Dan’s Daily: Penguins Trade Options; How Cup Contenders Retooled

The waiting is the hardest part. The opening puck drop of the Stanley Cup Final is still more than 48 hours away, but we’re dissecting how the Cup finalists retooled after last year’s dramatic battle. It is quite remarkable that we’re not seeing tired legs. As the NHL trade boards hit screens across the hockey world, we went shopping. The Pittsburgh Penguins’ trade options are much better than last summer, and we laid out the potentials from the RFA and salary dump categories. The Vegas Golden Knights could be active on the NHL trade market over the next month as they try to refresh a talented but sagging roster. And in the lull before the Stanley Cup Final, there is some Connor-McDavid-dreaming in both Toronto and New York.

I don’t know what it is about Monday morning. We work seven days a week here, but Monday morning is the hardest to get off the mat. In the nine minutes of the snooze alarm (why don’t iPhones give you a longer snooze?!), I dreamed that Evgeni Malkin and I were in an argument, and he was yelling–Go, write!

I suppose we don’t need Sigmund Freud to decipher that one, eh? I also want to commend our Vegas beat writer, Hannah Kirkell. Many of you know her from her time in Pittsburgh. We were allowing her to learn and grow into the role remotely, with a bit of guidance along the way. But she visited Las Vegas. Loved the city. She found a place yesterday and will be moving there to be boots on the ground, leading our VGK coverage. It’s so much fun to work with people who love this game and coverage like I do. Hannah is still a newbie in this part of the industry, but she’s going to be a rock star. I promise. Follow her on X, here.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: With all of the trade boards dropping over the last few days, we have some good external opinions on who is available and put those names through the Penguins’ filter. From the RFAs available via trade and a few salary dumps, here are the Penguins’ trade potentials.

Steelers Now: We hear the opinion frequently. Ride it out with Mason Rudolph this season, then snag one of the top quarterbacks in the draft next season. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy, right? Derrick Bell follows through on that idea and projects the QBs that the Steelers could draft.

Pittsburgh Baseball Now: The Buccos couldn’t hang on to a lead (it seems I type that sentence three times a week). However, Andrew McCutchen tied one of Roberto Clemente’s records. Intern Sean McQuillan got the postgame assignment Sunday, and here’s the Pirates recap.

NHL Rumors, News, & National Hockey Now

Forever Blueshirts: Jim Cerny has taken in all of the information about Mike Sullivan, all of the chatter, the criticism, and misconceptions. There is one aspect in which Sullivan will need to prove his critics wrong in order to be successful with the New York Rangers.

Vegas Hockey Now: Viva, viva, Las Vegas! GM Kelly McCrimmon is a dispassionate surgeon when it comes to building and rebuilding his rosters. And we know that Mitch Marner is interested in going to the desert. Kirkell used her time in Vegas to look at the three most likely Golden Knights trade bait.

Toronto Star: If McDavid wins the Stanley Cup, what are the chances he decides to come home and help the long-suffering Toronto Maple Leafs end their Cup drought, too?

NY Post: Larry Brooks openly opines that McDavid could follow Mark Messier’s and Wayne Gretzky’s path to the New York Rangers. Sure, next summer, McDavid could bolt the cold, snowy Edmonton for the bright lights of the Big Apple just like Wayne and Mess, right? Is it really possible?

TSN: The Memorial Cup is a beaut. For you diehards, I strongly recommend adding the Beanpot and the Memorial Cup to your hockey bucket lists. London, led by Easton Cowan (drafted at the end of the first round by Toronto when led by Wes Clark) and run by former Washington Capitals pest Dale Hunter, won their third Cup. Here are the highlights and big names to know.

Clark is now the Penguins’ vice president of player personnel.

Sportsnet: Here’s the question everyone asks, every year, but this time it’s quite important as both teams in the Stanley Cup Final are defending conference champs. Here’s how the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers retooled.

I do love Las Vegas and am jealous of Hannah! Also–here’s a little throwback. Today is the fourth anniversary of my trip to Las Vegas when I rented a motorcycle and rode up to Area 51. I picked the very wrong day, but I had the reservations made weeks in advance, and I’m always up for an unwinnable Dan vs. the world challenge.

It was 120 degrees in Vegas and over 125 in the desert, yet I made the five-hour round-trip north into the empty desert. I had unmarked government SUVs trailing me for the last 50 or so miles; they had to think I was nuts, or up to no good. I stopped for a beer and meatloaf at the famous Little Ale’ Inn (say it fast and it’s pronounced alien) in Rachel, just a few miles from Area 51, found the infamous mailbox, the front gate, and turned for home.

The scenery defies description as beautiful snowcapped mountains adorn one side of the highway. Desert mountains stand ominously on the other. I felt the rumble of being buzzed by fighter jets as I navigated the winding mountain roads at 2000 feet that led down into Rachel. I could only hear and feel the jets. Free-range cattle were wandering the desolate highways, but heat eventually won out, and–now that the statute of limitations has expired–I can admit that I made that Harley go as fast as it could in fear that I would pass out and die in the middle of the desert.

I ripped the melting asphalt roads with nothing in sight at 120mph as my field of vision narrowed, blackness crept from the periphery. My thoughts were racing, wondering if I should dump the bike and lie under one of the rare trees at one of the small ranches that occasionally dotted the landscape. Fortunately, I reached a small town about 40 miles out of Vegas and had a moment to reset. Here are a couple of photos, but the last one was a selfie after some shocked looks from customers and a couple of Gatorades.