First Call: Steelers lose free agent wide receiver; NHL's Eastern Conference chaos

The Pittsburgh Steelers lose a wide receiver to the New York Giants. The club is casting a wide net on some areas of need in advance of the draft. We recap a wild night in the NHL’s Eastern Conference.

And we preview what’s next for the Pirates.

Bye-bye, Boykin

The Steelers are losing a special-teams regular in Miles Boykin. The New York Giants announced that they have signed the free-agent wide receiver.

We have signed WR Miles Boykin

Details: https://t.co/4JwxSzFS3G pic.twitter.com/qDquICly0E

— New York Giants (@Giants) April 9, 2024

Boykin barely contributed on offense while he was here, catching just five passes in 33 games. But he was a valued special-teams contributor.

Since last year, the Steelers have traded Diontae Johnson to Carolina, let Boykin walk to New York, and have exposed Allen Robinson II to free agency.

Despite the acquisitions of Quez Watkins, Van Jefferson and Denzel Mims, that’s still a thin-looking receiving core after returning players George Pickens and Calvin Austin III.

Who is on tap?

What’s next when it comes to who the Steelers may be interested in as they prepare for the 2024 NFL Draft?

Well consider some of these nuggets.

• The organization had Mississippi State’s Jaden Crumedy in town for a visit Tuesday. He is a 6-foot-3, 301-pound defensive tackle. This is the sixth defensive lineman the Steelers have met with so far in the pre-draft process.

Crumedy is an early Day-3, run-stuffing prospect.

• The Steelers are one of seven teams keeping an eye on LSU edge rusher Ovie Oghoufo. He also spent time with Texas and Notre Dame. That’s according to Ryan Fowler of the Draft Network and Bleacher Report. He’s a late-round or UDFA candidate.

• SteelersNow.com is reporting that the club is showing an interest in Syracuse corner Isaiah Johnson. NFL.com has him as a a likely practice squad player, posting the 37th best cornerback score at the combine.

Related:

• Tim Benz: Booing David Bednar doesn't matter. How he is pitching, and how the Pirates fix him, does
• Familiar hurdles result in Penguins leaving a valuable point on the table in Toronto
• All-Star closer David Bednar blows save as Tigers rally past Pirates with 4 runs in 9th

Eastern assessment

The Penguins were idle on Tuesday. But most of the other teams swirling around the Pens in the Eastern Conference playoff picture were not. Here’s how things went down.

• The Washington Capitals nipped the Detroit Red Wings, 2-1. Charlie Lindgren made 42 saves for the Caps, and Alexander Ovechkin scored. That marked his 30th goal of the season.

Ovi rang in 852 for tonight's game-winning call#ALLCAPS | @Verizon pic.twitter.com/J0PWKuZKJQ

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 10, 2024

This is the 18th time that Ovechkin has hit the 30-goal mark, the most in NHL history.

• The lowly Montreal Canadiens (30-36-12) whipped the Philadelphia Flyers (36-32-11) by a final of 9-3. Juraj Slafkovsky netted his first career hat trick for Montreal.

LE PREMIER TOUR DU CHAPEAU DE SLAF DANS LA LNH

SLAF'S FIRST NHL HATTY #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/C1yHhrdlaN

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 10, 2024

That’s Philly’s eighth consecutive loss.

• Also, the New York Islanders doubled up the New York Rangers, 4-2. Kyle Palmieri was one of three Islanders to score in the first period to make it 3-0 Isles after one.

pic.twitter.com/5LBLfYJ3tg

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) April 9, 2024

So here’s what all of that means:

• The Islanders are now up to 87 points with four games to play (including one against Pittsburgh on April 17). They have a two-point lead on Washington for the Metropolitan Division’s third and final automatic qualifier spot for the playoffs.

• By virtue of their regulation win over Detroit, the Caps now have 85 points. That puts them in the second wild-card spot with four games left. The next two teams chasing them are the Penguins and Wings with 84 points apiece.

Detroit and Pittsburgh play each other at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday.

• As for the Flyers, they are stuck on 83 points with three games left as they tumble down the standings.

It’s a shame, isn’t it?

Pheelin’ Philly

Despite blowing a victory against the Detroit Tigers Tuesday that could’ve elevated them to 10-2, the 9-3 Pirates head across the turnpike in pretty good shape for their next series.

After an off day Wednesday, the Bucs are going on the road to play the Philadelphia Phillies Thursday through Sunday. So far, the Phils are 5-6. That includes a 3-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday.

Along the way, Nolan Gorman hit his third home run of the season for the Cards.

Nolan Gorman rips his 3rd home run of the year! pic.twitter.com/netnsMMbFO

— MLB (@MLB) April 10, 2024

The win pulls St. Louis to even at 6-6 on the year, three back of the National League Central Division-leading Pirates. Every team in the division is at .500 or better thus far in 2024.

The Cards and Phillies play again Wednesday afternoon. After their visit to Philly, the Pirates make a trip to New York to play the Mets for three games. The Mets are 4-7 so far this year.

The Pirates don’t play at home again until April 19-21. That’s when the Boston Red Sox are in town.