Is Evgeni Malkin sort-of done as an elite player?

[molon labe]

He, Sid and the entire team in general remind me exactly of how they played before Johnston and Therrien were fired.

Listless. Directionless. Frustrated. Fire Sully, then see where Malkin's at. I still think he has the elite-ness within him.

The dangerous thing here is the roster and schedule. Is Sully really to blame for the lack of emotion in these games? Sid is the best at what he does - and it's best to give him rope when he mails it in on some nights. The schedule is so condensed this year - against the same boring teams night in and night out - with no fans in the arena. Wouldn't surprise me of ole Hornqvist was down in Sunrise raising hell - but it does not surprise me that a lot of our guys just seem not to care. Top that off with a depleted roster for the last month+ and just lack of fun hockey/scoring. Not sure the coach is what we should be looking at right now despite popular opinion.

 

[Khelandros]

Malkins seasons are like a rollar coaster. There are highs and lows. Right now we are in a low.

 

[BenningHurtsMySoul]

When he was on, he was the greatest player of the last 15 years. But he wasn't always on.

 

[Gurglesons]

Yes I got that much so far, but his value in a trade?

2021 1st + 2022 2nd + ???

Pay me 9.5 mil.

If Malkin gets traded, it's because he asked out and he controls his destiny. Probably would be something really awful like Tippett + 2nd tbh.

Maybe they can pull out Lundell given what Luostarinen has shown but I don't really see that happening.

 

[doorbag]

When a player has a resume like Malkin and is one year removed from 1.36ppg season I think they deserve a longer leash than 20 games before writing them off.

But with that said, the entire team looks lost out there most nights and I think the lack of success on the powerplay is the biggest factor. With the firepower that they can put out on the man advantage it is mind boggling that they are only ~15% on the power play. If those numbers were normalized to where they are most years I don’t think it’s a stretch to say Malkin + Sid should have 4-5 more points each and now suddenly things are looking a little bit more in line with expectations.

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

He'll be fine. He is a generational player, IMHO. It's such a weird season, in all respects.

 

[nowhereman]

He's done. Stick a fork in him and trade him to Vancouver, for pennies on the dollar.

As I've said before but it's best to reserve to your judgement on this season, given how out of whack everything has been. There's been enough star talent taking, in some cases significant, dips in on-ice impact/numbers. I'd say take things with a grain of salt if you want to avoid the barrage of bad takes we seen so far this season.

 

[2020 Cup Champions]

Malkins seasons are like a rollar coaster. There are highs and lows. Right now we are in a low.

He's one of those guys you could just see going 2+ PPG for a dozen games at the end of the season and willing his team into a better position.

 

[banks]

Let's let him have a bad season before we say he isn't elite anymore. He's having a down stretch, for sure. And those suggesting it's motivation/lack of crowd may be on to something. But I won't jump to conclusions that quick.

It could be a million different things causing the down stretch. But until it's closer to a full season like this, I'm not going to assume he can't ever again be what he's always been.

 

[Phil Kessels Hot Dog]

Only 6th in the league in PPG over the last 3.5 seasons. He's terrible.

 

[The Grim Reaper]

He gets the same benefit of the doubt as Ovechkin, Crosby, and Kane from me.

This is a weird season, and the East isn't the North. Players like him can explode at any moment, especially in the playoffs when it matters.

 

[canuck2010]

The first goal of any team is to make the playoffs. I think some of these veteran players that have played a number of seasons that went deep into the playoffs pace them selves more than when the were younger. Who cares wether you win 3 to 1 or 6 to 1.

That being said, they are going to have to pick it up to make the playoffs. I don't see too much on their roster at the moment.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Please be a reverse jinx thread, please be a reverse jinx thread, please be a reverse jinx thread....

 

[Video Nasty]

He'll probably have a really good season next year.

His followup this season compared to last season is similar to what he has done since the completion of his age 22 season.

Outside of his first few seasons, he's usually puts up a pretty good season followed by an okay one (often because of missing time) right down the line.

Zero surprise this year, other than playing all 20 games thus far.

 

[LudwigVonKarlsson]

Nitpicking like this is a bad look.

Not sure where you think I’m nitpicking as its the truth. Pace might be the the only thing
more overrated on this site than the value of prospects.

 

[Beauner]

The first goal of any team is to make the playoffs. I think some of these veteran players that have played a number of seasons that went deep into the playoffs pace them selves more than when the were younger. Who cares wether you win 3 to 1 or 6 to 1.

That being said, they are going to have to pick it up to make the playoffs. I don't see too much on their roster at the moment.

I think they are playing much less than the sum of their parts so far. A new coach would likely get more out of the roster, but Hextall does need to address the 4th line and possibly another top 6 forward. The latter will be a difficult task though

 

[Cape]

He hasn't been an elite player more than sporadically since years anymore.

Do you actually follow this sport?

 

[Beauner]

Thank you OP for the jinx thread

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

Awesome game from Geno and his line. Looking forward to more of the same on Thursday.

 

[Kristopher Letang]

Sullivan finally put the Guentzel-Malkin-Rust line back together and Geno looked like a beast again.

 

[Hughes86Hischier13]

i think he will step up big if crosby is out for awhile.

 

[Flying Dego]

Once Geno got his line back together with Guentzel and Rust he was a monster...not quite done yet.

 

[BmxHockey]

Geno relies on playing with something that is unsustainable; a chip on his shoulder and emotion. If neither shows up, he doesn’t have a reliable performance anchor to trigger every night. Mixed emotions is giving us mixed playing results...

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

Malkin was awesome tonight. Fans back, reunited with Guentzel and Rust, and Crosby being out lit the fuse.

 

[daver]

When he was on, he was the greatest player of the last 15 years. But he wasn't always on.

When you have to qualify "greatest player", you should not use the term "greatest player".