It seems to be a hot topic in the ‘Burgh these days, with good reason. Should Penguins GM Ron Hextall attempt to re-sign or extend franchise pillars and pending UFAs Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang? Should he try to move them at the trade deadline for assets? Or…unthinkable as it may be…should he let them walk at the end of the year?
Talk about your tough choices! I don’t envy Hextall, not in the least. After all, we’re not talking a couple of schlubs here, but arguably two of the five greatest players in Penguins history. In a bygone era, Geno and Tanger no doubt would’ve spent their entire career in black and gold and retired as Penguins, treasured and revered. But those days are long gone.
To complicate matters, the Pens have been playing really well. Prior to the holiday/Covid break, they were arguably the hottest team in the league. Winners of seven in a row and a piping hot 12-2-1 over their past 15 games. True, they’ve benefited to a degree from playing softies like Buffalo and New Jersey. But make no mistake, this isn’t a case of smoke and mirrors. Our guys are playing a really solid team game from goalies Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith on out.
Add a hale and productive Malkin to the mix? Our center and forward depth would be the envy of the league. You could argue that the only ingredients lacking are a bona fide power forward (Drew O’Connor shows promise) and a strong right side d-man, although veteran Chad Ruhwedel’s done an admirable job.
While another Cup seems a distant long-shot at best, it isn’t totally beyond of the realm of possibility that this group could make some noise in the postseason. Which only serves to deepen Hextall’s dilemma.
Malkin would seem to be the key. Expected to sit out the first two months of the season while recovering from knee surgery, he’s missed three and counting. Although his return seems imminent, No. 71 was recently cleared for contact…only to have those orders rescinded.
While the Pens are right to take their time with Geno and make sure he’s fully healed, it isn’t going to leave a ton of time for him to get untracked…and for Hextall & Co. to evaluate his play before the March 21 trade deadline.
Letang’s situation is more clear. I agree with Tribune Review columnist Mark Madden on Tanger. Like a fine wine, the quicksilver defender’s improved with age. He’s playing more within himself and making better decisions. Will he ever be a paragon of rock-solid defensive play? No. Ergo, teaming him with Brian Dumoulin.
To my eye, Letang’s critical to the team’s success. How critical? When he missed three games due to Covid in October, the team’s structure seemed to collapse. We went from beating Toronto, 7-1, to losing three straight by a combined score of 13-3. Arguably our worst stretch of the season. We rebounded in his first game back to beat Philly, thanks to No. 58’s overtime winner.
Although it flies in the face of prevailing wisdom, I’d try to re-sign or extend Letang, providing the terms aren’t too egregious. Obviously, no guarantee of that.
I’m more ambivalent about Malkin. To pause for a moment, it’s not that he isn’t a wonderful player. I mean, 1140 career points in 940 regular-season games. Eighty-four points in the postseason. A Hart Trophy, two Art Ross Trophies and a Conn Smythe. Three Cups.
When he’s on, the closest I’ve seen to Mario. A sure-fire Hall-of-Famer.
According to stats unearthed by Other Rick on Natural Stat Trick, Geno’s third in the league in points per 60 minutes at 5v5 over the past three seasons. Pretty darn impressive for a player in his mid-30s. And we tend to overlook what a really good guy and teammate he is. Both driven and remarkably humble for a superstar.
Problem is, you just don’t know if he can stay healthy. Re-signing him at this stage of his career would be a lot like investing in a Faberge egg. Beautiful to look at. But let it slip through your fingers and fall on the floor and it’s liable to shatter into a million pieces. So it is with Malkin.
Okay, say we decide to deal Geno at the deadline. What can we reasonably expect to get for him?
The answer? I haven’t a clue.
Given his brittleness and age, I can’t imagine anyone ponying up a high first-round pick for the rangy Russian. Perhaps a late first-rounder with, say, a second-rounder thrown in to sweeten the pot.
Or maybe you eschew picks and try to secure some talent in return. Geno has long been linked to Florida. Indeed, he and countryman Aleksander Barkov would make an imposing pair. Following a piping-hot start, the Panthers have slipped a bit and might be looking to deal rather than wait for free agency. Would they part with, say, Sam Bennett and a top prospect?
