Dan’s Daily: A Sidney Crosby-Inspired Prospect, Likely Overpaid UFAs

Happy 4th of July! The Tampa Bay Lightning made the first big salary dump of the offseason and got nothing in return for Ryan McDonagh except salary cap relief. We have the first wayward Stanley Cup story though it wasn’t the players’ doing. Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby and his charitable “learn to play” program will have its first player taken in the top five of the NHL draft. Some buyout candidates could help the Penguins, including an old friend who scored a Cup-winning goal.

The 4th of July is my favorite holiday. I rarely celebrate because work has always called, or my personal responsibilities lie elsewhere. Oh, and the time that an accident on the parkway east stopped traffic for an hour, combined with my son listening to the radio, drained our battery, and we sat for four hours waiting for a tow and could only hear the fireworks.

We’re an imperfect country of imperfect people, but our founding principles and contributions to humanity should be cherished, even through our imperfections. Our country is a reflection of ourselves, and we should strive to live up to those principles and protect them for all people.

To hockey…

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The NHL buyout window began on July 1, and presumably, GMs are gauging interest in the prime buyout candidates on the NHL trade market as they negotiate with their UFAs and RFAs. Some buyout candidates could help the Penguins, including a goalie and a crazy viking. Pittsburgh Penguins analysis.

Some housecleaning: The University of Minnesota is having a terrible offseason. Seven players entered the transfer portal, including Penguins 2021 second-round pick Tristan Broz (58th overall). He transferred to the U of Denver.

Sportsnet: A very young Logan Cooley was part of Sidney Crosby’s learn-to-play program. The Pittsburgh product is now 18 and draft eligible. Cooley will probably go top three at the draft this week, and Crosby has been an enormous influence.

Poor kid is going to have his big moment and then report to a college rink in the desert.

NHL Trade Talk, News & National Hockey Now

TSN: The first big salary dump on the NHL trade market. The salary cap forced Tampa Bay to dump Ryan McDonagh, and Nashville was only too happy to accept. Full details.

Sportsnet: As Jim Rutherford famously admitted, you pay the sticker price on the first day of free agency. Three players could be way overpaid on July 13, including Ryan Strome.

Montreal Hockey Now: Marco D’Amico is our rising draft expert. Our colleague is really demonstrating a love and expertise in covering the draft. Here are his final prospect rankings. The 2022 NHL Draft rankings.

Possible top pick Shane Wright and his family are dealing with intense media scrutiny and analysis. It’s caught his family by surprise, and it’s not always fun. Montreal Canadiens draft.

TSN: Here’s one kid that D’Amico really likes for the Penguins. Isaac Howard. TSN previewed the zippy scorer who could be a gem.

NHL.com: Our first wayward Stanley Cup story, but it doesn’t involve drunken players misplacing it. On the way to Gabriel Landeskog’s house.

Philly Hockey Now: Here you go, Penguins fans — Cursed! Sam Carchidi writes that despite landing John Tortorella, the offseason is cursed for the Philadelphia Flyers!

Washington Hockey Now: Sammi Silber has been following the arrest and detainment of Flyers prospect Ivan Fedotov, whose crime was attempting to come to North America to play hockey. Oops. First, he was arrested. Then was missing. Now he’s been sent to a place perhaps worse than Siberia –the Arctic. The Ivan Fedotov saga.

The Pittsburgh Penguins gave a second-round pick to Vegas in 2017 …

Vegas: Remember when GM George McPhee basically took all the draft picks as extortion payments for selecting or not selecting players? Owen Krepps looks at the draft history of those Vegas Golden Knights.