Two years ago when you mentioned Evgeni Malkin, you spoke of him as one of the top 3 to 5 players in the game, and some thought he might even be the best of the bunch. Many thought he was some combination of the best talents of Crosby and Ovechkin. I was among them. His dominance during the playoff run two years ago was unreal. But that was then and this is now. Malkin's follow up season to the Stanley Cup reminded me of a guy who feels like he arrived. He had 28 goals, and 77 points, not bad numbers for a guy who makes 4 million per year. Add to the modest scoring totals the fact that Malkin was a -6 on the season, and a turnover machine, and one could not help but to be disappointed. There were whispers, even from Malkin himself that all of the hockey from the previous two cup runs had worn Geno down, and maybe it did. Instead of taking advantage of a short playoff run to rest and get ready for the next season, Malkin took his underwhelming game into international competition. He had every RIGHT to do so, but to me when you use fatigue as a reason you might not have delivered for the employer who pays you nearly 9 M, you take a page from Crosby and Staal, and decline to play more hockey. So Malkin played and Russia choked.
Lets roll the clock to this season, with expectations running high for the Pens. A lot of the talk was about what Crosby would work on in the offseason to improve his game. After all, he and Malkin were known as weak faceoff men. Crosby over the past two seasons busted his backside to become one of the top faceoff men in the league. Malkin, well he did not, and he is still bad at it. Both stars were considered weak in the shootout, and breakaways two seasons ago, Crosby worked on it, Malkin did not. In fact, other than hearing that Bylsma flew to Russia to hang out with the former star, you heard nothing of what Geno was doing to improve his game. And guess what? He did not improve his game at all. The following will put into some perspective how much of a disappointment Evelyn is nearly 1/4 of the way into this season. There are 51 players in the league who have more points than Malkin. Yes, I said 51. There are 15 more who have AS MANY as his 13 points in the league. There are 77 players in the league who have MORE than Genos 4 goals, and 56 more with as many!! Add to this the fact that Geno is second only to Crosby in power play ice time with more than 104 minutes, and these numbers are even MORE pathetic. His -5 for the season has him ranked 613th in the league in that category. That is not a misprint. Yet, he earns 8.7M dollars per year, and is one of the main cogs that this team was built around. Yet Geno does not seem to do anything extra to hold up his end of the bargain. On the Penguins Geno is third in points, behind Crosby and a DEFENSEMAN, Kris Letang. A defenseman has more points than your "star" center/winger. How many times do you hear how bad the talent is on the Pens after Crosby and Malkin when it comes to goal scoring? Well in addition to Crosby who has almost 3 times as many goals as Malkin, notable sniper Pascal Dupuis has more goals than Malkin. And Duper is a +4 while Malkin is a -5. Alex Goligoski, another DEFENSEMAN has as many goals and is a plus 7. First year grinder Mark Letestu also has as many goals as Malkin, AND he is a plus 9! Finally, Chris Kunitz has as many goals as Geno and is even in the +/- category. Talbot, Kennedy and Cooke are only one goal behind. Malkin is pacing for about 20 goals and 72 points. Not bad if he were earning about 3 million dollars. He is not, he is earning about 3 times that much. With the cap money invested in Malkin, which is a main part of the reason the Pens cannot afford more talent up front, he HAS to produce GOALS and points. If he cannot score 30 plus goals and 100 points he is a big part of the problem, and not part of the solution. If Malkin is going to be a player who is a 70 point, 25 goal guy we need to trade him. For 8.7M per year you could readily put TWO players on the team who will put up 25 goals EACH, and 60 points or so EACH. I will take the 50 goals, and 120 points, with my risk spread out over TWO players over one guy who is seems to be happy muddling at his current pace. I believe you try to let this season play out before actively seeking that move, but I do think you have to listen even now. The advantage of waiting for the offseason would be getting more time to evaluate your feelings on Malkin's production, another playoff run to see the same, and the chance to maybe stock the team full of young prospects that will address offensive depth over the LONG RUN. If you wait until the season is over, you can consider the opportunity to move Malkin for LOTS of good younger prospects, top picks etc. IF you think you can use the money freed up to bring in some star power as UFA's. It is a way to address short term and long term needs. I think you need to see Staal and Malkin together for the second half of the year to see how much giving Malkin a quality line mate changes his performance, and also to see if Staal is indeed a quality second line center. If that combination clicks, then you abort this thought process. If it does not, I would think it is a viable option to use Genos cap space to land 2 top notch wingers, similar to the defensive makeover done in the off season to address scoring depth NOW. You can use Malkins value to add another good winger, and LOTS of top tier prospects and draft picks for the near term and long term future. You elevate Staal, and have two balanced scoring lines, along with an already deep 3rd and 4th line team full of solid defense.