More? Less?
Again, I really don’t know.
What I do know is this. I wouldn’t want to be in Hextall’s shoes right about now. He’s got some tough decisions ahead. Decisions that will have a profound effect on the course of the franchise.
Merry Christmas to all our faithful readers and commenters!
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year, to the Penguinpooper team!!
It’s very difficult to decide what to do, like everyone else already wrote…I don’t envy Hextall and the UFA decisions
that have to be made.
My opinion… I would trade Letang, he will bring back the best return -a pick and probably 2 good prospects, possibly more, if teams get into a bidding war. If he and Pens are far apart on money and term, Hextall can’t resign him for 5-7 years at 8-9 mill… makes no sense so don’t let him walk, try and trade him for a replacement, top defensive prospect.
Geno is a tougher one….I love Geno, but as he gets older, the injuries might get worse.
I think Ron and Mario with someone from the new ownership needs to sit down with Malkin and just him, no agents, not with his wife (LOL) and ask him what his intentions are, does he really want to retire in a Pens jersey or go somewhere for one more shot at a Cup? If he wants to stay, Pens can’t resign him for 4 or 5 years at 10 million, so he may not want to resign and head south with less taxes.
I really don’t know guys…this is one very tough decision.
Hi Pen’s4ever.
.Nice to hear from you again.. It has been to long…
I hope you had a great holiday season, all things considered and that just maybe we will see some Great Hockey being played in May..( One can dream ).
I agree with your assessment above. I think Letang believes he will get a long term contract in the off season so I would trade before as you said.
With Malkin, I fear he will want the same or near the same amount of term and salary as his good friend OVI got.( $9.5 million for 5 years…). The real hard issue is Ovechkin only got that large contract because he is closing in on the Greatest record in the NHL..894 Goals scored by # 99. People will pay good money in 5 years to watch an old fart trying to capture the once thought impossible.895 Goals !
Geno does not have that same draw… That is the issue as i see it..
Good to see you Pens4ever..
Cheers
Jim
Hey Pen’s4ever,
Great to hear from you!
100% agree, Letang – trade now, he isn’t worth a long term big contract and he can bring back value.
Geno, like you said, he is a different story, 3 years tops, so that he and Sid can possibly retire together, for about $6 million; I could be talked into that. He would still produce more than Zucker has been doing for his $5.5 million here in the ‘bugh, if he only plays half of those games. But if he wants Ovie money and term, trade him now too.
Hello Pen’s4ever.
Great to hear from you, as always. You and I are pretty much in the same boat as far as not envying Hextall is concerned. Makes me truly wistful for the days when superstars played their entire career with one team.
Interesting take on Letang perhaps bringing more in a trade. I guess my issue is, if we trade Letang there’s really no way to replace him and our defensive structure falls apart. Seems strange to write that, but it’s true. However, according to reports he and the team are miles apart in terms of what a new contract or extension would look like. So we may not have any choice but to deal him.
I like your idea about Geno. In a perfect world, it would be great to wrap him up for at least a couple more seasons. But he could/will undoubtedly command more elsewhere.
Again, really tough decisions ahead for GMRH.
Rick
PS–Loved the “significant other” comment … 🙂
Hey Rick,
I agree, Letang may be the best RHD in the system but that is a self inflicted wound. Like another Pgh team and their QB situation, they painted themselves into that corner. I wanted them to sign Oliwer Kaski a couple of seasons back but Detroit got him. Unfortunately, he needed a little time to adapt to NA hockey and they threw the baby out with the bath water and shipped him to Carolina, who was deep in young D men. In the 35 GP with the Charlotte checkers he scored 11 G but with a log jam of players ahead of him he jumped to the KHL. Last season he had 13G 21A in 58GP for Avangard Omsk during their regular season and 3G and 7A in 24GP in the post season, This year he hasn’t been quite as good but still scoring better than Letang with 9G, 7 on the PP.
The kid has a booming shot, is big and mobile. Unfortunately, as I said he is big and Papa Smurf don’t like the word “big”.
