Dan’s Daily: Canadiens Trade List, Bryan Rust Update, & Dubas Defense

The Pittsburgh Penguins news filled the page on Monday. Coach Mike Sullivan updated the status of Bryan Rust and Kyle Dubas came to the coach’s defense against social media and some media. I thought the tidbits on Erik Karlsson were interesting. For subscribers, we also parsed the presser and translated Dubas’s comments. In the NHL trade rumors, the Canucks could move Andrei Kuzmenko and Marc Dumont lined up teams that could or should trade for one of the Canadiens goalies before the Dec. 20 roster freeze. Also, there was a little kerfuffle with the Colorado Avalanche where Artturi Lehkonen’s father, a coach in Finland, delivered some sharp critiques of his son’s team.

Today begins 48 hours of hell for Pittsburgh Hockey Now. The NHL schedule did us no favors, and with the Penguins games back-to-back, I have to drive to Montreal after the game tonight–a nine-hour drive. It would have cost over $1000 to fly to Montreal, then to Toronto, then to Pittsburgh. To keep PHN lean and mean, I’m hoping in the Batmobile (my friends’ nickname for my black, low-sitting car) and going.

That also means we’ll have full coverage of all the games and practices, but come on, no leisure time in Montreal?! The Canadian travel this month is tight against other games.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Tony Granato revealed that he has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Granato was on the Penguins bench for five years. Here’s the latest on the popular Penguins assistant coach.

OK, Shelly really wanted to do this story, so you MUST read it. We do what Shelly says, and this will make you feel old. Hometown boy Logan Cooley will play his first game in Pittsburgh tonight. He was part of the very first class of Sidney Crosby’s learn to play. Yep. Sid’s annual program spawned an NHL player–Here’s Sidney Crosby’s reaction.

It might take more than 10 days for Jesse Puljujarvi to get back into the swing. He and Lars Eller were absent from practice Monday, and the Penguins cemented a new power-play lineup. Here’s the full story and explanations in the Penguins news.

PHN has been sitting on the Rust injury news for several days–no one was quite sure where the final diagnosis would wind up, and we couldn’t be wrong. This wasn’t going to be a day-to-day thing. Bryan Rust will be out week-to-week.

And the reason we didn’t report the scuttlebutt from the inside–remember the persistent Tristan Jarry hip rumors that were untrue? That became so prevalent it was assumed fact (until we reported otherwise in June). Injury rumors take on a life of their own, especially as teams try to keep them quiet.

Now to the PoHO/GM.

Dubas firmly defended coach Mike Sullivan–no, it wasn’t a “dreaded vote of confidence”–and he shared some inside dirt on Erik Karlsson, who is the guy rocking the boat on the inside, challenging the Penguins’ status quo. Here’s the full Kyle Dubas story.

PHN+: Parsing a few things Dubas meant but didn’t say. Inferences and implications. What was Dubas really saying about the Penguins roster?

ALL of that content in one day. Use code Dan10 to subscribe to PHN+ and get an ad-free experience with our exclusive content. Join us here.

NHL Trade Talk, News & National Hockey Now

I know the Daily is known for three things: Penguins news, Dan’s travel stories, NHL trade rumors, and Dan jokes. OK, three-and-a-half.

Montreal Hockey Now: The roster freeze is just over a week away, and teams have been calling about the Montreal Canadiens goalies. Teams have been scouting the goalies. So, who are the three most likely teams actually to trade for one of the Canadiens goalies?

32 Thoughts podcast: The latest 32 Thoughts has a few nuggets, including the Vancouver Canucks trying to move salary via trading Andrei Kuzmenko and Elliotte Friedman explaining the Flyers are for real.

Colorado Hockey Now: Dad, shush. It’s causing a stir in Colorado where Artturi Lehkonen’s father, a coach in Finland and former player, popped off about the state of the Colorado Avalanche.

The thing no one is talking about is his claim that the Avalanche are not as fast as they used to be, and they’re confused when they try to revert to their speed game, but it doesn’t work.

Huh. I’ve never seen a team like that before.

Florida Hockey Now: Erik Gudbranson pummeled Nick Cousins, and not many people (who know hockey) were terribly upset. But, if you grab an opponent and beat the daylights out of him, you will get suspended. Guddy got one game for his actions in the game against the Florida Panthers.