Dan’s Daily: Trade Chatter Heats Up; Penguins Lay Down

PHILADELPHIA — The Pittsburgh Penguins were beaten from pillar to post by the Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday night. There weren’t even angry scrums as the lifeless Penguins skated through a 6-1 loss. We’ve got both the recap and the downtrodden locker room scene, but there was, in fact, no reason to offer a report card in which the only grades would have been Fs. Elsewhere in the Daily, the Montreal Canadiens have put a high price tag on their players, the NHL trade chatter is heating up as Jordan Binnington’s name is out there, the Detroit Red Wings are suddenly in need, and is it also the end of the era in Boston?

I was delayed getting back to the hotel last night to do the postgame video Q&A because … the subway kept stalling. How does a subway stall? I don’t know, but it did. I cannot believe how poorly run the city of Philadelphia is, but I do love the food in this city. I’ll post the Q&A a bit later–it’s on our YouTube channel now.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Penguins didn’t have it from the start. They found a little something for only a moment, and then it was gone. Even Gritty struggled to liven up the dead arena until fans began to enjoy the absolute thrashing before them. It looked every bit like a white flag surrender for the Penguins’ season.

The locker room scene was interesting. You may have noticed me on TV interviewing Erik Karlsson—I’m not sure why, but it was just me and the cameras, so if you want to know how I roll with the players, we’ve got video evidence. From Karlsson trying to explain it to Alex Nedeljkovic blaming himself to coach Mike Sullivan rejecting Nedeljkovic’s blame and shredding the team’s effort, you can see the raw videos with the story in the Penguins locker room feature.

Also, the Penguins are just two points ahead of the Sabres for last in the East.

Philly Hockey Now: Will James has the flip side. The orange and black were pretty, pretty happy with themselves. Here’s the Flyers report card.

There was a Penguins player who had most likely gone through a good chewing in the coach’s office. He parted the arena folks and media in the hallway without so much of a glance. Just looked and walked slowly straight ahead–a few times. The Penguins’ core cleared out of the room quickly. I think the locker room videos will tell you what you need to know.

NHL Trade Chatter, News, & National Hockey Now

The Athletic ($): One of Team Canada’s heroes, Jordan Binnington, is on a sinking team trying to retool. The trade chatter is picking up as a few very good teams could use a good goalie. Will St. Louis move him? Will other teams bite? Such is the great trade debate in St. Louis.

TSN: I suppose you will find the parallels striking, though the Boston Bruins’ core has mostly retired. Are we seeing the end of the era in Boston?

Boston Hockey Now: The original six crew has a few trade chips, but no one is entirely sure which way the Bruins will go. This indecision is bugging me. So come on and let me know, should I stay or should I go? Andrew Fantucchio talked to the players on the block about dealing with the NHL trade deadline chatter.

AP: 12 to go. Alex Ovechkin has become a bloodhound chasing Wayne Gretzky’s goals record. Sportsnet even made a logo for the chase. The Great 8 scored again, and the Capitals won again.

New Jersey Hockey Now: The Montreal Canadiens don’t have top-end talent available on the trade block, but they do have some very good depth available. However, James Nichols reports that despite interest, Montreal is driving a hard bargain for the New Jersey Devils’ trade targets.

NYI Hockey Now: I guess there was something in the water. Simultaneously to my scathing postgame, Russel Macias had a nearly identical headline in New York, “Humiliation in Elmont. Surrender Flag Waved.” You may enjoy another team lying down against a rival, as the New York Islanders were squashed.

Detroit Hockey Now: Bad news for the Motown wild card chase. Center Andrew Copp is done for the season. So, our Detroit team quickly cobbled four centers for the Red Wings to target.