The Dallas Stars and star winger Jason Robertson on Tuesday avoided arbitration in agreeing to a one year, $12 million contract. The signing took Robertson off the trade market for now and at least cools the situation between the two sides for the next five to six months as Robertson is not eligible to sign an extension until January 1, 2027. A pending UFA on July 1, the next real deadline between the two sides will be the March 1st trade deadline where it’s going to be decision time for a team with Stanley Cup aspirations if there’s no new extension inked. The Robertson saga in Dallas has had its share of twists and turns, where a day before the draft Dallas agreed to a trade with Seattle only for Robertson to turn down an 8 year, $125 million extension from the Kraken. St. Louis also came to the table Dallas was willing to accept with a similar significant futures package and it was another trade scenario the Robertson camp led by agent Andy Scott squashed. That brings us to the Pittsburgh.
After the failed Kraken and Blues trades, Pittsburgh who was waiting in the wings for months on the Robertson front, came into play on the morning of Day 2 of the draft with a serious play for Robertson that mirrored the similar heavy futures offers Dallas was willing to accept from Seattle and St. Louis. All these speculated trade offers with a Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell or Erik Karlsson involved is not accurate. Dallas had no interest in Pittsburgh’s older guard of core players and none of the three were going to be involved. In fact, the likes of Erik Karlsson have been involved with off-season discussions, like a Sidney Crosby normally is when it comes to communication with the management team on throwing around ideas. Take that for it’s worth.
Among the rumblings in league circles, (pending an extension of course), key details of Pittsburgh’s offer included To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”! Sam To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”! There was certainly a short period just prior to the second round of the NHL Entry draft starting where talks are said to have gotten quite serious and significant enough where at least a few teams in the Eastern Conference believed it was going to get over the finish line. For whatever reason, it didn’t come to fruition and over the coming weeks trade talks never reignited to that point again. But, what was different with the other teams involved earlier in the process who were rejected immediately, Pittsburgh was never a full-out ‘No’ by Robertson. However, they were also not a team he was willing to sign a long-term extension with this summer or immediately. Sources say Robertson was willing to go to Pittsburgh via trade, albeit without an extension and essentially see how the situation goes like he is operating To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”! Pittsburgh had become aware of that over the last couple weeks, though, behind the scenes they kept trying to lay the groundwork to become a ‘long-term’ destination city for Robertson and Dallas is believed to have had Pittsburgh circled as team they could likely circle back too if things got ugly, though, that was never the expectation it was really going to get to an arbitration case. If the two sides had reignited talks, it’s believed framework of deal would have been a bit different than around the drat.
The million-dollar question now is whether the door opens back up 6-7 months from now or did Pittsburgh miss their shot?
The Penguins strongly deny this, but you can’t kid anybody it wasn’t coincidence they acquired Nick Robertson whom they’ve had multiple opportunities to acquire dating back to last summer, just happens the day after you tried acquiring Jason in a blockbuster deal. Who knows where the Robertson/Dallas situation stands by the winter or next summer as there continues to be great mystery around the league of what his long-term intentions are for a player who is not a true superstar level player and has questions from evaluators of how his game will age. Some say despite the hard ball negotiation play by the Robertson camp, at the end of the day it’s eventually going to be a hard sell for him to not sign long-term in Dallas; Others say he’s intrigued about coming East with Washington, Philadelphia and the New York Rangers teams pegged by his camp who weren’t players for him this summer via trade, but are three specific clubs they believe To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
While a small crowd in the organization still believes as many doubles and triples Kyle Dubas has hit in the last 12-15 months, botching the Jake Guentzel situation still haunts the club in trying to maximize the Sidney Crosby window with a retool/semi rebuild. Finding a Jake Guentzel who can get you 80+ points on the market and wanted to be here, is going to cost you multiple assets and $14-$15 million a year as the Penguins, are learning first-hand. More of the issue back to the 2024 trade deadline is a feeling from some in the Penguins organization that the new regime at the time didn’t sell Guentzel as a true star level player on the trade market and were comfortable and even ecstatic To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
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Talk around the Penguins Friday night was a revolving theme around Kyle Dubas where rival executives continued to contend Dubas has been too cautious on the market and often waiting for the perfect deal to fall into his lap, hence overvaluing his group of prospects and draft picks he’s accumulated. Dubas blamed the lack of top-10 picks, though, some around the league don’t by it. What’s been missing is a go-in mindset. “There were multiple top-10 picks moved, which isn’t overly common,” Dubas said. “We would have aspired to be involved in every one of those conversations.” 
