Will the NHL ever learn? The Department of Player Safety is again the subject of mockery and incredulity after giving Radko Gudas a comparatively light penalty based on his history and the damage done, though the criticism is coming from outside the house. There is a lot of talk in Toronto about breaking up the band and if William Nylande is next out the door, and the anger over the team’s failure to go after Gudas for injuring Auston Matthews has only compounded trade chatter.

Elsewhere in the Daily, our somewhat weekly PHN+ Penguins locker room feature, we got a shootout education from an unlikely source, more on a rookie’s journey, and Sidney Crosby. Anze Kopitar is finally about to become the LA Kings all-time leading scorer, and Saturday is a big night for the NHL playoff races.

Since the Penguins did not practice Friday in Utah, I stayed behind an extra day in Las Vegas. Salt Lake City is beautiful, but last year I couldn’t get dinner after 8:30 p.m. and ended up eating a Cup of Soup for $4 from the hotel’s sundry closet. Quite obviously, I had a much better dinner on Friday in Vegas.

Another of my little haunts that you should check out when you’re here–because it’s got history is good, and is affordable–is Siegel’s at the El Cortez, just off the Freemont St. Experience. It’s downtown Vegas, or as a friend calls it, Godfather Vegas.

In 1945, Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky bought and flipped the El Cortez for a tidy profit to, uh, take over the construction of the Flamingo. So, I usually pay homage by hopping the bus from the strip to downtown, requesting one of the red vinyl booths, and enjoying a solid chicken parm and a Cabernet behind some of those big ficus plants.

It’s very good, not great, but it’s reasonably priced, which makes the food taste even better (dinner and wine was $34, which for Vegas is now very cheap). It’s just enough off the beaten path to be secluded, accessible, and usually quiet. Unfortunately, last night there was a small party of four that sounded like 400, dominated by a guy who brought to mind one of my favorite expressions from my grandfather, who had many.

“That guy knows a helluva a lot, if he could just think of it.”

When they left, I audibly exhaled. And then I walked the Strip “home” before going to bed early (midnight) for the long day ahead in Salt Lake City. Thank you all for making this career, this life possible. It surely isn’t easy, but once a year, I get chicken parm at a joint the boys used to own and watch the Bellagio Fountains dance to Andrea Bocelli.

God, I love this place. Let’s do that hockey.

Pittsburgh Penguins

I offer a small apology. I did only one full story Friday, and it is for PHN+ subscribers; a week’s worth of locker room conversations–real conversations–that aren’t connected to the singular games, but bigger issues, updates on their game, and hockey talk.

PHN+: In this week’s Inside the Room column, a bit more on Sidney Crosby, but also some self-aware thoughts from Ville Koivunen and a long, unexpected discourse on shootouts from a very unlikely source. Check out the Penguins Insider.

Steelers Now: Alan Saunders writes a strong column–Steelers general manager Omar Khan is well on his way to fixing the Steelers’ biggest issue.

Pittsburgh Baseball Now: Danny Demilio has a stinger of a column, too. Four standouts, two good and two bad, through Pirates spring training.

I don’t give Danny enough love for the good work he does covering the Pittsburgh Pirates. Baseball coverage is a grind unlike anything else. And Danny deserves more public credit for his work.

NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now

TSN Video: Coach Craig Berube also poked at his team for not dismantling Radko Gudas following the hit on Auston Matthews, “We should have had four guys in there.” Craig Button shares his reaction to it all.

Sportsnet: “Laughable.” That’s how Matthews’s agent described the NHL’s latest blunder, suspending Gudas for only five games after his knee-to-knee hit ended Matthews’s season.

The reaction to my tweet dashed off during dinner, seemed to indicate this is what a lot of you were already thinking.

Ok, help me out. Evgeni Malkin does something dumb. No injuries. 5 games. Yeah—can’t raise your stick in anger like that. Harsh but OK.
Radko Gudas takes out a star player for the season with a dirty knee shot. He has a long, long wrap sheet. He gets the same 5 gamer Whut?!

— Dan Kingerski (@TheDanKingerski) March 14, 2026

I know, I know, it’s rap sheet, not wrap sheet.

NHLtraderumors.me: Our buddy Dave Littman compiled the details from Nick Kypreos’s radio show and Luke Fox’s work–William Nylander out the door in Toronto? Could the Maple Leafs tear it down?

NHL.com: Some double good news from Long Island. The LA Kings beat the New York Islanders in regulation, which helps the Penguins, and Anze Kopitar is now just one point short of tying Marcel Dionne for the LA Kings’ all-time leading scorer.

I would have guessed LA’s leading scorer was Luc Robitaille, but Dionne is one of the most overlooked greats.

TVA: Montreal made a run at acquiring Mathew Knies from Toronto, but do they really have the trade chips to get it done this summer?

For the Penguins playoff chase: Tonight Columbus is in Philadelphia, the Islanders host Calgary, Boston is in Washington, Ottawa has Anaheim at home, and Buffalo hosts Toronto.

Tags: nhl news nhl trade Pittsburgh Penguins radko gudas

Categorized:Links NHL Trade Rumors