Yeah, I know. What a terrible question to pose. Especially regarding one of the four greatest players ever to don the black and gold.
Evgeni Malkin’s on-ice achievements are staggering. To record them for posterity, two Art Ross Trophies, a Hart Trophy, a Conn Smythe Trophy, a Lester B. Pearson Award and a Calder Trophy. Three Stanley Cups and four Finals appearances. A mind-boggling 444 goals, 702 assists and 1146 points in 981 regular-season games. Sixty-seven postseason goals and 180 points.
In many ways, he’s been the Pens’ emotional heart and soul, not to mention a great teammate. A sure-fire Hall-of-Famer.
A bargain, really, at $6.1 million.
I’ll repeat my question. Was signing Malkin the best thing for our Pens?
I confess, I was torn when I discovered negotiations had stalled and Geno planned to test the free-agent market. Part of me didn’t want him to go. Even at his advanced age, none of the free agents within our reach could replace what he does offensively. He’s still a gifted and, at times, dynamic talent.
Yet another part of me would like to have seen what GM Ron Hextall might’ve done with the extra cap space. Fifteen million dollars prior to Rickard Rakell’s signing, $10 million after.
Perhaps we could’ve signed Vincent Trocheck, the fast, aggressive, two-way center (not to mention hometown boy) who landed on Broadway. Maybe not.
At the very least, perhaps we could’ve re-signed Evan Rodrigues and Danton Heinen, who provided great value last season, while leaving enough cap space for Hextall to add another middle-six forward or defenseman Jan Rutta as he chose to do.
Rodrigues certainly has his detractors, some on this site. But I think he’s going to be difficult to replace. Able to slot up and down the lineup and play any forward position, E-Rod’s versatility, malleability and durability was a huge plus, especially on an injury-prone team. Racking up points or not, he played with the same intensity game-in and game-out, always hustling, always driving possession.
The Pens got plenty out of Heinen, too. The British Columbia native notched 18 goals and showed himself to be an opportunistic scorer despite somewhat limited ice time. In particular, the stealthy forward displayed a knack for sneaking in behind the play and capitalizing on second-chance opportunities.
This isn’t to suggest E-Rod+Heinen=Malkin, not by a long shot. But they were useful players and Geno’s signing pretty much guaranteed they won’t be back. Left with precious little cap space, Hextall plugged the holes with bargain-basement additions Josh Archibald and Drake Caggiula.
In the best of times, you might expect 10-12 goals from each along with a liberal dose of scrappy, aggressive play. But these aren’t the best of times. Both Archibald and Caggiula are recovering from major health issues, the former from Covid and myocarditis that limited him to eight regular-season games last season. The latter, a herniated disk in his neck that required surgery in February, not to mention recurring concussion issues.
Potentially damaged goods.
Pencil them in as question marks. All the while the gap between our top-six and bottom-six forwards has grown wider.
Radim Zohorna has proven he can be effective at the big-league level. Whether that translates into a larger role and, hopefully, more consistent production, is another matter. Ditto Drew O’Connor, who took some significant steps forward and impressed at times before his effectiveness waned due to injury and dwindling ice time.
Kids like Filip Hallander, Samuel Poulin and Valtteri Puustinen…all candidates for at least semi-regular duty…remain unproven. Poulin, in particular, looked ordinary and unassertive in training camp last fall, as if he were skating on eggshells. The former first-round pick rediscovered his mojo with a shift from wing to center part way through the season. Which is great, except center’s a position of strength on our Pens….especially with Malkin back in the fold.
It would’ve been a PR nightmare, not to mention a cold-blooded act, for GMRH to close the door on Geno after No. 71 executed his about-face. Perhaps an on-ice nightmare, too.
But part of me wonders if we might be a more complete hockey team today if he had.
I too was torn on which way for Geno to go…
If he left..
1. I really don’t think any free agent that was available for $6 million would be a better option.
2. He deserves to finish his awesome career in Pitt.
3. If he doesn’t resign..does that piss Sid off?? And he leaves in 3 years?
Than Pittsburgh has another Jagr situation with 87 and 71.
I am happy he is back, not so much Leturnover Letang but now all three can retire a Penguin and have their numbers retired.
They have earned that.
