There is a wide breadth of content in the Daily today, from some tough Pittsburgh Penguins grades to an examination of why coaches are getting fired at a rapid clip, a real debate if Gavin McKenna should be selected atop the 2026 NHL Draft, Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin just stirred the biggest NHL trade rumors, and there’s a bit more dirt on the fall of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

We had a good Live Chat/podcast Wednesday. The time goes by so quickly.

Was last May as cold and dreary? I’m going a bit stir crazy. In fact, I did something on Wednesday that I hate to do. I cleaned my house. Or at least part of it. Yep, I’m going that crazy. My suitcase is finally unpacked, fully. I changed all of the burned out lightbulbs. And I found a pair of glasses that I haven’t seen in months.

It’s a glamorous life in the offseason, eh?

Later this morning, I will unleash the final of our three Penguins trade target story. This time with the reclamation projects.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: We delivered some grades Wednesday. The Penguins’ middle-six centers, Ben Kindel and Tommy Novak, are at very different points in their career and much different things were expected. One player exceeded expectations, and one might have gotten a generous grade. Here’s the latest Penguins report card.

I must have done something right on the Penguins Chat. We had monster numbers — the average person watched for over 24 minutes. Check it out–we started with the trade targets.

San Jose Hockey Now: Were you curious what happened with Team Canada and why Sidney Crosby didn’t become the captain? A report says that Crosby pushed Macklin Celebrini to keep the C. That’s how much Sid respects the Sharks captain.

Steelers Now: Do you believe him? Aaron Rodgers says, “This is it.” He will NOT play next season, and this is his last ride. Alan Saunders and the boys have full coverage from Steelers OTAs.

Pittsburgh Baseball Now: The Pirates are better, but they’re still a last-place team. They snapped a four-game losing streak Wednesday, but Danny Demilio hits the org for three persistent Pirates roster flaws.

NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now

Pat McAfee Show: Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin said no player is safe. He flung open the doors to make a big splash to get Minnesota over the hump when he said, “No player is untouchable.” Erik Johnson (who is off to a good start in his broadcasting career) was on the McAfee Show and made a bold prediction–Connor McDavid or Auston Matthews will wind up in Minnesota.

Sportsnet: Justin Bourne looks at the shrinking tenure of head coaches across the NHL. They were already cannon fodder, but things are getting worse. One question: Why?

Sportsnet sent Sonny Sachdeva to cover the Penguins-Flyers series. He’s a chill guy. Didn’t try to bigfoot anyone, which we greatly appreciated (nothing worse than a national type who comes in like they own the place, asking questions we’ve been over 100 times). Sonny has the Maple Leafs debate: the pros and cons of whom to take first overall.

TSN: Brad Treliving’s post-mortem on his failed Maple Leafs season was interesting. He said they “didn’t have the buy-in.” The big question came at 4:00, and Treliving hemmed and hawed before getting to it.

Detroit Hockey Now: Another long summer in Detroit. There are some big-name free agents coming up, too. Kevin Allen writes–they CANNOT let Alex DeBrincat leave town.

Montreal Hockey Now: The Penguins are a top-five hated team, but there is one team that America agrees it hates. Atop the latest least popular poll are the Montreal Canadiens.

Daily Faceoff: We’ll end with another little bit of NHL trade chatter. Anthony DiMarco hears the Flyers are looking at re-signing Dan Vladar, but also keeping their eyes on Joseph Woll of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Tags: Bill Guerin nhl trade Pittsburgh Penguins

Categorized:Links NHL Trade Rumors