Settle in and tie on the bib for a delicious buffet that might bring a sated slobber after NHL trade talk, roiling anger and blame in Colorado, Mitch Marner’s honesty is being met with defensive attacks Toronto, and we took the first stab at projecting the 2026-27 Pittsburgh Penguins lineup, at least as it currently stands.

Also, we did a Live Chat/Live Podcast Wednesday. Unfortunately, I too often assume that by plugging in the mic, it will be the default sound input. It is not, so the first 45 minutes are the natural laptop sound. That drives me nuts, so after the Live version, I re-recorded the No Pucks Given portion of our chat.

San Jose Hockey Now: And Macklin Celebrini will face Team USA this morning in a do-or-die game. Celebrini talked about the game, but also his relationship with Sidney Crosby.

The podcast with the better sound will be uploaded this morning. You can watch the original here.

Inside the AHL: Here’s Tony Androkitis’ coverage of Game 1. The WBS Penguins were outshooting Toronto 33-11 late in the third period, but LOST 3-2. Here are the details.

Toronto’s second goal was a calamity of errors by the refs. If the posted highlights start with the faceoff, watch the blatant holding of the stick in the circle, which opened the top of the zone, then the Marlie go two-feet into the crease.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: I will cope to a small mistake in this article. In fact, two. I should have written more about Owen Pickering, but I’ll do a lot more on him that later in the postseason. I also should have included both Caleb Jones and Ilya Solovyov in the mix for third-pairing defenseman, but I suppose that also shows just how unsettled that spot is. So, after the Malkin signing, we laid out the preliminary Penguins lineup.

Tommy Novak seems to be becoming a central figure of the Penguins’ direction. There are plenty of strong comments on that story, too. Jump into the debate.

InsidetheAHL:

Steelers Now: The underdogs are fun. There are some undrafted free agents coming to Latrobe. So, which UDAs have the best chance to make the Steelers roster?

NHL Trade Chatter, News, & NHN

Sportsnet: Big names on the NHL trade block. Nick Kypreos put out his Trade Board 1.0 for the offseason. Kyper didn’t nibble, he went right for the biggest names and most well-paid players who could be on the move.

Montreal Hockey Now: Ouch. Three quick goals early in the game and it was basically over. The Carolina Hurricanes lead the series 3-1 after they smoked the Montreal Canadiens.

Toronto Sun: Here’s your morning slice of chocolate cake. After winning the WCF, Mitch Marner was ebullient, and offhandedly referenced that his hockey career included some dark days in the past. Well now, noted Toronto columnist Steve Simmons backhanded Marner–he wrote the “sour” Marner just can’t seem to let go of Toronto. It’s another controversial read from Simmons.

NHLtraderumors.me: There’s lots of anger in Colorado. The Denver Post opined that coach Jared Bednar needs to go. It’s a big swing from the media, but Bednar is in the crosshairs.

The Athletic ($): Mark Lazerus is also in Colorado and he brushed the Bednar topic, but he also dug deeper into the big picture, and a topic that might sound familiar to Penguins fans–is Colorado’s core too old to win?

Sportsnet: While moving on would seem quite plausible, William Nylander posted a video on his own YouTube page–He doesn’t want to go anywhere–no trade!

Philly Hockey Now: Also, much like the Penguins–Will GM Daniel Briere take a big swing this offseason and go after some of the big-name RFAs who could make the Philadelphia Flyers much better?

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