The Pittsburgh Penguins avoided the big deals and big trades Tuesday as the NHL free agent frenzy hit a fevered pitch. The day was not the blockbuster across the league as some had hoped because the biggest names re-signed Monday night, but there were plenty of surprises, a couple of hockey trades, and plenty of money splashed around. The Penguins gave a handful of second or third chances as part of their strategy to prepare for the post-Sidney Crosby era and traded a goalie. The New York Rangers traded K’Andre Miller to the Carolina Hurricanes for a hefty haul, and the New York Islanders added some talent, too.

It was a slow-burn Tuesday. There was no 12:01 p.m. explosion of signings and gasps, but the day kept moving.

A quick note: The “Anthony Mantha to the Penguins” report was not a report. One of the rumor sites said to watch for it. That’s all. However, the NHL Network uncharacteristically jumped to conclusions, put out a graphic claiming the Penguins signed Mantha, and everyone got excited. I’m not reporting the signing won’t happen, but I am reporting it didn’t happen.

Now, I’m opining that it won’t happen and shouldn’t happen. He’s had so many bad years that even if he has a good year, his trade value is flat.

But what was with the volume of belligerence on social media yesterday? No kidding, I cannot say I’ve had a day in which I was ready to drop the gloves and start mauling some malcontents quite like yesterday. I mean, people were jumping ugly over benign stuff.

I’ll discuss a disagreement or three when there’s time, but if you come at me, yeah, you get blocked, mocked, muted, or made fun of. Laws of the jungle, I suppose.

Also–Live Chat today at 1:05 p.m! It’s on the YouTube channel exclusively.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Fare thee well, Ned. Alex Nedeljkovic is now a San Jose Sharks goalie. Here’s the Penguins trade.

Great trade for the Sharks. From a personal standpoint, I wish Nedeljkovic well. He helped you and me by explaining the situation or events more than a few times over the past couple of years.

I won’t link every story here, but one free agent signing could be interesting. Justin Brazeau–he wasn’t a player with whom I was immediately familiar, but a quick look, a few texts later, Brazeau might be a late bloomer with a spot in the Penguins lineup.

The Penguins also re-signed Philip Tomasino, Connor Dewar, Parker Wortherspoon, and Caleb Jones. It’s not a treasure trove, but it fits the Penguins’ motif–here’s the Day 1 Penguins free agent wrap.

Just before the starter’s pistol went off, we looked at three free agents who were non-tendered RFAs that could make good sense for the Penguins. One of the three is off the board, but the two forwards remain. Let’s see what you think of the potential Penguins targets.

NHL Trade Talk, News, & Hockey Now

Forever Blueshirts: Boom. K’Andre Miller traded to the Carolina Hurricanes. The deal was big. The new contract that Carolina dished to Miller was bigger. Jim Cerny has the key takeaways and the details of the Rangers trade.

Montreal Hockey Now: It’s a very good trade for the Montreal Canadiens, but St. Louis didn’t do too badly either. It was a swap of young stars on the rise who hope they can get to the next level. St. Louis gets Logan Mailloux and Montreal gets Zachary Bolduc. Canadiens fans are very excited, and Marc Dumont has the Canadiens trade analysis.

NYI Hockey Now: Another signing I really like was on Long Island. Jonathan Drouin inked an affordable deal with the New York Islanders.

Philly Hockey Now: There is some comparison between the Penguins and Flyers since both are rebuilding, but they seem to be at different speeds and phases. I thought the Flyers had a very good day on Tuesday. Fans underestimate Dan Vladar in goal. The orange and black also added some center depth, too. Here’s the full day of the Philadelphia Flyers signings.

New Jersey Hockey Now: I think it was also a good day for New Jersey. They got some deals and talent. James Nichols had the live blog you can scroll through for all of the moves, including Jake Allen and Evgenii Dadonov.

Vegas Hockey Now: It’s been a wild week for the Sin City dwellers. Alex Pieterangelo essentially retired, though not officially, and they got Mitch Marner in a sign-and-trade from Toronto. First, check out all of the great work that Hannah Kirkell is doing in Vegas. She’s got every story and analysis. Here’s the Mitch Marner press conference.

And GM Kelly McCrimmon addressed it ALL for the Golden Knights. Keep up with Hannah’s work on Vegas Hockey Now. Really. She’s good and getting better.

Vegas really is a special place for players. They might never have a bad season because the area is great, the fans adore them in a protective sort of way, and the taxes are low. Maybe someday it will all get stale, but Vegas has been rolling sevens on the come-out for years.

Sportsnet: So, if you have an emotional farewell with teammates, hit the market, then re-sign, does that mean you have to give back the autographed jersey? Brock Boeser surprised everyone and took a discount deal to remain with the Vancouver Canucks.

There was one signing I thought that Penguins GM Kyle Dubas might look into–Andrew Mangiapane. Another good year, and he’ll have some trade value, but the Edmonton Oilers came calling. That’s a shot at the Stanley Cup.

TSN: For the rest of the signings, here is the TSN signing tracker.