Dan's Daily: Big-Time 2026 UFAs; Draft Staying; New Penguins Lineup

Deen's Daily: Decentralized Draft is Staying; Kovalenko's NHL Stint Ends

One of the Avalanche’s more hyped prospects in recent memory is heading back to the KHL. Also, shockingly, NHL general managers seem like they want to give the decentralized draft another try. All that and more on this edition of Deen’s Daily — July 12. Colorado Hockey Now Remember how fun it was to follow Nikolai Kovalenko’s KHL last season when it was clear he was going to make the jump to the NHL? It was only 15 months ago that we saw him mak…

Dan's Daily: Big-Time 2026 UFAs; Draft Staying; New Penguins Lineup

There is a rash of unsatisfied teams with salary cap space and needs, but no way to fill the lineup holes or spend the cash on a depleted crop of unrestricted free agents. The Pittsburgh Penguins are a team with a boatload of cap space and needs, but little current interest to address them in the immediate. We did our best to project the Penguins’ 2025-26 opening night roster, at least as the current situation allows. However, looking ahead to t…