Dan’s Daily: Metro Fallout; Trade Rumors, Penguins Fans React

The pent-up energy and being forced to sit on their hands for a few weeks while the July 1 guillotine approached made Saturday in Las Vegas at the 2024 NHL Draft a free-for-all. We saw the first Pittsburgh Penguins trade since March. The Tampa Bay Lightning cleared cap space by trading Mikhail Serganchev, and rumors are connecting Jake Guentzel to Tampa Bay. The Metro fallout was significant as the Washington Capitals were busy bees with trades, the New York Rangers might say goodbye to Jacob Trouba, and Penguins fans were shouting displeasure at the weekend moves.

I have no idea how the NHL could stop these in-person drafts beginning next season. It was two days of holding on for dear life, chaos, and fun. Sphere wasn’t really equipped for 200 Wi-Fi-hogging media people, but the National Hockey Now crew having dinner at a casino cafe beside Macklin Celebrini was pretty funny. It was an honor showing our NHN newbies around the city–Andrew Fantucchio (Boston) and Jon Baily (Philly) are our youngsters and had never been. It was also funny as a couple of our new guys realized just how prestigious their job is when they were at the urinal beside a general manager.

No, I’m not telling the rest of that story or whose shoes got wet. I will tell you that even coach Mike Sullivan was in a joking mood, and the GMs were wheeling and dealing because they were together in the same room. The NHL trade rumors we heard were substantial. So, too, were the UFA rumors.

Watch Detroit Monday. It could be a “wow!” moment.

The NHL can and must reconsider the in-person drafts. There were over 14,000 people in Sphere–and very few Golden Knights fans. Below, that’s not a physical sign. We were in a digital fishbowl. A 360-degree digital LED screen.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Let’s start with the Kevin Hayes. He’s now a Penguins player a year after the Philadelphia Flyers salary dumped him on the St. Louis Blues, who affixed a second-rounder to make the controversial Penguins trade happen.

It surely sounds like P.O Joseph will become a free agent. The Penguins and Dubas could reverse course, but Dubas surprisingly pointed the arrow away from the young Penguins defenseman.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Okay, we have a lot to cover, including scouting reports on the draft picks and team news. Dubas tipped his hand, and an NHL GM photobombed my video Q&A. Only in Vegas, eh? Let’s begin with pick No. 44. The Penguins didn’t snag one of the offensive talents with a first-round grade but went with a big defenseman. Here’s the scoop on Harrison Brunicke.

I suspect a lot of you are going to like the Penguins’ second pick in the second round. An agitator who is shades of Brad Marchand. Will you be OK if your player licks an opponent? Here’s Tanner Howe scouting report.

The Penguins had four more picks in the draft between rounds four through seven. There might be a diamond in the rough, including one dynamic little player among the new Penguins prospects.

You asked. We answered. And an NHL GM decided to crash our video, probably without realizing it, but I staked out the back hallway at Encore first! From Kyle Dubas’s comments, the Draft to the Penguins trade, we tackled it in the latest Penguins Q&A.

Penguins fans were jacked up on Mountain Dew. The reaction to the Hayes trade was certainly varied.

TRADE: Kevin Hayes and 2025 2nd round pick to Penguins for future considerations.

Hayes has a $3.571 salary cap hit for two more years.

Umm, I suppose we’ll be talking about that one.

— Dan Kingerski (@TheDanKingerski) June 29, 2024

NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now

TSN: There were some big trades, most involving pick swapping, but Tampa Bay cleared space for Jake Guentzel, Dallas traded Chris Tanev to Toronto, New Jersey traded John Marino to Utah, Tampa Bay traded Mikhail Sergachev also to Utah, the Washington Capitals snagged a starting goalie, and even I needed the refresher to see all of the trades.

Here’s the Metro fallout.

Forever Blueshirts (A Rangers site run by former NYI play-by-play and NHL.com senior editor Jim Cerny): The Rangers are trying to move Trouba, who is “shocked, hurt.” It’s a mess with the New York Rangers.

Washington Post: Logan Thompson requested a trade from the Vegas Golden Knights. He was signing autographs in the arena’s concourse when the trade was announced. The Capitals got a heck of a goalie and made more trades at the Draft. They got better, and they set themselves up well in the retooling effort.

I wrote last month that the Capitals’ strategy has proven to be quite effective—more effective than the Penguins’. When former GMs Jim Rutherford and Ron Hextall traded away picks and prospects, the Capitals were far more conservative in that realm. The dichotomy should be studied in GM school—once you crest the peak after winning the Cup, start stockpiling.

Sportsnet: The Carolina Hurricanes are going to be decimated by free agency. Now they’ve traded Jake Guentzel’s rights to Tampa Bay. It’s just one of several free agents the Hurricanes are going to lose Monday.

Philly Hockey Now: The Flyers did pretty well at the 2024 NHL Draft. They acquired a plethora of picks that our colleague Jon Bailey praised: Flyers draft analysis. They’re also moving to buy out Cam Atkinson.

New Jersey Hockey Now: The Metro shuffle continued Saturday with a heavy-duty trade in Newark. New Jersey cut bait with young player Alexander Holtz and goalie Akira Schmid. Here’s the Golden Knights trade with the New Jersey Devils.

Sportsnet: It’s not Metro Division, but it’s Eastern Conference power. I think it’s the biggest trade of the weekend–the Dallas Stars traded Chris Tanev to the Toronto Maple Leafs. A perfect trade for Toronto.