Latest Pens Buzz
1. The noise surrounding Evgeni Malkin continues to get louder and it’s getting back to the Malkin camp about how dissatisfied the organization actually is with the three-time Stanley Cup winner. The lack of push back continues to be something. There’s many inside the building who have become convinced over the last week that Jim Rutherford not only plans to chase offers for Evgeni Malkin, which sources say he has permission to do from ownership, Rutherford is motivated To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
The thought of trading Malkin this summer has been something the Penguins top brass had minor discussions about as early as late March, TIOPS has learned. This isn’t something that is just brewing off the emotions of being swept by the Islanders. Things had been brewing for a while and a belief among some in the organization that Malkin went to To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
And those with knowledge of Malkin’s thinking process say don’t be 100 percent certain Malkin won’t consider playing elsewhere.
The Malkin camp had information during the 2016 post-season [hide] that had Pittsburgh lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Conference Finals, Pittsburgh intended a major personnel shakeup with Malkin target No. 1 to be traded. Whispers are Malkin’s agent J.P. Barry told rival clubs that Florida and Los Angeles were the only two places Malkin would have considered playing had the Penguins bowed out and Pittsburgh tried to move him.
There’s a belief around the league the list would be a little longer this time around if Pittsburgh actually goes through and aggressively seeks a Malkin trade, some execs sense Pittsburgh believes this to be the case.
Among the other cities to watch:
Malkin has always had an admiration of playing in New York City, a source close to the situation says, and one former teammate of Malkin’s had great confidence Nashville would be a place Malkin would be willing to go.
MORE BUZZ
— There is an argument to be made that Penguins GM Jim Rutherford taking the route the Penguins were not a team from a day 1 in the 2018-2019 season is just an excuse for not looking into the mirror at himself of the personnel decisions that were made, but nonetheless, the Penguins off-season evaluation process continues to center majorly around which core players disrupted the Penguins room and whether things will change if the 1-2 players these discussions are centered around will continue.
“Where are we at as a team? This is one of my first questions when I talk to all the people I talk to,” Rutherford said this week via the Tribune-Review. “Can this team have a chance to contend next year, and if it can’t, what are the changes? Who are they, and why are they? The biggest thing is how do we get back to having a team concept that we feel like we’re playing as a team. We had a lot of good players, but we didn’t have a team.”
Aging, expensive Core (age at start of 2019-2020 season) whose names are at the forefront of organizational meetings among the brass:
1. Evgeni Malkin, 33 years old, 3 years remaining ($9.5 million cap hit)
2. Kris Letang, 32 years old, 3 years remaining ($7.25 million cap hit)
3. Phil Kessel, 32 years old, 3 Years Remaining ($6.8 million cap hit)
Among the Big 3, the Penguins have an idea based on past actions of making Kessel available of what type of market might be out there for Phil Kessel and who the suitors would be. That’s led to significant focus in meetings on the wildcards, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, with club officials putting everything on the table. As mentioned here early last week, the Penguins are said to be going through an extensive process in evaluating the future of both.
Meetings this week are expected to start focusing on big salaried secondary players on the roster like Patric Hornqvist, 4 years left with a $5.3 million cap hit, Justin Schultz (1 year, $5.5 million) and Olli Maatta (3 years, $4.08 million cap hit). [/hide]
— The coaching staff and management might not be on the same page with a number of players but they certainly are with 22 year old Marcus Pettersson. To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
Celtics are struggling 🙁
Does that mean you don’t love them anymore?
No, i don’t love them.
Because they are losing? Lol
I don’t love basketball. I watch it to pass time and pick a team for rooting interest.
Thanks for the update.
At this point it is hard not to cheer for Carolina. They knocked out the Caps, they are going to knock out the Islanders and Don Cherry does not like them. There good reasons for me.
I’m happy for Staal. He could use some good news. Been through a lot and he’s a good guy. I totally agree with you.
“Break up with your girlfriiiiiiiend, cuz Im boooooored.”
