Dan’s Daily: Stanley Cup Schedule, Bill Guerin Begins Talks for Eichel

Go big or go home. Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin has reportedly opened talks with the Buffalo Sabres for Jack Eichel, who is easily the biggest get on the NHL trade market in several years. Everything we knew of Guerin’s time in Pittsburgh told us he would be a shrewd and fearless GM. The Chicago Blackhawks abuse scandal is only getting worse, the New York Islanders fans went old school and greeted the Islanders team plane as it returned from Tampa, and our Vegas crew looks at how the Golden Knights can snag Eichel, too.

My apologies for the lack of Pittsburgh Penguins news, columns, or analysis on Saturday. Sometimes, you just need to walk away from the keyboard for a day, and my motorcycle was getting a little bit dusty… Those rides also give me time to think, and I have a few columns coming (though I see someone beat me to the full-blown Marc-Andre Fleury column that I hinted at yesterday morning), and there is plenty of NHL trade scuttle…

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: We’ve made the article free for everyone. — We had NHL scouts break down several third and fourth line centers, including Derrick Brassard and Travis Zajac, just in case the Seattle Kraken like Teddy Blueger in the expansion draft. 

NHL Trade Chatter

The Athletic: Michael Russo reports the Minnesota Wild has opened trade talks with the Buffalo Sabres for Jack Eichel. 

Vegas: Our scribe in Vegas, Tom Callahan, laid out the math and the NEED for the Vegas Golden Knights to hit the NHL trade market and go after…Jack Eichel, too. 

Philly: Could Philadelphia Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher revisit his interest in Arizona Coyotes’ defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson?

NHL News & National Hockey Now Network

NHL.com: The Stanley Cup Schedule and TV schedule, too.

TSN: That Chicago Blackhawks abuse/harassment/sexual assault scandal is not going away. Another day, another damning news item on the coverup. Former NHL head coach and Chicago assistant came forward to confirm the Blackhawks management met to discuss how to deal with the scandal after first learning about it in 2010. 

I hate to see anyone fired for actions 11 years ago…but I don’t see how GM Stan Bowman survives this. You have to turn the matter over to the authorities. You just do. This was years AFTER the Penn State scandal. The lesson should have been learned.

NY Post: The New York Islanders can’t get over the ECF or Semifinal hump. Larry Brooks lays out what the Islanders must do, and part of that analysis includes the NHL trade market, and part of it includes–less rigid defense. 

NYI Hockey Now: Fans went old-school. Fans lined up outside the fence at the airport in Farmingdale and greeted the team at the airport. 

Remember when thousands of Penguins fans filled the Pittsburgh airport to greet the Penguins with their first Stanley Cup? Good times. Different world. Better world.

Washington: Top prospect Connor McMichael is on his way. Our newest beat writer (and emerging rock star), Sammi Silber, featured the next Capitals pivot with a never-before-published one-on-one interview.