Dan’s Daily: NHL Hoping for Jan. 1, Teams in Cap Hell

There are 10 teams in NHL salary cap hell, and the NHL GMs meeting provided more questions than answers. The world is still unsettled, even as we look forward. The NHL is trying to do the same, but next season is still being held captive by COVID-19, and we tried to figure out where the top UFA’s will land, but no one predicted the Pittsburgh Penguins.

There were a couple of roundtable predictions. The National Hockey Now family took a stab at where Mike Hoffman, Anthony Duclair, and Andreas Athanasiou, and more will land (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)

Matt Gajtka thinks the Penguins need an experienced backup goalie (PHN Video)

The unrestricted free agent market is getting clogged. Sportsnet listed the 10 teams in salary cap hell and how they may escape (Sportsnet)

Things are so bad around the NHL that the Penguins didn’t make the list. Seriously.

Jerseys are a hot topic. We’ve seen the rumored Penguins reverse retro jersey (blech), and the Boston Bruins may go back to the Gold Pooh Bear sweaters (Boston Hockey Now)

The Colorado Avalanche traded for Devan Toews — two second-round picks — but he still doesn’t have a contract. Why? (Colorado Hockey Now)

The NHL GM meetings raised more questions than answers. How will the NHL begin next season? WHEN will they begin? Some clues but no definites, yet (TSN)

New San Jose Sharks assistant coach Rocky Thompson has a strong view of analytics, “Leave analytics out of the locker room” (San Jose Hockey Now)

What about the Vegas Golden Knights blue line? Will Carl Dahlstrom, who was acquired in the Paul Statsny trade, get a spot? (Vegas Hockey Now)

The Florida Panthers shakeup continued… Assistant GM Eric Joyce bolted for Toronto as the Director of Strategy (Florida Hockey Now)

What the heck is a Director of Strategy?

Coming up later this morning, I’ll expound upon my somewhat cryptic tweets from Friday night. We’ve been gauging the temperature of the free-agent market. Not everyone around the league believes the Pittsburgh Penguins are done adding players. That’s at 10 a.m., so check back…