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Trading Evgeni Malkin: An Annual Summer Tradition Like No Other

June 22, 2016, 11:52 AM ET [530 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The NHL announced yesterday that the 2016-17 salary cap will be 73.0M By my calculations from the other day the Penguins are currently sitting at $70,057,499 for a 21 man roster. This calculation does not include Pascal Dupuis' 3.75M cap hit which will come off the books opening night. They are still in decent shape.

Combine the fact that we have a definitive cap number with the draft coming up on Friday and we have a perfect storm for trades coming up in the next few days.

One trade that will not be happening. One involving Evgeni Malkin. In what has become a yearly tradition in June and July we have Evgeni Malkin rumors running wild again.






Jim Rutherford also commented courtesy of Jenn Menedez of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette via ESPN

"None. We're not looking to move him. I did not get an inquiry from any team," Rutherford said Tuesday, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Rutherford said that Malkin's no-trade clause has nothing to do with the situation.
"Whether he has one or not, he's not an option," Rutherford said, according to the newspaper.


A popular argument with some fans is the Sidney Crosby vs Jonathan Toews as to who is better. Sidney Crosby is the best player in the league so we can end that one.

Here is a dirty little secret that doesn't get talked about as much. Evgeni Malkin is better than Jonathan Toews, too.



They did have the same amount of points this year though (58). It just took Toews an extra 23 games to get there.

Chicago's best trade chip is still a downgrade from Malkin and costs more.

Moving along to the real Malkin news. Does he need surgery? We are still awaiting word on the MRI on Malkin's elbow. There is potential for Tommy John surgery.

****


So here are some Fleury nuggets from Pierre Lebrun. Nothing groundbreaking but here they are







We've discussed the limited market for goalies right now. Not a ton of teams are looking to trade high end assets for a starter at the present moment. We've seen that the Penguins can ice a 21 man roster including both Fleury and Murray and be comfortably under the cap. In theory the Penguins could just start the year with Fleury, but the risks are real.

Waiting for another team to suffer an injury is risky because what if there isn't a major injury to a contending team's goalie? Furthermore, let's say there was, what if that team doesn't want to take on the extra 2 years of Fleury's 5.75M contract. Just because a team has a short term need doesn't mean they will want to take on Fleury as a longer term player.

What if Fleury doesn't play well? People act like this is something that can't happen but history shows that it is a possibility. How easy is that contract to move then?

Then there is the realistic possibility of a team that thought they needed a goalie falling ass backwards into a new one like Pittsburgh did with Murray or a Devan Dubnyk//Martin Jones/Thomas Greiss situation where they finally give a career backup a chance and they do well. This happens frequent enough too.

Fleury is coming off of a double concussion. What would a third one mean? Would teams want to invest heavily in a player with that risk?

All this is meant to show is that there is real risk in keeping Fleury into the 2016-17 season. It isn't as simple as we'll wait and there will definitely be a quality deal down the road.

So keeping Fleury around is certainly feasible under the cap. It isn't bullet proof though and carries more risk than some think.

Thanks for reading!
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