Dan’s Daily: ‘Stressful’ Deadline; Trouble in NJ; Penguins Firewagon

Much of the NHL news and chatter focused on the Pittsburgh Penguins Sunday. As the marquee game on Sunday afternoon, the Penguins and Toronto Maple Leafs gave their respective coaches a few gray hairs and played some sloppy track meet hockey, which Toronto won 6-5 in overtime. Erik Karlsson addressed his situation ahead of the NHL trade deadline. Also in the Daily, the swirling winds of the Brayden Schenn trade rumors might lead back to St. Louis, and there might be big trouble in little New Jersey.

It was fun to watch Sunday’s Penguins game, but my goodness, the Penguins’ mistakes are jaw-dropping.

I’ll call attention to our updated Kris Letang story. I think we’ll get more clarification this week (or maybe not). We were told that Letang felt he was referring to the team, not himself when he and I spoke after the game. The original story that he “didn’t close the door” on a trade was updated to reflect the changing understanding of his words.

Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to clarify with Kris in person this week.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Penguins trailed 2-0 before your nacho cheese was cold but rallied to lead 3-2. Then, two horrendous mistakes made it 4-3 within 50 seconds, including a goal with 0.1 seconds remaining in the second period. Oh, it was a wild one. Here is Dave Molinari’s Penguins recap.

The postgame analysis mingled with the locker room feature to create a bigger story. Erik Karlsson was again troublesome, and coach Mike Sullivan addressed the situation with rookie goalie Joel Blomqvist, who had a rough day. Go inside the Penguins locker room.

NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now

TSN: Winning can change a GM’s attitude pretty quickly. The flash of trade rumors surrounding Brayden Schenn is dying down quickly as the St. Louis Blues are back in the playoff chase. Also, the insiders say teams are calling Carolina about Mikko Rantanen. So, here ya go.

New Jersey Hockey Now: A WILD scene in New Jersey. Jack Hughes was injured, perhaps significantly. Coach Sheldon Keefe ejected. And the Vegas Golden Knights shut out the NJD. It’s suddenly a tense situation for the New Jersey Devils.

Our James Nichols dives right in. With Hughes’s injury, GM Tom Fitzgerald can’t sit quietly at the deadline. No, the Devils need to take a big swing on the NHL trade market.

More NHL trade speculation from Vegas. I love Hannah Kirkell’s passion for hockey. There was some speculation/chatter/projection that Brad Marchand could be a good trade fit for the VGK. So, Hannah put it on the operating table. Would Marchand fit, and what are the odds of a trade(?!) to the Vegas Golden Knights?

Sportsnet: I bet you didn’t know Wayne Gretzky called Max Domi to wish him a happy birthday and gave him a bit of advice that helped him against the Penguins.

Sadly, a big chunk of the Sportsnet story focuses on Trump. Why?! Yeah, Gretzky and Trump are friends. I have friends who thought Kamala Harris was too moderate and friends who think the government is using chemtrails to control us. Judge me on me, not the red hat friends, not the pride flag-waving friends. Although, as I think about it … I actually have friends!!

NYI Hockey Now: Our young writers are hitting their stride! Russ Macias puts the Islanders’ situation under the microscope. Too many blueliners and not enough salary cap space. So, three trade partners for the New York Islanders.

Florida Hockey Now: The Panthers traded Spencer Knight in the Seth Jones deal. OK, so what can Florida do in goal? It’s an important issue for the Florida Panthers.

Detroit Hockey Now: If you missed it at the outdoor game Saturday between Columbus and Detroit, even Detroit wore Johnny Gaudreau jerseys on their walk to the Stadium. It was a wonderful touch by the Detroit Red Wings.