– Sam singing to Fleury
Trade Letang
They have enough defensive depth with Schultz that this would make sense.
Werenski, Provorov, McAvoy, Butcher and Trouba are all RFAs. All better and younger than Letang. Trade Letangfor picks/prospects and go after one of them with the cap space.
Raise your hand if you have a replica game jersey with another man’s name on the back.
Almost every sports fan does. If you don’t you are probably lying.
I have a William Gay jersey but that’s a whole other story.
Npl has Tampax jersey with obama name on it
Sam has a Fleshlight of Trump’s asshoIe that he licks like an ice cream cone.
https://media.giphy.com/media/7S1p4sEK0upKE/200.gif
only after hes used it the other way of course
Not evey sports fan over the age of 13.
The tears of Simply Dusty are flowing. Remember he cheers for certain players not the team. Same, Yoda and Simply Dusty, the Mount Rushmore of stupidity on this site.
When have I ever said I was a blind fan for the name on the front of the jersey?
Yes, I love the Penguins, but if you rip my favorite players from it, well then, it’s not the same team I fell in love with a 2nd time in my life. I won’t blindly root for the name on the front of the jersey, be it Pitt college sports, Penguins, Steelers or Pirates.
So what you are saying is when the Penguins start sucking again when the Crosby era ends you will no longer be a fan. #bandwagonfan
I’m saying when I was about 8 in the 80’d and i fell in love with the Penguins. Then through bankruptcy, it wasn’t as fun and exciting. Then they drafted Fleury and I fell in love again. Hard for you all to grasp?
Yeah, it is called being a fair-weather fan. Hard to grasp?
What ever you guys want to call it, that’s fine, it’s me. You’re a better fan than me, i’m not here to compare, just talk.
To Sam and Yoda. You speak their language.
Classic Simply Dusty
Grasp your wiener instead of your keyboard. The keyboard thing doesn’t work for you.
Npl fell in love with penguins when they won the cup vs subbans team
You would probably be gone too the minute your Russian and chubby are gone
I am not a bandwagon fan like you and dusty. Nice try though.
2nd time in my life? You are a moron. Delete your account. All those teams hate you.
09’ and 16-17’…. lol. The three years he discovered hockey. #bandwagonfan
He needs to discover his brain. Dude is simple.
You cheer on players that are paid the most in the team doesn’t matter if they’re lazy. And when they don’t show up game night you simply turn off your TV minute they are losing
Yeah, Dusty!
Remember same said Malkin would be back in Russia?
Please hire a country club coach and let the stars run the team. I want a team that loves to play and put pucks in the net.
Worked well with Bylsma, right ?
I’d be fine with 10 Bylsma’s over Sullivan. The only thing worse than Sullivan, is Tortarella.
Ball dropped big time letting Tocchett go.
DB could not make in game adjustments to save his life. There is a reason he is no longer a NHL head coach.
You watch too much tv if you really think coaches make in game strategy changes. This isn’t football.
Bylsma like all nhl coaches, will be recycled again.
You’ve clearly never played hockey.
But … but but you and 90% of you drooled over his coaching when I was exposing him from 09 when he won the cup saying team won due to momentum and his a limited peewee hockey coach. I guess Sam was right once again
There’s stupid, then there’s that.
Holy shit, just when I thought we had reached peak WTF. Bylsma wasted 5 years of this team… then they pissed another away with another coach that was just not able to speak up to his players. Sullivan showed up, gave a few guys shit and suddenly the Crosby era legacy was no longer 1 cup. We can argue about “shelf lives” of guys like Sullivan but the results speak for themselves. Bylsma did fuckkall since he was fired and for good reason. Sucked out loud for Buffalo and is probably unlikely to see work again at this point. At… Read more »
Agreed trying to tell Dustin that……Sullivan is way better than Bylsma…
DB is by far the biggest NHL fraud coach. He even ruined sabres few years when on paper they looked a solid team when he arrived there. Only reason he won the cup is because of MT work prior . Fresh air and momentum that was about it after that team couldn’t even pass the first round because they all forgot to play NHL hockey and focused on up tempo peewee hockey that he probably learned by watching mighty ducks movies
Dustin that might work with a crap team…with all these egos /superstars and guys who need to be pushed you need a tough son of a bitch…that why Badger Bob was so good..(he was a great mixture) .and Scotty bowman when he took over and why Blysma (Mr. nice guy didnt last)
Maybe the Penguins can trade Malkin to NJ for their 1st pick and Letang to the Rangers for their 2nd pick. And then trade ZAR and Simon to the Oilers for McDavid.
