Penguins/NHL category, Page 179

The Pittsburgh Penguins are facing an uncertain offseason for a variety of reasons ranging from the coronavirus pandemic to their own internal shortcomings. How that impacts the rosters moving forward is still anyone’s guess, including their own, perhaps. With an estimated $13,224,825 of salary cap space, according to Cap Friendly,...

Wednesday’s “First Call” features the Pittsburgh Pirates reaction to the Fernando Tatis Jr. controversy. Steelers tight end Vance McDonald makes a Pittsburgh folklore faux pas. A former Penguins prospect has a new home. And a tip of the cap to Roberto Clemente on his birthday. Taillon on Tatis The big...

No one needs to float this idea past Pittsburgh Penguins fans. They’ve already gotten the message. But one trend is becoming noticeable in the coronavirus-era rebooted sports world. Reformatted training camps, empty stadiums, herky-jerky schedules and covid-19-related absences have heightened competitive balance within the leagues. The playing field is a...

The Pittsburgh Penguins are facing an uncertain offseason for a variety of reasons ranging from the coronavirus pandemic to their own internal shortcomings. How that impacts the rosters moving forward is still anyone’s guess, including their own, perhaps. With an estimated $13,224,825 of salary cap space — according to Cap...

Former Penguins forward prospect Nikita Pavlychev has signed a one-year American Hockey League (AHL) contract with the Syracuse Crunch, affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Penguins selected Pavlychev in the seventh round (No. 197 overall) in the 2015 draft but never signed him. The deadline to retain his signing...

On Monday afternoon, I visited five websites to track how sports on television ratings were tracking amid the pandemic restarts. I got four different answers. Monday’s news from NBC was that the first two days of the Stanley Cup Playoffs official first round “averaged 620,000 viewers across NBC Sports’ TV...

It didn’t last very long, did it? Mid-summer excitement about the return of Pittsburgh’s pro sports world was brief. And frankly, not that enjoyable. Hey, better to have it than not. But it hardly felt like the real thing. Especially based on how short of a run it was. The...

The Penguins on Monday announced forward Zach Aston-Reese underwent surgery on his left shoulder. He is expected to take six months to recover. The 2020-21 NHL season is aiming to open in early December. The nature of the surgery, the extent of the ailment and the date of the procedure...

The Penguins’ rotten offseason continues. Forward Evgeni Malkin underwent surgery on his left elbow the team announced Monday. The nature of the surgery, the extent of the ailment and the date of the procedure were not disclosed. Malkin is expected to take three to four weeks to recover. NHL training...

The Penguins have already successfully pulled off a mini-rebuild within their current era of championship success. What’s now being called the “core three” of the Penguins team — Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin — used to have a much broader membership. The perception was that “core” also used to...

Monday’s “First Call” features a Hall of Famer who is making a pitch to sign Antonio Brown. A few NFL.com lists aren’t very flattering of the Steelers. And a pair of former Penguins had some key contributions in NHL wins Sunday. A.B. in L.A. Isaac Bruce knows receivers. He was...

We might be short on sports right now, but Mark Madden isn’t short on opinions. In this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Mark and I get into great detail about the Penguins’ looming offseason. General manager Jim Rutherford and head coach Mike Sullivan both make it sound like roster adjustments are...

The Penguins have relinquished the rights to prospects Ryan Jones and Nikita Pavlychev and allowed both players to become unrestricted free agents. Jones and Pavlychev were each drafted by the Penguins and played at the NCAA level the past four seasons. The NHL’s deadline to sign drafted college players was...

The NBA’s San Antonio Spurs missed the playoffs for the first time in 22 seasons. Here in Pittsburgh, we know whose fault that is. It’s Jack Johnson’s. The Penguins defenseman is responsible for the national debt, social injustice, the spread of covid-19 from China, the Pirates’ low payroll and, not...

A favorite crutch for Penguins coach Mike Sullivan is “moving forward.” He uses it as a transition. As punctuation. As a point of emphasis. All the time. Unfortunately, his team has spent the last three years moving backward. Badly. From Stanley Cup champion in 2017. To a second-round exit in...

Longtime NHL defenseman Dan Hamhuis announced his retirement through the Nashville Predators on Thursday. Over 16 seasons, Hamhuis appeared in 1,148 regular season games and scored 356 points (59 goals, 297 assists). A stout defensive defenseman throughout his career, Hamhuis, 37, primarily played for the Predators throughout his career but...

You knew that venom would be spewed toward the Penguins in “U mad, bro?” this week. The team was dreadful in its four-game, qualifying-round elimination at the hands of the 24th-seeded Montreal Canadiens last week. Fans are ticked off. They should be. My only question was, “Which Penguins were going...

The Pittsburgh Penguins have opted to retain their first-round draft pick for this year’s draft, according to Pierre Lebrun of TSN. They will instead send their first-round pick in 2021 to the Minnesota Wild to complete a trade they made in February for forward Jason Zucker. A condition of a...

A day after general manager Jim Rutherford said change was needed for his team, the Penguins did just that with their coaching staff. On Wednesday, the team announced assistant coaches Sergei Gonchar, Jacques Martin and Mark Recchi will not have their contracts renewed. A search for new assistants to work...

I didn’t think anything could make me more frustrated than watching the fifth-seeded Penguins lose to the 24th-seeded Montreal Canadiens in the qualifying round of the 2020 NHL season. Until I listened to Jim Rutherford talk about it. On Tuesday, the Penguins general manager gave a frank assessment of how...