Lets roll the clock to this season, with expectations running high for the Pens. A lot of the talk was about what Crosby would work on in the offseason to improve his game. After all, he and Malkin were known as weak faceoff men. Crosby over the past two seasons busted his backside to become one of the top faceoff men in the league. Malkin, well he did not, and he is still bad at it. Both stars were considered weak in the shootout, and breakaways two seasons ago, Crosby worked on it, Malkin did not. In fact, other than hearing that Bylsma flew to Russia to hang out with the former star, you heard nothing of what Geno was doing to improve his game. And guess what? He did not improve his game at all. The following will put into some perspective how much of a disappointment Evelyn is nearly 1/4 of the way into this season. There are 51 players in the league who have more points than Malkin. Yes, I said 51. There are 15 more who have AS MANY as his 13 points in the league. There are 77 players in the league who have MORE than Genos 4 goals, and 56 more with as many!! Add to this the fact that Geno is second only to Crosby in power play ice time with more than 104 minutes, and these numbers are even MORE pathetic. His -5 for the season has him ranked 613th in the league in that category. That is not a misprint. Yet, he earns 8.7M dollars per year, and is one of the main cogs that this team was built around. Yet Geno does not seem to do anything extra to hold up his end of the bargain. On the Penguins Geno is third in points, behind Crosby and a DEFENSEMAN, Kris Letang. A defenseman has more points than your "star" center/winger. How many times do you hear how bad the talent is on the Pens after Crosby and Malkin when it comes to goal scoring? Well in addition to Crosby who has almost 3 times as many goals as Malkin, notable sniper Pascal Dupuis has more goals than Malkin. And Duper is a +4 while Malkin is a -5. Alex Goligoski, another DEFENSEMAN has as many goals and is a plus 7. First year grinder Mark Letestu also has as many goals as Malkin, AND he is a plus 9! Finally, Chris Kunitz has as many goals as Geno and is even in the +/- category. Talbot, Kennedy and Cooke are only one goal behind. Malkin is pacing for about 20 goals and 72 points. Not bad if he were earning about 3 million dollars. He is not, he is earning about 3 times that much. With the cap money invested in Malkin, which is a main part of the reason the Pens cannot afford more talent up front, he HAS to produce GOALS and points. If he cannot score 30 plus goals and 100 points he is a big part of the problem, and not part of the solution. If Malkin is going to be a player who is a 70 point, 25 goal guy we need to trade him. For 8.7M per year you could readily put TWO players on the team who will put up 25 goals EACH, and 60 points or so EACH. I will take the 50 goals, and 120 points, with my risk spread out over TWO players over one guy who is seems to be happy muddling at his current pace. I believe you try to let this season play out before actively seeking that move, but I do think you have to listen even now. The advantage of waiting for the offseason would be getting more time to evaluate your feelings on Malkin's production, another playoff run to see the same, and the chance to maybe stock the team full of young prospects that will address offensive depth over the LONG RUN. If you wait until the season is over, you can consider the opportunity to move Malkin for LOTS of good younger prospects, top picks etc. IF you think you can use the money freed up to bring in some star power as UFA's. It is a way to address short term and long term needs. I think you need to see Staal and Malkin together for the second half of the year to see how much giving Malkin a quality line mate changes his performance, and also to see if Staal is indeed a quality second line center. If that combination clicks, then you abort this thought process. If it does not, I would think it is a viable option to use Genos cap space to land 2 top notch wingers, similar to the defensive makeover done in the off season to address scoring depth NOW. You can use Malkins value to add another good winger, and LOTS of top tier prospects and draft picks for the near term and long term future. You elevate Staal, and have two balanced scoring lines, along with an already deep 3rd and 4th line team full of solid defense.
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