Pens Points: Doldrums of May

Stay up to date on the latest news in today’s Pens Points...

May can seem pretty empty from a hockey perspective if your team has been eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs. For Penguins fans, hockey has been over for a month at this point, but there is still plenty of news circling the team to keep an eye one as we move close to June. [Pensburgh]

What ever slump Patric Hornqvist was mired in for the second half of the NHL season seems to have gone by the wayside at the IIHF World Championships. Through three games in Slovakia, Hornqvist has potted five goals for Sweden on the way to a 2-1-0 record. Let’s hope that hot streak is a sign of things to come for next season. [Trib Live]

If you want to keep tabs on the Penguins players at the World Championships but cannot catch the games, the Penguins put together a handy chart detailing the game-by-game statistics of the seven players taking part. [Penguins]

Michel Therrien took the Penguins to the Stanley Cup Final, falling just two wins shy of winning the whole thing in 2008. Now his journey for hockey’s top prize takes him across the state to the rival Philadelphia Flyers. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

News and notes from around the NHL...

More bad injury news for Anaheim Ducks center Ryan Kesler on Monday. Kesler is set to undergo hip resurfacing surgery that will keep him out for the entire 2019-20 campaign. If there is any silver lining for Kesler, this is a procedure that players have returned from in the past. [NHL]

If there is any major takeaway from the opening weekend of the IIHF World Championships, it’s that the New York Rangers sit in a no-lose situation with the No. 2 overall pick in the upcoming NHL Draft. [Blue Shirt Banter]

Like the Penguins, the Capitals season came to an end much earlier than expected, and they are left licking their wounds. An extended offseason will give the Caps time to rest up and make some important roster decisions before next season. [Capitals]

If you look at the contracts of the remaining players still playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs, you will notice not many big money guys still in the mix. In fact, the highest paid player left is Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks, whose $8 million AAV barely cracks the top-25 richest deals in the league. [NBC Sports]