Malkin may be be better than Trochek today, but that isn’t the same as saying that the Penguins would be a better *team* with Malkin rather than with Trochek. Given what we have seen in the past, the Pens play a better overall game without Malkin. Few seem to have noticed that the Pens have morphed from a team that wins more by offense (11th* in the NHL) to one that actually wins based on defense (5th in the NHL). The Pens record without Malkin last year was slightly better than without. Add Trochek to a Malkinless team than the record should be much better with than without, although it its possible that Malkin’s kneed injury slowed him down. Of course, that is another problem with Malkin – he’s always injured. It is entirely possible that the Pens would be better off with Trochek. I would take that chance for next year. Trochek would also provide some new blood and stop the team from going out all at once.
And then there’s the future. In 2-4 years from now there is likely no question of that the Pens would be better off with Trochek. Malkin doesn’t seem to have learned the lesson of how to scale down his game as his abilities decline and injuries are likely to become even more of an issue. I don’t agree with the people say “who cares about contracts in three years because the Pens will be rebuilding.” They fail to appreciate that available cap space can always be used to advantage. The Pens would be better off without anchor contracts even when the day arrives that the wheels fall off.
*Take out the Detroit game and they drop to 14th
To your point, Zeidel, the Pens were 24-11-6 without Malkin last season and 22-14-5 with him in the lineup.
I need to temper that by stating our schedule was much tougher during the second half, which coincided with Geno’s return. And most of our bottom-nine forwards…with the notable exception of Malkin…went into the tank scoring-wise over the last few months.
Still, it does seem like we play a different (less disciplined) brand of hockey when Geno’s in the lineup.
Astute comment about Malkin perhaps needing to scale back his game to match where he is at this stage of his career. I thought Letang did that last year and wound up having arguably his finest season.
Rick
Sorry Rick,
Had you asked, “Was not talking Geno into waiving his NMC at the trade deadline and dealing him to Fla for, say Anton Lundl” and freeing up Cap space there, (not to mention getting a young future gun) your question would and should give everyone pause/ The same questions should have been asked of Letang and Rust, should they have been traded at the deadline too. But to answer the question you did ask, are you kidding me? Yes, Malkin had to be re-sign in the wake of the Deadline drop.
No, absolutely no, flipping Malkin for an attempt to sign Rodrigues is not even a consideration. E-Rod is a top 6 Center, but a top 6 Center on a bottom 1/3rd team. Even if Malkin only plays 41 games this season, he will do more for the team than E-Rod could in 82.
Heinen, that’s Apples to Oranges. A team needs to be 2 deep at center at the very least. If there is no Malkin to get the puck to Heinen then there is no need for Heinen. Heinen may be (actually is) more valuable than E-Rod but not Malkin.
Trocheck? Better option than E-Rod and Heinen but still not Malkin. Trochek Trochek only had 51 points in 81 games last season, Malkin had 42 in 40GP
Hextall made the best out of the less than adequate situation HE created.
The real problem with GMRH so far this FA market is his buying lots of cheap, useless players rather than getting the 1 good defenseman we need. All he has done is stock the team with more cream cheese players; older worn out clones of what is already here. The change Hextall and Burke promised is nowhere to be seen. This off season, so far, all the team has done is double down on failed policies.
Your points are well taken, my friend. Replacing Geno would have been difficult if not darn near impossible.
I guess I’m just lamenting the ever-widening gap between our top six and bottom six. Hopefully, a couple of the kids will be ready to step up.
Pittsburgh Hockey Now reported that Hextall was working on a deal with Montreal that fell through. It sounds like the target was Josh Anderson. Would love to get this guy…he’s exactly the type of power forward we need and would’ve given us a very formidable top six.
Not sure who would’ve gone to the Canadiens or why the deal fell through. But at least Hextall’s seeking to add the right type of player.
Rick
Hey Rick,
Anderson has had a rough couple of seasons in Mtl these pat two seasons, but I wouldn’t have minded trying Anderson with Carter and Zohorna on the 3rd line. In the end, I don’t have a problem with the forwards in this organization but it is the Defense that I know needs a MAJOR overhaul. The only 2 – Defensemen from last season that I would not be actively looking to trade is Letang and Matheson.