There were some pretty good moments in the Pittsburgh Penguins room this week, especially after Ben Kindel burned Erik Karlsson with a hesitation move. Also, coach Dan Muse appears to be rewarding his makeshift third line, and Kindel had a new spot at practice Friday. All of those stories are linked below, including the weekly PHN+ Insider column. Elsewhere in the Daily, Edmonton is already pounding the panic button over the goaltending. Detroit fans let Dylan Larkin have it when he was introduced at the home opener. And in the NHL trade chatter, we got a look at the impracticality of the latest team to be interested in Alexander Nikishin.

I dare say, the Nikishin thing has gone on long enough. On one hand, I admire GM Eric Tulsky for drawing a line and holding firm. On the other hand, $8 million or $9 million for a young defenseman with his skills isn’t outrageous in the parlance of our times. You never get the time and money back from a holdout, so it’s time for this end, but the team has no reason to buckle because they don’t need him. It’s going to be on the player to buckle.

And I cannot believe the porous Edmonton goaltending is a story. Water is wet. Sky is blue.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The news you will like is that coach Dan Muse is rewarding that rowdy third line centered by Hendrix Lapierre with Ville Koivunen and Filip Hallander. The fallout is that Ben Kindel centered a really, really good fourth line. Here’s what gives from the Penguins’ practice.

Andrei Kuzmenko returned to the team Friday. In a courageous move, he held a little press conference at his dressing stall. Understandably, he didn’t take questions. His English can be a little bit difficult to figure out, but here is his statement on his father’s death and his thanks to many of you.

PHN+: And I’m trying to do at least one of these per week. Inside the Penguins room. From Kindel’s return to his one-ice moves, Erik Karlsson’s good humor about it, and the important decisions looming.

NHL Trade Talk, News, & NHN

Mayor’s Manor: Once Elliotte Friedman spun the arrow toward the LA Kings, everyone began trying to figure out—and our old buddy Scott Coffman put names to the cost—what it would cost and the feasibility for LA to acquire Alexander Nikishin.

Sportsnet EDM: There are alarm bells going off, people are panicking, and everyone seems shocked at exactly how bad the Oilers’ goaltending has become.

Daily Faceoff: WOW. This might be a big overreaction by Anaheim, as they just splashed a six-year deal worth over $7 million a year on a young defenseman who has played just 14 NHL games. Whoa, that Koivunen deal doesn’t look so wild, does it? Here are the Anaheim Ducks’ details and reasoning.

Detroit Hockey Now: The Detroit fans showered Dylan Larkin with boos at the pregame introduction. Larkin knew it was coming—here’s the inside story as Larkin told the Red Wings he’d taken the abuse.

Florida Hockey Now: Our colleagues and Florida fans are just finding out—and the Florida Panthers expect big things from Boko Imama.

Categorized:Links NHL Trade Rumors Pittsburgh Penguins