BUFFALO, N.Y. — We are about to get a real social experiment of old school colliding with new school as the details emerge from Penn State where hockey phenom Gavin McKenna decked a guy harassing his family, likely his mother outside of a team party. Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Caleb Jones believes he took a tainted substance leading to a 20-game suspension for performance enhancing drugs. Elsewhere in the Daily, the Artemi Panarin trade went down, and we’ve got the trade ask the Rangers made of the Washington Capitals and San Jose Sharks, as well as what the LA Kings gave up. And San Jose is also kicking tires on young defensemen.

Let the fun begin, the final game before the Olympic break. It was really awkward, and I wonder if it played just a little bit of a role in the Penguins’ mini-slide: Before the game on Monday, a lot of media asked the Penguins Olympians about the upcoming Olympic Games.

At the time, the team still had three games to play. Only coach Dan Muse pushed back on the questions, but it was a necessary evil for TV stations and non-traveling print media to do so, I guess.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Bad luck has stalked Caleb Jones this season, and after two significant injuries, he is now serving a 20-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. It doesn’t sound like he was “cheating,” but there isn’t any wiggle room in the rules, either. The NHL’s suspension, the Penguins statement, and Jones’s side of the story are in the Penguins news.

Vince Comunale wrote an interesting piece for the off day. Oh, I’ll be cowkicked: the history of the Penguins radio network.

Steelers Now: A bunch more hires, and the staff is just about set, including a new offensive coordinator. Also, there are a lot of Green Bay connections on Mike McCarthy’s Steelers coaching staff.

Alan Saunders fired off a column. McCarthy has already begun to modernize the Steelers’ operations.

Yep, an experienced outside voice was needed to begin the process of fixing a decaying organization and refreshing operations. Unfortunately, the Steelers were not in a position to put a young coach in a position to succeed this time.

Also, let’s not forget about Danny Demilio and Pittsburgh Baseball Now. The Pirates have made some non-roster invites with potential for their MLB roster.

NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now

Forever Blueshirts: Trade! Panarin went to the Kings for a pair of conditional mid-round picks and a prospect. It wasn’t the big haul the Rangers wanted, but there were circumstances. After the trade, Rangers general manager Chris Drury opened up about the process from start to finish of the Rangers trade.

TSN Insiders: The boys touched on the Philly Flyers and the Matvei Michkov kerfuffle, as well as what comes next for the Maple Leafs, but also how the Artemi Panarin trade went down.

NHLtraderumors.me: I couldn’t find the source material, but our old friend Jimmy Murphy reported the Rangers made a HUGE ask of the Capitals and Sharks for Panarin. Will Smith and Ryan Leonard, respectively, were the asks.

Philly Hockey Now: The nuts and bolts of the McKenna story. These are not insignificant charges for the NHL prospect.

Thus far, the only reporting on the details of the incident has been on social media.

There have been screenshots of purported witnesses, and there’s a lot of chatter confirming details of the story, but until it’s all sorted out, here’s as much as has been credibly reported.

Not the first to report this – but am told regarding Gavin McKenna:

Penn State’s team gathered postgame Saturday at Doggies Pub in a private room. An individual unrelated to the team was verbally harassing a member of McKenna’s family, and there was a physical altercation.

— Mike McMahon (@MikeMcMahonCHN) February 4, 2026

Now then, if indeed it’s true that this “victim” was harassing McKenna’s family, specifically his mom, and said some of the things purportedly said, it’s old school character to protect your family. Only someone who’s never been in a fight would be so bold as to say some of those things and not expect consequences. But I also bet my opinion is a minority opinion.

NY Post: Mollie Walker reporting that the San Jose Sharks are also kicking tires on Rangers D-man Braden Schneider.

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