Pens Points: Welcome to Silly Season

The season is over and now the real fun begins.

Less than 36 hours ago, the Stanley Cup was awarded in Florida. Now, focus has shifted to the NHL offseason which began the second the final horn blew in Game 7 and will continue rapidly through the end of this week and into next week as the NHL Draft and free agency are all set to kick off starting Friday. Already teams are making moves to position themselves for the frenzy that is about to occur.

Pens Points...

It was a season to forget for Reilly Smith and it’s likely his time in Pittsburgh will be coming to an end in the near future. The Stanley Cup champion only spent one season with the Penguins but never found his footing. [Trib Live]

Kyle Dubas ushered in a wave of change when he arrived last offseason, but little worked out in the end for the Penguins. Whatever he tries to do this offseason needs to be different. [The Athletic $$]

If you were a Penguins fan tuning in for Game 7 on Monday night, you probably saw a few familiar faces stepping up in big ways on the game’s biggest stage wit the Stanley Cup on the line. [The Hockey News]

Elliotte Freidman dropped the latest episode of his ‘32 Thoughts’ podcast on Tuesday that features an update on where Jake Guentzel may go and a big name for the Penguins who could be on the trading block. [Sportsnet]

NHL News and Notes...

Silly season started last week when general managers were tired of waiting for the Final to end, and it continued before and after Game 7 with a major goalie trade in the East and some news regarding hockey in Arizona. [Pensburgh]

Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper has been named head coach of Team Canada for the upcoming Four Nations tournament in 2025 and the Winter Olympics in 2026. [NHL]

With Alex Meruelo exiting any future ownership in an Arizona NHL franchise that puts expansion back on the table if the league wants to return to the desert in the future which seems to be the long term plan. [Sportsnet]

Pavel Datsyuk, Shea Weber, and Jeremy Roenick headline the newest Hockey Hall of Fame class to be enshrined in Toronto. [NHL]