Dan’s Daily: The Penguins Future, Simon Leaves Worlds After Fighting Teammate

What will the Pittsburgh Penguins do? Whatever the Penguins management decides to do, it seems the players braced for goodbyes. The Carolina Hurricanes dished a little medicine back to the New York Rangers with a late tying goal and OT win. The Toronto Maple Leafs management will return despite a run of playoff failures, the NHL trade rumors are percolating, and the Battle of Alberta began with a wild skirmish.

The Flyers want Barry Trotz, and Dominik Simon left or was booted off the Czech national team after picking a fight with a teammate.

Dave Molinari took a swing at what the Penguins should do, and I took a swing at detecting what they would do.

It’s like Holmes and Watson. Or Monk and Sharona, I suppose. It’s a jungle out there.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Molinari laid it bare. The core had a brilliant run, but it should be over. The Pittsburgh Penguins’ future.

We’re not 100% clear if Evgeni Malkin said “I’m ready both ways,” or “I’m ready to go away.” Shelly Anderson and I were only a few feet away but disagreed. However, it meant the same thing in the context of the sentence. The players are bracing for the end, even if that’s not what they want. Penguins locker room.

Now we wait…

NHL Trade Chatter, News, & National Hockey Now:

These daily columns will get shorter and shorter for a while as the news calms before the storm in June.

Calgary: The clock struck 1986. We knew the Battle of Alberta had 31 years of backlog, but we didn’t expect complete chaos in Game 1. But it sure was fun if you watched. Calgary beat the Edmonton Oilers 9-6. Matthew Tkachuk had a hat trick. It was a wild win with bad goaltending and craziness for the Calgary Flames.

Sportsnet, Edmonton: Mark Spector didn’t hold back. He wrote–Unprepared from the puck drop, the Oilers embarrassed themselves.

NHL.com: Carolina scored late. And in OT vs. New York. Ian Cole?! scored the Game 1 game-winner.

Also, Paul Bissonnette has been slamming the Rangers and fans. Thought our readers who dealt with the influx of homogenous but obnoxious Rangers trolls last week would enjoy it.

Rangers fans cried so much that they’re now getting hand outs just like they needed all the calls in round 1 to advance. What a bunch of spoiled brats. Could this be any more pathetic? The answer is no. Just more of a reason to root for the Hurricanes. #LetsGoCanes #NotMyBeer https://t.co/8TjGd4jqef

— Paul Bissonnette (@BizNasty2point0) May 18, 2022

Montreal Hockey Now: What about Kevin Fiala? His name is popping up on the NHL trade block and are the Montreal Canadiens interested?

Vegas: Who could be the next head coach of the Vegas Golden Knights?

Boston: How much longer does Don Sweeney have left in Boston? The end of the line could be near for the Boston Bruins GM.

Philly: Sam Carchidi reports Barry Trotz will interview on Friday. The Philadelphia Flyers are very interested.

Washington: The tough part of the NHL season is being away from family. Ovi finally got back home; it was months away from his young family for Alex Ovechkin.

Detroit Hockey Now: Circle this one as a shocker. Dominik Simon left or was booted from the Czech National Team at the Worlds after picking a fight with teammate Filip Hronek. Here’s the complete and surprising story from our Detroit Red Wings sister site.