Speculation: Potienial Malkin Destinations

[Dipsy Doodle]

Lol Fredrick Gaudreau was a career AHLer up until the 2020-2021 season with the Penguins, where he played in like 20 games.

Trying to paint him as "pretty solid" is just insanity. Gaudreau was excellent this year and has shown he's a NHL caliber guy, but saying he was a better linemate than anyone Malkin had is pure captain hindsight. You'd be complaining non-stop if the Penguins entered next season with a guy of Gaudreau's track record was slated on Malkin's LW. That's like entering the year with Zach Boychuck on Malkin's LW.

Fiala made it work last year with a rookie (who had a terrific rookie year) and a bottom-6 center. He made it work while playing with the caliber of linemates you blame for Malkin's failures. So yes, I would take Fiala over Malkin going forward, because Fiala actually showed he could make it work with lesser linemates.

Where did I say that?

I said Boldy was significantly better, and he is. Being a rookie doesn't change that. Fiala didn't "make it work", he simply got a much better calibre of linemate to work with.

He and Gaudreau - who I liked a lot with the Pens and that take is in no way hindsight, check the tape - are a better combo than what Malkin got.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Where did I say that?

I said Boldy was significantly better, and he is. Being a rookie doesn't change that. Fiala didn't "make it work", he simply got a much better calibre of linemate to work with.

He and Gaudreau - who I liked a lot with the Pens and that take is in no way hindsight, check the tape - are a better combo than what Malkin got.

Boldy and Gaudreau is objectively not better than the linemates Malkin got. That's an absurd suggestion.

Boldy and Gaudreau had great seasons because of how god damn good Fiala is.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Boldy and Gaudreau is objectively not better than the linemates Malkin got. That's an absurd suggestion.

Boldy and Gaudreau had great seasons because of how god damn good Fiala is.

Except they are. Boldy scored at a better pace as a rookie than Kapanen or Zucker have in their entire careers, and Gaudreau is serviceable in his role.

Neither Zucker nor Kapanen played even like capable top 6 wingers last year, which is why they're the two most disposable forwards on the team.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Except they are. Boldy scored at a better pace as a rookie than Kapanen or Zucker have in their entire careers, and Gaudreau is serviceable in his role.

Neither Zucker nor Kapanen played even like capable top 6 wingers last year, which is why they're the two most disposable forwards on the team.

And again, that was because of Fiala.

Boldy came in as a rookie and lit it up because he was playing with an elite 5v5 player in Fiala. Gaudreau was serviceable in his role because he was playing with an elite 5v5 player in Fiala. I would take Boldy over Zucker and Kapanen, but Gaudreau is far below both of them and trying to use his results as he was carried by Fiala is ridiculous.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

And again, that was because of Fiala.

Boldy came in as a rookie and lit it up because he was playing with an elite 5v5 player in Fiala. Gaudreau was serviceable in his role because he was playing with an elite 5v5 player in Fiala. I would take Boldy over Zucker and Kapanen, but Gaudreau is far below both of them and trying to use his results as he was carried by Fiala is ridiculous.

We'll get a good look at how Boldy and Gaudreau perform without Fiala this year.

I've got a feeling they'll fare a lot better combined than Kap and Zuck. Gaudreau's already done a fine job of making people who doubted him last year eat crow.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

 

[Flying Dego]

Huh. So Geno is still our best 2C option. He just needs actual wingers that have an ounce of finish.

My goodness! Someone tell Ron, Brian, and Mike!

 

[canadianguy77]

Literally every player says bullshit when it comes to taking less money. It's crazy how fans just keep falling for it.

Hockey players are people too. Normal people don't take massive pay decreases because they love working for their companies.

Relating “normal” people to people who already have millions in their bank account is problematic.

The difference between 6.5 million/year vs 8 million/year for one person can sometimes feel like a lot less, than say, the difference between 40k-80k for another person…as contradictory and illogical as that sounds.

For example, my wife was offered another job with a substantial pay increase a few states north, in an area with a much cheaper COL,(and she already does very well) and she turned it down. The main reasons being that we already like where we live, and that moving is a major pain in the ass. (even when the new company pays for everything and pretty much does it for you).

 

[The Greatest 101]

Any rumors where he's gonna sign?

 

[SomeDude]

Any rumors where he's gonna sign?

Switzerland to play with Jeff Carter.

 

[Andy99]

Any rumors where he's gonna sign?

Friedman suggested NYR…

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

If we are stupid enough to let Geno walk over a few million…this org deserves to be boo’ed out the wazoo.

This is a franchise legend who’se won damn near everything possible there is to win and helped get 3 Cups for our team. You don’t lowball or quibble with a guy like that over a few million…you say “take what you want…you’ve earned it!!”

If they foolishly let him go, I hope fan attendance plummets for years.