And I do understand why you would say that Hextall has tough decisions to make, but in my mind they are pretty easy; Letang and Geno have to take a serious critical look at themselves, yes some Rutherford out there will be willing to toss money at them but if either is willing to acknowledge what they really can still bring to the team and how much they want to retire a Penguin. If either or both want too much then both are gone. They will have made the decision themselves.
Hey guys, ( Rick,Coach Mike ,)
If I may add one point regarding Malkin. PUT YOURSELF IN HIS SHOES. This Pens team as currently configured CAN NOT WIN another cup. At best Malkin has 2 to 3 years left to play. If he stays he knows there are better teams with greater chances of winning a Cup than the Pens. I believe he wants to win another Cup before he goes HOME to Russia to live.
Therefore he will go to Florida and try to win one more Cup with them.
Plus the tax advantages of playing in Florida compared to Pennsylvania will make it much harder for the Pens to match financially. So I am in the camp to try and move him and try to get something before the dead line.
More and more of the NHL players are liking the State of Florida because of the tax situation . $$$$$
Just a thought guys…
Jim
Hey Jim,
I don’t hold anyone above the team. If Malkin wants to go to Fla, then I do trade him before the season ends, but as I wrote before, I look for a 3 team deal. I don’t haven’t anything against Bennett (Rick B) but even with Crosby, Malkin, and Letang, this team really doesn’t have a chance to be a true Cup contender and by the time they are contenders again, Bennett will be nearing 30 or maybe even older. The team team needs a young core to grow together.
To get a team to grow together I try and gather as many top picks as I can this season, that is why I try and work a 3 team deal to trade down in the draft. First, Florida doesn’t have a 1st round pick this season and second, even if they did have a 1st round pick their pick would be pretty much a 2nd round pick, particularly with Malkin on their team.
However, if Malkin does want to end his career in Pgh, I dump Sullivan (I do that anyway – I am tired of Penguin Stars getting destroyed by every goon in the league because of Papa Smurf) and keep Malkin to ease the transition period into the new era. If Malkin wants a reasonable 3 year deal so he and Crosby can go out together, I do it. With Letang, Rust, Zucker, and Kapanen, I would have ample assets to get picks and top prospects, particularly with JR back in the league.
I only wish Matheson would have trade value. I do not look forward to paying $6.5 million for his services going forward. He certainly isn’t bringing bang for his buck.
Hey Rick And Mike,
Sign or don’t sign?
It depends on them and apparently many sources report Letang and the Pens miles apart on money and length of contract. As for what Letang has earned, it may be true that he is the best RHD in the organization but that is more of a testament to how bad the team is. Let me just throw this out there; the Penguins are the 4th worst team in the league in PP conversion so Letang isn’t getting the job done on the PP. Second, Letang is 41st in Pnts/60 minutes 5 on 5 among Defense playing more than 200 minutes so far this season, so he really isn’t putting his nearly 20 minutes (19:55) of 5 on 5 TOI to good use. So, I deal him now before his stock starts dropping. Our friend Jim has proposed a trade, on the previous board, sending Tanger to Ottawa, it may not workout but I certainly would try.
As for Malkin, Rick, I think your bias is altering your perceptions. In the previous 4 seasons, Sid has played in 89% of the possible games played while Malkin has played in 81%, not a great deal of difference. To say that Malkin is fragile after receiving a knee on knee hit last season is totally unfair.
Do I resign him? I like Geno but I don’t necessarily resign him. It would have to be on my terms. The team comes first. There was some talk a little while back that Malkin wanted to retire a Penguin and was willing to make a deal (before the great ape’s ridiculous contract). If I could still get 71 for about $6 million on a 1 – 3 year contract, I do it. As you noted Rick, he is still 3rd in the league in Pnts/60 5 on 5 over the last 3 seasons and he was second in raw scoring 1st in pnts/60 minutes last playoff despite playing on a bum knee. He is still the most dynamic player on the roster.
I would much rather lose Sullivan than Malkin. Sullivan is a far cry from a Scotty Bowman or Jacques Lemaire. He is very expendable like the vast majority of NHL coaches.
