Dan’s Daily: Sportsnet Hammers Penguins; Rookie Gets Starstruck

BUFFALO — The Pittsburgh Penguins training camp will indeed begin on Wednesday, a few days before the first preseason game on Saturday. We’ve got the full schedule, including the public practices. At least one Penguins rookie was a bit starstruck when he met one of his idols, Evgeni Malkin. Sportsnet is ticketing the Penguins for an extreme fall. Elsewhere in the Daily, the Flyers top rookies stole the show at Rookie camp, and an alarming new study by Columbia University showed that enforcers suffered significantly reduced life expectancy.

It’s a shame that Tanner Howe will not be participating in the Prospects Challenge. There were a handful of players that I really wanted to focus on, and he was definitely part of that group. So, we’ll focus on the other top prospects and look for a potential breakout or two.

Owen Pickering has a lot to show at this tournament. He’s had terrible injury luck thus far. He missed last year’s tourney and Penguins training camp, but at 20 years old, it’s go time. He’s such a genuine guy that you can’t help but root for him. I’m also eager to get a good look at Harrison Brunicke, Rutger McGroarty, and, of course, Sergei Murashov against external competition.

I’m happy to take suggestions, but I’ll make no promises. We’ll have many scouting reports and in-depth analyses from the tournament, which begins today at noon.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: No good. The Penguins’ drafting has been pretty awful for most of the last decade. The only draftee to play more than 50 games for the Penguins since 2015 is Valtteri Puustinen, who has played 53. When Sportsnet released their top 23 under 23, McGroarty was No. 23, but then the sad truth came to light. In 2022 and 2023, the team passed up SIX top prospects. Here’s the incredible accounting of the Penguins draft passes.

Here is the complete Penguins training camp schedule.

PHN+: The first of our subscription stories this weekend. Murashov got to meet Malkin, and his reaction was priceless. You can get the scoop on his new pads, Disney preference, and why he chose now to sign with the Penguins.

Use code Dan10 to get 10 bucks off PHN+.

Steelers Now: Sources tell Alan Saunders that the team is planning to start rookie Troy Fautuna this Sunday in Denver. And here is the latest update on quarterback Russel Wilson in the Steelers news.

Pittsburgh Baseball Now: It’s September, and there is space for more players to make their MLB debut. Here’s who could be on the way in the next few days. Check out the latest on the Pirates’ prospects.

NHL Rumors, News & National Hockey Now

Sportsnet: The power rankings were a bit surprising. Sportsnet is not bullish on the Penguins and hammered them in the first offseason power rankings. The Penguins are ranked behind the Columbus Blue Jackets, Chicago Blackhawks, and Anaheim Ducks. No kidding. The Penguins received no respect in the latest power rankings.

Bill Daly dropped a few golden nuggets during the NHL media tour in Las Vegas. In addition to opening the door to LTIR fixes, Daly expressed concern and hinted the league could have something to say about the recent trend of deferred money.

New Jersey Hockey Now: The swamp monsters’ bad luck is starting early. After enduring significant injuries to their star players last season, the team confirmed the photos from the Michigan football game on Saturday were authentic. The New Jersey Devils will be without Luke Hughes for a while.

Philly Hockey Now: In the words of Darth Vader, “Impressive.” Matvei Michkov and Jett Luchanko are the top prospects and they dominated the start of rookie camp. It was all good news for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Florida Hockey Now: Does the Sunshine State offer its teams an advantage? Yep. George Richards dives into the question and what it means for the Florida Panthers.

Edmonton Journal: Tony DeAngelo asked the Edmonton Oilers to offer him a PTO. It would make sense. They need a right-handed defenseman and DeAngleo was smiling because he is not left-handed. However, he asked, and the Oilers essentially said nope.

And this is the brutal story of the day. We’re sorry to lose Stephen Peat. I had not previously heard of this study, but on average fighters pass away 10 years earlier than other former NHL players. I think of the slew of minor-league pugilists who make a living that way, and it really needs to stop.

Horrible news.
A 2023 Columbia University study of 6,039 former NHL players since 1967 showed enforcers (50+ career fights) died on average a decade younger than their comparable peers.
Mean avg age of death for fighters was 47.5.
Avg age of death of control group was 57.7. https://t.co/dN2v8p5bcz

— Rick Westhead (@rwesthead) September 12, 2024

I’m a strong proponent of keeping fighting in the game. I firmly believe it reduces cheap shots and can cool the temperature when things get too hot (things that analytics and statistics cannot prove because they didn’t happen but are otherwise born of experience). However, in light of that study, the NHL, AHL, and ECHL need to put tight limits on the number of fights a player can engage in each season.