Dan’s Daily: 3 Teams on the Trade Market; Penguins Make Moves
The Pittsburgh Penguins are in Columbus today, and we will be on the road shortly. Three teams are prowling the NHL trade market, and the Penguins are one. TSN’s Daren Dreger named the other two teams most aggressively poking around. The Penguins made a few moves Thursday, and a prospect could be in a sweater tonight. Hockey is celebrating Connor McDavid for notching his 1000th point Thursday. The New Jersey Devils should be looking hard at the Penguins for help, and Matvei Michkov shined with an overtime winner.
We’ll have full coverage today and tonight, and we will probably stop at Big Fun on High Street, the greatest toy store, perhaps, in any NHL city. Where else can you get original WWF wrestling dolls, the original Millennium Falcon, some mutant turtles, every He-Man, G.I. Joe, and a ton more? It’s a guilty pleasure when I’m in Columbus, and my wallet recoils.
I’m sure I’ll see a few Penguins fans on the road today (and late tonight).
Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Hockey Now: We’ll start with the transactions. It seems likely that center Blake Lizotte will not be available tonight after taking another puck to the face in the first period Wednesday. So, the Penguins used their cap “windfall” from the Lars Eller trade and solved their three-goalie situation by re-assigning Joel Blomqvist to the AHL and bringing up a pair of players, including Vasily Ponomarev. Here’s the Penguins news.
The word is out, “open for business.” Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas is working the phones and making just about everyone available except Sidney Crosby. The NHL trade rumors are about to get thick. Elliotte Friedman also had a priority list for what Dubas is looking for in subsequent Penguins trades.
I did another podcast—No Pucks Given, Episode 6. I did my best to lay out all of the Penguins’ problems, building to Kyle Dubas and Mike Sullivan’s security, or lack thereof.
Here’s the link to Spotify and Apple podcasts. It’s also on the YouTube channel for the few thousand of you who subscribe there.
I’m enjoying doing the podcasts as well as getting something new off the ground. Constructive criticism requests or tips to make it easier or more enjoyable to listen to are welcome.
NHL Trade Talk, News & National Hockey Now
TSN: There are three teams on the prowl, or in the Penguins’ case, looking to sell on the trade market. The TSN Insiders dish on Buffalo and Nashville, as well.
New Jersey Hockey Now: GM Tom Fitzgerald has done wonders to push his team over the hump of missing the playoffs to one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference. He has a few more holes to fill, and James Nichols is looking at the Penguins. Here’s what the Fitzgerald should want from Dubas in the next Devils trade.
Montreal Hockey Now:Â Montreal is one of the teams burning cell phone data. However, GM Kent Hughes isn’t finding the market as he hoped, and the GM may have to adjust the Montreal Canadiens’ trade strategy.
Sportsnet: McDavid became the fourth-fastest player to reach 1000 points. He did it in style, then added an assist for the overtime winner. Here’s how the hockey world reacted to McDavid’s feat.
McDavid very well might crest on the other side of 2000 points, but will he have that singular moment in June?
You may not want to see this if you want to find Penguins praise (and I have to get on my horse and get back to publishing power rankings), but here is Sportsnet’s latest power ranking and each team’s most promising young player.
Philly Hockey Now: It’s the Russian Invasion Part 2. Matvei Michkov sniped the overtime winner, but starting goalie Sam Ersson was injured, and the team rallied behind backup Ivan Fedotov for the win. It was a feel-good night for the Philadelphia Flyers.
Detroit Hockey Now: The story of the trade when Steve Yzerman pulled a late-night deal a few weeks ago, sending former Penguins d-man Olli Maatta to the Utah Something Somethings. Maatta got the call well after midnight and was on a 5 a.m. flight. He recounted the entire Red Wings trade saga.
Categorized:Links NHL Trade Rumors Penguins
Kyle DUBIOUS. He needs to make a public statement before the calendar year end of where this team is headed for the season remainder, offseason ambitions and 2025-26 expectations. I know he likes to play it close to the chest, but this great and powerful Oz act is becoming tiresome. If Sid and Geno were not producing, it would be an easy Yes, it’s time to sell off the farm and re-build/re-tool/re-insert phrase. There are clear struggles with Letang and EK65, no question. There are clear struggles with maintaining leads, giving up goals after the Pens score and lack of… Read more »
pens just called up pickering…is there a LD trade coming?
regardless, i’d like to see graves back with Letang, 28 with 65, and Pickering with St Ivany. Scratch grez
I think it’s just because Letang is sick. The 3 scratches would be Pickering, Ponomarev, and Letang
I love the fans who think Kyle DUBAS should be able to turn around a franchise in a season or two that is bereft of young talent and draft picks, one that has been decaying for various reasons since lifting their last Cup. Where are they going? They are going down, down, down, down for the next few years to hopefully see Cup-competitive team by 2028-29…if everything goes right. So buckle up, baby, if you’re dubious of that and wish to delude yourselves, you’re in for a painful next few years. Have a safe trip to Columbus, Dan! Hopefully Ponomarev… Read more »
Watch Gold Rush and record the game. You can always FF through the unpleasant parts, lol.
These dubious fans likely are too young to remember the “lean years” between Jagr’s trade and the drafting and development of what became the Pens’ Stanley Cup core (Fleury, Malkin, Crosby, Letang). Those were some hard years to watch the Penguins, for example, having defenseman Dick Tarnstrom being the team’s lead scorer in the 2003-04 season. But we all had the hope that the Pens would return to glory, and they did in ways we couldn’t imagine.
That is true, the late 90s/early 2000s were a rough spot. It’s unfortunate Jagr had to go to the Caps for cash, but you are essentially comparing apples to oranges. That was in the pre-salary cap era. You can no longer trade players for cash. Nonetheless the Pens are in a rough spot, certainly something off and has been for several seasons.
Have you seen the WSH Capitals this year? Not to mention the WPG Jets. NYR and BOS did it a few seasons ago. It is possible. Each year, each organization is in a constant re-tool to some extent. We have been through 3, going on 4 painful seasons. 5 years to have a competitive team, that is a joke. DUBIOUS, Dubas as you say, just needs to be upfront with the current team, he may have been behind closed doors. But he cannot keep up the charade of building for the future and stating he will roster a competitive team.
The Caps also had good prospects from drafts and trades that are contributing. We did a bad job in those areas. Also the Caps got lucky with LTIR with a couple players and another just leaving the NHL and not worry about his contract. They had good cap space and used it wisely. We had cap space and did a horrible job picking up players and getting Hayes… just a really bad off season. Like really bad.
I got a gi Joe aircraft carrier in my attic, box is trashed but 99% of the parts