Malkin was offended by Pittsburgh bosses who humiliated him. What will happen next?

An era passes. Even horror takes! Evgeni Malkin was drafted by Pittsburgh in 2004. Number two, under first went Alexander Ovechkin.

18 years have passed.

And now the last day arrives, as Gino remains in Penguins player status. Tomorrow his contract will come to an end, he will enter the free agency market. Lo and behold, Malkin may not be coming back to Pittsburgh.

Let’s find out what’s going on. I answer five burning questions.

1. Why can’t Malkin sign with Pittsburgh?

The player’s representatives fail to agree with the club on the duration of the new contract. According to our information, Pence’s latest offer is a three-year contract for $6 million a year. But Malkin himself wants to get at least a four-year contract. He understands that he will soon be 36 years old. Perhaps he signs the last contract of his career. Gino wants to play as long as possible.

They give him very little money. Especially when you compare it to the fact that Malkin spends $9.5 million a year. But you therefore compensate at least the duration of the contract!

Pittsburgh doesn’t want to do that. And the club talks about it publicly. The team won two Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017, and the Pences have been consistently knocked out early in the playoffs ever since.

New management has arrived. If something is not radically changed now, why is it necessary? Under the salary cap, Pittsburgh only has $10.3 million and you also need to sign guys like the same Kasperi Kapanen. Yes, and in the market someone to take to strengthen. In addition, Malkin often gets injured, and a year ago he underwent complicated knee surgery, after which he barely returned to hockey.

Signing it for a long time is like throwing away money. Therefore, the club don’t want to take any risks.

2. Why is Gino offended?

Malkin’s resentment comes through in his every act. He then unsubscribes, then subscribes to Pittsburgh social media. He openly says he feels unwanted by the Penguins. His friend, club captain Sidney Crosby, goes specially to Malkin to calm him down, talk to him heart to heart.

In fact, there are two factors at once. First, the management of Pittsburgh has changed. Mario Lemieux, whom Malkin greatly appreciated and called him a “legacy player”, sold his stake and became a minority owner of the club.

The general manager was Ron Hakstall – once a famous goalie, a symbol of Philadelphia. He then worked as a manager for the Flyers and Los Angeles, with whom he came to the Stanley Cup in 2012. But Philadelphia is Pittsburgh’s worst enemy in the Pennsylvania Derby. I think that’s why Malkin already dislikes Hakstall. And the irritation grows because the manager treats the player coldly, with disdain. He does not consider him a “legacy player”.

If you want a parallel with the KHL, it sounds like how manager Sergey Laskov came to Malkin’s home club Metallurg instead of Gennady Velichkin, and he started brutally butchering the salary of the club’s cult player. and from the league, Sergei Mozyakine. He was also very offended.

Time passed – Mozyakin quietly ended his career, and Magnitogorsk played in the Gagarin Cup final last season. Here is the answer to who was right.

Also, Pittsburgh’s president of hockey operations is not an honorary retiree, but a very active grandfather, Brian Burke. If you want to draw a parallel with the KHL again, it’s like appointing an angry old school Boris Mayorov to the leadership of the club as honorary president, who will lead the hockey process and make harsh statements . And from Mayorov, in the early 2000s, young Ilya Kovalchuk climbed the Spartak wall – ask him.

In general, it is difficult for Malkin to find a common language with such leadership. Plus, he sees how Ricardo Raquelle in Pittsburgh paid $30 million for six years. Five million a year! Like his age, defender Chris Letang receives $36.6 million for six years! That’s $6.1 million a year!

But who is Raquel? He only came to the club in March after the swap deal. Malkin won three Stanley Cups for Pittsburgh! And they only give him a three-year contract! And the salary is less than Valery Nichushkin’s – but he’s just a workaholic from Colorado! Yes, the club is different, but Nichushkin received $6.125 million a year. Why does Malkin only get $6 million?

In general, Gino has iron reasons to be offended. Don’t even hesitate!

“Now the club thinks I’m not good enough,” Malkin says sadly in his “38 Parrots” elephant voice.

3. If Malkin leaves, then where?

I remember nine years ago Dallas general manager Jim Neill was actively running for Malkin. He offered him a contract even when he had no right to negotiate with him – Pittsburgh had the “first hand” right. But Malkin’s father told me in an interview that Dallas was getting closer to his son. It was reprinted in America, a great scandal broke out.

So, Neill is still working at the Stars, and there’s $17.8 million left under the salary cap. Moreover, Sergei Gonchar lives in Texas – Malkin’s best friend. Why not move there? Moreover, the club released around $6 million after Alexander Radulov left for the KHL.

Options with “Florida” and “Tampa” disappear – there is no money at all under the ceiling. But Malkin has a place in Miami, and it would be nice to move there. But no.

Detroit is actively rebuilding, there is still $31 million under the cap. Going to the Red Wings, does it remind you of the glory days of the Russian Five? It would be beautiful.

But with Detroit, you won’t win anything until the end of your career. You can’t even make the playoffs. And why are the Red Wings such a crystal veteran if the Stanley Cup isn’t even worth dreaming about? Doubts too. But some options are emerging.

4. Can Evgeny stay in Pittsburgh?

Yes. But you have to understand that time works against him. The first few hours when the free agent market opens tomorrow will be a form of madness. Pittsburgh management will present a promising player, they will sign him – and that’s it, there will be no money for Malkin.

His offer – three years at $6 million – is still on the table. But it can be easily removed. Yes, and resentment will not go anywhere. To stay in Pittsburgh, the proud Malkin will have to outdo himself.

Although unsubscribing from the contract to put a signature on it – as we understood from the example of social networks, Malkin is capable of this.

5. What’s next?

Alright, let’s share our prediction. To do this, I contacted a well-known agent who, on condition of anonymity, assessed this situation with Gino.

“I don’t know who would have signed Malkin at that age and with such an injury history. Nobody will give him a lot of money. And for $8 million you can get free agent Nazim Kadri, who had a stellar season with Colorado. Young, at his peak, has just won the Stanley Cup. And above all, he is healthy.

A veteran can only earn a lot of money at his club. But the main problem is that this off-season is a bad market. Nobody has any money at all. The salary cap was only raised by $1 million, it’s impossible to fit in.

Detroit, Arizona, Anaheim, Buffalo have money under the cap. But they won’t win. They don’t need Malkin under any sauce anymore. If you take it, it will slow down the development of its young players.

Veterans of this genre had to stay in their clubs in order to finish their careers in style, so that their jerseys were then hoisted under the vaults of the palace. But how they should have humiliated Malkin that he decided to test the angry free agent market!

However, I repeat that no one will give it more than two or three years. And a strong club just won’t find the money for it.

I saw the version that Malkin could go to Washington in Ovechkin. After all, Niklas Backstrom broke down for a long time. But as far as I know, the Swedish centre-forward definitely plans to continue his career, and he will return next season. So in the Capitals you can’t squeeze it under the cap either. I don’t know who is going to give him the money. And who will take it for four years?

My version is that they will agree with Pittsburgh. And this may be a clever trick of its experienced agents. They see that their client is furious. And they say to him: “Come, go to the market. Look at the options.”

But when Malkin looks at the market that there aren’t any big offers, then the agents will tell him, “Well, Gino, look. The best option is to sign for three years with Pittsburgh. Come on, relax. This is your team, you’ve spent your whole career here, everyone here loves you.”

My prediction is that even if Malkin enters the market, he will remain in Pittsburgh,” our interviewee concluded.

Maybe we agree with him.