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PHT Morning Skate: Horvat on captaincy; interest in Boyle picking up

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Nathan MacKinnon and the Avalanche visit Sidney Crosby and the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday Night Hockey. Coverage begins at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

Welcome to the PHT Morning Skate, a collection of links from around the hockey world. Have a link you want to submit? Email us at phtblog@nbcsports.com.

• Bo Horvat on being named captain of the Canucks Wednesday night: “I’m not going to lie — I was nervous. You feel that added pressure, but at the same time, I wanted to embrace it and go out there and have a good game. It was a really special night and one I won’t forget. It was pretty surreal. It was actually pretty emotional and obviously really humbling and a dream come true.” [Province]

• Mats Zuccarello is not happy with his slow start with the Wild: “It’s two games in, but I’ve got to be better. I’ve been terrible for two games, and we lost. It’s not all my fault. It’s just how I assess myself. I didn’t help the team out in the way that I could.” [Star Tribune]

• Penguins GM Jim Rutherford on the current state of his team: “From where we were a year ago to where we are now, we have 11 new faces in our lineup. It’s a lot of change. Some of it was to transition on the fly, to get younger. Some of it was dictated by the cap. So I would suspect it will take our team a few weeks to get adjusted to each other.” [ESPN]

• Interest is apparently picking up in UFA forward Brian Boyle. [TSN]

• Matt Duchene and Roman Josi are powering the Predators offense early on. [A to Z Sports Nashville]

• It’s early, but Dallas Eakins is pushing all the right buttons for the Ducks. [NHL.com]

• Why John Gibson gives the Ducks hope. [The Hockey News]

• 10 questions that the Avalanche must answer this season. [Mile High Hockey]

• After Alex DeBrincat, what other 2020 RFAs could sign before next summer? [Featurd]

• The Sharks just can’t seem to find their “smart” game. [NBC Sports Bay Area]

• Former NHLer Daniel Paille has joined Canisius College as a volunteer assistant coach. [Canisius]

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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.