The Penguins have been navigating quite a number of things since coming back from the Olympic break. It started with Sidney Crosby’s injury, then it was the trade deadline, Evgeni Malkin’s contract situation and then suspension, and of course the actual games.
Since break, the Penguins have gone 2-2-2 taking half of the 12 standings points available. This pace won’t be good enough moving forward to stay above the pack. Five of the next nine games are against Carolina and Colorado. There’s no hiding from that. They can ill afford shootout losses against non-playoff teams like the Flyers.
Malkin situation(s)
I’ll lead with this, Malkin’s slash on Rasmus Dahlin was a huge error in judgement and one of the dumbest things he could have done. This is as upset as I’ve been at Geno. There’s just not a scenario where you should be tomahawking down on a player’s neck area like that. He should have been suspended. It was unacceptable.
That said, once again it appears the Department of Player Safety only seems to be competent when there’s a Penguin on the other end of the judgement. The consistently weak punishments are reserved for other teams, specifically the Florida Panthers due to their corrupt connection between the Campbell’s, both Colin and Greg. I thought maybe they’d cut Malkin a break for living in Miami, but I guess not.
As for the contract situation, I don’t think there’s anything Penguins related that makes me more upset than this. It is once again a bad look on the Penguins for treating one of their four best players of all-time with the lack of respect he deserves. His contract negotiations for his current contract were tumultuous. Now, despite being above a point per game can’t even get a one year extension on a pay cut. That’s wild. It is also idiotic.
How many realistic and legitimate options are going to be out there? Are there any where you can sign a guy on a one-year deal and get the production Malkin has? Anthony Mantha is what a best case scenario of that looks like and even he hasn’t matched Malkin’s points output in 16 more games played. It has been a career year for Mantha.
If Malkin missing these 5 games is so important (it is) and it hurts the team as much as people are saying, then you cannot also defend Geno not being extended for one year at 3-5M
If Maklin’s absence is potentially crushing the Penguins playoff chances by not being available, then how is he also not worth a one year extension at 3rd line level compensation. This of course with a team that will have close to 50M in cap space this offseason.
Kyle Dubas can’t have it both ways. If he’s so upset with Malkin for getting suspended (valid criticism) then you can’t turn around and act like his contributions aren’t an integral part of the team’s success unworthy of a one-year extension. In no scenario would a Malkin extension get in the way of the rebuild/retool, whatever you want to call it. The money and term it would take, given the Penguins current resources, are negligible. Frivolously, paying a guy like Ryan Graves and then letting the Malkin situation play out the way it has lacks tact and respect.
Although, hasn’t that been the calling card of Malkin’s brilliant career, being disrespected?
Quiet deadline
The trade deadline went as expected for the Penguins. Pittsburgh was relatively quiet and made no big splashes. They didn’t have to. They are not in a place where they should be giving up futures for short term veteran help, and didn’t. Dubas talked about not needing to make all your trades at the deadline and he is completely right. The Penguins did most of their significant roster adjustments (Tristan Jarry/Stuart Skinner/Brett Kulak, Egor Chinakhov, Sam Girard) well before the deadline.
Dubas spoke about making a trade along the same lines as the Chinakhov trade. He did just that on deadline day. He acquired Elmer Soderblom from the Detroit Red Wings.
You know those big tubs of glue your kids want you to buy for them at Christmas to make slime? Well this Elmer is even bigger than those. He’s a big boy at 6’8” and 252 pounds. He also comes with a set of decent hands.
Soderblom fits the Chinakhov mold in the sense that he has not developed at the rate the Detroit Red Wings were looking for. Much like Chinakhov, Dubas is hoping that a new environment and different players can unlock a different level of play from Soderblom. Given the volume of picks the Penguins have this is another low risk dart throw by Dubas.
Here are some thoughts from Prashanth Iyer, who I consider one of the very best people who have their pulse on the Red Wings
I do think a man of this size who isn’t willing to use it on a consistent basis might make for a frustrating viewing experience, especially if there aren’t tangible results happening.
Chinakhov’s goal scoring is what gets a lot of deserved attention, but it is his motor that is winning the team and fans over since the trade. He busts his butt out there and is always looking to make things happen.
I can see a situation where Soderblom gets compared to Chinakhov in this regard and people’s opinions sour earlier, unless of course goals are part of the equation.
This may or may not pan out, that’s how dart throws work. I don’t mind the move at all.
The Penguins have the Bruins today and will need to get back into the win column. We’ll see if that comes with Soderblom’s debut.