you may need to throw in lovejoy and a third
Not to sure if Dallas will do that but GMJR can ask.
What about TK and Jeffrey?
They will probably get you Patrick Kane.
who would DK rather have on his all time NHL team? kris letang or bobby orr? after all he did write and say on several occasions that letang is the greatest D man in pens history.
right now geno is chillin’ like a villian in his motherland with his 1 billion rubels loving life and living large. he just said to his wife that it’s awesome when he gets all of april off and does not have to be state side until september. good for geno.
Hahaha once again same was right penguins will be stuck with this bum and not get a good return value. The year DB was fired that was the time to trade him yet penguins gave him a chance and brought in kessel and won a cup. I still think penguins could’ve won 2 cups without the Russian and had good players like Nathan or mcdavid
You are an idiot. 18 points in 16’ and 28 points in 17’ cup runs. They would have not won the cup without him. And they had ZERO shot at getting McDavid! There is plenty of blame to go around on this team, you just wont say their names.
What you have to keep in mind is that Sam hates the Penguins. Therefore, trading Malkin at that point would have been a good idea, since they wouldn’t have won without him. Sam is a little French Canadian fairy boy thathas a crush on Letang and Crosby. It’s that simple.
They could have never traded for either of those two players you fucken retard, this was thoroughly debunked already. In both seasons not one cusp or non-playoff team traded their first round picks… the prize on the way was too good to give away. So stupid
Then he went on to be a key contributor in the cup runs of 16 and 17…. even if “Nathan” was available he didn’t break out until last fucken year lol.
Now you can enjoy him as key member for sabotaging teams success
Yeah, he was the only one who did not show up in the playoffs. The entire team was shut down and Letang played for the Islanders. Poor Sam(e) has no other boards to troll now. Vegas is out and Montreal missed the playoffs again.
Hahahahaha, guy had a bad year, better than most. He’s of the age where he has few of those left. If he wants his own club let’s part ways but… that doesn’t change the fucken FACT, he was instrumental in 16 and 17, that McKinnon or McDavid were not fucken available or that you’re the dumbest fucken moron that has ever posted out here
3 cups with his name on it… only one other team since the lockout can boast that. We would possibly have more if MAF wasn’t so easily rattled between 2010 and 2014
Really tough to win a Malkin trade. You’re not going to get equal value back it it’s player for player – you may get equal value back if you hit on a really high draft pick but even if you do it will take too much time for sid.
So why not get a coach who can work with Malkin? A coach who’s not out to screw over Malkin’s best friend on the team (Kessel)?
The guy gets wingers (Neal included) and turns them into 30-40 goal scorers and then the coach decides said winger isn’t a good fit for the team. How would you feel being Malkin?
I guess it’s better to be Crosby like and accept playing with losers like Sheary, Kennedy, Simon etc. because you know, they play hard.
Two of those three “losers” played big roles on Cup winning teams. You and Sam have to be related.
Garbage players who deserve bottom 6 roles, not act as anchors on top 6 lines.
That was then this is now……Malkin it is time to go…..keep Phil and Kris for sure……
malkin is moody and un-coachable…
how someone that talented can be so moody and inconsistent……he doesn’t have the drive that Ovechkin has, that Crosby has, that Kane has, that Mc kinnon has, that McDavid has
he was -25
84 turnovers
89 penalty minutes all worst on the team….
great talent time to move him while we can at least get a decent return…
Thats good coddle a spoiled lazy little brat like malkin! .Approve and justify his behavior by letting him know being un-coachable is ok….
