Dan’s Daily: Possible USA vs Russia Series? MN Jealous; Penguins Go Flat

Well, there is a headline that I didn’t think I would write anytime soon, if ever. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have discussed a USA vs. Russia hockey series. Try to keep comments in good taste. We had quite a bit of Pittsburgh Penguins coverage Tuesday, from an in-depth look at a handful of restricted free agents to steal to the Penguins’ European vacation next November to their third-period splat against the New York Islanders.

Elsewhere in the Daily, players on the Minnesota Wild are admittedly jealous of the other teams that added talent at the trade deadline, Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas is likely to be named GM of Team Canada for the World Championships, and Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald pleaded with fellow GMs to make neck guards mandatory.

That Swedish trip might be interesting. What if the Penguins trade Erik Karlsson and Rickard Rakell in the meantime? I suspect there will be a lot of events to cover and important things to write about, so plan to be there, but that trip is probably going to impact next season’s travel budget. We may have to sacrifice something. I also had hopes of covering the Olympics, but I may have to make some adult choices because the Steelers are going to Ireland, as well.

We do well on the road, but expanding our readership is limited, especially if the Penguins are not playoff contenders next season.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Next November, the Penguins will spend a week abroad and play the Nashville Predators in Sweden. Here are the details we know about the Penguins trip.

You’ve been asking, so I started researching, writing, and writing a bit more. Here is our first look at five RFAs and their projected contracts for the Penguins to steal.

To the game, yuck. The Penguins looked like the Penguins of old, and that’s not a good thing. They squandered a two-goal lead and went flat in the third period against the Islanders. Here is Dave Molinari’s Penguins recap.

NYI Hockey Now: There is magic in the air on Long Island. The surging blue and orange scored four unanswered for the second straight game and completed the third-period comeback. Here’s the flip side–the New York Islanders win.

The report card is not kind. Before the third-period no-show, I already had a bad grade on several key players. It only got worse. The bad grades and the tactical breakdown led to the debacle, and we circled the one good performance. Check out the Penguins report card.

You can watch the raw locker room video of players trying to explain what happened, as well as my postgame analysis video from PPG Paints Arena on the PHN YouTube channel.

Also, we’re doing a Penguins live chat at 1:05 p.m. TODAY!

NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now

Sportsnet: The Kremlin seemed quite excited. Presumably, during negotiations moving toward peace talks to end the invasion of Ukraine, Trump and Putin discussed a USA vs. Russia hockey series.

Fine. If a hockey series is what helps end Russia’s invasion, then do it. But only if Ukraine is safe. And that’s all I got to say about that.

Also, Fitzgerald gave an emotional endorsement for the league to mandate neck guards moving forward. It sounds like his speech hit home.

The Athletic ($): The Minnesota Wild are jealous. Their rivals in the Western Conference stocked up at the NHL trade deadline, while Minnesota did not. Team leaders tried to tow the company line for Bill Guerin but publicly admitted frustration and disappointment.

The Province: Vancouver is still a soap opera. Brock Boeser? Elias Pettersson? Rick Tocchet’s contract? They’re trying to put the pieces together for a playoff run, but it’s a mess. Patrick Johnston tried to sort it out with some solutions to watch for this summer.

Montreal Hockey Now: Those meddling kids. A scrappy comeback win over the surging Ottawa Senators has put the Montreal Canadiens in a playoff spot. Here’s the recap and highlights of the Canadiens’ big win.