{"id":160949,"date":"2025-08-16T12:28:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T12:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/160949\/"},"modified":"2025-08-16T12:28:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T12:28:11","slug":"make-or-break-time-a-big-ufa-whiff-penguins-wrap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/160949\/","title":{"rendered":"Make or Break Time; a Big UFA Whiff; Penguins Wrap"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"PittsburghPittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby (87) celebrates his goal with Bryan Rust after scoring during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers in Pittsburgh, Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024. (AP Photo\/Gene J. Puskar)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

What do wasabi mashed potatoes, a player lobbying for a Canadian Olympic spot, and the Detroit Red Wings whiffing on a free agent have in common? Nothing. However, they are all in the Daily today. Nazem Kadri said he deserves a chance with Team Canada. The Athletic is reporting that the Detroit Red Wings were ready to splash more cash on a Florida Panthers free agent, it is make-or-break time for a New York Rangers winger, and we have the Pittsburgh Penguins wrap.<\/p>\n

Greetings from Marietta, OH. Quick detour from hockey. Skip below the pictures if you hate my travel stories. <\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve got a sports car or a bike, my gosh, Rt. 555\u2013the Triple Nickel\u2013from Zanesville to Parkersburg is one of the best rides in the country. It is 62 miles of never-ending switchbacks, hairpins, undulating corkscrews, and a few straightaways. I was getting upset with myself because I was leaving a lot of speed on the table\u2013I was more Lance Stroll than Lando Norris\u2013before I found my rhythm and started nailing the apexes. But then I caught up to some fat guys on rolling barges, so I did what any self-respecting biker would do: I pulled over for some Amish apple pie and ice cream. Duh.<\/p>\n

If you make the trip down here, dinner at Austyn\u2019s is a must. It\u2019s really great, and their prices are $10 to $15 lower than they should be. <\/p>\n

I also found out that my historic little hotel \u2026 is haunted! I decided to extend my stay in Marietta, but I have to switch rooms for tonight \u2026 wait for it \u2026 to THE haunted room. I\u2019m kind of excited. With the long ride and great dinner, for the first time this summer, I finally feel a bit of peace. Now, watch a damned poltergeist screw with me all night.<\/p>\n

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Pittsburgh Penguins<\/p>\n

I took some liberties yesterday and didn\u2019t write any new Penguins stories or analysis. I\u2019ll have some for this morning, but here are the best of the week (I mean, it is mid-August, even Kyle Dubas is taking a breather):<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: We sleuthed the Penguins trade talk and the rippling effects it could have on the rest of the NHL. Here are the teams and players in play for a possible Penguins trade<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Justin Brazeau did one of those Zoom calls this week. The Penguins\u2019 big 6-foot-6 winger didn\u2019t hesitate when we asked him what skill he thought would translate best to his new team. The interview was exclusive to the Penguins website and PHN. More from Justin Brazeau<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bad luck or bad choices? Goalies have been a problem for Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas, from Toronto to now. We rolled through the choices and the consequences of Dubas\u2019s moves<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And, this one was from my gut. Hey, Bill Guerin, Matthew Tkachuk will be banged up, Team Canada isn\u2019t coming to play nice, so if you want to win gold in the Olympics, don\u2019t overlook Bryan Rust<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now<\/p>\n

The Athletic ($): The Detroit Red Wings had a duffel bag full of money to give away on July 1, but came up short when a few re-signed. James Mirtle reports they were lying in wait on Aaron Ekblad, among others, but came away\u00a0with nothing.<\/a><\/p>\n

NHL.com: The 3v3 league was conceived in Pittsburgh, and if you\u2019ve watched the games, you\u2019ll hear Steve Mears and Bob Errey with the call. For the players, it\u2019s exciting, but they\u2019re also hoping for another shot at the NHL<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sportnet: Nazem Kadri didn\u2019t get invited to the Canadian orientation camp this month, and he\u2019s not happy. He publicly said so<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Forever Blueshirts: Don\u2019t let the name fool you, FB is not a random blog. Jim Cerny, a real hockey media pro, runs it. This season is make-or-break in New York. With a new coach Mike Sullivan behind the bench and much higher hopes, there is a lot of pressure on\u00a0Alex Lafreniere<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It seems like a lot of Detroit news today.<\/p>\n

Detroit Hockey Now: The Red Wings signed veteran defenseman Travis Hamonic to a bargain bin deal, but the story you might find is far more interesting and germane is that our guys in Detroit tell the story of the ugliness of the Red Wings\u2019 playoff drought<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Montreal Hockey Now: Marc Dumont\u2019s top Habs prospect list continues. He took fan votes on the order and got over 10,000 votes?! We\u2019re into the top five now, and it\u2019s incredible the amount of talent that the Canadiens have amassed. The heir apparent in net has tongues wagging\u2013Jacob Fowler<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Chicago Hockey Now: Jeff Blashill didn\u2019t get the Red Wings over the rebuilding hump as their coach, but he\u2019s getting a second bite at that apple by leading the retooling Blackhawks, hopefully from the depths of the NHL. Greg Boysen examines what that means for the new Chicago Blackhawks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTags: nhl news<\/a> nhl trade<\/a> Penguins Trade<\/a> Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> <\/p>\n

Categorized:Links<\/a> NHL Trade Rumors<\/a> Penguins<\/a> Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby (87) celebrates his goal with Bryan Rust after scoring during the first period of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160950,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5101],"tags":[599,93,5137,5,4,106,4433,644,100,3358,5138],"class_list":{"0":"post-160949","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-red-wings","8":"tag-detroit","9":"tag-detroit-red-wings","10":"tag-detroitredwings","11":"tag-hockey","12":"tag-nhl","13":"tag-nhl-news","14":"tag-nhl-trade","15":"tag-penguins-trade","16":"tag-pittsburgh-penguins","17":"tag-red-wings","18":"tag-redwings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115038447535584551","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}