Should the Pens consider trading Malkin?

[Shea]

I like that this thread has takin off into a Jagr debate, because trading Geno is absolutely crazy.

Sometimes thread hijacks are a good thing.

[zulater]

Originally Posted by X-Terminator

Well, that turned out to be BS considering he re-signed with his KHL team Avangard Omsk for 1 year and $7 million bucks. Jagr's love of money hasn't changed one bit.

I love money too, or what it can do for me.

And even IF he did do what he said, there is no way in hell I could ever cheer for him. It would be like my feelings toward Matt Cooke, but for totally different reasons. Well, actually I'd cheer for Cooke long before I'd cheer for Jagr.

What did Jagr kicks someone's cat and i wasn't told about it? Yeah "dying alive" was ridiculous, and he had some petulant moments. But geez- to hate someone who brought so much joy over what in my mind adds up to a bunch of silly nonsense. sorry but i just can't get into it. Hate is an emotion that I reserve for the likes of Ahmadinejad.


Sorry Zu, but my mind isn't going to be changed about Jagr, and neither will HTG's or steelpride12's.

That's fine, but i think you're only cheating yourself from some special memories.

There are just too many hard feelings. I'll admit that yes, he is one of the greatest players ever to wear a Pens' uniform. He likely will have his number retired someday and raised right next to Mario's. But when that happens, I hope I'm not there to see it, and I hope he's prepared to hear plenty of boos that night.

That would be a shame in my opinion and put Penguin fans in a bad light for the rest of the sports world. Ten mostly great years shouldn't be undone by one off the rocker season.

[OneForTheToe]

NO

That is all

[Indo]

I have to say that I'm with Zu on the Jagr issue.

I don't hate the guy. I am severely annoyed by him----or, what he became
Because, let's face it, he was one hell of an amazing player. Watch those vids that Zu posted and tell me you don't remember his magic on the ice.

As far as living in Mario's shadow:
I don't know Jagr, so I don't know how he was feeling at the time.
But, I do know that Jagr had a biography done in which he CLEARLY has nothing but GREAT things to say about Mario (the book was published in 1997---it's a good read, but I realize that Jagr's feelings for Mario may have changed since the book came out).
http://www.amazon.com/Jagr-Autobiogr...4288636&sr=1-3

He came to the US when he was 17----amazingly the Czech Republic allowed this at the time...
He did not know a single person
He did not speak English
He did not have anywhere to live

Until Mario took him in to his own home
And helped to get him English teachers
And taught him about living in the US (something that Mario learned only a few years before that)
And helped him hone his hockey skills
and on and on and on...

"Captain Quitter" quit on the Pens so many times over the years...especially in tough situations where your captain is supposed to lead by example. He always put himself before the team...I remember watching a game where he was frustrated by not scoring and refused to go out on the powerplay late in a close game.

Maybe he refused to go out on the PP because he thought the team had a better chance of scoring with someone else, knowing that he was playing poorly that game? It's hard to second-guess someone's motivation (or lack of?) in any particular situation without knowing the whole story. I'm sure you have seen the video on youtube proclaiming that Troy is the biggest a-hole ever and shows him running into a punt receiver waving a "fair catch" sign. Is Troy truly an a-hole? The guy who posted the video thinks so. My point: sometimes we don't know the whole story, and that leads to misperceptions.

Gambling and gambling debts do strange things to a person.
I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

I don't like how things turned out, how he acted those last 2 years
but I do like what he did for this team before that.

[zulater]

Originally Posted by Shea

I like that this thread has takin off into a Jagr debate, because trading Geno is absolutely crazy.

Sometimes thread hijacks are a good thing.

Getting back on topic, here's someone who puts a few interesting possibilities together.

Evgeni Malkin is often an out-of-this-world talent who can play keepaway with the puck, but after the Pittsburgh Penguins' shocking ouster by the Montreal Canadiens, it is painfully obvious the Penguins have an overabundance of a good things at centre and a paucity of wingers.

Penguins GM Ray Shero loves his strength down the middle, with Sidney Crosby, Malkin and Jordan Staal the best one-two-three punch in the game, and he keeps saying that he doesn't want to mess with such a good thing, but why couldn't he move Malkin?

