Doubling down on something that I have been pounding all year, but I have not come out and just said it. From the time that Dubas started making moves, I have believed, and I believe to this day, that the Pittsburgh Penguins are not a playoff team this year.Oh, boy.And I believe it's being done on purpose.What?What? There's no way to ever prove this.

You think he got Eric Carlson to tank to be bad?

First off, I think Dubas is a smooth guy. He's a smooth operator. No question. Famously, when he left the Leaps, he tried to make a power play, basically, corporate-wise. This was succession.

Five on four.

He basically said, Listen, I want to be able to take my trades and my signings to the board and get around Shanaher. I don't want to have to go through Shani to do it. Shani said, Yeah, no way, man. You're not going to do that. That's not how it works here. Otherwise, what's the point of having me? What we had was Shani coming out and saying, Well, I didn't like what he said at the press conference. No, this is everything to do with backroom dealings. And by the way, Dubas doesn't do that. If if he doesn't know that there's a gigantic fat $50 million contract from Fenway Sports waiting.

No, I think the penguins on a whim were like, Oh, you're fired now? Let's begin speaking.

You know what's funny about corporations is they love giving out big raises on a whim. That's how he had a $50 million contract just fall in his lap when you can't get a 2% raise.

And also playing by the rules.

There's no tampering ever. Here's what he walked into in Pittsburgh. He walked into a team, locked into a lot of bad contracts. I think Pittsburgh right or somebody is going to do in five years, the title of the article is going to be the reason the Penguins never got their last cup with Crosby, and it's going to be Hexdalen Burke. No, they're They're gone. No, but they're gone. But this mess that he has to clean is terrible. It is. He's done his best. But here's what he does. He goes out and he gets Eric Carlson. To tech. He knows this team is not that good. And he also knows that he's stuck with a head coach for three or four more years making five and a half million dollars. And Fenway Sports Group does not want to fire this coach because they don't want to pay him $5 million dollars to sit on the sidelines. Who would? He's stuck with a coach he doesn't want and with a roster that is on a steep decline. They say, Kyle, we're going to give you this, but you can't do these things. And Kyle goes, Sure, sure.

Yeah, absolutely. We're going to go for it with Sydney. And what he's done is he said, Okay, I'm going to go get Eric Carlson because what the hell? If it works, I look like a genius. But if it doesn't work, I still look really good because I know that the Pittsburgh Penguins are having me around long enough that I get to rebuild this. And this is all about stacking the deck. No matter what happens, Kyle Dubas comes out on top here. If the penguins suck, he looks fine. If the penguins are great, he looks like a genius. And I think he's going to get his own way with management come the end of the year. And I think the Pittsburgh penguins are going to start to be torn down and rebuilt quickly just with Crosby. I think Littang and Malkin are probably gone if things continue.

Adam, I'm so upset.

Why?

You're turning me.

You believe that?

First of all, why Why do you sound surprised? I'm glad. You know what? You guys never believe me on anything. No, I'm gone back. No, hey, hey. That's not true. But I think it's a ridiculous conspiracy theory that Duba said, I know how it will be bad. I'll get the reigning Norris Trophy winner. Yeah, Crosby, and then got him to be on his team, got out from under some bad contracts in the process, and the goal was to be bad. That's what I wasn't with you on.

The goal wasn't to be bad. The goal was to stack the deck So that either outcome make him look good. If they make the playoffs, he's a genius. Wow, he got Crosby another shot. If they don't make the playoffs, it's like, Well, that was Hex doll and Burke's fault. And now I get to go to Fenway management and go, It's not working. Now let me do what I want to do. That's what I think is going on in Pittsburgh.

You don't think he's trying to win this year on purpose?

No, that's not what I'm saying. I think if the team was good enough to win, he'd be trying to win. But I think that he thought, and any rational person looked at the Pittsburgh Penguins going into the summer and went, That's not very good. And not very good chance that they're going to get much better. So he did a lot. He played ball. And I think sometimes in corporate situations, especially at that level, you have to make sure that both outcomes suit you. I think he's far more Machiavallian than people give him credit for. I think he learned under the tutelage of Brandon Shanaan.

To the original question. So you don't think he had made moves in an attempt to win?

No. I think he thought, If we win with these moves, he knew he had to make a big splash, we got Carl.

So you think he held back on what he should have done?

I don't think he's allowed yet to do what he wants to do. So he's saying, okay, I'll play ball.

