Dan’s Daily: Fair Offseason Grades; Last Possible Penguins’ Target
The Mouseketeer network dished offseason grades for all 32 NHL teams, and they were largely fair, if not conciliatory, to a few suffering fan bases. The Pittsburgh Penguins still have one major hole in their lineup, and if they plan to fill it, they are down to one free-agent possibility, and one is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do. The Florida Panthers’ names are now forever etched in silver as they toss the 35-pound chalice around the world in swimming pools and probably do a lot more unreported things to it. Montreal Canadiens fans voted on the state of the rebuild, and if you’re interested, the fight cards have been tallied, and a Metro Division team had the best winning percentage when the gloves came off.
It’s hard not to comment on what happened in our backyard on Saturday at the Trump rally. We set up our comments section to automatically block all political comments (we manually remove the ones that get past), and I abide by the same rules. I will admit with a bit of disgust that some of the things I saw from partisans on social media were truly appalling, fanatical, and/or lacked any humanity, which is a big part of the problem we’re in.
And that’s all I got to say about that.
Let’s get to something that unites us unequivocally. Hockey.
Also–all of the links now open on a new page! No more paging back to read the rest. I’ve done these for years and never thought to set it up differently. From now on, I will.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Hockey Now: General managers went wild on July 1 and 2, but now they’re pulling back and hunkering down for the 2024-25 NHL season. And then there was one possibility left for the local hockey team. It’s not Kailer Yamamoto. It’s not James van Riemsdyk. There remains one lonely free agent who could help the Penguins lineup.
Pittsburgh Baseball Now: Don’t look now. The Pirates are 2.5 out of a wild card and have won three in a row. Here’s how things went down for the underfunded but battling Pittsburgh Pirates Saturday.
The Pirates’ prospects are showing some power. Here’s the Pirates minor league report.
Steelers Now: Hey roadies who fill opposing stadiums and arenas. There are a few multi-sport road trips possible this year to see the Steelers and Penguins, including a November in Washington. Check out the possible Steelers road trips.
NHL Free Agency, News & National Hockey Now
ESPN+: Report cards on all 32 teams for their offseason work. ESPN was in the same ballpark as PHN for the Penguins grade, though they were slightly more generous while raising the question about coach Mike Sullivan. It’s report card time.
NHL.com: The Carolina Hurricanes have been rocked just a bit by the offseason and free agency period. The Penguins’ rival is resetting this summer, and here’s where they stand so far.
Montreal Hockey Now: It’s been an exciting rebuild in Montreal. Often, rebuilds get tedious and depressing, but it’s been a constant whirlwind of hirings and firings, free agents and retirements, rising rookies and slumping veterans. Our main man Marc Dumont put the question to the fans and here’s how they voted on the Montreal Canadiens rebuild.
Philly Hockey Now: The fight cards are in. How did the judges score the season of fights across the NHL? Metro Divison fans and teams may cringe, but here’s the scorecard — the best fighting team was indeed the Philadelphia Flyers.
Also from Philly, Jon Bailey looked at the RFAs on the market, much like I did earlier in the week. Except the Flyers are in a different boat than the Penguins, and there is one RFA offer sheet that could finish the Flyers rebuild.
New Jersey Hockey Now: It took about 30 seconds for bettors and hockey folks to start circling 2025 favorites for the Vezina Trophy. Jacob Markstrom in his new digs has vaulted toward the top of the list with the New Jersey Devils.
Florida Hockey Now: The names are in silver. For-evvvverr. Here are the names that made the cut and the new Stanley Cup ring for the Florida Panthers.
Categorized:Links NHL Free Agency Penguins
I really hope the pens are in on Morgan frost. One year left at 2.1, and he would be our best 3C since prime Jordan Staal, plus he can play 2C if you want to move Malkin to wing
Great Three Dog Night reference, Dan!
I don’t get the Markstrom Vezina trophy talk. Those aren’t the Devils from the Brodeur era who played a suffocating defensive system. This team plays a run and gun style and give up a lot of chances.
Yeah, that makes zero sense.