We’re less than four days from the final horn of the 2026 NHL trade deadline, and some big questions are rising in the Canadian media, including whether the top American stars currently employed by Canadian teams will bolt, sooner or later. We dug into the Pittsburgh Penguins’ playoff path and what we view as the likeliest trade strategy.
Elsewhere in the Daily, we’ve got the first trade of the week, some bargain bin trade options, and the latest on Vincent Trocheck’s trade talk.
It’s all trade deadline stuff now, but the Columbus Blue Jackets put down the New York Rangers in OT Monday to stay seven back of the Penguins. And, for the first time, I was on the Starkey and Pompeani show on 93-7 the Fan yesterday. I could tell I was giving some bad news that didn’t jibe with their thoughts on the Penguins.
You’ll have to read the column to see what I told them. You can also watch it here. And, for the record, I was wearing a simple cardigan sweater.
And I’m off to Boston this AM.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Making the playoffs. Here’s the Penguins’ situation, and it might surprise you how close they are. And we dug into what to expect from the Penguins’ trade strategy.
Pittsburgh Baseball Now: Wait, whut? It was a different kind of winter around here. Did the best winter in the division belong to the Pittsburgh Pirates?
Steelers Now: Notes from the road. Alan Saunders shared what he learned from the NFL Combine.
Some Penguins honors: Ville Koivunen was the AHL player of the month, and Arturs Silovs was the NHL second-star of the week.
NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now
Sportsnet: A few days to go–here are five bargain bin trade candidates.
TSN: We’ve all wondered. Stories like this don’t help. It’s tougher to play up north, but it’s even more difficult to be a central figure if you’re an American. Could Auston Matthews and Brady Tkachuk bolt Canada?
NHL.com: Vincent Trocheck won’t go west. That’s his deal, and as the Rangers peddle his wares to really begin their rebuild, they can chop those teams on the other side of the country, at least for now.
The Athletic ($): Arpon Basu reports the Montreal Canadiens are working the phones to ship out Patrik Laine. Here’s what he’s got.
Also, the Minnesota Wild claimed Robby Fabbri off waivers. It seems a lifetime ago that Fabbri was in Penguins training camp on a PTO.
Chicago Hockey Now: Trade! We’ve got this week’s icebreaker as the Edmonton Oilers acquired Connor Murphy for a surprisingly affordable price from the Chicago Blackhawks.
New Jersey Hockey Now: Tick tock. The New Jersey Devils’ season slipped away. James Nichols writes that the Devils have six…SIX?!…trade chips.
Florida Hockey Now: Sergei Bobrovsky. Our George Richards had a convo with the goalie about what comes next for him as he approaches free agency, and trade rumors are springing up like gators in the canals. George has the latest Panthers trade talk.
Tags: nhl trade Pittsburgh Penguins
Categorized:Links NHL Trade Rumors