year. So Gensel, if he's not hurt, and I've heard he's more hurt than they're letting on, You don't know when Gensel is coming back. You don't know how good he's going to be, and you're hoping, and very likely, he's trying to get an extension out of this, right? Yeah. So that's the guy that gets you the first-round pickback. Who do you sell? You can't trade Graves. You're not trading Jari.

Let me flag something as well. So that first round pick is top 10 protected. Well, what happens if it's top 10? You get to pick in the top 10 this year. That's awesome.

Right?

Except that you're bad enough to- Except you still owe a pick- Next year. Next year when there's a pretty good chance this gets worse. It better not get worse because your first round pick's on the hook.

So you go for it this year. I also think they're going to be competitive. Regardless of how much you trade, Adubas trades off this by March eighth, I still think they'll be hanging in there because their goaltending is good enough. When you have decent goal Then you can hang it around in the standings. I don't think they fall to top 10. That's a pretty drastic fall.

Well, it's a lottery, right?

Oh, yeah. You could win a lottery ball, and then you're in the top 10 randomly.

You could win a lottery ball.

For them lose.

I don't think it's that crazy, guys. There's 32 teams in the league, and the penguins-Not so many teams.currently sit 23rd.

That's not the catchphrase, sorry.

What? The penguins currently sit 23rd in the league out of 32.

So it's not out of the realm. Based on where they are right now, they would maintain their first-round pick. Yeah. There you go.

I think you look at who's ahead of them. They're seven points out. They have the Islanders Devils. Seven? Seven points out. The Tampa Bay Lightning are the second wild card team. They're five points up on the Washington Capitals. That's why when everybody was saying, Oh, the Leaps are fighting for a wild card spot, I'm like, That is so disingenuous. Get out of here. They were. No, they weren't.

Then they won six straight.

No, they weren't. Go back and look at a week and a half ago. No, they weren't. They played three or four less games than the Lightning. Get out of here. Nonsense. Absolute nonsense. And they were up on the Caps and Devils. Anyway, long Long story short, Washington, New Jersey, and the New York Islanders are tied at 60 points. The Pittsburgh Penguins have 58. You know who's only four points behind the Pittsburgh penguins who could catch them is the Buffalo Sabers. Guys, that's what we're talking about when we talk about a talent drop off here. Okay, they're only four or five points out or whatever it is with whatever team we're talking about. Look at who they're next to.

By points percentage, I believe the penguins and the sabers are six places different. They are. Each other. They're all gameplay different. Fair.

I'd like to point something out.

You got to win the games at hand, too. Yes.

I'd like to point something out. No. This trade deadline is going to be boring because names and blah. The trade deadline isn't just about names. It's about teams. It's about franchises. It's about futures. It's not just about this year. We just duke it out over the flames. We don't know what they're going to do. The penguins, we don't know what they're going to do. Dude, it's in two weeks or whatever it is. Two, three weeks? Yeah.

Parts of three weeks. And we don't know who's selling it. Nashville's like, We're still in this shit.

If all those teams end up believing in themselves, it's going to make for a very boring trade deadline. But then we get to talk about them being ridiculous and believing in themselves, which is a fun conversation.

It'll make for a better offseason. Sure. Yeah.

No, it won't because they'll believe in themselves in the offseason. That's when the delusion hits heights.

Every team is in line for the Stanley Cup in July.

But April 17th, no, you forget about the early part of the offseason when there are people sitting there not in a playoff spot, really, really mad about it, and then they do silly things. They do.

If you want to take advantage, that's the time to do it.

Oh, yeah.

But again, by August first, the senators are winning the Cup again, and we know. It's happening every August. Not April.

Not April. April and May is angry season.

Kyle Dubison in his quotes to the media, since he brought up coaches, doubled down on his belief in Mike Sullivan, who's a very good coach, but he's very adament that Mike Sullivan will be his coach moving forward.