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Brian Burke needs to remember who he is

June 30, 2022, 10:17 AM ET [63 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Since Brian Burke has been hired he really hasn’t had the boisterous presence he has been known for around the league. He has been in the background for most of his tenure and frankly a background character since his hire.

When he was hired one of the perceived strengths I perceived him to have was his understanding of star players’ value and the importance of figuring out those parts and then filling out the roster. His finest example of this are the Sedin brothers who were just recently selected for Hall of Fame enshrinement. It was Burke who swung huge draft trades to get the planets to align. It is considered some of the finest wheeling and dealing in the draft's history.

So how did Burke pull off the trade to draft both Sedins? The main piece of the puzzle was trading McCabe, the strong defenseman acquired in the Linden trade, to the Chicago Blackhawks. McCabe and a future first rounder landed Vancouver the Blackhawks first round pick, which was number four in the draft. Now Burke had two top five choices, but he needed to make sure that neither Tampa Bay nor Atlanta would snatch one of the Sedins at number one or two. Burke traded two later round selections and the number four pick to Tampa Bay to move into their number one slot, and then sent a pick to Atlanta to allow the Thrashers to move to number one with an assurance they would not pick a Sedin. That left Vancouver with the number two and three choices, which landed them Daniel and Henrik, respectively.


The Penguins need that guy. The one who understands you need guys at the top of the lineup. Here’s the guy we’re getting





“We want to sign both players...but they gotta come back at term and contract dollars that make sense,” Penguins president of hockey operations Brian Burke said on The Jeff Marek Show. “And if not, they’re not coming back.

“We should know I’m guessing in the next little bit. We’ve made determined efforts to meet with and to sign Kris Letang. Less determined with Malkin only because we have to know how much money we have to work with and we have to put this jigsaw puzzle together. So very direct discussions with the agent for Evgeni Malkin but less intense.

“There’s gotta be some sequence here. One has to sign and then the other or maybe neither of them. But it’s coming to a head soon.”


I do not have an issue with focusing on getting the Letang contract sorted first. He was perceived to be the tougher sell from the beginning and probably the harder negotiator. My issue is that this should be done already. You’re going to pay more than you’d like to a 35 year old defenseman. You also don’t have a choice so just check that box and move on to the next thing. You have contracts on the roster you can trade away to create space on the roster. Trading Brian Dumoulin and promoting Pierre Olivier Joseph gives some financial breathing room. You don’t have to play him on the top pairing. Play him on the bottom pairing. There’s probably not a big drop off in the on-ice product given Dumoulin’s struggles and overall decline. This is the slam dunk move just like it was with Brooks Orpik years ago. Make it.

As for Malkin, the big question mark was how he was going to come back from knee surgery at his advanced hockey age. I think he did a pretty great job of showing he’s up for it. His 41 points in 40 games were impressive regardless where the points came from. More impressive considering his 5v5 linemates were very bad at finishing their chances with him this year. Those 41 points in 40 games could have been even better.





That x axis reads “linemate goals scored above expected per 60” and Malkin is about as far left on the chart as anybody in the league. This is actually good news. It is likely you would get positive regression from Malkin at 5v5. The evidence still shows a very skilled and offensively productive player, which is exactly what the Penguins have to have. There’s no reason to believe his power play production will drop, either. Bring the big guy back and stop stapling Kasperi freaking Kapanen to his wing.

I’m convinced the majority of anti-Malkin discussions are led by Steeler fans who start watching a few games here and there after football season is over. People who lack the ability to have nuanced hockey discussion and who are manipulated by those who take advantage of the lowest common denominator of the fanbase. It has been this way for years and coming to a head now because of the contract situation.

There’s nothing grounded in evidence that suggests you are getting anything other than a bonafide top six center for the remainder of this team’s competitive years. This is all that should matter.

While free agency doesn’t kick off tomorrow the calendar does flip over to July. Burke is right about things coming to a head soon. It won’t be long until July 13th is here. Get to work.

Thanks for reading!
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