Josh Yohe on the Locked On Penguins podcast.

[Three Stars]

Josh Yohe was on the Locked On Penguins Podcast.

Sid, Geno and Tanger are “besties” who go Christmas shopping together.

O’Connor is in many ways the key to the bottom 6. He’s big and strong and fast. Yohe wants to see DOC get Guentzel’s slot for a few games.

Ruhwedel is the safe choice for 3rd right D pair, but Pysyk is the best choice and has better offensive upside. Ruhwedel’s ideal spot as far as the team is concerned is 7th D.

Ty Smith is not favored by management due to defensive warts that still exist. EK has been his buddy in this training camp. PO Joseph wore down last year and needs to prove he can handle 82 games as a little guy, but Letang is working with him.

Nedelkovic is the favorite over Hellberg. He’s got notable talent (certainly over DeSmith), but it’s been hard to get a read on him given he’s played for the Canes who insulate goalies and the Wings who hang goalies out to dry.

Jarry tends to respond better when pushed, and with the new depth he certainly will be pushed. He just needs to stay healthy.

Yohe thinks they’re a playoff team, although not a division winner because they don’t care at all about that. “If they could just win one series, I could see them pushing the clock back and making a run”. The depth of the Eastern Conference makes that tough. Dubas is going to be aggressive whether they succeed or fail early, and is well liked by basically everyone including Crosby. Last year hurt and is going to be motivation. The same buzz that fans have with all the moves is also felt in the locker room.

Guentzel looks great skating around. The plan is to miss 5 games, but based purely on how he looks it wouldn’t be surprising if he returns early. The host predicted that Guentzy’s contract could be 9.5 mill AAV, or somewhat less if he takes a discount, but 9 mill is the safe bet. Then again, everyone including Jake wants him to be in Pittsburgh. Jake’s agent is in Pittsburgh at the moment.