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Dan’s Daily: Teams Chase E. Pettersson; Penguins Crater; MTL Media Wants Crosby

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The NHL trade winds are blowing, and the Vancouver Canucks might not be thrilled with the direction. Reports indicate the New York Rangers are the only team in the J.T. Miller sweepstakes, but surprisingly, the Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes are greatly interested in Elias Pettersson. The Colorado Avalanche locker room is still shocked after the Mikko Rantanen trade. Perhaps we should not be shocked that the Montreal media, including the paper of record, had pieces this weekend campaigning for Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes to aggressively pursue a trade for Sidney Crosby while the Penguins are committing atrocities against their playoff fate.
I am still finalizing the column that will appear later this morning. It will be direct, not kind or pretty. The Penguins are off today, but I’m not. In fact, I might do some video and a second column. I have two primary thoughts on the current state and future possibilities.
On the plus side, the hockey gods and travel gods were quite kind to me yesterday. After the first week of this trip, I wondered if I was cursed, but yesterday’s gamble paid off. My flight was at 5:50 p.m. following a 1 p.m. game, and the Seattle airport is a 30-minute ride. Yeah, things could have been dramatic, but they were shockingly smooth. I apologize for my Penguins report card being hours late. The smaller aircraft did not have acceptable WiFi. So, I’ll make up for it all today.
Also, a little side note. The Hockey Now group is looking for some expertise on the venture capital side (pitch decks, meetings, et al.). We’ve been approached a few times over the last two years, and we danced with the wrong people last spring before nixing their (condescending) offer without hesitation. We’ll be interviewing candidates to join the fold for 2025, as I can see things are turning in our favor after the assault from the national magazine failed and the tech giants tried to scrub independent media from the internet. We hung in there, and now we get to punch back. If you’re such a candidate or do VC materials, reach out to me.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Evgeni Malkin was injured Saturday, but the team remained sleepy in Seattle. In case you missed the game and wondered what happened, here are the gory details in the Penguins recap.
The report card. It is more of a signpost than a game analysis. Equal parts scathing, realistic, and looking forward, with some player grades included. It’s almost over. Here’s the bareknuckled Penguins analysis.
PHN+: Saturday morning, the Penguins caused a stir by sending Owen Pickering back to the AHL as they called up Boko Imama. The Penguins needed a forward, and Pickering was the only one who didn’t need to clear waivers, but it was more than that. Coach Mike Sullivan pulled back the curtain Friday, and we updated the story with more details on Saturday. Why did they do it? Here’s the deal on the Pickering move.
I’d love it if you could join this party. While most other outlets are pulling back and not traveling, we’re full steam ahead, but we need you on board. Give me 40 bucks, and I’ll give you the best effort I’ve got and the best team for Penguins coverage I can (Dave and Shelly, eh?), ad-free and with exclusive content. Join PHN+ here.
NHL Trade Chatter, News, & National Hockey Now
Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC): Some tidbits on the rest of the league, but color me surprised on the main idea in the Headlines segment. The Buffalo Sabres have joined the fray and are making a push to acquire Elias Pettersson. It sounds like Carolina was close on him. Maybe they still are? Elliotte Friedman brought the goods.
Vancouver Province: If Vancouver trades J.T. Miller, it seems there is one interested team: New York. As Patrick Johnson writes, that’s why New York lowballed Vancouver with their offer. It’s a fluid situation but it’s not working for anyone.
Colorado Hockey Now: The locker room was crushed following the Rantanen trade. Even the typically stoic, if not surly Nathan MacKinnon was raw. The comments were genuine. Aarif Deen takes us inside the Colorado Avalanche locker room.
Montreal Gazette: OK, here we go. It’s out there. The Canadian media really wants it. Global News broke the ice, and then the Montreal Gazette went there, too. The Canadian and Canadiens media want GM Kent Hughes to make the ultimate splash–a Sidney Crosby trade. Hey, we know it’s not happening, but they can dream.
Detroit Hockey Now: One month into the sea change in Detroit, and the Winged Wheels are playing Journey tunes–Don’t stop believing. New coach Todd McClellan has the boys believing, and it’s a big turnaround for the Detroit Red Wings.
Vegas Hockey Now: Even the good teams seemed to struggle with this cockamamie schedule in January. Things got cold, really, really cold for the Vegas Golden Knights.