The Pittsburgh Penguins are gearing up to make a massive mistake

The Pittsburgh Penguins find themselves at a crossroads after being swept in the first round, but their desperation to find a quick solution will end up costing them.

How far the mighty have fallen. 22 months removed from the Penguins historic back to back Stanley Cups, the Pittsburgh Penguins find themselves in a difficult spot after being swept in the first round by the New York Islanders, and the rumors that have emerged from within the Penguins organization about the potential solution are disturbing.

According to sources within in the organization from Pittsburgh Post Gazette, the Penguins are “undergoing a deep process of fact-finding and soul-searching, attempting to chart the course of the next few years — with almost every available option on the table. That includes the possibility of trading key pieces such as Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Phil Kessel”

Elliotte Friedman also reported in the latest edition of 31 Thoughts that multiple organizations believe that the Penguins are determining the feasibility of the idea of trading Malkin, which will almost certainly be explored more in depth once the Stanley Cup Playoffs wrap up and the NHL Draft draws closer towards the end of June.

There aren’t just the usual unfounded rumors following a disappointing playoff exit, and Malkin’s name has floated around the trade rumor mill in the past when the Penguins faces some early exits, but GM Jim Rutherford himself is fanning the flames. In an interview with the Athletic, Rutherford was noncommittal on Malkin being a part of the Penguins long term plans.

“I’m not at the point where I’m making any decision on that at this point,” he explained. “I just can’t answer that kind of question right now.”

“Why?”

“There are a lot of things to sort through right now,” he said.

Malkin admittedly had a down season compared to his other years, posting 21 goals and 51 assists in 68 games for 72 points, which is still over a point per game pace. His inconsistency throughout the season led to plenty of frustration within the organization and the fans, but Malkin understands that it was not his best season.

The fact that the Penguins are even considering moving the key pieces of their core like Malkin is nothing short of ludicrous. Sure he didn’t have the best season, but this is Evgeni Malkin, whose been one of the best players in the world for well over a decade now without debate. While Sidney Crosby is the headliner for the Penguins, this era of Penguins hockey is known as the Crosby AND Malkin era. Crosby’s cool under pressure demeanor is balanced out by Malkin’s freight train style of play, a classic yin and yang.

The only case where you should even consider trading a player of Malkin’s caliber is if he refuses to play for you. Malkin has done enough for the Penguins over the course of his career to warrant a pass on a “poor” season, like for example, be a center piece for three Stanley Cup runs during his tenure with Pittsburgh. Even if he hadn’t won those Cups, Malkin is still only one full season removed from a 98 point campaign, which was bounce back from a 72 point season, which he matched this past season.

There is no scenario where the Penguins gets fair value for Malkin, and also no chance that it doesn’t backfire spectacularly on them. What are you getting back in return that actually makes the team better? Malkin can’t be traded anywhere without his say so since he has a No Movement Clause in his contract, which inherently reduces the amount of places you can trade him.

How can Pittsburgh even consider such an irrational decision with one of the best players their franchise has ever had? At very least, give him another chance next season, and if he still doesn’t prove himself to be a part of the long term solution, then it would be time to consider a trade. To just throw in the towel on Malkin after one below average season is ludicrous asset management, and Penguins management better come to their senses sooner than later before they do something that they regret.

Jim Rutherford has never been the kind of GM to sit on his hands and wait for solutions to come to him. For better or worse, Rutherford has always gone out and found the solutions as fast as possible. However, his solutions as of late haven’t exactly been what the Penguins have needed.

Signing Jack Johnson to a five year deal last offseason and taking on Erik Gudbranson’s bloated contract at the trade deadline were part of the problem that led to their first round sweep. Trading Jamie Oleksiak for scraps only hurt the defense down the stretch, and only achieved clearing cap space rather than making the team better. All of these moves were reactions to the Penguins inconsistency’s, but now that the season is over, Rutherford needs to slow down before he makes it worse.

The reason the Penguins had an inconsistent season wasn’t because of their high end talent, it was due to the lack of depth outside of their core, and their lack of speed to compete with the modern day NHL. The Penguins won back to back Stanley Cups on the back of getting depth production from guys like Nick Bonino, Carl Hagelin, and Bryan Rust, along with the emergence’s of their young prospects like Jake Guentzel.

Now that depth is gone and the Penguins prospect system is bare, and yet the blame falls on a core player like Malkin who still averaged over a point per game on a down season and was the teams leading scorer against the Islanders in the playoffs?

Unless trading Malkin can without a shadow of a doubt solve those depth and youth problems immediately and in the future, it’s not worth it. There are other moves that can be made towards replenishing the youth on the Penguins without ending an era of dominance so suddenly. Patric Hornqvist is making $5.3M against the salary cap for the next four seasons, and could still have enough value to fetch a decent return in a trade.

If the Penguins have to subtract from their core players in order to get better, Phil Kessel would make more sense to move on from than Malkin. A trade involving Kessel would make the team worse in the short term in all likelihood, but at the same time clears plenty of cap space and will bring back a haul of younger assets to set the Penguins up for the future. Not to mention the trade would be significantly easier to pull off than trying to move a franchise player like Malkin.

Trading Malkin is an emotional reaction to an embarrassing loss in the playoffs, and those moves never pay off in the long run. At very least, Pittsburgh should give him another chance for next season to bounce back to being a top five center in the NHL, and if he still can’t prove himself as part of the long term solution, then it would be a better time to move on from him. The Penguins need focus their offseason on building around Crosby and Malkin with talent on the wings and a more stable defensive core, not blowing it up in a fit of frustration.