Dan’s Daily: NHL Trade Frenzy; Penguins Revenge; Matt Murray Comeback

The NHL holiday roster freeze begins tonight, so teams got moving Wednesday night. The NHL trade chatter exploded with three trades, including the Pittsburgh Penguins bringing back P.O Joseph. The New York Rangers wasted no time trading disgruntled winger Kaapo Kakko after he popped off earlier this week. Montreal and Nashville swapped right-handed defensemen, and four players hit the waiver wire Wednesday afternoon.

Elsewhere in the Daily, will the New York Islanders be buyers or sellers after the break? Matt Murray–remember him?–was brilliant in his return to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. And Patrik Laine is having big-time effects on the rest of the Montreal Canadiens lineup.

I’m off to Nashville in a few hours. Staying at the airport. Taking a bus to and from the game. I’m avoiding Broadway for all I’m worth. I’m also going to shake the can a little bit here. The next three road trips are pretty severe in terms of cost. PHN is beginning to thrive once again after weathering the Google storm that wiped out untold numbers of independent and small publishers, but we’re playing catch up.

I’d love for you to join this rock ‘n roll party and subscribe to PHN+. Get an ad-free experience and exclusive content. Use code Dan10 to save $10, too. Join PHN+ here.

Pittsburgh Penguins

PHN+: Next up, the revenge game! Both Cody Glass and Philip Tomasino had a chuckle over my question phrasing–calling it a revenge game–but there’s no doubt both of them would REALLY like to pot a goal or three tonight. So, will Glass hit his friends harder? Is Tomasino feeling a little extra pressure to show off? Hey, I asked directly inside the Penguins locker room.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Three Penguins prospects will play in the World Juniors. In fact, the Penguins may have gotten a steal in the second round of the 2024 NHL Draft; Hockey Canada did not invite several top 10 picks to Team Canada’s World Juniors camp, but one of the Penguins’ second-rounders made the team and will play for Team Canada.

I think both second-round picks would be on Team Canada if Harrison Brunicke were healthy, but that’s a matter of speculation.

OK, admit it. When coach Mike Sullivan paired the odd couple of Matt Grzelcyk and Erik Karlsson Tuesday night, you expected the worst (and some of you hoped for the worst?). However, they got off to a pretty good start on the Penguins’ blue line.

And the Penguins made their “big” trade Wednesday night, bringing back P.O Joseph. PHN was one of five outlets that participated in the group email with Kyle Dubas. The Penguins president of hockey operations/GM explained the trade and what he sees in the future. We added the full Penguins analysis, too.

Steelers Now: Former Ravens CB Patrick Queen expects more than boos to rain down from the cheap seats when the Baltimore Ravens host the Pittsburgh Steelers.

And T.J. Watt took a step forward in his injury rehab–Steelers News.

NHL Trades, News, & National Hockey Now

Forever Blueshirts: Kakko bluntly critiqued his coach’s decision to make him a healthy scratch and indirectly ripped teammates by saying he “wasn’t the worst.” Rangers GM Chris Drury sent him off for a tidy care package from the Seattle Kraken. Jim Cerny has the full details of the shockingly quick but not-so-shocking Rangers trade.

Montreal Hockey Now: It was a swap of righty defensemen (that PHN thought could benefit the Penguins). Marc Dumont has the details and the analysis–Instead of trading the d-men for assets, the Nashville Predators and Montreal Canadiens made a trade.

NY Post: Should the NY Islanders become sellers before the NHL trade deadline on March 7? Ethan Sears says yes and reads from the Penguins’ Fan Handbook. He cited the aging core, the fact that they haven’t won a playoff series since 2021, and the undesirable possibility of losing a Round One playoff series.

Well, if we’re not going to win the Stanley Cup, blow it up! Yeah, that’s not business thinking, but it’s now pervasive in every corner of the league. The Florida Panthers are a great counterargument. Instead of going nuclear, Bill Zito got surgical (and got some pretty good luck with Matthew Tkachuk).

I could make a few more, but … moving on.

TSN: I wondered if the Penguins would make a claim, but Dubas traded for Joseph instead. Four players, including a few defensemen, hit the waiver wire Wednesday.

Sportsnet: Matt Murray could be an NHL option for the Toronto Maple Leafs very soon. He pitched a shutout against the WBS Penguins Wednesday in his first start in Wilkes-Barre since 2016. He’s starting to round into form and could be in a Maple Leafs sweater soon.