Dan’s Daily: NHL Coaching Rumors; Penguins Under the Knife

There was some heavy-duty Pittsburgh Penguins news Tuesday, from Kris Letang’s surgery to UK police extending their investigation into Adam Johnson’s death. The NHL rumors today involve the coaching carousel and who is the frontrunner in the open gigs. The Colorado Avalanche staved off elimination by rallying against the Dallas Stars, and Sportsnet cracked open a good look at the top 12 unrestricted free agents.

Among those top 12 UFAs, it almost seems a shame that as soon as the Florida Panthers get really good, a couple of their key pieces are up for huge raises. Of course, the tax man, or lack thereof, in Florida might help them keep the overall cost down.

Believe it or not, the press release about three Penguins players who had surgery contained some good news for the Penguins. The good news was that the players who didn’t need surgery were Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell.

Both were playing banged up for most of the season, which made Rust’s great season all the more impressive.

I think today is a motorcycle day, FINALLY. Dave Molinari has an interesting column publishing at 10:30 a.m., and I’ll figure out something else for the afternoon, perhaps from the coffee shop in Ohiopyle? Maybe East Nowhere, West Virginia?

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: I still have not seen the video, nor do I want to, but the UK police have seen it, and they’re extending the investigation into former Penguins forward Adam Johnson’s death in the British hockey league.

I can’t help but wonder if Canadian police would treat it differently. Is being unfamiliar with the game helping or hurting the investigation?

Three Penguins had surgeries, including Kris Letang. Penguins president of hockey operations/GM Kyle Dubas praised Letang for playing through the pain of several injuries. It also seems like Matt Nieto’s career might be in jeopardy after he underwent major surgery again. Here’s the full story on the Penguins injuries.

And here’s an interesting little tidbit: Dubas’s former agent is now the “top decision maker” with the Utah NHL team.

PHN Video: We did the live chat on Wednesday at noon. That’s again a weekly thing! We posted it on all three social media channels and had a whopping 650 concurrent viewers. Damn! YouTube is best to view it, as we talked through the Penguins core’s future, Brayden Yager’s NHL potential, possible trades, and a myriad of other topics. The questions were flying fast and furious for our Penguins live chat.

By the way–we acquired UtahHockeyNow.com and will be launching it soon. For now, the Utah page is labeled SLCHockeyNow.com. How did we not see “Utah” coming? We learned our lesson. We now own ALL possible Hockey Nows.

NHL Rumors, News & National Hockey Now

Sportsnet: The NHL rumor mill is also churning for the bench bosses. The coaching roundup includes the rumors, frontrunners, and candidates who might find a new job behind the bench. Here’s the latest on the five NHL openings.

Montreal Hockey Now: Ouch. There is one open GM position in the NHL, the Columbus Blue Jackets, and Marc Bergevin is believed to have been interviewed. No one knows Bergevin’s track record better and delivered a warning for the Columbus Blue Jackets: buyer beware of the former Montreal Canadiens GM.

New Jersey Hockey Now: The Devils’ coaching search is becoming a long and winding road. The team does not appear to be close to hiring its next coach. Here’s the New Jersey Devils‘ situation.

Boston Hockey Now: It was pretty funny. Both coaches were over the top, physically miming actions as they worked the refs in Game 5 between the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins. Now, the video of Bruins coach Jim Montgomery is going viral.

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan’s son-in-law is taking a bit of heat from the Bruins side for not doing enough in the Round Two series. Bruins color analyst Andy Brickley wants more from Charlie McAvoy.

Detroit Hockey Now: Add another team on the market for a goalie. Maybe. Villie Husso did not have a good season in net, and now the Detroit Red Wings have a problem.

Colorado Hockey Now: Our Evan Rawal hopped the plane to Dallas for Game 5 and will get to cover Game 6. Here’s the rapid reaction after the game — A solid rally led by the best defenseman in the game, Cale Makar, was enough for the Colorado Avalanche.

Evan is really coming into his own in these playoffs. He’s staking a claim for Avs fans as the daily must-read writer. Love to see it!

Nathan MacKinnon is playing mind games with Dallas now. Here’s the Avalanche locker room video.