Dan’s Daily: Canadiens Deal Carey Price; RIP Ken Dryden; Best Penguins Trades
The hockey world paused late Friday and will pause again today as many awake to the news that legendary Montreal Canadiens goalie Ken Dryden passed away at the age of 78. Also in Montreal on Friday, the Habs traded Carey Price, but didn’t have to give up very much. On Pittsburgh Hockey Now, we recounted the best Pittsburgh Penguins trades of the Sidney Crosby era.
Elsewhere, the Calgary Flames signed their remaining RFA Conor Zary for three years, the New Jersey Devils gave PTOs to four players you’ll recognize, and Montreal completed the news hat trick when Lane Hutson’s dad popped off on social media regarding the Bill Guerin/Mike Sullivan Team USA snub.
I watched the Dexter season finale on Friday night. Don’t worry, no spoilers, but the season was incredible. They made the comfortable nostalgia interesting again, but sadly they chose to use the finale to set up Season 2 rather than really digging into a heavy character drama that could have played out. Given the season-long heavyweight performance by Peter Dinklage (who should be considered for an Emmy, it was that good), they missed a great opportunity for one last powerhouse episode. But a second season of Dexter isn’t the worst, and the setup for S2 looks like fun.
Also disappointingly, the writers wasted Uma Thurman this season. No easter eggs, no important dialogue, no fight sequences. Cmon, that’s Beatrix Kiddo! That was regrettable, but do me a favor: don’t put any spoilers in the comments.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Hockey Now: We’ve been through the worst trades of the Sidney Crosby era. And some awful ones sidetracked the team. Friday, we flipped the script and hit the five best Penguins trades.
Here is one spoiler, I planned to include the Rob Scuderi for Trevor Daley deal, but when I went through the last 20 years, trade by trade, I forgot how good one of Ray Shero’s deals was, and used that instead.
Also, if you have a young one who wants to play hockey, USA Hockey is offering a free day of hockey next Saturday. Four local rinks are participating, and here are the details.
Steelers Now: Alan Saunders makes a good point–this is the year the Steelers have to pick a lane for their future. Choose a path. No more straddling the fence, it’s time for the Steelers to decide.
NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now
Montreal Hockey Now: Let’s begin the national section with the passing of a legend, Ken Dryden.
Marc Dumont was all over the Montreal-Carey Price deal. After I saw the return, or rather the pittance Montreal had to give up to facilitate the trade, I quickly understood why San Jose got the contract. Here is the trade and the full Canadiens trade analysis.
San Jose Hockey Now: I love it when trades happen on the Hockey Now network. Sheng Peng answers the question: if they didn’t get much for it, why did the San Jose Sharks trade for Price?
NHLtraderumors.me: I like Dave Litman’s blogging. He does it right. He put together the full story after Lane Hutson’s dad popped off about the Team USA Olympic diss.
Bill Guerin and Mike Sullivan hate young players! Joking aside, USA Hockey does have a great crop of young defensemen, also including Luke Hughes, who will be watching on TV.
New Jersey Hockey Now: Four players you have heard of didn’t get contracts this summer, but signed the tryout deals. Turn it on, wind it up, blow it out, PTO with the New Jersey Devils.
Also from NJHN, Zach Bearman made his debut with the site and went hard to the net. There were no blockbusters this summer, but there are several players, and one specific team (*ahem), to target for a mid-season Devils trade.
Sportsnet: Conor Zary and the Calgary Flames agreed to a three-year deal at a fair salary, and one of the big three RFAs is finally off the board.
Luke Evangalista and Mason McTavish are left. Anaheim has been particularly frustrating–sign him to what he’s worth, or trade him. There’s no mystery here. Since the NHL got what it wanted with recent LTIR and cap fixes, perhaps in a few years, the CBA will fix the occasional indentured servitude of restricted free agents.
Categorized:Pittsburgh Penguins
I had the privilege of seeing Ken Dryden in his NHL debut in March of 1971 at the Civic Arena vs the Penguins. You could see from that first game he would be special. As great of a player, he was an even better person. RIP, Ken.