The Pittsburgh Penguins are expected to make a couple of moves off injured reserve Thursday, but that shuffle may come with another familiar decision: sending a pair of young players back to the AHL after they played well enough to stick around.
That’s the snapshot coming out of Penguins practice, where there was also a small tease about the team’s top line. The larger theme, though, is the same one that keeps hanging over this roster: opportunity for the kids keeps getting squeezed.
Pittsburgh Hockey Now also laid out more injury updates in its preview of the Insider column, along with what amounts to another missed chance to lean harder into the youth movement.
Elsewhere in the Pittsburgh sports world, Steelers Now reports that a wide receiver the team could target has requested a trade.
And at Pittsburgh Baseball Now, John Perrotto offered a pair of sharp observations, including the simple idea that if the Pirates want to take a step forward next season, they need to take Michael Keaton’s advice. It’s “kind of simple math for the Pirates.”
Around the NHL, the biggest headline out of Minnesota wasn’t encouraging. Wild GM Bill Guerin gave a downbeat update on the Quinn Hughes situation, saying, “What should I say, please, please, please?”
He said he and Hughes have not talked about a contract in a long time, that he wants to get it done, but that he has to wait. Even so, he added that he will draw a line sooner or later.
Dylan Larkin remains a major trade topic as well. The Athletic’s Chris Johnston wrote on his latest trade board that the sense around the league is that Larkin will end up with a team not on his current list, and that came on the same day Sportsnet raised the idea of Montreal still being in the picture.
There’s also already some panic in Toronto, while Sportsnet is digging into how high the NHL salary cap could climb in the coming years.
TSN had one of the more blunt notes of the day: Mike Babcock served Jake Walman a healthy scratch, a move that sent a loud message to the well-paid defenseman.
And in Boston, a shift in ownership power is underway. Boston Hockey Now reported that one of the NHL’s most influential owners is handing the reins to his son, with a new Jacobs governor now in place for the Bruins.
One more oddity in the mix: the Milwaukee Brewers won the World Series, and that has some larger implications in the ongoing debate over revenue sharing. The point being made there is simple enough - small-market success only strengthens the case that the system works.
Still, the bigger truth is hard to miss.
My, we need some games.
In Other News...
Kris Letang Is Giving The Penguins A Reason To Reconsider Everything
Kris Letangs recent stretch has given the Penguins something worth thinking about beyond the usual questions about his offense. The scoring touch has tapered off, but the defensive side of his game has looked sharper, and the underlying numbers point to a veteran who is still capable of driving play in the right direction even as his role shifts.
The wrinkle is that the improvement has not come in every pairing or every situation. Letangs recent minutes suggest the Penguins may be getting better results when they use him differently, and the broader picture is still shaped by some small-sample noise and a few favorable bounces. Even so, the trends are strong enough to make Pittsburgh reconsider how it wants to deploy one of its most important defensemen. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Slow Start Could Force A Kris Letang Decision
A slow start has put the Penguins in an uncomfortable spot, and TSNs Darren Dreger reported that general manager Kyle Dubas may have to consider a broader reset if the struggles continue. The idea would be a younger roster in the long run, which would mean at least listening on some established names if Pittsburgh is still hovering in the wrong place when the trade deadline gets closer.
Kris Letang sits at the center of that possibility because of what he means to the franchise and because moving him would not be simple. His contract and full no-trade clause give him significant control over his future, so any discussion there would be more complicated than a normal deadline phone call, especially if the Penguins keep drifting in the wrong direction. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Just Made A Bold Ville Koivunen Bet Fans Will Debate
Kyle Dubas has made a habit of looking for solutions before the market gets too expensive, and his latest move fits that pattern. The Penguins general manager locked up forward Ville Koivunen on a long extension, betting on a player whose pro rsum is still thin but whose place in the organization has clearly risen fast enough to justify a major commitment.
It is the kind of deal that will be judged in multiple ways over time. If Koivunen grows into the player Pittsburgh expects, the contract could look like a smart template for securing young talent before other teams can get involved. If not, it could become another reminder of how tricky it is to project young forwards, especially for a club trying to build around youth while dealing with the realities of a tough player-acquisition market. [Read more 🡒]