Hampus Lindholm

He led the team.

Pasternak, Paterka, Geeks, and Hampus all with three shots.

Here's the other thing about Hampus.

I talked about it the other night.

Hampus and Zdorov are just becoming tougher watches almost every night.

Zdorov is definitely declining or something.

Or doesn't

I'm not sure who was positive on the stat card.

And

it's been a big deal up there because it's been Hampus Lindholm.

It's been Zdorov had it a little bit last year.

And, yeah, I mean, he took over this training camp.

And even like he goes and gets Frazier Minton, who is like through and through Boston Bruin.

He goes against Tanner Juneau, who's a through and through Boston Bruin.

Hampus Lindholm, through and through Boston Bruin.

Like he goes and he trades for guys that are guys that play a very Boston Bruin style of hockey.

He doesn't say a lot, but when he says stuff, people listen, right? Yeah, and that's why he's wearing an A this year.

Hampus Lindholm will talk as well, and so will Nikita Zdorov, but...

It can't be the same guys all the time.

It's got to be different, but I'm going to be curious, and I don't know if we'll ever get the who said something after the second that really energized the team.

Jeremy Swayman keeps them in.

Defensively, like when they had Hampus Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy out there, they kind of hung in there.

Otherwise, the other defensemen kind of got skated circles.

circle skated around them.

Last year, the big thing was Parker Wilderspoon, right? Like he had come to the Penguins.

He had come from the Boston Bruins where he had risen up in rank with Hampus Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy hurt.

And the Penguins felt like Wilderspoon was ready to take the next step.

And did he ever, really being a stabilizing force with Eric Carlson.

And I would even argue that they did that to some extent with Mason Lowery.

There was a lot of rough in the year where McAvoy and Lindholm were both hurt, and he played a lot of shitty minutes and developed on the fly.

So as much as I would like to bang on them for not developing prospects historically, over the last few seasons, they've put a pretty decent foot forward on trying to make some of the players who have talent work out for them.

Yeah, I'm with you.

Right.

And I think that pasta, you know, I'd like to see like a Higgins with him eventually.

And I think it'll happen eventually, but right now it's just, you know, he just doesn't have a Senator come by and, you know, it's Elias Lindholm.

It's Pablo Zaka.