Pens Points: Trades and Things

Good morning one and all,

JagrWatch is over and now we have to find something new to obsess about. JJ is a Floridian. There's a job opening with the Traveling Jagrs, I guess. [Sportsnet]

By sheer coincidence this next story is about casinos and gambling. Pens spent an evening as blackjack dealers rather than waiters. Aces & Ice took place last night. Seems like Malkin and Hornqvist tables had waaaay more fun than the rest. [Penguins.com]

Dan Winnik is in, which means someone will be out. But who? Article full of good quotes. [Empty Netters]

Rob Scuderi missed practice to rest a sore foot due to blocking a shot against the Caps. Hopefully that's all there is to it. [PPG]

Sidney Crosby is no longer the Hart favorite. Carey Price and John Tavares have leapt over him by being more crucial to their teams' success. [Pro Hockey Talk]

The Leafs were so desperate to get rid of David Clarkson and his contract that they have taken on a contract of a guy who may never play again. That tells you everything you need to know. [CBC]

Is there anyone who's untouchable on the Leafs? Jonathan Bernier is the only one making a case. [Canadian Press]

Patrick Kane will be out for 12 weeks. But what if that was the best thing that happened to the 2014-15 Chicago Blackhawks? I don't know about the best thing, but the timing allows them to do some maneuvering. [Second City Hockey]

MIT Sloan conference is underway. A story on how it's leading the Big Data revolution in sports, hockey included. [Globe & Mail]

Ten burning questions ahead of trade deadline. It could all be one big dud. [Grantland]

NHL's own foray into analytics is not off to a great start. For example, Chris Neil and Luke Gadzic leading the league in penalties drawn? Embarrassing, actually. [Globe & Mail]

The Senators are on a surprising win streak, lead by their youth movement. They have shut out the Ducks and Kings on the road on consecutive games. Probably dug themselves too deep a hole early on, though. [Ottawa Citizen]

And for the end, here are the NHL power rankings, trade deadline panic edition. [Sportsnet]