The Pittsburgh Penguins keep coming up in Elias Pettersson chatter, and Frank Corrado thinks the fit makes plenty of sense from their end. On Sekeres and Price, Corrado pointed to Sidney Crosby as the kind of daily example Pettersson could benefit from if that ever became real.
“Prior to Nashville, it was like the, the hot team on the Elias Pettersson front was the Pittsburgh Penguins, and I kind of thought about that, and I was like, that makes a lot of sense on a few different levels.
First of all, if we just go with like the Pettersson angle. Like he’s a veteran.
He makes a lot of money. I get that, but for him, if you were just gonna watch one person operate every single day, it would be number 87.
Like if you couldn’t put it together after watching the way that that guy prepares and trains and thinks and just walks and talks, then you’re just not going to put it together. You’re just not.
Like that’s the best possible example that you could, you could find in this kind of situation where, you know, we’ve heard now that, not prepared coming into the season. Like he’s, he’s lost his fastball.
Like that’s the guy you want to watch.”
Over in New York, Vincent Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic laid out a few Rangers notes after what he called a good offseason retool. The club reshaped its second defense pair by bringing in Sean Durzi and Marcus Pettersson, but the top six up front has taken a hit since the trade deadline with Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck gone.
Alexis Lafreniere is still a talking point too. He has 66 points in 129 games since signing his seven-year, $7.45 million per contract, and the Rangers chose not to sell low on him. Instead, they kept him around with the hope that his strong finish last season - 14 goals and 14 assists in their final 27 games - can carry over.
The long view for the Rangers is even more centered on the middle of the ice. Mercogliano said the team will be hunting for a No. 1 center over the next few years, with Mika Zibanejad and J.T.
Miller serving as placeholders for now. Both are 33 years old, while Cole Beaudoin is their top center prospect, though not viewed as a top-six option.
New York does still have its 2027 first-round pick, and the center class that year is expected to be deep. The catch is obvious: landing one of the top names would likely require a rough season. Mercogliano also mentioned the dream scenario - Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews or Leon Draisaitl - but added the obvious question of whether any of them would ever be available, and why they’d pick New York unless the Rangers are winning.
In Other News...
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Penguins Fans Are Fed Up With Another Wave Of NHL Noise
The NHL rumor mill has been spinning again, and Penguins fans have had plenty of reason to roll their eyes at the latest wave of noise. Between offseason chatter around the league and the constant churn of social media speculation, it has become harder to separate real movement from the kind of talk that fades as quickly as it appears.
For Pittsburgh, the bigger picture is familiar: every offseason brings a fresh round of evaluation, from roster changes to the moves that shape the organization beyond the NHL level. The Penguins have already spent time sorting through their own changes and decisions, and the latest batch of league-wide buzz is just another reminder that not every headline deserves equal weight. [Read more 🡒]