Penguins Blog: The Blockbuster, Decoding Weekes’ Tweet, Sullivan Gets Real

SEATTLE — The figurative ground beneath the hockey world shook later Friday night as the NHL trade season began with a thunderous starter’s pistol when Colorado Avalanche and general manager Chris MacFarland moved boldly to extend their championship window, and the Carolina Hurricanes pushed their chips to the middle of the table in a loud declaration of “all in.” And yet, by the end of the night, Pittsburgh Penguins fans were the ones anxiously in a tizzy.

Elliotte Friedman and Pierre LeBrun have been not-so-subtly reporting that Colorado would decide on Mikko Rantanen’s future with the team based on his contract demands. A trade of the star winger was possible, but no one expected it in January.

Perhaps Carolina GM Eric Tulsky found Jim Rutherford’s playbook collecting dust on a shelf in the Hurricanes’ offices and got the jump on the NHL trade market. The complicated three-way trade featured Carolina getting Rantanen from Colorado and former Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall from the Chicago Blackhawks. Colorado’s trade haul for the pending UFA Rantanen was Martin Necas, Jack Drury, a second and fourth-round pick (2026). The kicker was Chicago held 50% of Rantanen’s salary.

The Blackhawks received only a third-round pick, and it all looked just like vintage Rutherford, except Tulsky is now the Carolina mastermind. Colorado Hockey Now has all of the Avalanche trade details and analysis.

If Carolina can re-sign Rantanen, they will be the power of the Metro Division, but they could use an A-level goalie. That’s all they’re missing for a Stanley Cup.

Shortly after that news broke, ESPN analyst Kevin Weekes dropped a teaser tweet with a photo of the city of Pittsburgh, surprised eyes, and tagged former Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Ranger Ryan Callahan in the tweet.

I do not know why an analyst would do that or what it means.

Last summer, Weekes did similar, and several days later, the Penguins parted ways with associate coach Todd Reirden. To the best of Pittsburgh Hockey Now’s knowledge, the Reirden move was not yet official last summer when Weekes tweeted, but it was being intently reviewed over those several days, and many felt it was headed that way.

PHN has no knowledge of Weekes’ tweet this time, but we understand the intense interest, especially combined with Daily Face-Off’s Frank Servalli’s cryptic tweet.

And… not sure how to process yet, but impeccable source said that this Rantanen deal was not the biggest thing on the table in the last 48 hours.

👀

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) January 25, 2025

Of course, the Sidney Crosby-Nathan MacKinnon connection was made by hopeful fans. I think we can let that rest, eh?

The best inside information that I can offer you is only tangential. If there was a coming blockbuster or the hockey equivalent of a nuclear explosion by trading one of the Penguins’ championship core, the locker room was unaware. There wasn’t a hint of tension or heaviness on Friday.

Anthony Beauvillier casually invited me to sit in Kevin Hayes’s locker stall so we could finish our interview while the equipment folks ushered away hockey bags in the small locker room of the Anaheim practice facility. Sidney Crosby joked with a colleague about not wearing his helmet during Thursday’s warmup. And Evgeni Malkin will be today’s guest on the Penguins’ radio pregame show. He taped a very rare one-on-one radio interview with color analyst Phil Bourque that had Bourquey beaming afterward.

It was business as usual in the locker room.

Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas is on the trip, per usual, and he’s not skulking around the rink as he did the night before waiving Tristan Jarry.

Take it for what you will. Yes, Penguins trades are coming, and it’s completely natural to tie the Penguins to the analysts’ vagueries. Or, you can have some fun with it all.

👀…👠 https://t.co/fCxkk6Ad1H

— Dan Kingerski (@TheDanKingerski) January 25, 2025

I tweeted several times with the eyes with different emojis, including a cowboy hat, an alien, and Groucho Marx. One studious reader ran all of my emoji tweets through AI to ascertain a hidden meaning and came up with a trade for Tyler Seguin. That was awesome … and scary.

Listen, kids, if I have real information, I will share it, and I won’t tease you with it. But I will tease you when you’re going nuts because it is way too much fun.

In all seriousness, I’ll play a little bit of a sleuth. Tampa Bay is traditionally active at the NHL trade deadline, and they could use an upgrade on the left side of their third pairing. Marcus Pettersson would be a great fit, but that’s purely conjecture. Tampa Bay is rolling with 23-year-old Emil Lilleberg on the third pairing.

Pettersson would be a better fit for a Stanley Cup contender, and Lilleberg is a pending RFA who is similar to a 23-year-old version of Pettersson but a bit heavier at 208 pounds.

Mike Sullivan

Hear me now, believe me later. Coach Mike Sullivan has been more forthcoming about players and needs in the last two weeks than I can ever remember, and I’ve been here for the duration.

He’s not been coarse or dramatic like his friend Philadelphia Flyers coach John Tortorella. Still, if you listen closely, Sullivan has recently been explaining why this or that player isn’t performing well or the shortcomings that players need to address.

The travel schedule got the better of me Friday, but I had planned a story about the rough go of the Penguins’ third pairing. I’d like to get it today, but here’s part of Sullivan’s quote on P.O Joseph:

“P.O is a good player. You know, his mobility is his biggest asset. He’s got a good stick, but he needs to add an element of physicality to his game,” Sullivan said. “It’s just essential in today’s game. (Being physical) is a fundamental aspect of playing defense. So, I think we can do a better job of just getting our eyes up and making sure that we’re not so mesmerized by the puck.”

Sullivan had more on Joseph and on Owen Pickering, who was perfectly honest without being hyper-critical. It will be an interesting, if not eye-opening, story that I’ll try to write on the Seattle light rail this morning.

Sullivan also had a carrot-and-stick answer for Anthony Beauvillier, which I highlighted in our practice story Friday.

“Bo uses his speed really well. He can challenge you with wide speed, and he is good on the forecheck and puck pursuit game,” Sullivan said. “He can force turnovers, and when he hangs onto pucks in the offensive zone and doesn’t throw them away, I think that’s a complementary skill set to (Sidney Crosby’s) game.”

Sullivan just got a lot more interesting.