First Call: Hall of Fame talk for former Penguins; Ravens in mix for big name trade?; Overlooking Chase Claypool?

Monday’s “First Call” takes a look at the Hall of Fame chances for a pair of former Pittsburgh Penguins. The Steelers first pick of the draft appears to be off the radar compared to some position peers. And the Baltimore Ravens may be in the mix for a big fish on the NFL trade market.

Hall call?

On Wednesday, the Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee will meet virtually to decide the 2020 class.

And a pair of former Penguins appear to have a pretty good shot.

NBC Sports compiled a list of opinions from various writers, and there seems to be a lot of support for Marian Hossa and Jarome Iginla.

Iginla totaled 625 goals (16th all-time) and 1,300 points (34th all-time). Hossa scored 525 goals and 1,134 points. He was also a five-time all-star and won three Stanley Cup rings in Chicago.

As you may recall, he also lost in the Stanley Cup Final two years in a row, being on the wrong end of both Penguins-Red Wings bouts in 2008 and 2009.

Jennifer Botterill is getting a lot of support, too. She is the sister of former Penguins assistant general manager Jason Botterill. She had 164 points in 162 games with Canada’s National Women’s Hockey Team.

This doesn’t NEED to happen, right?

New York Jets safety Jamal Adams is deemed by many to be one of the best young players at the position in the NFL.

But he reportedly wants out of New York. And one of the rumored destinations is Baltimore.

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Adams has a list of seven potential teams he’d consider joining via trade. The Ravens are on it.

Here are the seven teams to which Jets’ Pro-Bowl safety Jamal Adams would welcome a trade, per source:
Ravens
Cowboys
Texans
Chiefs
Eagles
49ers
Seahawks

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 18, 2020

Baltimore apparently inquired about Adams at the deadline last year, but nothing happened.

Via RavensWire.com, “Baltimore already has Chuck Clark and Earl Thomas at safety. Clark signed a three-year contract extension at the end of last season, and Thomas came over in free agency just a year ago. Baltimore would lose cap space by cutting either of them right now, according to Over The Cap, which they can’t really afford. Furthermore, giving Adams a contract extension before locking up guys already on the roster like Matthew Judon, Marlon Humphrey or Ronnie Stanley would be a head-scratcher.”

But if a player of that caliber is potentially in the mix, the Ravens may consider acquiring him first and then having anything else after him be a second thought.

Chasing the rest

It appears expectations are limited for Steelers second-round draft choice Chase Claypool.

The Notre Dame wide receiver was the 11th wide receiver selected in the 2020 draft.

NFL.com stats analyst Cynthia Frelund projected how the top-10 rookie pass catchers would do in their first seasons, and Claypool was not among them.

She has Dallas Cowboys prospect CeeDee Lamb as the most likely to lead the way among the first-year class, which featured 37 selections.

Jets pick Denzel Mims was the only receiver drafted after Claypool that Frelund suggested would have a top-10-worthy season. The former Baylor standout was rated sixth.

Power from Pulisic

Christian Pulisic continues to make waves in European soccer.

The American soccer star scored a game-tying goal for Chelsea against Aston Villa Sunday.

Pulisic goal against villa #CFC #AVLCHE pic.twitter.com/spYZoy1vsT

— centrechelsea (@centrechelsea) June 21, 2020

That was his fifth goal of the season. The 21-year-old has local ties as his father, Mark, coached with the Riverhounds. Christian was born in Hershey.

Chelsea ended up winning 2-1.