Crosby, even with his struggles against the Canadiens, is the best centre in the world. Staal, playing on one leg and willing himself back from surgery to repair a ripped tendon in his foot, was the most dangerous Penguins player in their final game against the Habs. He can easily be the No. 2 centre. He can get 60 points a year and shut down the other team's big guns.

Malkin, who has four years left on his contract, is hardly excess baggage, but if Shero were to pick up the phone and start canvassing his lodge-brothers he might get what he sorely needs -- two top-six forwards. If he could get two wingers who make about

$8 million total that would be less than Malkin's $8.7-million cap hit, and maybe a team would throw in a stocking stuffer, too.

A good draft pick or a top-nine, young-20s forward.

While the Edmonton Oilers had Gretzky and Messier in the glory days, they also had Jari Kurri and Glenn Anderson to give them support, then Esa Tikkanen came along.

The Penguins have nobody on the wing who really scares the opposition. Chris Kunitz, 31 this fall, is, at best, a No. 6 forward and he's been hurt a lot. Bill Guerin remains a strong leader with his on-ice smarts and nice hands but he's 40 in November and running out of gas. Pascal Dupuis, 31, is a third-liner masquerading as a top six guy. Alexei Ponikarovsky and Ruslan Fedotenko are unrestricted free-agent wingers and were healthy scratches in the playoffs.

Shero will be divesting himself of Ponikarovsky and Fedotenko this summer, and Guerin could retire, freeing up some other money. He can scour the free-agent list but its chock-a-block with goalies and not so many high-end forwards. Only Max Afinogenov, Alex Frolov, Lee Stempniak, and an older Paul Kariya at first blush, unless the Detroit Red Wings can't afford Todd Bertuzzi.

The Penguins have high-end prospect Eric Tangradi coming (they got him in the Ryan Whitney to Anaheim Ducks trade), and maybe they could offer a couple of good draft picks to, say, the Chicago Blackhawks for Kris Versteeg this summer because he looks like a salary-cap casualty, but there is a huge hole on the wing with proven NHLers. The Red Wings have Zetterberg and Datsyuk in the middle, but also have Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula and will be getting Jiri Hudler back from Russia next year. The Hawks have Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp in the middle, with an abundance of wingers. The San Jose Sharks have Little Joe Pavelski and Jumbo Joe Thornton at centre with Dany Heatley, Patrick Marleau, Devin Setoguchi and Ryane Clowe on the wing. The Penguins?

Which brings us to which team should be investigating Malkin. I say the Oilers should make a few calls. They've got Ales Hemsky and Dustin Penner, who take up a $8.325-million cap hit this upcoming season and the year after. They could give them Andrew Cogliano as well. OK, none of those players is as good as Malkin, 23, who has 381 points in 309 NHL games. I know that. But Hemsky, 26, and Penner, 27, are in the prime of their careers, and are certainly top-six forwards. And the Penguins need top-flight wingers, in the worst way.

I'm likely dreaming, but there is no sense having the deepest centre rotation in hockey -- Crosby, Malkin and Staal -- if you have no

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[X-Terminator]

Edmonton? LOL! Maybe they should worry about trying to actually attract and keep high-end players, cause nobody wants to play there.

If Ray Shero were to make that kind of deal - Malkin for Penner, Hemsky (AKA "Injury") and Cogliano, he should be fired on the spot. Absolutely AWFUL deal.

And just to point out how dumb this reporter is, Patrick Marleau is a converted center playing wing (gee, just what I suggested the Pens will do with Staal), Zetterberg is a LW and Filppula is a center actually playing center.

Not exactly a good source there, Zu, but it ain't your fault!

[X-Terminator]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt...rce=rss&feed=8

Penguins not interested in trading Malkin

Evgeni Malkin will play for the Penguins next season.

Two sources told the Tribune-Review that Malkin, the Penguins' No. 2 center and co-highest paid player, will not be traded during the offseason.

The topic of trading Malkin has become a hot-button issue on the local talk-show circuit in the days after the Penguins were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs in the second round by the Montreal Canadiens.

