Dan’s Daily: Flames Burning NHL Trade Talk, Hextall & Penguins Lurking?

And the lists are in. Thirty teams across the NHL submitted their list of players they’re keeping and a list of players they’re prepared to lose to the Seattle Kraken. As PHN reported Saturday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins protected Jeff Carter but left Brandon Tanev exposed. There were more than a few surprises on Sunday morning and then a few more twists to the story later on Sunday. The NHL trade market is closed unless it involves the Seattle Kraken, and I couldn’t resist one last use of one of my favorite photos–Jared McCann fighting Kasperi Kapanen.

The Penguins did not go wild and expose Tristan Jarry, nor did they leave Mike Matheson twisting. Those were no-brainers. But Brandon Tanev, Zach Aston-Reese, and Marcus Pettersson will be watching the Kraken expansion draft anxiously.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Here is the Penguins full protected–and unprotected list.

FREE for everyone today (but please subscribe!): Is Penguins GM Ron Hextall playing chess this week–He may be well set up to pull off a big trade, with Seattle’s help. The Penguins trade scenarios and Hextall’s queen’s gambit. 

You may have noticed a more conservative approach by PHN last week. It’s nice that we’ve achieved a level of success that if something doesn’t sound right, we don’t have to report it. We didn’t. Those things that didn’t sound right, were in fact, NOT right. We kept our powder dry and only reported what we knew to be 100% true — the Penguins trade interest in Zach Hyman is serious and the Penguins would protect Jeff Carter (that was a Twitter report).

Thanks for your subscriptions, your follows, and participation as this band of scallywags and rebels challenge established thinking and the boundaries of what is possible.

Sportsnet: Remember way back on Saturday when we were shocked to learn the Montreal Canadiens would expose Carey Price? Plot twist! Price was in New York on Sunday for a medical consult for hip AND knee surgery. Yet the Kraken are still considering it. 

Reporter Chris Johnston looked at the 10 most intriguing names on the board. Jared McCann made the list. 

Toronto GM Kyle Dubas again outsmarted everyone. He feared losing Alex Kerfoot, so he gave up an OK prospect (Filip Hallander) for Jared McCann. Now, if Seattle takes Kerfoot, he has McCann, or Seattle takes McCann, and he essentially traded Hallander for Kerfoot. Brilliant.

Ottawa Sun: Bruce Garrioch lit the NHL trade market on fire on Sunday. Chicago trying desperately to move Nikita Zadarov. The Tampa Bay Lightning trying to package picks to move Tyler Johnson. Is Matthew Tkachuk on the trade block despite denials? It seems Flames center Sean Monahan surely is. The Flames are “open for business” on the NHL trade front. 

And I can already hear my little hockey chat group making offers for Monahan. Unfortunately, the Penguins are all full up…unless Evgeni Malkin is out for months.

**How good are you at 1990s Pittsburgh Penguins trivia?  Or the 2010s? Take a shot at the new PHN trivia games. 

National Hockey Now network:

Washington: The Capitals left some meat on the bone for Seattle. From Alex Ovechkin to former Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Justin Schultz, explaining the Capitals unprotected list.

Boston: Nick Ritchie and Jeremy Lauzon will be tempting takes for Seattle. The Boston Bruins unprotected list is one of the best.

NYI: Or, Mr. Francis, how about Jordan Eberle? Though many Islanders fans are ready to buy Josh Bailey an Amtrak ticket to Seattle, too.

The Penguins surely wouldn’t shed a tear if Eberle left the division. Eberle is Jack Clark to the 1980s Pirates. He is Eric Metcalf to the 1990s Steelers. Tom Brady to the 2000s (and 2010s) Steelers. Zdeno Chara to Evgeni Malkin…you get the idea.

Philly: James van Riemsdyk. $7 million. He’s one of the best players available to Seattle. Why did Fletcher expose him after multiple reports that he would be protected?

Florida: Florida has plenty of talent but was able to protect most of it as rumors swirl Seattle has a deal for goalie Chris Dredger.

Detroit: Troy Stetcher was exposed. OK. Our folks in Detroit debated it, but in the end, Red Wings defenseman and former first-rounder Dennis Cholowski was exposed.

San Jose: Exclusive–Prospect goalie Josef Korenar, who just signed a new contract, was the trade bait with a good draft pick to Arizona for goalie Adin Hill. Yes, Korenar was very surprised.