and Edmonton Oilers 
had preliminary discussions surrounding 31 year old defenseman Darnell Nurse dating all the way back to December. The rumblings are only heating up as three weeks ago the Penguins were among five initial teams that Nurse’s agent [hide] Paul Capizzano gave to the Oilers brass. Hockey reasons both sides are intrigued about a pairing. The Penguins, particularly the coaching staff have prioritized the need for size on the backend. They viewed the first-round series loss as a major Achilles in that area in stacking up against the Flyers blueline. There is a Nurse/Kyle Dubas connection dating back to juniors but there’s more. A big supporter of pursuing Nurse has also been assistant 
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Depth Finally Shines Through: The third line for the first time in the series played fast with and away from the puck. Elmer Soderblom with an opening goal minutes in the first period, was a puck possession beast along the wall and also drew a penalty in the first. Even Anthony Mantha who has been among the worst players in the series, had some fire in his game. Instead of perimeter, perimeter, perimeter from Mantha, there were attempts to get to the inside. And there was just a trickledown effect. The 4th line resembled the 4th line of the regular season. They were hard on pucks, providing that second wave of pressure in a way the Flyers drove the Penguins nuts with in games 1-3. A Connor Dewar blistering goal in the second was off a Sidney Crosby feed
Game 4 Key Takeaways 
The Flyers winning four straight has not happened once this year and winning four straight in the playoffs is always a difficult task. As badly as the Penguins were outplayed through the first nine periods of the series, no one should be shocked we’re going to see a Game 5. The Penguins have showed resiliency and pride all season and it was on display in the Game 4 win. What mattered is for the first time in the series the Penguins were able to dictate the terms in longer portions. The Flyers after playing a near perfect style of play through three games, looked like a club that didn’t have the same intensity in their game Saturday night. Even with a shot gap disadvantage, Flyers were +9 on the night, Pittsburgh was able to create more time and space for themselves throughout all three zones in attempting to drive play, something that was nowhere to be seen in games one through three. That’s where Game 5 becomes fascinating to see if Pittsburgh has a legitimate shot to extend the series and turn the pressure on Philadelphia for a potential Game 6 Wednesday Night. Do the Flyers Monday reclaim that suffocating, waves of pressure style to their game. If they don’t, things could get interesting. 
A storyline going into Game 5 is Flyers netminder Dan Vladar. Vladar after getting shaken up in the third period of Game 3 never looked right in Game 4. Is there an opportunity here for the Penguins? Crosby’s power play goal early in the first was a simple save Vladar was making 10 out of 10 times in games 1-3. Vladar then fumbled the puck behind the goal on Rickard Rakell’s’ goal and handling the puck is a major weakness in Vladar’s game. Pittsburgh aggressive chip and chase to the corners in Game 2 did not go well but soft dumps around the goal to force Vladar into those types of situations like the Rakell goal is something to watch.
For Pittsburgh some of the second guessing will be with in-game coaching decisions again. Reuniting the Rakell-Crosby-Rust line had to happen and was the right move. We also saw Erik Karlsson linked up with the Crosby line more frequently which was a major blunder in games one and two. The trickledown effect was problematic elsewhere. Egor Chinakhov was completely phased out and saw 4th liner minutes. Somehow Kris Letang was on the ice over Chinakhov during 6-on-5 situation with Pittsburgh pretty much fighting for their playoff lives. The Penguins most dangerous shooter played just 10:27, the 11th most ice time of Penguins forwards……..Tommy Novak provided a spark on Erik Karlsson’s third period power play goal with a rare opportunity with the first unit, creating a different look with speed and finesse in creating time and space on the goal. It would have been intriguing to see Pittsburgh try that look again when awarded another power play down 4-2 but we never saw it. 
Flyers Dominance Through Nine Periods Striking for Future 
Players Buzz: Has there been a bigger fall from grace in just a three game span than what we’re seeing from Anthony Mantha? There’s rumblings in team circles of Mantha dealing with a lingering 
As badly as the Penguins were outplayed, Bryan Rust got the Penguins within one goal with 1:03 remaining and then the puck is on your leading goal scorers stick in tight with two seconds left to force overtime. Mantha like many struggled with the Flyers pressure and had a really rough game with two penalties. Elmer Soderblom did not play a bad game by any means in a third line left wing role and it’s understandable the coaching staff wants his size in their matchup but is he the best fit around offensive players like Kindel and Mantha? It’s not a great match. Justin Brazeau is going to dress at some point in this series, and he might not be an ideal option either but you can’t deny the offensive chemistry Mantha/Brazeau have together. . If there’s any disappointment with the Penguins season from a development area, it’s that a Ville Koivunen or a Rutger McGroarty just never progressed to the point the Penguins thought they would to add another skilled option to the lineup on the third line. 
1. The Penguins are Back!!!
Jokingly, some buzz around the league is Pat Brisson deserves a partial share of Kyle Dubas GM of The Year Award if the Penguins GM deservedly takes home the honor in the coming months. Rival teams are adamant Brisson was a menace behind the scenes when the Crosby camp believed there was a strong likelihood Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust were getting traded last summer. 
