The Pittsburgh Penguins’ direction and their offerings to the NHL trade market have often been debated as we try to stay ahead of the curve, and Shelly Anderson weighed in on getting real with Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell trades. Sidney Crosby is having a summer, including hockey and Stanley Cup parties, albeit with a really ugly hat. Elsewhere in the Daily, former Carolina Hurricanes general manager Don Wadell told the story of his worst trade, which was Adam Fox to the New York Rangers for a pair of second-round picks, but there was much more to it. There’s some opinion that the New Jersey Devils can’t trade Dougie Hamilton, and the Boston Bruins won’t replace Marchand with a new captain.

So, I’ve slept for eight or more hours in each of the last two nights. And I have one question. How do you people do this?! I wake up feeling groggy and with a headache. However, that’s two more nights that I got some real sleep than I did last summer, so maybe that will mean I have some great Penguins content brewing?

I spent yesterday staffing one of our new sites–Ringside Intel. It’s a wrestling site with 500,000 social media followers that has fallen somewhat dormant. When the new guys get up and running, you squared circle peeps will have to check it out.

So, let’s get to hockey.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Trade Bryan Rust? Trade Rickard Rakell? Shelly Anderson took her turn at the plate and swung away (which is more than the Pirates GM on Thursday). So, let’s get real about the Penguins’ direction.

It looks like Sid the Kid again. Parties. Big smiles. And schooling some youngins on the ice. It was Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, and Drake Batherson against Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, and Noah Dobson. Get a glimpse into a perfect day for Sidney Crosby.

Pittsburgh Baseball Now: First, we’ve got ALL of the Pirates trades. However, it was an inexplicable day as the Pirates traded away a young pitcher for a sack of baseballs, traded away their closer for a mediocre return that won’t be ready to help the Pirates for three or four years, and GM Ben Cherington failed to trade several players on expiring contracts. Say What?! Danny Demilio teed up the Pirates’ latest failure and put it all into an inescapably negative context. It’s more Pirates failure.

Just a ridiculous day. If the Pirates don’t clean house today, their critics will be proven correct.

Steelers Now: Head to the homepage for all of the training camp news. Omar Khan deflected any praise for his off-season and raised to bar on expectations. It’s good to hear the words, Super Bowl and Steelers in the same sentence. Khan has one goal for these Pittsburgh Steelers.

NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now

Blue Line Station: The aggregator blog did a write-up on now-Columbus GM Don Wadell on the Cam and Strick podcast. It’s one of the best podcasts out there, so listen to the full podcast here. Wadell was the GM of the Carolina Hurricanes when they traded a big haul to the Calgary Flames for Adam Fox, but then traded Fox to the New York Rangers for much less. Wadell admitted that Fox changed his mind and decided he wouldn’t sign in Carolina, and that it is still the worst trade he’s ever made.

NHL Trade Rumors.me: Some lingering NHL trade talk or anti-trade talk? Have the Devils made Dougie Hamilton available? Hamilton’s name has been floated out there externally, but if Frank Seravalli is correct, this might be good news for the Penguins’ hopes to trade Erik Karlsson. Seravalli says there isn’t much of a market for Hamilton at that salary.

Some quick news: The Winnipeg Jets avoided arbitration by signing Dylan Samberg to a three-year, $17.25 million deal. The Calgary Flames inked Martin Pospisil to a three-year, $3 million deal. And the Buffalo Sabres signed goalie Devon Levi to a two-year, $1.625 million deal.

Philly Hockey Now: We’re into jersey debate season. The orange and black bullies have had a few iterations of their sweaters, so which Philadelphia Flyers jersey do fans want back?

Red and Green Christmas tree jerseys? Which New Jersey Devils jersey should come back?

Boston Hockey Now: The Boston Bruins traded captain Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers at the trade deadline. According to Charlie McAvoy, the Bruins aren’t eager to replace Marchand and will go into this season without a new Bruins captain.

NHL.com: There is a new NHL streaming partner. DAZN is taking over, and NHL Center Ice subscribers will be notified of what comes next.

Florida Hockey Now: Where would you go with the Stanley Cup? Marchand kept the party going as he rolled up old-school style in the back of a pickup truck with the Stanley Cup to … a Tim Horton’s. George Richards has more of Marchand’s Stanley Cup party.