On the other hand, If, as the “Malkin haters” keep wishing, the big Russian is hell bent on going to Fla at the end of his contract, I do try and recoup something now. However, Rick, I try and make a 3 team deal, and try and deal for more 1st round picks in this years draft sending Malkin to Fla but getting Fla to acquire a 1st rounder from a bottom team.
Sorry Rick, without Malkin, Bennett would be a waste. By the time the team could recoup the loss of Malkin, Bennett will be starting the back end of his career. If the team deals Malkin, they need to look further down the road then Bennett.
Hey Other Rick,
I respect what you say about Malkin. There’s no question, he’s a marvelous player…again when healthy. He was starting to get into one of his “Geno grooves” last spring…16 points in 12 games…when he hurt his knee. Most unfortunate. And I agree that even on one leg he had a strong postseason.
Nor do I question his heart, drive and other intangibles. In many ways, he’s the team’s emotional pulse.
But I think you minimized/overlooked his health issues by comparing him to Crosby, who’s under contract for three more seasons after this one. Geno’s played in only 33 of our last 86 regular-season games. Going back through the lockout season of 2012-13, he’s missed a total of 182 games, or roughly 18 per season. He’s only played in over 70 games in a season once during that span (78 in ’17-18).
I certainly wouldn’t be against re-signing him on team-friendly terms. But you can’t turn a blind eye to his injury history.
Rick
Rick, anyone, regardless of age having knee on knee contact would cause severe knee injury on anyone, even Crosby or Malkin. Remove that contact which would injure anyone and as I wrote Geno and Crosby play just about the same amount of games per season. Yes Crosby is under Contract for 3 more seasons and Malkin is not but he is no less fragile than Crosby. If you want to blame anyone for Malkin’s absence this season blame Pierre Culliford aka Sullivan for creating a team of Smurfs that no one is afraid of and that has to endure assault and battery from every team in the league, including the Girl Scouts. If Gudbranson, Reaves, or any true threat were on this team, no one hits Malkin or Crosby in the knee.
If you want to write, as long as papa Smurf coaches the team then Malkin will always be a question mark, just like any star the team may garner but don’t write Malkin is brittle.
Malkin’s injury history isn’t any different than Crosby’s in fact it may be a touch better. Malkin has never missed more than 50% of the games in any season so far, Crosby has. He only played in 27% of the games in 11-12 and in 50% of the games in 10-11. In Malkin’s worst season so far he played 52% of the games.
Yes Malkin is older, but if Crosby could be injured that severely when he was younger, he could get injured worse now that he is older. Crosby was only supposed to miss a couple of games this season but he missed 12 due to his wrist surgery. Your bias is showing through. And if Malkin signs a team friendly contract of ~$6 mil then he costs the team less when on IR.
As I wrote, Whether I think about trading him or not depends on Malkin and how much he wants to stay in Pgh. I am looking realistically at him and not through biased glasses, media/Sullivan tinted (or is that tainted) lenses.
In my book Papa Smurf goes before anyone else is injured and he is replaced with a coach that will instill team concept, will promote players standing up for teammates not cowardly running to the bench rather than making opponents pay for their infractions, waiting on a gutless PP too afraid to penetrate the blue paint squanders their opportunity to exact vengeance on the scoreboard.
Rick
IMO the time for change is now. I’m not as high on Letang’s play as most but I do agree he’s definitely been more reliable on the defensive end of the ice. I just don’t feel like his overall game & age are worthy of another contract unless it’s for a serious discount. Letang has (1) goal while playing just under 26min per-game and zero goals on the Power Play manning the point for our #1 PP unit.
As for Malkin I could very easily see the team taking a step backwards unlike Letang this year Malkin has refused to adjust his game as he ages.
Hextall has to make several huge decisions. If you re-sign Letang & Malkin you’ll most likely have them on your roster until they retire which will set the rebuild back by years. I do like this years team but I don’t see us contending unless Hextall makes a couple of key moves at the deadline. It’s going to get interesting in the Spring.
Hey Mike
I fully agree with your assessment and we all know Hextall has no Cap Space at present to make the trades needed to let us a true Cup Contender. We need at least 4 to 5 players in my opinion before we can truly be considered Cup favorites.
Cheers
Jim