Thats not how is works…
-25 84 turnovers 89 penalty minutes all tops on the team in every category…..Its Sillivan’s fault your right…
The problem isn’t the superstars, the problem is the coach who doesn’t have any respect for the superstars.
So, Letang, Malkin and Kessel, all players who can’t get along with Sullivan. Deep down inside you know Sid hates him too, but you’d never hear it.
So yes, lets trade everybody so we can rebuild like the old rangers and have 10 15 goal scorers who can’t change the outcome of the game, but can try hard and take orders from nazi sullivan.
sullivan thinks simon is the best player on the team next to crosby. after that, aston reese.
You’d be trading the players because they are on the tail end of their careers and can still garner a quality return, not because of their relationship with their coach. For as bad as you seem to think the relationship is between the players and coach (not having any insight), they won two cups together. Malkin still averaged over a PPG this year and Letang’s season was one of his best. No part of your rant makes any sense.
“”Deep down you know Sid hates him too.” – LMAO!!! Where the **** do you get this stuff?
His attitude as a coach sucks. He’s tortarella light. What makes you think any non “grinder” wants to play for him. He’s an ahl loser.
Winning doesn’t help relationships with coaches. Bowman was maybe the greatest coach in NHL history and won a cup here, yet Mario and crew chased his ass outa here.
you cant have a country club coach for this team with all its start power you need someone who is tough, isnt afraid to ruffle feathers, and flat out sit a guy if needed…
Where do you get your shit…..are you a f***ing mind reader you don’t know what Sid’s thinking….what the hell dude.. Malkins a head case, a moody mess, a bad temper opponents easily get him mad and off his game…..then he usually does something dumb
Dustin…you don’t know deep down inside what Crosby! thinks i havent heard any real issues with letang and Sullivan mostly Phil at times. The organization and higher ups are annoyed with Makin’s overall attitude and effort both are things that a player can control…
You don’t have to love your coach you have to play hard and have mutual respect….. Malkin is talanted but inconsistent
-25 (hell you and i could be close to -25
84 turnovers
89 stupid penalty minutes….
cmon Dustin
No I just said trade Malkin that’s all didn’t say clean house we still had 100 points. ( only 4 points of the top of the division) Lets get some younger talent in return for malkin..Hearing Vancouver will make a push for malkin..also heard malkin likes the RAngers and Nashbille…..all these places he will be thetop dog. Geno will actually have to do interviews, speak some kind of English, and put a sentence together!
rutherford can make all of these roster shake ups and the fact would remain that dominic simon and zac aston reese are penciled in for the top 6 next year. coach needs to go too.
it’s going to be tough moving malkin. dollar for dollar, he is by far the worst player in the NHL. he totally could give a F less about playing.
Good stuff DePaoli. I like how you wait until the off-season for your best material. If the Penguins want to win now, I would trade Malkin and Murray to the King’s for Quick and Kopitar
The Kings don’t want Malkin. I like Quick, but he gets injured a lot.
If LA is still a potential
trade partner, maybe a package centered (pun intended) around Anze Kopitar would be interesting. He definitely fits the mold of a team player who plays a 200 ft. game. I think you get him & maybe another role player or a draft pick or something along those lines would definitely be worth a look.
The GM should most certainly look in the mirror. I don’t trust him trading any of those guys. My first guy would be 58 to go!!!
This article just got a shout out on the fan.
Not going to happen. They will trade Maatta and or Hornqvist. This team is screwed because Rutherford built a horrible roster. Look in the mirror Jim.
Could certainly use improving, but far from horrible.
Trading Malkin, although exciting, is a mistake. No way we get back equal or greater talent.
All depends on the return. I think Letang is far more expendable, as having a 2C that produces and draws attention the way Malkin does is a huge difference maker. If you can get a center back that can score and acquire some high end picks/prospects, has to be considered.
But we do unload $9.5 million in cap space……ill take even with a moderate to good return coming back.