Dan’s Daily: Another OTT Trade, the Best Penguins Story you Missed

Perhaps the NHL trade market will finally begin to move as the Ottawa Senators paid full market price for an experienced middle-six center. Ilya Kovalchuk is off the market, so too is another third-line center at a bargain-basement price. We have the first-annual PHN Pittsburgh Penguins poll results and a great Penguins story you probably missed.

First, the story you should have read but may have missed. Our Shelly Anderson went behind the scenes from some amazing moments involving Sidney Crosby, a life vest, and the Stanley Cup. And she shared Marc-Andre Fleury doing his best Chevy Chase impersonation (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)

We also have the results from the first-annual PHN Penguins poll. Most of you think the Penguins WILL make the playoffs but are not Stanley Cup contenders. You think Kasperi Kapanen will fill the net, but you’re pretty evenly split on if Mike Sullivan is safe. You’re also split if Mike Matheson will rebound with the Penguins, but the one thing everyone agrees is the Penguins bottom six is NOT good enough:

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The first big NHL trade in weeks went down as the Ottawa Senators snagged Derek Stepan from the Arizona Coyotes for a second-rounder (Sportsnet)

The Chicago Blackhawks inked Carl Soderberg, the Edmonton Oilers signed Slater Koekkoek, and Ilya Kovalchuk is headed back to Russia because he didn’t get NHL offers and all of the whirlwind free agent offers (TSN)

Just imagine AT&T Sports feuding with Comcast for 18 months. No Pittsburgh Penguins or Pirates on TV. Ok, maybe too many of us would no longer miss the Pirates, but imagine the wailing and gnashing of the teeth without Penguins games. That’s what Colorado Avalanche fans are dealing with (Colorado Hockey Now)

Fans in the stands? NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo is working with the Buffalo Bills to host 6500 fans in the playoffs. Fans would be tested before entering. Could the NHL teams follow? (NYI Hockey Now)

Poor Germany (that’s not a phrase you hear often, is it?). After being racked by COVID infections for the past couple of weeks, the Germans drew Team Canada for Game 2… (TSN WJC)

My old colleague David Alter is covering the WJCs for TSN. Give him a follow on Twitter.