[Proposal] Sign Malkin?

[Provost]

I wonder how much the current impasse with Gino and the Penguins is lack of a relationship or comfort with their new management.

 

It sounds by most accounts that he won’t be re-signing there.

 

There is an obvious connection to here with half the Pittsburgh organization having shuffled over to the Canucks.

 

A 35+ contract can be bonus laden for games played, etc to insulate against the risks of injury.

 

The new regime has made some comments about  seeing Petterson maybe more as a winger.  If they trade Miller, Malkin could be a bandaid for a year or two on that top line as well as mentoring our young Russian players.  Plug and play guy that the team wouldn’t have to commit long term to.  That could be useful if some of the returns for trader players are prospects still a couple years away from playing significant minutes.

 

No idea what he is looking for as a contract, but a healthy Malkin is still a 30+ goal scorer.

[King Heffy]

He'd need to address the off-ice character concerns such as this one: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nhl/penguins/2017/11/17/penguins-evgeni-malkin-joins-vladimir-putin-team/873638001/

 

I don't want someone who openly supports neo-Nazism and genocide to mentor our young players.

Edited June 29, 2022 by King Heffy

[Dr.BRR]

15 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

He'd need to address the off-ice character concerns such as this one: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nhl/penguins/2017/11/17/penguins-evgeni-malkin-joins-vladimir-putin-team/873638001/

 

I don't want someone who openly supports neo-Nazism and genocide to mentor our young players.

That Article is from 2017- but I wonder if his views are different now. For a reasonable contract- that like the OP suggest is heavily bonus laden, I would be tempted to listen. Especially if JT is traded for a RHD/prospect/&/or pick

Edited June 29, 2022 by Dr.BRR
wrong date

[MrCanuck94]

Would definitely be a great signing if we chose to sell some high end assets and stay competitive.

 

Geno is a franchise level talent and is still an over PPG player.

[King Heffy]

28 minutes ago, Dr.BRR said:

That Article is from 2017- but I wonder if his views are different now. For a reasonable contract- that like the OP suggest is heavily bonus laden, I would be tempted to listen. Especially if JT is traded for a RHD/prospect/&/or pick

I agree.  I'm open to considering it if he addresses it, but I wouldn't at all support it if management chooses to ignore it.

[Pears]

Well we’d need the cap space for one. Two, Malkin would most definitely be an interesting short term stop gap if we do in fact trade Miller. And finally three, I wouldn’t exactly have him as a priority since we have bigger needs to address. 

[Phat Fingers]

2 hours ago, King Heffy said:

He'd need to address the off-ice character concerns such as this one: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nhl/penguins/2017/11/17/penguins-evgeni-malkin-joins-vladimir-putin-team/873638001/

 

I don't want someone who openly supports neo-Nazism and genocide to mentor our young players.

Date is 2017.  
 

FIFA still liked him and Germany too. 
 

Malkin also has family in Russia, so it is never a good idea to be the first to say no to a dictator.  
 

 

[Provost]

3 hours ago, Muttley said:

Or just keep Miller and forget the bandaid. / bandaids. Zero point bringing Malkin to Vancouver. When did "new regime" say Pettersson as more of a winger?  He wouldn't

like being restricted in that regard. I very much don't think the Russian Players the team has now need a baby sitter.  Look at the leaps and bounds Podkolzin made

this past year. 

Well for one Miller would require a commitment for 8-9 years from now at bigger dollars than Malkin would command.  That comes with massive risk compared with a 1-2 year deal for Malkin

 

Secondly, trading Miller nets the team significant assets.  Adding a young RHD, plus a prospect, plus a high pick AND signing a high end player like Malkin to replace Miller gives the team more than just giving Miller a $3-4 million dollar raise.

 

Third, if you trade Miller instead of potentially having him walk for nothing as. UFA next year and want to NOT take a big step back, you do that by signing a player to replace him.

 

Petterson was a winger when he won the SHL scoring title.  He has been halfway a winger for a lot of his time in Vancouver, Miller took the draws when on that line.  Boudreau also moved him to the wing on and off when he arrived.  There isn’t any realistic reason playing wing would be upsetting to him as he has done it a good deal of his career.  Do you think Draisaitl is upset when he plays wing beside McDavid rather than centre on a 2nd line?  The compelling reason to call Petterson a centre is for trade value as centres are worth more than wingers… that doesn’t matter if we aren’t trading him.
 

