Rumors: Hurricanes hope to grab Malkin’s attention on July 13

— Evgeni Malkin was always going to be the easier signing than Kris Letang and that’s led to a lot of surprise around the league that Pittsburgh and especially the Evgeni Malkin camp, led by To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!

“The Malkin camp is [hide] surprised a deal is not done [by now] or close [at the moment], an NHL source said on Tuesday. “It’s a game of chicken Pittsburgh is playing,” the source added.

A major part of frustration from the Malkin camp is that they were led to believe in discussions that heated up after the New Year with GM Ron Hextall, that the team planned a 3 year offer north of $7 million (AAV) back in mid-March, which has been Malkin sweet spot, a willingness to take around a $2 million pay cut. Discussions went from a 7′ to much lower after the post-season, a source with direct knowledge of the talks says.

Instead, Pittsburgh’s offer to Malkin around Memorial Day is believed to be 3 years with an AAV of around $5.75 million that has the two sides $2 million apart as of this week.

Team sources don’t deny there were discussions in the past in the $7 million range with Malkin’s reps[/hide]. What has basically played out is resigning Kris Letang is going to be more costly than the Penguins anticipated that has eaten into what they are now willing to offer Malkin.

— WILL MALKIN LISTEN TO OVERTURES from NON-BIG CITY TEAMS? —

When Pittsburgh explored trading Evgeni Malkin in summer of 2019, former General Manager Jim Rutherford knew his hands were tied in that the Florida Panthers and New York Rangers were the only two teams Malkin would give a thought to playing for due to family reasons.

If Malkin hits free agency, what rival clubs are trying to find out is how much longer that list will be expanded from Malkin than it was as a trade candidate in the past.

The growing consensus around the league is To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!