You don’t dick around with generational players. Who knows if we’ll ever land another player of Geno’s caliber again???

I’m willing to bet a hard no.

 

[SomeDude]

If we are stupid enough to let Geno walk over a few million…this org deserves to be boo’ed out the wazoo.

This is a franchise legend who’se won damn near everything possible there is to win and helped get 3 Cups for our team. You don’t lowball or quibble with a guy like that over a few million…you say “take what you want…you’ve earned it!!”

If they foolishly let him go, I hope fan attendance plummets for years.

You don’t dick around with generational players. Who knows if we’ll ever land another player of Geno’s caliber again???

I’m willing to bet a hard no.

Clearly the plan is to let Letang and Geno walk, Sid misses most of the season with the monkey pox, and we tank to get Bedard for our next generational player.

I do not know why nobody else sees it. It's so clear.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Clearly the plan is to let Letang and Geno walk, Sid misses most of the season with the monkey pox, and we tank to get Bedard for our next generational player.

I do not know why nobody else sees it. It's so clear.

The Great Ape would be more susceptible to monkeypox, no??

 

[SEALBound]

Friedman suggested NYR…

Lol, with what money?

 

[SomeDude]

Lol, with what money?

He's going to sign for $2 million so he gets a chance to play with a generational talent like Jacob Trouba.

 

[Andy99]

Lol, with what money?

theyre letting Strome walk and they have about $11 mil in cap space with about $2 mil more when they trade or release Reaves. They could do it but they won’t be able to sign remaining higher priced UFAs like Copp…

He's going to sign for $2 million so he gets a chance to play with a generational talent like Jacob Trouba.

Geno’s going to pay the Rangers $2 million to not have Trouba accidentally elbow him in the head…

 

[Empoleon8771]

If we are stupid enough to let Geno walk over a few million…this org deserves to be boo’ed out the wazoo.

This is a franchise legend who’se won damn near everything possible there is to win and helped get 3 Cups for our team. You don’t lowball or quibble with a guy like that over a few million…you say “take what you want…you’ve earned it!!”

If they foolishly let him go, I hope fan attendance plummets for years.

You don’t dick around with generational players. Who knows if we’ll ever land another player of Geno’s caliber again???

I’m willing to bet a hard no.

Oh boy, you want the Penguins to be the Chicago Blackhawks? Yeah, I'll pass.

I want this team to be the best it can be. If that involves letting Malkin walk, do it. If it involves keeping Malkin, keep him. Don't let this sentimental "he's earned it, give him what he wants!" bullshit come into play.

 

[pistolpete11]

Clearing a bunch of cap to make a big splash in FA with Malkin seems like a very New York thing to do.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Oh boy, you want the Penguins to be the Chicago Blackhawks? Yeah, I'll pass.

I want this team to be the best it can be. If that involves letting Malkin walk, do it. If it involves keeping Malkin, keep him. Don't let this sentimental "he's earned it, give him what he wants!" bullshit come into play.

He has earned it though.

Unless we win another generational draft lottery (lol) we aren’t going to find any worthy caliber replacements if we let him go. We’ll end up overpaying some schmuck to just throw shit at a wall and seeing if it sticks. Which means probably getting ready for years of suckage.

Our stalling and potentially being cheap right now is exactly like how the Shithawks under Dollar Bill would have handled things.

 

[Empoleon8771]

He has earned it though.

Unless we win another generational draft lottery (lol) we aren’t going to find any worthy caliber replacements if we let him go. We’ll end up overpaying some schmuck to just throw shit at a wall and seeing if it sticks. Which means probably getting ready for years of suckage.

Our stalling and potentially being cheap right now is exactly like how the Shithawks under Dollar Bill would have handled things.

And giving Malkin what he wants because "he earned it" is exactly what the Hawks did with Toews. How is that working for them?

Again, if keeping Malkin makes your team better, keep him. If letting him go makes your team better, let him go. Don't let this sentimental crap influence the results. The sole focus here should be making the team as good as it can be. If letting Malkin go makes your team better somehow, you let him go.

 

[TNT87]

And giving Malkin what he wants because "he earned it" is exactly what the Hawks did with Toews. How is that working for them?

Again, if keeping Malkin makes your team better, keep him. If letting him go makes your team better, let him go. Don't let this sentimental crap influence the results. The sole focus here should be making the team as good as it can be. If letting Malkin go makes your team better somehow, you let him go.

To be fair though Toews is a top 100 player of all time while Malkin isn't.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

He's going to sign for $2 million so he gets a chance to play with a generational talent like Jacob Trouba.

He's gonna sign in NY so Trouba doesn't elbow him in the face at full speed.

 

[dogthateats]

 

[SomeDude]

If you amplify the sound 66.2x from 0:27.56 to 0:31.76 in this video, you can hear Malkin's agent say "$8 million or we walk" from the 11th row.