It is an interesting day for the Daily. Former Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Darius Kasparaitis downed a few beers with Alex Ovechkin as the Great 8 lamented the Russian loss of international play, the Athletic graded teams’ salary cap usage, Team USA GM Bill Guerin turned up the pressure to win gold, and we delivered a final trade verdict on the second anniversary of the Penguins’ Erik Karlsson trade. And, Elias Pettersson wants revenge on himself.

Greetings from Manhattan. I lost the Nathan’s hot dog eating challenge on Wednesday, but for the first time in my dozen-plus trips to this little mecca of city activity, I took the hour subway ride to Coney Island and did some writing at the boardwalk. I think my proclivity for grubby food and Americana is well established, but I was amazed how good the Nathan’s hot dogs were.

I’ve had those hot dogs in Las Vegas and from food carts, but they were especially good at the Original Nathan’s. I probably won’t make the trip down there again–the boardwalk and area around the amusement park are quite dirty, with garbage strewn about, including a shattered desktop computer–but it was a worthwhile visit.

Those hot dogs were so good. They made up for the overpriced, unremarkable diner in SoHo that I won’t bother telling you about. Win some, lose some.

Should I genuflect? First time, long time pic.twitter.com/3OBr0JqmKr

— Dan Kingerski (@TheDanKingerski) August 6, 2025

The trip did begin with a lovely three-step punt to the knackers. The conductor on the LIRR asked if I wanted the senior discount. Seriously?! Her sheepish response when I replied No, I’m not close, but thanks for making me feel terrible about myself, was to reply that some older people look younger.

Great. At least I look like a youthful senior citizen. Not helping, Miss. Not helping. Put down the shovel.

Also, Happy Sidney Crosby day.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: On the second anniversary of the Erik Karlsson trade, enough time has elapsed that we can give the deal a final verdict. Hindsight, logic, and results. Here is the final Penguins trade grade.

Steelers Now: In practice and off the field, new Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is developing some chemistry with Roman Wilson. Here’s the full deets on the new Steelers combination.

Pittsburgh Baseball Now: Get your barf buckets handy. Honest to goodness, who are you people who don’t care and keep shoveling money to go to Pirates’ games? John Perrotto delivers the bad news: sources say that even though MLB is applying some pressure, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ payroll will NOT increase next year.

Disgusting. It’s time fans really sent a message. Yes, you can.

NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now

RMNB: The Four Nations tournament was glorious for fans, but not so great for a few Russian players who really … really want to play. Darius Kasparaitis and Alex Ovechkin worked out and went for a beer during the tournament. Here’s the story of Ovi not being able to watch.

Every time I mention the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I get anger from some weird version of Putin fanboys and Alt Right spin doctors. But I’m happy to see we’re trying to end the invasion. Russian hockey players deserve to be included in the international events, but we just can’t until that situation is over.

The Athletic ($): Which teams are maximizing their salary cap space and contracts in the best way? And which teams are wasting money? The Athletic did a deep analytics dive on each player compared to their salary to grade each contract and thus teams’ usage of cap space. The Penguins didn’t rank well, but it’s an interesting read.

TSN: Team USA GM Bill Guerin raised the temperature of the Olympic tournament, “We have to win. We have to win another one of these. It’s been since 1996. We just have to find a way.” USA Hockey is hungry.

Guerin sure does know how to unleash a quote, eh?

NHL.com: Vancouver Canucks center Elias Pettersson is visibly bigger, but also angry at how last season transpired. The fighting between him and J.T. Miller, and the losing, did not sit well, so he’s doing something about it.

Detroit Hockey Now: You never forget your first love, and Jabub Vrana is weighing several offers from several European teams, but he may very well choose the place that started it all, even though it’s not the best offer. It’s a personal decision and a unique story being written by the former Detroit Red Wings winger.

San Jose Hockey Now: Here’s a different take and maybe a voice in the wilderness, but agent Todd Diamond says the CHL development is better than NCAA development. Diamond also told our buddy Sheng Peng about the contract for William Eklund, too.

Sorry, no new NHL trade rumors or chatter.