Dan’s Daily: Miller Trade Fails, Penguins Reality, and Russian War of Words

LOS ANGELES — Let’s hit the ground running this week. The Pittsburgh Penguins cap a brutal three games in four days with the LA Kings tonight in Los Angeles. There was an uncomfortable Penguins reality that was inescapable Saturday night, and we dug into it. The NHL trade rumors exploded Saturday night, but a potential J.T. Miller to the Rangers deal looks like it has fallen through again, and we’ve got a few of the trade details. Elsewhere in the Daily, there was a Connor McDavid McMeltdown, the NHL is signaling even greater financial success ahead by canceling the much-hated escrow holdbacks from the players’ paychecks, the Devils can’t score, and the Flyers have a toilet seat who may have finally found a home.

I’m not sure if the travel gods hate me, but they sure have a wicked sense of humor.

After the brutal day from Friday into Saturday to get from Buffalo to Washington, the Amtrak train was stuck in Connellsville for a few hours, so we didn’t get to D.C. for the Penguins game until about 4 p.m. (instead of 1 pm.), just in time to grab some dumplings in Chinatown and get to the arena. After the game, this guy was exhausted and soldiered on to the VRBO/Booking.com apartment about 45 minutes out of town toward the airport. Upon arrival, it was not cleaned and was pretty gross. Because, of course. No towels, either. Dead flowers, dying roses, half-eaten chocolates, and lots more littered the kitchen. I surely was not sleeping in that uncleaned bed!

But the hits kept coming. En route to LA, my layover was in Denver Sunday morning. Since a bunch of rubes put their personal items in the carry-on bins (and I chose to be nice), we moved my bag to an open spot seven rows ahead…and then someone stole it. Two weeks of clothes, dress shoes, and toiletries were gone. Denver Airport thinks they found the bag with most/all of my stuff. They are sending it to LA, but as of publishing, they haven’t yet. After all, who needs clean underwear?

To the hockey.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The cold, stark reality was inescapable on Saturday. One rival has revamped and is in first place with new names and an enthusiastic defensive system. Yes, it’s time for Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas to let it rip. There’s no point in waiting on the Penguins roster anymore.

Our YouTube page has the 5-minute postgame conversation about the difference between the Capitals and Penguins, as well as the Mike Sullivan and Sidney Crosby postgame.

NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now

NHL Trade Rumors: The aggregation site pulled together the various sources on the J.T. Miller trade that almost went down, from Elliotte Friedman to Larry Brooks and the potential components of the deal.

TSN: “Whatever happens, happens.” Miller was asked about the deal yesterday, and it sounds like the player knows not to buy any green bananas in Vancouver.

This situation exploded quickly. A month ago, coach Rick Tocchet was making PlayStation jokes. Noticeably absent from the public fray is Jim Rutherford. He admittedly made the Elias Pettersson situation worse a couple of years ago, and it looks like he’s keeping a low profile rather than saying the honest thing here. Good for the Canucks, bad for us.

Vegas Hockey Now: Escrow is ending for the rest of this season. Don’t underestimate how big this is between the players and owners. Imagine you take a job and agree to a salary, but the owners have the right to withhold part of your salary to ensure their books balance. Hannah Kirkell has the story about the dirty little secret of the NHL CBA and how the rising cap could help the Vegas Golden Knights.

Bleacher Report: Connor McDavid had enough. After being harassed in the final seconds of a furious comeback attempt, he let his agitator know it was over and delivered a vicious and illegal cross-check. He will have a phone hearing with the NHL.

Philly Hockey Now: Remember John Tortorella calling Morgan Frost a toilet seat because he was up and down? It’s been a minute or two, but the young Frost is finally getting some traction with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Detroit Hockey Now: This is a barn burner. One of the first NHL players to defect from under the Soviet Union’s iron curtain is ripping Russia—not just Russian hockey or starting a war under flimsy pretenses, but the people, too. Russian Slava Fetisov fired back and seemed to criticize fleeing the Soviet system, too. Some former Detroit Red Wings are having an international brawl.