Dan’s Daily: The Owners Caved, NHL Trade Talk Begins

The NHL Board of Governors will get an update on the status of the 2020-21 NHL season today at 4 p.m. By all accounts, the NHL caved on additional monetary concessions, and training camps will begin late this month or in early January. NHL trade talks are again percolating, and a sexual assault lawsuit challenged the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Tuesday was an awful day to be a reporter who covers the Penguins. For a mere 700 words on the Clark Donatelli sexual assault and Jarrod Skalde termination story/scandal/lawsuit, I spent the day on the phone speaking with colleagues, sources and fretting over the proper words.

Here is the story. (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)

It would be fair to say that at least one former member of the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey ops and one of Donatelli’s professional colleagues aggressively lept to his defense. Both contacted the Hockey Now network to be heard, but the legal and social ramifications would only exacerbate the situation without providing clarity. From here, PHN will report results, but we must let the process play out, and the lawyers and judges decide.

The NHL caved. It’s that simple. After wasting weeks, the owners decided they had an agreement in place, and the recently signed CBA will indeed be the economic framework. (Sportsnet)

The NHL will update their Board of Governors at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

On to the NHL Trade Talk!

Are the Vegas Golden Knights shopping Max Pacioretty? (TSN)

Also, in Vegas, the VGK owner, who has otherwise been right on his predictions, says the NHL season start may slip a week or two past Jan. 13 (Vegas Hockey Now)

Now that we’re moving towards a season, you can be sure that UFA and NHL trade talk will indeed pick up. THANK GOD!

Keep an eye on the rest of the young RFA defensemen. On Tuesday, the Philadelphia Flyers signed defenseman Phillipe Myers to a three-year deal (Broadstreet Hockey)

The San Jose Sharks may be forced out of San Jose during the pandemic because Santa Clara county banned all contact sports. Perhaps over to Oakland? (San Jose Hockey Now).