Pens Points: Almost time to get back to the grindstone

Well this is the last full, pure, official week of no Penguins hockey, but looks can be deceiving. On Friday the Pens rookies/prospects will be in Buffalo for the weekend for their exhibitions. More NHL caliber players will really be pouring back into town as the Labor Day holiday has come and gone. Off-ice training, testing, meetings are starting Thursday September 13th, with the first official day on ice the following day. We’ve almost made it!

Bombulie predicts which winger will lead the Penguins in goals. Gotta be Phil the Thrill, right? [Tribune Review]

Missed this from last week, Mackey scribes on the Pens goalie situation and the obvious key of getting Matt Murray back to good Matt Murray. [Post-Gazette]

Another player like Daniel Sprong who has to battle between coaching and creativity, Josh Ho-Sang enters a very important pre-season with NYI. [Lighthouse Hockey]

A look at how the Vegas Golden Knights will replace suspended Nate Schmidt for the first 20 games. Still shocking this defense made it to the Stanley Cup Final. [Knights on Ice]

The situation in Dallas with their apparent slow-play of a Tyler Seguin contract extension is interesting. They’re not really going to let him go into the season in a walk year without a deal, are they? [Twitter]

And for some reason, the Stars may be in the hunt to add Artemi Panarin (and have been rumored in Erik Karlsson talks) so I guess their devil-may-care attitude on short-term contracts is...something. [Defending Big D]

Recapping the off-season of change in Buffalo. [Die by the Blade]

The Sharks might lead the league in cool game giveaways this season. [Bardown]