Dan’s Daily: Trade Requests, Edmonton Purge, & Penguins Changes

Oh, you’re going to react to the final story today. The Pittsburgh Penguins have made changes, and we put those under the microscope to see what’s working and one oddity that is worth watching. The Edmonton Oilers purged their coaches (again), a surly defenseman is on the NHL trade block, a Flyers legend passed away at 52, and a sandpaper Penguins defenseman who wanted to be traded is performing well for his new club.

I can’t wait to get moving today. I think the West Coast time trucked me on Sunday. I walked as far as the laundry room and back to the coach for a couple of naps, the Steelers game, and a handful of gummy bears for dinner. I prefer my gummy bears well-done.

I’m also looking forward to Penguins practice today. There should be some good conversations to have and some insights to glean.

Also, it’s now common knowledge that Noel Acciari’s nickname is Cookie. I thought you’d like to know.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Jaromir Jagr is coming home. California treated the Penguins very well, and they took care of business against the Buffalo Sabres, too. All of the stories and all of the goodies in the Penguins wrap.

Coach Mike Sullivan has made a few changes this season, and the team is evolving, or at least appears to be. Let’s put those changes under scrutiny and see how they’re working, as well as one potential change that might be yet to come. Some off-day Penguins analysis.

Steelers Now

Offensive coordinator Matt Canada planned to unlock the passing game, but Kenny Pickett had only 126 yards passing. Yep, the big plan to unlock the playbook hit a snag on Sunday. The Steelers analysis from Alan Saunders.

Here are the detailed Steelers takeaways.

Najee Harris said that’s it. What you saw on Sunday was the Steelers offense and identity.

Now, I don’t mean to offend people who consume amateur “media,” but honest to goodness, there are far too many people in the Steelers universe who aren’t media but claim to be or are outright amateurs with no accountability. The hot takes swung so wildly that if you tried to follow them, you might have whiplash, voices trying to be on the winning side and be louder.

NHL Trade Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now:

Sportsnet: Oh so many angles to the story. The Edmonton Oilers cleaned out the coaches’ offices and hired Connor McDavid’s former coach from the Erie Otters. We’ll go with Mark Spector’s takedown of the situation.

Calgary Flames defenseman Nikita Zadorov has requested a trade out of Calgary. The National Hockey Now family confirmed that Saturday night before the story went boom on Sunday.

Philly Hockey Now: The Flyers are having a better season than anticipated despite a blue line that isn’t always up to NHL standards. However, as Jonathan Bailey reports, the Flyers are on the shortlist of teams for Zadorov. The latest on the NHL trade rumors.

New Jersey Hockey Now: Our James Nichols was first on the story Saturday as sources told James that Zadorov would welcome a trade to New Jersey. Now we know the interest is mutual between the defenseman and the New Jersey Devils.

The Province: The Canucks were stuck with Tyler Myers, but that might be changing. After Vancouver acquired Mark Friedman from the Penguins for Jack Rathbone, Friedman has been a staple in the NHL lineup and is making Myers very expendable.