Dan’s Daily: Pending Penguins Decisions, 5 Teams Lurking

It’s the Pittsburgh Penguins’ turn at the arbiter’s table this week, and we took a swing at what Drew O’Connor is worth. There have been some hefty arbitration asks as players went heavy on salary asks. Following the coming salary cap decisions, the Penguins have a decision to make on Jake Guentzel. The NHL trade chatter has gone cold, but five teams have big decisions still pending, and Lane Hutson scored a ridiculous goal at the Team USA showcase.

First, a huge thank you. The Sports Now Group PGH hit a nifty milestone yesterday. Our Pirates, Steelers, and Penguins coverage achieved three million views. That makes us the largest independent, professional media outlet in town, and it’s a huge number!

I specifically used the word professional because we don’t hire a group of folks who want to be writers and tell them to “aggregate” or rewrite other outlets’ stories. Sports Now Group is a professional outlet with some of the best reporters in the business doing original work, and I hope you’ll continue to reward us for that.

We’re busting our tails with two reporters at Steelers training camp. Alan Saunders and Nick Farabaugh are in Latrobe, and we recently promoted Nick to a full-time salary to join Alan as a daily beat writer. Our Pirates site had its best-ever month, and we’ve promoted Danny Demelio to a full-time beat writer, pairing his work with John Perrotto.

Thank you for your support. While the industry is shrinking and struggling, we’re growing. We’ve got one more announcement coming later this week…

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Dave Molinari put pen to paper. With arbitration looming, what is Drew O’Connor worth?

I chose the bigger topic. The clock already started on a new deal for Jake Guentzel. What is his market value, and should the Penguins sign or trade him? In full disclosure, after getting to the end of my column, I had to rewrite it because my facts shoved me to a different conclusion. See what you think — Penguins analysis.

WATCH: Also, if you missed it, you can watch us on WPXI’s Final Word, dishing some Steelers, Pirates, and even one Penguins opinion.

The barber in Wellsboro cut my hair so short that what you see is three weeks of growth. I don’t have great hair, but the dude basically buzzed me!

Steelers NOW!

Alex Highsmith, who wants the Penguins to acquire Erik Karlsson, taught Broderick Jones his first Steelers training camp lesson.

The team hosted four running backs for tryouts on Monday. The latest Steelers news.

The five winners from the first week of Pittsburgh Steelers camp.

Podcast: The Afternoon Drive with Alan Saunders and Zachary Smith. The good and bad of Kenny Pickett.

Pittsburgh Baseball NOW!

Today is the MLB trade deadline day. PBN is going to be all over it!

Tsung Che-Cheng went yard in Altoona, and the prospects are percolating. Get the latest Pirates’ prospects watch.

Ben Cherrington dished a Jose Contreras update.

NHL Trade Talk, News & National Hockey Now:

Montreal Hockey Now: I follow Lane Hutson a little more closely because he was “my pick” in the 2022 NHL Draft. Teams will regret passing on him. Watch this sick goal (one on four) in the USA showcase by the Montreal Canadiens prospect.

TSN: Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin and goalie Filip Gustavsson to a three-year deal, avoiding arbitration.

Gustavsson had a huge turnaround year. His save percentages and performances in Ottawa were subpar. Goalies. Sometimes the switch flips, and they’re a different player.

ESPN: There are five teams with moves to make, from Calgary to Minnesota, and some defensemen dominating NHL trade rumors in San Jose. On the news front, there are five teams still lurking.

Philly Hockey How: We annoying journalists always ask questions, but from John Tortorella to Daniel Briere, our Chuck Bausman looked at the five questions we haven’t asked about the Philadelphia Flyers.

Boston Hockey Now: Here’s the new question in Boston. What would Patrice Bergeron do?

Colorado Hockey Now: How good is Nathan MacKinnon? He’s not just eating up power-play points. The Nova Scotia boy is dominating … DOMINATING at 5v5 for the Colorado Avalanche.

Detroit Hockey Now: I’m just not sure how good of a job Steve Yzerman is doing in Detroit. The Detroit Red Wings goaltending ranks fifth in the Atlantic.

Florida Hockey Now: A little revenge, I suppose. The Florida Panthers lost the Stanley Cup Final, but the Golden Knights’ win cost the Vegas sportsbooks billions of dollars.

I miss Vegas. It’s an addictive city (that fits my night owl habits too well).

Vegas Hockey Now: Speaking of Vegas, our Chris Gawlik is setting up for the Cup defense. The biggest storylines that await the Vegas Golden Knights.

Our network has two writers without previous beat writer experience. Chris was a local podcaster who played the game and demonstrated a pretty good feel for covering hockey. After a few misfires in June, I hired him as we talked hockey over coffee at The Orleans. He has “it,” and he’s doing a great job learning under the tutelage of Shelly Anderson (who is doing a great job teaching).

I made the graphic at 5 p.m. We hit 3 million by 7 p.m. Thanks for three million!

They told me it couldn't be done…
They told us we'd go away…
"They" said a lot of stupid things.

Professional sports reporters. Daily coverage.

And we just keep growing… Sports Now Group! Going to hit 3 million views this month.
THANK YOU! pic.twitter.com/YssRHzrGcG

— Dan Kingerski (@TheDanKingerski) July 31, 2023