Malkin and top center Sidney Crosby combined to score two goals in that series. Each player will count $8.7 million against the NHL's salary cap next season, and the Penguins are committed to $21.4 million among Crosby, Malkin and No. 3 center Jordan Staal for the next three seasons.

No other team has that much cap-space tied into three centers, but Penguins management believes this blueprint is the franchise's best bet to win the Stanley Cup in the first season at Consol Energy Center.

Malkin and Crosby finished 1-2 in playoff scoring during the Penguins' 2009 run to the Stanley Cup.

There has been debate among fans - though not internally within the Penguins - that moving one of the so-called "Big Three" centers could help address franchise needs for a scoring-line wing and high-end prospects.

The Penguins have entered the last two seasons within about $1 million of the cap, and ownership has signed off on again spending to the upper limit next season. The crop of NHL players expected to test free agency is considered strong at defense and weak at wing.

Malkin, 23, produced career lows in goals (28), points (77) and games (67) during the regular season. The previous year he paced the NHL with 113 points and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP for the Stanley Cup champion Penguins.

He has served as an alternate captain the last two seasons and will enter the second season of a five-year extension. He was the second overall pick in the 2004 entry draft. The Penguins selected Crosby at first overall in 2005 and Staal at second overall in 2006.

Crosby, 22, is a finalist for the Hart Trophy (MVP) and Ted Lindsay Award (best player) after finishing the regular season tied for the NHL lead with 51 goals. Staal, 21, is a first-time finalist for the Selke Trophy (best defensive forward).

/THREAD.

[steelpride12]

Please close this thread.

[zulater]

Originally Posted by steelpride12

Please close this thread.

A thread lives or dies on it's own accord. If you don't like the topic you can always scroll on by.

The Pens are saying they're not interested in trading Geno, that's fine. I wouldn't expect them to say any different even if they were putting out feelers or making it known that they're willing to listen to 'reasonable' offers, and by 'reasonable' I mean blow my doors off to make me notice type offers. As I said before, they're in a position of strength as opposed to desperation. So publicly they're taking the right stance. But I remain convinced that they're not closing the doors on a deal if the right one were to present itself.

So chances are this thread will fade away for awhile. And I'm ok with that. As I've stated numerous times my feeling have nothing to do with the Pens playoff disposition, or Geno's somewhat subpar season ( for him). It wasn't made in a reactionary manner, in fact I would say I'm one of the few who've completly divorced themselves from emotion on the subject matter.

But be it one year, two years or maybe even as many as three seasons from now it's going to happen. Geno eventually is going to want to be the BMOC somewhere. That's just the way the male ego works, particuarly with the most gifted of us. And when that day occurs I hope the Pens wont be forced into a firesale. And I further hope that all those of you that proclaim your undying love for Geno now don't turn on him like you did Jagr if Geno goes a little sideways on the way out the door. .

I know I wont.

.

[steelpride12]

Originally Posted by zulater

A thread lives or dies on it's own accord. If you don't like the topic you can always scroll on by.

The Pens are saying they're not interested in trading Geno, that's fine. I wouldn't expect them to say any different even if they were putting out feelers or making it known that they're willing to listen to 'reasonable' offers, and by 'reasonable' I mean blow my doors off to make me notice type offers. As I said before, they're in a position of strength as opposed to desperation. So publicly they're taking the right stance. But I remain convinced that they're not closing the doors on a deal if the right one were to present itself.

So chances are this thread will fade away for awhile. And I'm ok with that. As I've stated numerous times my feeling have nothing to do with the Pens playoff disposition, or Geno's somewhat subpar season ( for him). It wasn't made in a reactionary manner, in fact I would say I'm one of the few who've completly divorced themselves from emotion on the subject matter.

But be it one year, two years or maybe even as many as three seasons from now it's going to happen. Geno eventually is going to want to be the BMOC somewhere. That's just the way the male ego works, particuarly with the most gifted of us. And when that day occurs I hope the Pens wont be forced into a firesale. And I further hope that all those of you that proclaim your undying love for Geno now don't turn on him like you did Jagr if Geno goes a little sideways on the way out the door. .

I know I wont.

.

Why jump on my back? I said that because as you stated this thread will now fade. It all comes down to your own personal opinion's and mine. I don't think he will and you do great we agreed on something and made a settlement.