WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — It was a wild night in Wilkes-Barre. The WBS Penguins took Toronto to OT before losing 2-1 on the weirdest goal I’ve seen. It was first ruled no goal until awkward review rules forced referees to count it, but after the AHL later released publicly unavailable replays, it was not quite the screwjob that it initially appeared. We have plenty more coverage of the Pittsburgh Penguins prospects, too.

Elsewhere in the Daily, The Athletic has its NHL trade board out, the Stanley Cup Final is set as the Carolina Hurricanes will face the VGK, and former Penguin Jordan Staal will get another crack at a Stanley Cup at the end of his career. Canada is already dissecting the Montreal Canadiens and how they can take the next step, and analyzing how John Tortorella has helped Vegas back to the Final, but Bruce Cassidy is angry at Vegas for blocking his interviews.

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There’s a lot to explain from last night in Wilkes-Barre. The AHL and WBS asked me to delete my tweet about a lengthy hallway meeting between coach Kirk MacDonald and AHL president Scott Howson before it went viral. The tweet was not incorrect, but they were afraid it would allow people to imagine it was some sort of Jim Shoenfeld-Don Koharski blowout (Have another donut!), which it wasn’t.

I’m not here to cause trouble, and I agreed because it was a rotten situation that has a lot of point of views. I didn’t want to make things worse for WBS. Later, the AHL also released publicly unavailable reviews that changed my view, though I still don’t think it was a good goal, but I wish the reviews had been available before the postgame aftermath because it wasn’t the totally botched call that it initially appeared.

I’ll write more on it today as part of the Q&A.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Let’s talk about the prospects. Instead of my analysis of the boys chasing their NHL dream, what do those on the inside think of them? Unfortunately, the ending last night cut short a second part, but here’s the inside perspective on Harrison Brunicke’s rapid growth and a really detailed analysis of Tristan Broz’s game from his outgoing linemate. It’s in our Penguins prospects coverage.

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Steelers Now: A coach was already fired?! And more takeaways from the Steelers OTAs.

Pittsburgh Baseball Now: It was a pretty cool night at PNC. Jared Jones made his return after more than a year of rehab following Tommy John surgery, then Bryan Reynolds knocked one out of the park to send everyone home happy. It was a good, good night for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

NHL Trade Talk, News, National Hockey Now

Sportsnet: Fans hate Torts, but there’s a reason many inside the game love him and he keeps getting jobs. There is a lot of SCF coverage, but first, some analysis. How John Tortorella has made the Vegas Golden Knights a better team and got them to the next level.

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Carolina Hockey Now: “We’re a family.” They finally did it. They finally broke through and will play for the Stanley Cup. How the Carolina Hurricanes won the East.

Former coach Bruce Cassidy is not happy with the Golden Knights and told the boys why.

Montreal Hockey Now: It was a hard lesson. There’s probably a lot of pain inside the Habs’ room today, but as Marc Dumont writes, the silver linings and bright future are impossible to ignore for the Montreal Canadiens.

The Athletic ($): As part of his NHL trade board, Chris Johnston softly reported that Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Reilly will accept a trade. After Kyper’s big-name big board, here’s a more ground-level look at the summer availables.

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Boston Hockey Now: The Boston Bruins have a couple of trade chips. The league is looking for centers, and Boston has them. To address bigger needs, Jack Studley analyzes the Bruins trading Casey Mittlestadt.

ESPN: Annnnddd… the shocker of the day. The IIHF stopped short of allowing Russia back into international tournament, but they did rule Russia could be allowed back into the tournaments on a case-by-case basis. In other words, the coming 2028 NHL World Cup could have Russia.

The post Dan’s Daily: Staal for Cup; Russia Unbanned; Penguins Prospects Analysis appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now.

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