What? $5M? That's what Paul Martin makes. Expect him to get between $6-7M in Pittsburgh and $7.5-8M if he goes to free agency.
- Orpik44

if only paul martin wasnt on the roster, then we would have enough froom for malkin letang AND perry

And look at Pietrangelo. A guy getting out of his EL deal who has already proven to be one of the elite defenseman in the league. OEL isn't a guy you put in the game with a minute left protecting a lead. Letang is... Letang is a more true 2 way defenseman while OEL doesn't have that defensive side. Maybe he will, maybe he won't, but I wouldn't give that much to someone who hasn't truly proven to be your go to D guy yet. You give a player that salary based on what he already can do, not what you will hope he does. If that's the case, give Bennett a 4-5 mil per year contract now.
- drummer829

Then you haven't watched him. He leads their team on ice time, and is only second to Michalek in short handed ice time. He is on the ice every chance they get, and in all situations.

The only thing about OEL's deal that makes it not totally comparable with Letang, is that he is an RFA, so he doesn't have the leverage that Letang does.

to kind of get away from deadline deals... lets talk about offseason deals...

say Shero offers both Malkin and Letang fair deals... both of them want more but Shero cant afford to keep both.

who do you keep? who do you trade? realistically what do you ask from other teams for them?
- SuperHenderson13

This is a no brainer. You keep Malkin. He is rougher to replace. You stand a much better chance replacing Letang. There are more Letang types in this league than Malkins.

You'll chase your tail for 20 years finding a talent like Malkin. Don't let the Pens uncanny luck in landing Lemieux, Jagr, Crosby, Malkin cloud the judgment.

Fact is Letang will be replaced by a combo platter of Despres and Morrow. Orpik will be replaced by Harrington. I honestly have no worries about the state of the defense in the following years.
- Gunner Staal

We're spoiled... there is no other way to say it. There are several franchises that are still waiting for their first Mario/Jagr/Crosby/Malkin. We've had all 4, for many years in their primes.

Yes, the haul could be massive for Malkin, but in the salary cap days, if the haul is that great, we won't be able to keep most of what we get back anyway. If you get a premier first line forward and top pairing 2 d-man, they together will make as much or more than Malkin's $9-$10 million cap hit.

So, we'd end up getting two really good players for a generational talent. No thanks.

We're spoiled... there is no other way to say it. There are several franchises that are still waiting for their first Mario/Jagr/Crosby/Malkin. We've had all 4, for many years in their primes.

Yes, the haul could be massive for Malkin, but in the salary cap days, if the haul is that great, we won't be able to keep most of what we get back anyway. If you get a premier first line forward and top pairing 2 d-man, they together will make as much or more than Malkin's $9-$10 million cap hit.

So, we'd end up getting two really good players for a generational talent. No thanks.
- rival22

That is another way of looking at it that you don't trade Malkin.

Guerin wasn't going back to the Island. He had few times there. Garry Roberts wasn't going back to the Panthers. That franchise was a mess. Neither of these guys had a 12-15-year career in the same place.

Kind of like Hossa?
- Oneonta Penguin

I suppose Calgary isnt a mess?