2) Talk About Pittsburgh Penguins Prospects:
The great thing about casual NHL fans as a whole (if I may make a gross generalization) is that the majority of their hockey knowledge is pretty much whatever nonsensical and poorly researched topic the crew at NBC Sports (CBC Hockey Night in Canada for Canadians obviously) discussed on the broadcast that night. Due to their very limited ability to talk about things that aren’t in line with this narrative, if you can discuss anything outside of that, you can quickly prove you’re a real fan, and mentioning prospects is a great way to accomplish this relatively easily.
Examples you can use include “Daniel Sprong really lit up the Q last year, I wonder if he’ll get a shot with the big club, his release is quite impressive” or “Man, Teddy Blueger and Adam Johnson are really having a great training camp, I really like their hockey sense and fresh legs, I think they can do some big things” or even “Zach Aston-Reese reminds me of a young Chris Kunitz, I love how he gets into the corners and does the dirty work, really helps to open things up on the ice”.
Bonus: if its a serious hockey fan, you get to have a fun conversation about Penguins prospects, its a win-win!