Russell’s Roundup: Action All Over; Islanders Identity Crisis

Nobody could have predicted multiple trades yesterday, coupled with a pair of offer sheets flying. Yet, on August 13th, dead in the middle of the summer, the NHL awoke with a bundle of moves. The Penguins continued to stockpile draft picks and gain calories on useless salaries. The Blues, one of the two teams sending picks to Pittsburgh, turned around and gave two massive offer sheets. Later this morning, John Tavares’ time as captain of his boyhood team officially ends as he turns the “C” over to Auston Matthews.

The biggest winner yesterday was the Penguins. No, not the 2024-25 Penguins. Those Penguins have a better chance of securing a top-five pick in the draft than competing. Kyle Dubas has the most unenviable job in the NHL. It’s thankless, and I bet it’s unlikely he will ever enjoy the fruit of the labor he’s creating, but continuing to stockpile picks is the perfect plan for the Penguins. Realistically, given their cap, this is the way. The inevitable rebuild that looked to take forever is slowly but surely taking future years of hardship and turning it into years of potential success.

The dark cloud that hovers over is that Sidney Crosby has not been extended yet, and August is half over. Reports constantly say it’s close, but as the great Dan Kingerski has relentlessly reported, there’s a reason it isn’t signed yet. He can’t be happy.

Another man who can’t be happy is John Tavares. Sure, the story being reported is he willingly handed over the captaincy. He probably did. But seriously, it wasn’t his idea. It’s kind of like when Jay Leno hung around NBC Studios and shrugged when NBC forced him out of the Tonight Show to give to Conan O’Brien. Leno publicly announced the deal and showered praise upon Conan, only to immediately undercut Conan at every turn, and after less than a year, Conan was off the air, and Leno reigned again.

The key difference between Leno and Tavares is simple. Leno was a constant winner in ratings and had a track record of success. Tavares has a track record of mediocrity.

New York Islanders:

NYI Hockey Now: Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck are gone. Two core pieces of the last decade, out with the trash. The identity of the Islanders is officially changing, now more than ever. It’s the first summer with a coach who didn’t arrive behind the bench in June 2018. So, what led to this? And, more importantly, what could the new identity be?

NYI Hockey Now: The importance of depth scoring is more significant now than ever. The Islanders had THREE 30-goal scorers and still finished in the bottom half of the NHL in goals for. Who can step up and score 20 or more from the bottom six?

NYI Hockey Now/National Hockey Now: The biggest-ever summer flash sale is happening now. $10 for the entire YEAR. $10 gets you access to the all-exclusive content library of this site dedicated to the blue and orange and every site in the National Hockey Now family. It’s well worth it, especially during the season when NYI Hockey Now can offer exclusive content you won’t find anywhere else. Use this link to head over and subscribe today.

NHL News & National Hockey Now:

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Kyle Dubas, as mentioned above, has a thankless job: preparing for life after Sidney Crosby and the gang while they’re still here. Early yesterday, news broke that Dubas had struck a deal with the GM he’s made the most moves with (including back in his Toronto days) with Doug Armstrong and the St. Louis Blues. They gave the Blues back their 2025 second-round pick in exchange for the 2026 second-round pick, all while adding a third-round pick for a fifth-round pick. Here’s the full scoop on the implications for Pittsburgh and St. Louis.

More PHN: Not content with just one trade today, Kyle Dubas doubled down and acquired the overpaid and depth center Cody Glass and multiple draft picks from old friend Barry Trotz and the Nashville Predators. It’s another low-event player for the Penguins’ never-ending collection of bottom-six cast-offs acquired and draft picks. Is this the Penguins, or has the ghost of the Coyotes come to haunt the Penguins?

Nashville Hockey Now: Trotz cleared some cap space at the cost of some draft picks. Here’s the breakdown from Nashville’s perspective.

TSN: So, the Blues signed Edmonton’s Phillip Broberg and Dylan Holloway to offer sheets. Broberg’s number, $4.58, was jarring but was specifically chosen to be the maximum under the second-round pick compensation. Now, the Oilers have a decision to make. With very little money and extreme uncertainty surrounding the future of Evander Kane, here’s how TSN thinks the Oilers should handle the dilemma.

SDPN: SDPN released a new episode of the Chris Johnston Show, and Johnston dropped some juicy nuggets. He hit on why Crosby hasn’t signed yet, along with Leon Draisaitl in that same boat. There’s a lot of uncertainty for players entering free agency after next season, and cap flexibility will be king next June and July. The full discussion, including bits on the Olympics and Amazon’s upcoming documentary from the last NHL Season, can be found here.

NJ Hockey Now: After yesterday’s offer sheet party, it got James Nichols thinking about the Devils. Dawson Mercer is still an RFA. What would his offer sheet cost?

Boston Hockey Now: Up in Boston, old friend Andrew Fantucchio assuaged sudden concerns about Jeremy Swayman’s availability for an offer sheet, telling all concerned to stand down. I also don’t see a world where Swayman even entertains an offer sheet; by all accounts, he loves Boston. No cause for alarm in Boston.