Is Penguins director of hockey operations Kyle Dubas holding a pocket pair or is he just drawing to an inside straight?

In an appearance on NHL Network on Monday night, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said he believes the race to acquire Norris Trophy winning defenseman Erik Karlsson from the San Jose Sharks is down to two teams — the Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes.

“I think it’s a bit of a poker game,” Friedman said. “I think that San Jose knows what Carolina is willing to do. I think they know what Pittsburgh is willing to do. I think both those two teams know what San Jose is willing to do, and I think right now, it’s kind of a poker game. See does anyone move or anyone change or anyone’s position change. I think this will get done, most likely to one of those two teams. I just think it’s a situation right now where no one is 100% happy, so we’re not there.”

It’s easy to see why the Penguins and Hurricanes are eager to ante up. Only 11 NHL players topped the 100-point mark last season and Karlsson was one of them.

City of Rivers

Sure, Taylor Swift drew 140,000-plus devoted fans to the North Shore last month, but how many members of the Steel Curtain could she name?

Yeah. None. She’s a stinking Eagles fan. And not the Don Henley/Glenn Frey kind of Eagles.

Meanwhile, a rock star performing at Stage AE on Tuesday night, on the other hand, is a verifiable member of Steelers Nation.

Weezer lead singer Rivers Cuomo spent most of his childhood on a commune in Connecticut, but somehow, he managed to become a fan of the black and gold. He said so at an Audacy event before Weezer performed at the NFL Draft in 2022.

“I was a big fan of the Steelers back when they had that amazing run at the end of the ‘70s, early ‘80s,” Cuomo said, “and I had every intention of joining the Steelers. Then by the time I got to high school though, I realized I wasn’t gonna cut it physically. I was gonna turn out to be very small. It took me a year or two to and then I finally figured out I can be a rock star and still hear the cheer of the crowd and get some of the same thrills.

“It turned out for the best.”

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Big Hurt’s big blast

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. made history by joining his father as a champion of the event and Julio Rodriguez delighted the home crowd by hitting 41 home runs in a single round, but there’s one thing nobody did at the All-Star Home Derby on Monday night in Seattle.

Nobody cracked the 500-foot mark.

Luis Robert of the Chicago White Sox hit the evening’s biggest blast with a 484-footer.

It’s not easy to determine the longest long ball in Home Run Derby history. Since they started tracking such matters scientifically in 2016, a 520-foot shot by Juan Soto in 2021 is the longest recorded homer. Before that, estimates had a Sammy Sosa bomb at 524 feet in 2002.

Many of the thousands in attendance at the 1994 derby, however, might make the case for another titantic blast.

That was when “The Big Hurt” Frank Thomas hit a homer estimated at 519 feet at Three Rivers Stadium. It banked off the facade of the upper deck not along the foul line but practically in center field.

Imagine how far he could have hit it if Nugenix had been invented back then.

2nd generation shortstop

When Grand Canyon University shortstop Jacob Wilson was selected sixth overall by the Oakland A’s in the first round of the MLB Draft Sunday, he cited former Pirates second baseman Neil Walker and Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson as players he pattered his game after.

His biggest role model, though, was of course his dad.

Jacob is the son of popular former Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson.

“We both have very similar parts of our game,” Wilson told MLB.com. “At the plate, we have the same approach.”

Wait a minute. Jacob’s approach at the plate the same as Jack’s?

Jacob was the hardest player to strike out in all of college baseball the last two seasons, fanning only 12 times in 438 at-bats as a junior and senior. Wasn’t Jack an all-glove, no-bat shortstop during his time with the Pirates in the early 2000s?

Maybe, but by today’s standards, Jack’s career might as well be Honus Wagner’s.

Jack Wilson hit .269 in nine seasons with the Pirates.

Only three players on the current roster have a batting average that high, and they’re not exactly everyday regulars in the lineup. Jared Triolo is hitting 300 in 40 at-bats, Nick Gonzales is hitting .278 in 54 at-bats, and Drew Maggi memorably went 2 for 6 earlier this year.

Among full-season regulars, not even Andrew McCutchen (.268) can best Jack’s average.

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