Dan’s Daily: Penguins GM, Panic in Toronto, Home Teams Lose Big

There is still more NHL trade talk coming out of Vancouver regarding J.T. Miller. Day 2 of the NHL playoffs was a savage beatdown of the home teams. Several not only lost but lost ugly, including the Toronto Maple Leafs, whose blowout loss has already touched off a panic in the hockey capital. The Winnipeg Jets carpet bombed the Vegas Golden Knights, the Rangers schooled the Devils, and just for fun, the Seattle Kraken upstarts delivered their best to the defending Stanley Cup champs.

It was also Day 2 of the NHN expansion and fortification effort. My eyes are sore, and my head is pounding another marathon day of job interviews and speaking with agents and hockey folks about the Penguins. I should thank our competition for copying our idea and trying to poach some of our writers. Their foray into our territory has only raised industry interest in us. It’s always annoying to have competition at this growth stage, but when they post pictures of “beat writers” wearing team jerseys, and we have a file on one of theirs simply bird-dogging us and copying our stories, I think we’ll be OK.

Pittsburgh Penguins / Steelers, Pirates (Sports Now Group)

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Shelly Anderson writes, OK, no matter what changes occur this summer, keep the Penguins core together.

Here’s the accumulation of a handful of conversations from around the league. Here are four potential Penguins GM candidates, including one who checks all the boxes.

I should have made that PHN+, but I wanted everyone to read it. I hope you’ll consider joining this merry band of rebels with PHN+. No ads, exclusive content.

And look at the content below you are a part of, too. We are REALLY hitting our stride.

Steelers Now:

Omar Khan is in beast mode.

Steelers Trade: the team paid peanuts to get WR Allen Robinson. Read all about it.

It’s back! The Heinz ketchup bottle is back at Acrisure Stadium.

Here is the final list of the Steelers pre-draft visits.

Pittsburgh Baseball Now

Pirates game recap: Jack Suwinski, or should we say Jack Sa-wing-ski! The Pirates scrapper led the comeback to another win over Colorado.

PBN+: From John Perrotto — Colin Holderman has impressive early season distinction. Pittsburgh Pirates dirt.

NHL Trade Talk, Playoffs, & National Hockey Now:

Where to begin?

The Athletic ($): It’s not or never? The NHL trade rumors surrounding J.T. Miller have been thick, and Thomas Drance looks at the situation. Does he stay, or does he go?

Sportsnet Calgary: The next GM of the Calgary Flames might be Craig Conroy. He quickly emerged as “the guy.”

TSN: There is angst in Toronto. After another solid regular season, after the good work of GM Kyle Dubas to fortify their depth, the Tampa Bay Lightning blew out Toronto in Game 1. Part of that was on the goalie, Ilya Samsonov, who said, “I played like sh*t”.

Sportsnet: Toronto fans are in a panic.

Vegas Hockey Now: The visiting Winnipeg Jets stumbled into the postseason, then took the Fortress in Game 1. I mean–they stormed the castle and took no prisoners. Vegas mistakes piled up. Here’s the lowdown and the postgame from the Vegas Golden Knights.

Vegas is a city of mistakes, isn’t it?

ESPN: Winnipeg Jets forward Morgan Barron took a skate to the face. After 75 stitches, he returned to the game?!

NHL.com: Adam Fox had four assists, and visiting New York reminded New Jersey it’s still … New Jersey, 5-1.

I feel like we should have a New Jersey Hockey Now soon. What say you?

Colorado Hockey Now: Rapid reaction and there was a LOT of reaction in Colorado after Seattle grabbed Game 1 with both hands. The score was close, but wow, Seattle is for real. Colorado Avalanche reaction.

Coach Jared Bednar is already talking about breaking up his star players. Nathan MacKinnon explained the loss from his side, too.