Which is to acquire a bunch of players with a 60% goals for percentage and a shot percentage of negative two. Yeah.

He loves those guys. Guys, if he's not doing it this way, then he It's just like a... Any other interpretation does not make him look good.

We are at five minutes 30 seconds.

Pittsburgh Penguins, not a playoff team, and it's on purpose. You heard it here first. You watch. There's going to be big changes in Pittsburgh.

You have run out of time.

I think If you touched that take with your bare hands, you'd burn your fingerprint off.

This is what this is for. You asked for a strong lead, you got one.

One thing about Hot Take a Palooza is that it is a safe space. I can start my clock. One thing about Hot Take a Palooza is that it is a safe space. You will not be held against what you say here today. People may castize you for a little bit, but in the long term, it is okay.

It's supposed to be spicy.

It's supposed to be spicy. That's the whole idea. When it comes to spice, there's an old phrase that they have going around. Some people say it. You can catch more bees with honey than with spice. That's what they often say.

With spice, hey? I don't know if that's what they say.

I don't think that's it. If you want to catch a bee, don't use Tabasco.

Cover yourself in honey.

That's what they said.

It's like my personal friend, Nicolas Cage said, not the bees.

Who's next, by the way?

I am, and I'm going.

All right, let's go.

I think we should all be nicer to professional athletes.

Jesse, my whole business model is shot.

We need to be kinder to professional athletes. That's what I'm starting with today. I get you're a fan. I get you want to go on Twitter and chastise these people. But do you not think as a fan of the team, your team would perform better if you tried to catch them with honey instead of Tabasco. I think there should be a new way of thinking about athletes and professional sports. We should cheer on these people that we love. We should cheer on the people who are the reason that we have the sport. We go to the arena to watch these people. Why do we then go on Twitter and call them trash? Why do we sit in the arena after our fifth beer and boo these people?

Because we've just spent $150 on beer. To do what?

To watch that guy do his job? All they are doing there, I get they make a lot of money. They make a lot of money, so they should They should be okay with this stuff. Just because you make a lot of money does not mean you should be subjected to abuse. I'm not going to win a lot of fans with this because people think professional athletes are too coddled these days, and there's no criticism. I'm saying, yeah, there is too much criticism for these guys. I think the hot takery that goes on with these guys when it's like, Oh, Alexis Laffanier, fucking trash.

There it is. We found it. Someone inserted a New York ranger. That's right. And Jessie wasn't having it.

That guy, Alexis Laffanier, he's fucking awful. High draft pick. Steve, you're doing this new series called Dangle Data. You know how hard it is to be an NHL player?

Extremely difficult.

Just the idea that he was taken in the draft and has played a bunch of games in the NHL is impossible. It is an impossible feat to reach the league and then continue to be in the league. You want to sit at home and be like, You know what? That guy fucking sucks at hockey. No, you're an asshole.

You know what? Let's take it a step further. Why are we so hard on politicians, Jesse? We hire these people with our votes to run the country at him. You Adam. They're human beings. Every mistake is going to be perfect. Why would we criticize?

Adam, because at the end of the day, sports is sports. Politics has real-world consequences. I'm sorry that somebody He blew a tire in the neutral zone. There was a goal the other way. That doesn't mean he fucking sucks. He's still a great player. We should start encouraging our athletes. You know what? That was a tough play. I know that you are in the 10th% of humans to ever live to play this game. You worked hard all day. You trained, you went to bed on time. If you're John Tavares, you've never eaten anything bad in your entire life.

Same with politicians. They go to all those rallies. They give all those speeches to people they don't give a shit about. The politicians are a lot. They don't even get paid well, Jessie. They're in the top 10% of leaders of all time.

The President only makes $400,000. These are my five minutes. Politicians are dirty crooks. Politicians are dirty crooks, and professional athletes are trying hard. If somebody's just doing their best out there and a mistake happens, I'm sorry that you've never made a mistake in your entire life and that you are perfect, Mr. Perfect. I'm going to come to your job and boo you.

Presented by the liberal party of Canada.

There you go.

What else you guys got?

I like it.

I like it. Jesse, I like that. Here's what I need to know before we move forward.

Yeah. No, I got 20 seconds left for you guys to rebuttal.

No rebut.

What do you want? No rebut. No, tell me. Tell me we should boo these people because they're trying their best.

No, we should boo them in front of them. We definitely should. Everybody should praise Trudeau. That's the same thing. Including those guys. Including those guys that...

Being nice to Alexis Lafrenière is the same.