The New York Islanders saw the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 under John Tortorella and said hold my beer in ousting Patrick Roy with four games to go in hiring Peter DeBoer. This is wild NBA level type stuff we’re seeing in the NHL and its great theater. Whether it works to get the Islanders in the playoffs remains to be seen, but long-term what a fit for both sides and the Islanders are going to emerge as a top destination with Matthew Schaffer. 
Two division rivals that came extremely close to acquiring Egor Chinakhov were the 
Back-to-Back 40 goal seasons? Could you imagine Jake Guentzel with this Penguins club? For all the home runs Kyle Dubas is hitting this year and the Jake Guentzel trade tree crowd, I will always die on the hill that Guentzel was the wrong player to be overlooked as a short and long-term building piece from the new regime who felt they had to come in and change something and Guentzel’s expiring contract gave them that out. 
3 (F): Anthony Mantha (28, 29) had two goals and an assist, Rickard Rakell (18, 19) scored twice as the Pittsburgh Penguins erupted mid-way through the second period in an 8-3 thrashing of the New York Islanders on Monday night. An embarrassing collapse by the Islanders or what not, the resillient Penguins continue to show they are rarely out of a game. “We’ve been in situations when we’ve been down before, and have a lot of belief in this group that we could kind of settle things down and put together some shifts where momentum could start to come our way,” head coach Dan Muse said of the Penguins response. 
Erik Karlsson is not only one of the best defensemen in the game right now, he has hit peak 
Erik Karlsson level of being Must-See-TV nearly every shift. Thursday night was just another marvelous game from Karlsson where’s controlling the play at every instance. The puck is just following him around……. 
Stuart Skinner hasn’t been anything special but gives the group a little more swag and a bump in key moments than Arturs Silovs brings to the table. Who they decide on to go with today vs Monday’s start vs the Islanders will be telling for the group……
CBJ #1 starter Jet Greaves is boasting a 2.58 GAA and .910 SV% on the season…….
Boston’s Jeremy Swayman same boat as Sorokin, a goaltender you don’t want to face and has regained his Vezina form at the right time and is red-hot this month with a 6-1-1 record and .934 SV%……..
The Detroit Red Wings are extremely fragile team in the playoff race, yet, also have a significant edge in goal down the stretch over the Penguins. Veteran John Gibson 26-16-3 with a 2.58 GAA and .907 SV% on the season. Since the Olympic break Gibson has a .921 SV%, yet, the Red Wings have lost six of his 11 starts since the break……..
ATLANTIC DIVISION
BUF | 66 GP – 86 Pts | 
TBL | 64 GP – 84 Pts | 
MTL | 64 GP – 82 Pts | 
PIT | 65 GP – 79 Pts | 
BOS | 65 GP – 78 Pts 
Fallout from Trades That Almost Happened …….
COL Receives: D Brett Kulak 
Chicago Blackhawks in a 6-2 victory, the Pittsburgh Penguins with 30 games remaining have seen their playoff odds surge to a remarkable 85%, 3rd best playoff odds in the Eastern Conference: 
Playoff Odds Via MoneyPuck
Texans 30 – 
Steelers 6 (F)
Receives: G Tristan Jarry, F Sam Poulin 
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—Rickard Rakell exited the game early in the third. Rakell took a really hard hit down in the right corner near the end of the second period and there was concern last night in the organization. Rakell being out for even a few weeks would be a devastating blow to the Penguins with the team in the midst of a pretty tough schedule the next month……. 
Defenseman Connor Clifton looks everything of being unplayable. Matt Dumba can still play a little and bring physicality and speed to the blueline in retrieving pucks. No issue getting him in here and there, but Clifton is another story……….. 
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Ville Koivunen was sent back to the minors Saturday with Bryan Rust coming off IR. There’s been something off here even before camp where privately pushback started that Koivunen was not a 
— Filip Hallander might have been on the ice for two goals against 5 vs 5, but absolutely loved his game. Created puck pressure on Harrison Brunicke’s 1st career NHL goal and he played hard and fast, possessing strong forechecking sense in how he attacked puck carrier on their backhands. The strong night saw Hallander bumped up to Sidney Crosby’s line as the game progressed. One Penguins source said Hallander’s style reminds members of the organization of 
Penguins PR Department. Rust exited Wednesday’s practice early and his injury opens the door for a likely top line of [hide] Ville Koivunen-Sidney Crosby-Rickard Rakell. Rust the subject of trade rumors all summer due to his NTC expiring on July 1, set career-highs with 31 goals and 65 points in 71 games last season. If the Rust injury ends up being on the two-week side, he would miss anywhere from four to six games. Pittsburgh is @NYR (Oct 7th), vs NYI (Oct 9th), vs NYR (Oct 11th) for the first week of the season that is followed by a three-game west coast trip @ Anaheim (Oct 14th), @ Los Angeles (Oct 16th) @ San Jose (Oct 18th). [/hide]
Player of the Game | QB Aaron Rodgers 
Source: Hoffmann group remains confident of finalizing purchase of Penguins this month