In interviews, JR has offhandedly thrown in a couple of times comments the option of Petterson  as a winger or a centre m.  If the team kept Miller as you suggest, that is exactly what would happen.  They likely aren’t pushing Horvat down to a 3rd line spot, limiting his minutes and paying him $7 million dollars.

 

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/move-wing-helping-elias-pettersson-swagger-back-canucks

 

As for bringing in Malkin to “babysit”, that isn’t what I said… it was to mentor.  He is one of the best players of his era and has won championships.  If you don’t think that is a positive…. Then you are forgetting the impact of another 36 year old that came and joined a young Canucks team not too many years ago.  Kesler and the Sedins regularly talked about what a positive impact having Sundin come to the team was for them developing as players… and how that set them up for becoming the best team in the league.

 

https://thehockeywriters.com/canucks-forgotten-ones-mats-sundin/

 

 

 

Edited June 29, 2022 by Provost

[thrago]

1 hour ago, Provost said:

Well for one Miller would require a commitment for 8-9 years from now at bigger dollars than Malkin would command.  That comes with massive risk compared with a 1-2 year deal for Malkin

 

Secondly, trading Miller nets the team significant assets.  Adding a young RHD, plus a prospect, plus a high pick AND signing a high end player like Malkin to replace Miller gives the team more than just giving Miller a $3-4 million dollar raise.

 

Third, if you trade Miller instead of potentially having him walk for nothing as. UFA next year and want to NOT take a big step back, you do that by signing a player to replace him.

 

Petterson was a winger when he won the SHL scoring title.  He has been halfway a winger for a lot of his time in Vancouver, Miller took the draws when on that line.  Boudreau also moved him to the wing on and off when he arrived.  There isn’t any realistic reason playing wing would be upsetting to him as he has done it a good deal of his career.  Do you think Draisaitl is upset when he plays wing beside McDavid rather than centre on a 2nd line?  The compelling reason to call Petterson a centre is for trade value as centres are worth more than wingers… that doesn’t matter if we aren’t trading him.
 

In interviews, JR has offhandedly thrown in a couple of times comments the option of Petterson  as a winger or a centre m.  If the team kept Miller as you suggest, that is exactly what would happen.  They likely aren’t pushing Horvat down to a 3rd line spot, limiting his minutes and paying him $7 million dollars.

 

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/move-wing-helping-elias-pettersson-swagger-back-canucks

 

As for bringing in Malkin to “babysit”, that isn’t what I said… it was to mentor.  He is one of the best players of his era and has won championships.  If you don’t think that is a positive…. Then you are forgetting the impact of another 36 year old that came and joined a young Canucks team not too many years ago.  Kesler and the Sedins regularly talked about what a positive impact having Sundin come to the team was for them developing as players… and how that set them up for becoming the best team in the league.

 

https://thehockeywriters.com/canucks-forgotten-ones-mats-sundin/

 

 

 

I agree with this opinion and especially because Malkin's contract can be bonus laden it makes a tonne of sense.

[YEGCanuck]

As the new management has made clear their direction to sign players in their mid-twenties, Malkin does not meet that criteria. Period, end of story.

[Ilya Mikheyev]

Quote

Hextall, in particular, is being stingy with Malkin and Kris Letang in regards to what they want. Many agents around the league have also confirmed Hextall isn’t likely to give the contract lengths that free agents on the market are demanding.

https://theathletic.com/3383110/2022/06/28/penguins-draft-free-agency/

 

The rest of the article seems to indicate Hextall and Co. are much keener on bringing Letang back than Malkin

 

I'm not sure it would work super well cap-wise for Vancouver, esp. if Malkin wants a 3+ year deal. But, I also can't imagine a better player than Gino to help Kuzie transition to NHL success. Dude would be feeding him easy tap ins all day, and we know Kuzie's biggest strength is his offensive positioning.

 

Another minor factor, outside of Allvin, Rutherford and now Young, is that Gino put up some of his best seasons together with Mike Yeo as assistant coach. If Yeo is set to replace Walker, there is some familiarity behind the bench too.

 

I think it's a bit of a fantasy proposal, but I would be stoked to see Gino in Vancouver if it's possible. If there's a 3+ year table on the table though, and an opportunity to sign Kadri, Trochek or Nichushkin on similar $ with longer terms to replace a top-6 player, I wonder if that route would be better.

