Dan’s Daily: Pietrangelo Visits Vegas, Big Names Off the UFA Board

Day 2 of the NHL free-agent frenzy was more fun than the methodical, low-priced slog of deals on Day 1. Star defenseman Alex Pietrangelo is touring Las Vegas, the Toronto Maple Leafs are again dispelling the notion of a restrictive salary cap as they retool on the fly, the Oilers filled their goalie need with a surprise return, and Pittsburgh native Brandon Saad was traded to the Colorado Avalanche.

And the Pittsburgh Penguins signed a couple of minor leaguers.

Last night, the hot story was Alex Pietrangelo, who was spurned by the St. Louis Blues when they signed defenseman Torey Krug on Friday night, visiting Las Vegas. (Vegas Hockey Now)

The Pittsburgh Penguins re-signed RFA forward Anthony Angello to a $1.45 million, two-year deal. The Penguins also added a third-string goalie with a little bit of NHL experience and a depth forward (Pittsburgh Hockey Now).

There were heavy NHL rumors that the Colorado Avalanche were kicking the tires on former Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall. Colorado surprised everyone on Saturday by visiting the NHL trade market instead. Brandon Saad is part of another loaded team (Colorado Hockey Now)

Since we’re on the National Hockey Now kick, Kevin Labanc signed for LaBucks. After giving San Jose a very, very, very team-friendly deal last summer (one-year, $1 million), San Jose dished a player-friendly player contract. (San Jose Hockey Now)

The Buffalo Sabres signed Brandon Montour to a one-year deal. Sam Reinhart and two others filed for arbitration (Buffalo News)

The Toronto Maple Leafs continued to stock up at everyone’s expense. They were briefly over the cap on Friday, but fixed that issue on Saturday and added more “presence” on the blue line (TSN)

The Detroit Red Wings signed RHD Troy Stecher to an easy, peasy, lemon squeezy two-year, $3.4 million deal. (Winging it in Motown)

The Edmonton Oilers are also doing a nice job in free agency unless you count re-signing goalie Mike Smith. Edmonton snagged Tyson Barrie off the NHL free agent pile, too. Barrie took MUCH less money to sign with Edmonton (NBC sports)

Steven Stamkos had core muscle surgery (Sportsnet)

In case you missed it, Jakob Markstrom signed in Calgary late Friday, too (Sportsnet)