Dan’s Daily: Carolina’s Offer Sheet Revenge; Blueger, Latvia in Olympic Qualifier Final

It is Day 24 since the Pittsburgh Penguins made any player news. Instead, the Carolina Hurricanes served their revenge on the Montreal Canadiens by dishing an offer sheet to Jesperi Kotkaniemi. They added a signing bonus that made clear this was revenge for two years ago. Sportsnet looked at the history of offer sheets, and for you fantasy players the Hockey News ranked the top 250 players.

And there’s an interesting goalie battle brewing in Florida, too.

For PHN readers, it’s a rare Sunday night UFC fight as Jake Paul is back in the octagon, and FanDuel is offering 30-1 odds on either fighter. 

NHL News & National Hockey Now

Baltic Times: The English is a little rough, but Pittsburgh Penguins center Teddy Blueger and Latvia are in the Olympic Qualifier Final vs. France on Sunday. Only the winner advances. 

News & Observer: The Carolina Hurricanes tendered Montreal Canadiens RFA Jesperi Kotkaniemi a $6.1 million offer sheet and made sure they let  Montreal GM Marc Bergevin know it was revenge for trying to sign Sebastian Aho two years ago. 

Carolina will lose their first and third-round picks if Montreal doesn’t match the offer. Just to make sure Montreal got the message, the Carolina Twitter account called it revenge. And–get this–Carolina built a $20 signing bonus into the deal. Aho’s number is 20…

I don’t know if Bergevin will match. $6.1 million is a lot of scratch. I loved how Kotkaniemi played against the Penguins and others in the 2020 playoff bubble, but $6 million for a kid who scored 20 points last season? I’ll take the picks.

Sportsnet: The history of RFA offer sheets is not long, but it’s usually dramatic when it happens. 

San Jose: PHN put Tomas Hertl on the list of centers who could hit the NHL trade market this season (and could be Pittsburgh Penguins targets) because of expiring contracts. Sheng Peng looks at the market and what salary Hertl could command. 

The Hockey News: Your fantasy hockey draft is probably coming up soon. Here are The Hockey News’ top 250 players. 

Vancouver: Rob Simpson had a chat with the well-connected Nick Kypreos, formerly of Hockey Night in Canada, who says sources indicate bridge deals are coming for Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes. 

Detroit: Jeff Blashill is one of the coaches on the hot seat this season. It’s been a long time since the Red Wings were relevant, but Blashill thinks they’re on the right path. 

NHL: Spencer Knight is the hot-shot young goalie who is ready before his time. Sergei Bobrovsky is a very well-paid veteran who needs a bounce-back year. The Florida Panthers goalie battle should be interesting. 

Some potential fallouts from the Carolina offer sheet should be fun for you and me to dissect. I’ll dive into those as well as some light Sidney Crosby news on the way…