Get a little shaker of salt, but there is a whopper of an NHL trade rumor floating about involving Jason Robertson. Or maybe it’s involving Dylan Larkin. Elsewhere in the Daily, the Leo Carlsson reverberations are now making us ask which stars will demand max money contracts, Columbus is pushing back on the Zach Werenski trade rumors, a former Penguins fan favorite is now an assistant general manager, and the Pittsburgh Penguins made a couple of adds Tuesday.

We also continued with our Top 20 Penguins prospects list. As I finalized the entire list on Tuesday, I saw that three prospects should be on the list but won’t make it. One of those players is Ville Koivunen, but I decided that because he’s no longer waiver-exempt and has played over 40 NHL games, his career has graduated from prospect status. Rutger McGroarty and Owen Pickering are still waiver-exempt, so they may appear on the list.

And to be completely obnoxious, I had a little fun Tuesday afternoon when I rode up to the Finger Lakes–Watkins Glen–for a bit of wine tasting. Sunburn included.

I had time to visit several, but from my trips over the last few years, I revisited one that I liked a few years ago and one from last year that I hated. In fact, last year, I visibly offended the owner at one that’s just a bit too pretentious because as the owner bragged about his stainless steel casks, I tried one of his whites and remarked, “Oh, there’s the stainless steel finish.”

He made a small grunting noise and excused himself, but I wasn’t kidding. It was awful, like licking aluminum foil. So, this year, I went back to see if new vintages were any better. And … they are no longer advertising (or maybe using?) stainless steel. It was still the least of the three places I stopped, but this time it wasn’t bad, though still the most pretentious.

If you make the trip, the best one I’ve been to is Lakewood, by far. They’ll talk you through the wine’s flavors instead of telling an annoyingly unrelated story about family or the soil.

Not looking forward to the sweaty ride home today.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Last week, director of hockey operations and legal affairs Vukie Mpofu left the Penguins to become the assistant GM of the Nashville Predators. Tuesday, Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas replaced him–by adding the fourth member of his former Toronto inner circle. The Penguins front office is complete.

On the player news side of the day, the Penguins signed a somewhat surprisingly large two-year contract with Nick Robertson.

And our prospect list. Nos. 15 to 11 included some all-or-nothing prospects who could hit big or never be seen again. Some big swings in our Penguins prospects countdown.

NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now

NHLtraderumors.me: Wow or eye roll? It’s your choice how much credence to give this, but The Fourth Period is reporting that there may have been trade talks between Dallas and Detroit, a Jason Robertson for Dylan Larkin swap.

Sportsnet: The boys up north are looking at more Carlsson fallout because there are a handful of star players who might cash in. Max contracts to break some budgets.

TSN: Columbus GM Don Waddell pushed back on the explosion of trade rumors and how hockey media portrayed the Zach Werenski situation and those organizational conversations. Waddell said we’ve all got it wrong.

Also, Claude Giroux held his presser after signing a new contract with Ottawa last week. He admitted that none of them saw the Brady Tkachuk trade coming, and it landed as a shock for the room.

Boston Hockey Now: There were several big-name hires in Boston, and under the radar, Dennis Bonvie has a new gig. His Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins banner hangs at Mohegan Arena because he was an unquestioned fan favorite in the Penguins organization, briefly in Pittsburgh, and primarily in WBS. And now, Bonvie is the new AGM for the Boston Bruins.

Florida Hockey Now: I missed this one on July 1. The Florida Panthers filled their fourth-line hole by snagging an intense center who is still one of the better bottom-line pivots in the game, Lars Eller, who just spoke to the Panthers media.

Chicago Hockey Now: The rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks might be without Connor Bedard in the first weeks of the season, but they still need to add offense and a winger for Bedard. Does a hockey homecoming–signing Patrick Kane make sense?

Tags: dylan larkin jason robertson nhl tade Pittsburgh Penguins

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