Dan’s Daily: Finally Carolina; Marchy Snacks; Penguins Coaching Board

It was a beautiful holiday, but the dedicated staff at PHN kept going over the three-day weekend. We laid out the chessboard that Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas is working with, including the targets and obstacles to filling the head coach position. There are some things most people haven’t considered. Elsewhere in the Daily, the Carolina Hurricanes finally ended their ECF futility, Brad Marchand had to admit his secret snack, TSN dropped their top 50 UFAs list, and the Vancouver Canucks postmortem with big names potentially on the NHL trade block.

Later this morning, I’m going to drop a little more intel on the Penguins’ coaching search. We’ve been conservative in terms of the amount of info we’ve put out–I’m more comfortable analyzing the situation than relying on what people are saying. As events reminded us during the Islanders GM search, things can change quickly, and even people on the inside can think one thing, but the decision maker’s gut is going a different direction.

However, as a little tease, I like the little nugget we were told. What, you thought I would get lazy, even on a holiday?

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Let’s have a bit of a conversation about how this coaching search will or could unfold. You may want to use some caution before getting emotionally invested in your favorite candidate. There might be a Mitch Love obstacle. As one reader pointed out, No. 3 is a must-read. So, here you go–three Penguins thoughts.

Sportsnet: I’ll put the 32 Thoughts podcast up here. At the very end of the pod, Elliotte Friedman gave his quick takes on the three remaining coaching searches, including who he thinks is lined up for the Penguins job.

Pittsburgh Baseball Now: The little offensive outburst didn’t last, and the goose eggs returned. But Braxton Ashcraft had a nice debut for your Pittsburgh Pirates.

Steelers Now: Today begins OTAs. The most overrated, overhyped, nearly irrelevant bit on the NFL schedule. But will we see a major surprise today? Three burning questions ahead of the Steelers’ OTAs.

NHL Trade Talk, News, & NHN

NHL.com: Stayin’ alive. For the first time in 16 years, and 15 Eastern Conference Final games, the Carolina Hurricanes finally won a game.

TSN: Here we go–the top 50 unrestricted free agents who are possibly available on July 1.

So, how does this work with Stuart Skinner? Not since Chris Osgood has a goalie been so beatable all season, but a brick wall deeper into the playoffs.

Sportsnet: Here is everything you may have thought about the Toronto Maple Leafs and 65 more random thoughts. Luke Fox emptied the cache with 67 random thoughts on the Maple Leafs.

The Province: After all of the drama and changes and more drama in Vancouver, can the Canucks attract free agents this summer? The Canucks have some real needs and could ship out players to fill those holes. Still, the easy way to strengthen the lineup is free agency, but there’s concern growing in the Pacific Northwest that UFAs will abandon the Canucks and stay away.

Vegas Hockey Now: Since Mitch Marner seems to be interested in Sin City, Hannah Kirkell puts the headline-making possibility on the operating table. Why Marner does and why he does not make sense for the Vegas Golden Knights.

Florida Hockey Now: Everybody was going nuts about Brad Marchand eating Dairy Queen during Game 3. Marchand clarified that he was not noshing on ice cream during the game. After all, he’s not Alex Ovechkin, eh? Here’s the real story of what Marchand eats during the Florida Panthers games.