[JM_]

The chance of him being healthy for a full season is quite low, and he'll be expensive, and it has all the issues of a 35+ contract. 

 

It has to be a 1 year deal, otherwise its too risky. 

[Hairy Kneel]

The last thing we need is a albatross contract like LE.

[nux_win]

7 hours ago, King Heffy said:

He'd need to address the off-ice character concerns such as this one: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nhl/penguins/2017/11/17/penguins-evgeni-malkin-joins-vladimir-putin-team/873638001/

 

I don't want someone who openly supports neo-Nazism and genocide to mentor our young players.

Anybody on "Team Putin" is definitely a no-go as far as I'm concerned.  There are some things that are even more important than hockey.  GCG!

 

P.S. - Putin was still Putin and doing Putin-like things back in 2017.

Edited June 29, 2022 by nux_win

[AV.]

If we were a young team with tons of cap-space, and more money than we knew what to do with, I'd be open.

Unfortunately, we aren't that team.  As well, I'd imagine Malkin's preference is to find a team that could actually compete for a cup in the immediate future.

[Warhippy]

My money is on Malkin joining Ovechkin now.

 

Putins buddies in Washington.  What could be more symbolic

 

I kid somewhat, but really.  I feel as though a 2-3 year deal with Ovechkin with Backstrom out is probably reasonable

Edited June 29, 2022 by Warhippy

[Provost]

2 hours ago, YEGCanuck said:

As the new management has made clear their direction to sign players in their mid-twenties, Malkin does not meet that criteria. Period, end of story.

So no, not true.

 

They have repeatedly explicitly said that not all the players they get will be in that age range and that they are also open to signing older

veterans depending on the price and term.

[wildcam]

8 minutes ago, Warhippy said:

My money is on Malkin joining Ovechkin now.

 

Putins buddies in Washington.  What could be more symbolic

 

I kid somewhat, but really.  I feel as though a 2-3 year deal with Ovechkin with Backstrom out is probably reasonable

Yes Washington makes sense and playing with Russian buddy for 2 years. I say 2 yrs X 5.5 million and then bonus games played total AAV 6.5 million

[Provost]

2 hours ago, Teemu Selänne said:

https://theathletic.com/3383110/2022/06/28/penguins-draft-free-agency/

 

The rest of the article seems to indicate Hextall and Co. are much keener on bringing Letang back than Malkin

 

I'm not sure it would work super well cap-wise for Vancouver, esp. if Malkin wants a 3+ year deal. But, I also can't imagine a better player than Gino to help Kuzie transition to NHL success. Dude would be feeding him easy tap ins all day, and we know Kuzie's biggest strength is his offensive positioning.

 

Another minor factor, outside of Allvin, Rutherford and now Young, is that Gino put up some of his best seasons together with Mike Yeo as assistant coach. If Yeo is set to replace Walker, there is some familiarity behind the bench too.

 

I think it's a bit of a fantasy proposal, but I would be stoked to see Gino in Vancouver if it's possible. If there's a 3+ year table on the table though, and an opportunity to sign Kadri, Trochek or Nichushkin on similar $ with longer terms to replace a top-6 player, I wonder if that route would be better.

Yes, the idea is based purely around us being in the conversation due to the familiarity between the player and our off ice staff.  Those relationships do mean something in the NHL.  Not that we should chase him at all costs.

 

The other guys are going to get paid a ton in terms of both dollars and term.

 

I probably don’t do a 3 year deal for him unless the terms were amazing.  1-2 years with the bulk being in 35+ bonuses (which can handily be pushed into the next year if needed.

 

Another wrinkle is that if you are having ELCs and over 35 contracts on your roster you really need to get rid of Ferland.  He doesn’t allow you to bani cap space.  Without him you can run a short roster due to Abby being to close and bank an extra couple million in cap space just for that.  At the end of the season that buffet can be used to pay the bonuses rather than push them.

[BCNate]

I'd go 3year deal for Malkin and up to $8 mill, based on a GP bonus.  He is still an oustanding player, and could fill any void left by a potential JT Miller deal.  Having an Elite Russian C between Kuz and Pods would be great mentorship.

 

I'd love it if we dealt Miller to Pitt, then Signed Malkin.  We gain a few big assets, and replace many of Milers points.