The Flyers are still looking for their first win, the Red Wings are still taking heat, and the Connor Hellebuyck buzz is getting louder.
That’s the buzz around the league this morning, with Sportsnet reporting that the Los Angeles Kings have at least gone so far as to get the price and get Hellebuyck’s approval as GM Ken Holland considers a big swing. There’s also talk of a three-way trade involving Buffalo and New York.
In Detroit, the mood remains rough after the one-win Red Wings and the no-win Flyers met in a game that sounded as messy as the records suggest. Neither side really grabbed control, both teams spent plenty of time feeding the puck to the other one, and in the end a pair of Red Wings grinders finished the job. That left the Flyers still winless.
The criticism around the Red Wings is not cooling off, either. Sportsnet reported that owner Chris Illitch faced heavy backlash in Detroit amid players wanting out, no GM in place, and a growing sense that ownership cares more about the Detroit Tigers than the hockey team. Illitch met with reporters Thursday, said the standard “I’m angry too” things, said the Red Wings won’t rebuild, and put the timeline for hiring a new GM at maybe by the end of the season?!
Elsewhere, Brady Tkachuk turned another game into his own personal highlight reel. Florida Hockey Now reported that the Florida Panthers trailed the Vancouver Canucks 2-0 with less than nine minutes left before Tkachuk erupted for a hat trick, including the overtime winner. It was his second hat trick in two games, and the Panthers came away with the win.
That’s a ridiculous run even before you get to the broader numbers: one assist in six games, then six goals over the last two. That’s the kind of stretch that changes games in a hurry.
In Pittsburgh, the Penguins made another lineup tweak during practice. Pittsburgh Hockey Now reported that coach Dan Muse appeared to be adjusting the forwards again, though he gave the classic coach’s hedge when asked about the new lines: “If we do it.” The report framed it as another look at the power-play-heavy setup the Penguins worked through on Thursday.
The Penguins also had some movement bubbling elsewhere on the roster picture. Elmer Soderblom is getting a sweater, while Ville is out - maybe.
And in another bit of roster churn, the Toronto Maple Leafs picked up Aatu Raty from the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, sending forwards Jacob Quillan and Brandon Buhr the other way.
Around the rest of the rumor mill, the New York Rangers were said to be scouting both the Buffalo Sabres and the Maple Leafs, with former NHL goalie Scott Clemmensen among those sent to watch. The target there appears to be Anthony Stolarz.
There’s also a story set to pick up steam about Toronto head coach Jim Hiller benching Gavin McKenna in the Toronto collapse to Buffalo on Thursday, though the TSN TV segments tied to that chatter weren’t visible to the US audience.
And on a lighter note, the author of the source reporting had a rough travel day of his own, racing from hotel to practice rink to airport before ending up stuck on a miserable flight from Chicago to Denver with an especially expansive middle-seat neighbor who claimed the armrests and fell asleep across the space. The conclusion was simple enough: the real villain was the airline industry.
In Other News...
Penguins Still Searching For Answers As Dan Muse Shakes Up Everything
The Penguins head into Ball Arena still looking to smooth out an uneven start, with Dan Muse set to tinker again before a late-night meeting with the Avalanche. After a frustrating loss to the Blackhawks, Pittsburghs issues have been hard to miss, and the staff is clearly searching for a combination that brings more pace, more structure and a little more consistency from shift to shift.
Muses lineup decisions are part of that broader reset, but the bigger concern remains whether the Penguins can find cleaner execution when the puck drops just after 9 p.m. ET. Special teams have been a particular source of frustration, and against a Colorado club that can punish mistakes quickly, Pittsburgh needs more than a fresh look on the board. It needs a response on the ice. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Let Another Promising Start Slip Away In Colorado
The Penguins looked ready to carry an early road spark into a statement night at Ball Arena, getting first-period goals from Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust to jump on Colorado quickly. For a while, the game had the feel of a clean reset for a team that has been searching for steadier starts, with Arturs Silovs giving them a chance to hold the edge by making several key saves along the way.
Colorado turned the game completely around from there, riding a burst of offense that Pittsburgh could not answer as the Avalanche pulled away to a 5-2 win. The Penguins did get one encouraging individual sequence from Silovs, who stopped Nathan MacKinnon on a penalty shot, but the night still ended with the power play failing to cash in and another promising opening slipping out of reach. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Suddenly Have A Nicholas Robertson Decision To Make
Nicholas Robertson has already forced the Penguins to pay closer attention than they may have expected when they brought in a 25-year-old forward looking for an opportunity. Through seven games this season, he has given Pittsburgh real offensive value despite limited ice time, lower-line usage and a steady diet of defensive-zone starts. Even with those constraints, he has found ways to tilt shifts toward the Penguins and contribute to the scoring-chance battle.
Now the question is how much more responsibility the staff is willing to hand him. Pittsburgh recently bumped Robertson into a bigger role, and that kind of move usually says as much about trust as it does about production. For a team that is always looking for useful depth scoring, his next stretch could say plenty about whether this is just a hot start or the beginning of something more lasting. [Read more 🡒]