The hand that feeds can also be the hand that slaps. Restricted free agent Cutter Gauthier has reportedly turned down a whopper of a contract offer from the Anaheim Ducks, and now the process is in chaos. The Ottawa Senators are also bleeding as they unsuccessfully try to sign Drake Batherson. And we took a look at the best Pittsburgh Penguins who were undrafted or college free agents.

It would be hard to write a column with the general premise of confusion and transition, but that’s where the NHL is right now. The players are moving hard in one direction—they are attempting to take control of their fate, whether the CBA gives them that power or not. And the GMs are trying to build teams with the best players possible, but now they are being handcuffed because players are playing hardball, forcing trades and demanding trades, all in an effort to land where they want or to squeeze the last drops of human monies from teams.

And the result is chaos. Realize, our top two stories today are the consequence of the Flyers upping the salary expectations. If the owners don’t throw a blanket party for Flyers governor Dan Hilferty, the GMs might turn out the lights and pummel Danny Briere.

To the stories we go…

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Since this is the week that college players became free agents, we took a good look at the last 40 years of the Penguins’ acquisitions of undrafted players and college free agents. To up the degree of difficulty, the rule for the list was that the Penguins had to be the team that signed them. Yeah, this list took a few hours, too. So, take a look—the best of the overlooked Penguins free agents.

Steelers Now: Latrobe training camp is over. So the boys over at Steelers Now put together the five things we learned from Steelers camp.

Pittsburgh Baseball Now: We’ve got good news and really bad news. The Pirates lost Monday night as they couldn’t complete a rally from down 8-1, but that’s almost irrelevant at this point. The good news is that Connor Griffin is closer to returning from his injury, but one of the Pirates’ top prospects had surgery for a “traumatic” injury. Here’s the Pirates news update.

NHL Rumors, News, & National Hockey Now

Cutter Gauthier turned down how much?! It seems the young Anaheim Duck forward wants Leo Carlsson-type money, and simply a massive payday won’t do.

Word today from reliable sources that Anaheim has offered RFA Cutter Gauthier $13M at four years.

Rejected by Gauthier and his agent Kurt Overhardt.

In the moment, per @PuckPedia , the Ducks are just over $9M in salary cap.

Suffice to say, if/when Gauthier signs, the Ducks…

— PaulShaheen (@PaulShaheen) August 16, 2026

Ottawa Citizen: Drake Batherson has been a consistent producer and brings a complete game, and at 28 years old, he wants to cash in with an eight-year contract. The Ottawa Senators want to sign him. So, what’s the hold up? Bruce Garrioch has some inside dirt on what’s going on up north.

TSN TV: I’m not sure this is a big deal, but it is up north, and maybe some of you think so, too? It seems that for NHL 27, EA Sports has made Connor McDavid the first 99-level player.

Oh yeah? Try to stop Mario or Pavel Bure in NHL 94.

New Jersey Hockey Now: Is the seat getting a little warm in New Jersey? Yep. James Nichols lays out why this is a make-or-break year for coach Sheldon Keefe.

Philly Hockey Now: Recency bias or the general state of declining goaltending league-wide? The NHL Network dropped its top 10 goalies, and Flyers netminder Dan Vladar got lots of love.

Detroit Hockey Now: Shawn Horcoff is running the Detroit Red Wings, for now, and kind of. Bob Duff does some digging as other execs are doing little more than shrugging their shoulders. Are the Red Wings front office execs dead men walking?

Boston Hockey Now: Captain? What captain? The Boston Bruins C has not adorned a sweater since Patrice Bergeron hung up his skates. President of hockey ops Cam Neely weighed in—what’s happening with the Bruins captaincy?

NHLtraderumors.me: And reports from the Athletic indicate that despite wanting to extend Pavel Zacha, the trade chatter is picking up as the Bruins are also taking calls on their top center.

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