Dan’s Daily: Vegas-Montreal Trade, Penguins Potentials & Malkin Values

Teams are not supposed to make news during the Stanley Cup Final, but the Montreal Canadiens and Vegas Golden Knights did so anyway with a trade that helps both sides. Dave Molinari answered questions regarding potential Pittsburgh Penguins trade bait and offseason direction while I went nuts and bolts into real Evgeni Malkin contract values. Chicago is debating the possibility of electric young winger Alex Debrincat on the NHL trade block, while John Tortorella and the Philadelphia Flyers are Facebook official.

And Torts will make enough money that he won’t need free Pat’s hoagies. But I’ll take them if they’re available.

I hope you get a chance to read the Malkin-contract story. I think with a lot of extra work and the perspective from experience, we got it right. I’m on record as predicting Malkin would get $7 million for two, maybe three years, but after laying out the variables… ummmm…

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The contract comparables. Performance value. And, as I realized, perhaps the most critical factor was replacement cost. That’s where the story took a left turn. What is the Evgeni Malkin contract value?

PHN+: Ask Dave Molinari? Yep. Subscribers got to tee off on a range of subjects, from the Penguins trade bait, bad contracts, who could replace Malkin, and more. Pittsburgh Penguins Q&A.

The latest Caesar’s Sportsbook Promo is pretty aggressive for new signups. If you want to adjust your Stanley Cup Final bet, the new promo is an industry-best $1500 risk-free bet. Caesar’s Sportsbook Promo.

I didn’t think sports gambling would become quite as mainstream as it has, but here we are. Enjoy!

NHL Trade Talk, NHL News & National Hockey Now:

Philly Hockey Now: Torts in Philly! The Flyers and John Tortorella agreed on a contract. Get this tidbit from Sam Carchidi–next season, the Flyers will be spending $9 million on Torts and Alain Vigneault, whom they fired early this season. Oops. Get the whole story. Torts to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Montreal: The Canadiens hit the NHL trade block for some talent. They dumped Shea Weber’s LTIR contract and acquired Evgenii Dadonov. Montreal Canadiens trade.

Vegas: The flip side. Vegas tried to dump Dadonov at the NHL trade deadline but didn’t know about Dadonov’s limited NTC, which included Anaheim on the no-no list. They dumped him Thursday night and will have four years of Shea Weber contract bliss, by which they can exceed the salary cap by nearly $7.9 million. Vegas Golden Knights trade.

The NHL absolutely, positively MUST fix that LTIR exemption. The Golden Knights essentially have $8 million more to spend than everyone else. The spirit of the rule never meant to allow teams to acquire a retired player so they can exceed the cap for competitive purposes, nor was the LTIR rule written so deadbeats could get to the cap floor.

The Athletic: Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus have been going back and forth regarding the future of 24-year-old sniper Alex DeBrincat. His QO will be about $9 million. Should Chicago dump the scorer, begin rebuilding, or build around him? Old buddy Mark Lazerus says to keep him off the NHL trade market. Here’s the debate.

To the Stanley Cup Final:

Colorado Hockey Now: Nazem Kadri and Andrew Cogliano’s chances of playing in the Cup Final are getting better. Colorado Avalanche.

San Jose: Exclusive–The latest update on the Evander Kane contract grievance from Sheng Peng. San Jose Sharks news.

Vancouver: It’s kind of a big deal. Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin are pitching their wares to Russian free agent Andrei Kuzmenko. The in-person pitch with agent Dan Milstein begins this morning. Vancouver Canucks news.