News Article: Malkin Opens up about 18-19 season

[Uncle Scrooge]

Can't wait for Geno and Chucky putting in work together this season. Both coming in extremely motivated for their own reasons and i think offensively they should mesh well together. As far as i know Galcenyuk also speaks Russian.

Im expecting a career year for Chucky and a top 3 season in the last decade for Geno. Kessel won't be missed to be honest, at least in term of team success this upcoming season.

Or that's the way i see it. People are sleeping on the Pens so hard this year.

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

View attachment 253819

Untrue. We’re maybe slightly below average. Again this is all based on nothing.

It's a petty complaint. If we had been going after Russians in the draft, people would be complaining about the team always reaching and wasting picks. The org is damned if they do and damned if they don't.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

You cited 2 years. I'm saying that we iced 1 Russian regularly over a 9 year sample size, which seems particularly egregious given the lengths some other teams go to in order to make their foreign stars comfortable.

That draft table seems to reflect each teams entire draft history. Craig Patrick's draft record hardly seems relevant.

Those two years are meant to be rough bookends of the sample you’re referring to. Scroll to any year. What you’re saying makes little sense given the absolutely tiny amount of Russians. There are none to ice with Malkin.

As far as “catering” I think you forget we also PTOed Gonchar and brought him in as coach. The team brought Plotnikov over. They were in on Panarin. Malkin asked Radulov to take a short term, low cap hit deal to play in Pittsburgh. They asked Malkin to give them a number to donate for the tragedy in Metalurg (sp?) and then wrote a check for that amount. I’m sure I’m missing other things.

Rutherford on Plotnikov:

In Pittsburgh he will meet Evgeni Malkin with whom he played in the last two World Championships and won the gold and silver medals respectively. Although Rutherford assembled a Russian support to help Plotnikov with the transition, it seems like Malkin will take care of his fellow countryman and get him used to the North American culture. “It will give Malkin an additional opportunity for leadership,” Rutherford said. “I think that will be good for him.”

Rutherford assembled a team to help a foreign UDFA... but he doesn’t care to help out Geno?

(I’ll have to find it, but I also know I’ve read from Yohe that Geno didn’t appreciate JR just going and getting a Russian winger for him.)

The team and/or org shows no evidence of bias towards Russians. Only thing I’ll say for Geno is that he’s been hurt by Crosby sometimes getting the better linemates, but even that’s iffy.

The draft table is mostly meant to show that hardly any Russians are drafted in general, and that the whole league picks very few prospects from there. Also HCMS has no influence on who we draft. JR mostly signs off on the picks based on who the amateur scouting dept. recommends.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Yeah, this article and everything I've heard from Galchenyuk makes me think Galchenyuk is going to have a huge season. If those two can generate some chemistry, that's going to be a joy to watch. A motivated Malkin meshing with Galchenyuk on a long-term extension basically recreates a Guentzel-Crosby duo for the second line.

 

[Turin]

If you go to a game this year start a Geno chant.

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

I think I recall reading that Tanev speaks Russian as well. He was born in NA but I swear I read it somewhere? Anyone confirm?

So it turns out that the room was a problem, as was consistently reported. I remember when they picked up Gudzilla, they said being good in the room was a major factor. I know everyone freaked about "pushback" and glossed over that aspect, but the deal makes more sense now.

ETA: Maybe it was Macedonian?

 

[KIRK]

And yeah... holy **** Crosby is awesome. I always had faith that he wasn't going to be happy with all those shenanigans but it's nice to actually read.

We're very spoiled.

Said a long time ago that Sid and Geno started to really become close when they were both injured in 2010 (Sid concussion, Geno knee). They became tighter when Geno nuked the captain crap during the following season when Sid still was out. Even tighter still in the pre Sullivan tenure when those two became the fall guys for crappy management and coaching. No chance Sid wasn't going to have Geno's back this summer.

As to the article, there's nothing off in there. I remember during the season noting there were some family issues and at the end of the season noting the 'talk' going into the offseason (even before JR opened his yap) was different. I didn't know the Phil part of it, but it certainly makes sense . . . I'm sure he didn't say 'me or him', but he may have said something like 'I can't do this again, even if it means you have to trade me' or something along those lines. It certainly would make sense of why JR then opened his yap the way he did (it was dumb to to it so indelicately, of course, and I'm sure that's why Geno was miffed).

Anyway, it's done. It SOUNDS like the season focused him like the knee injury once did. The question now is how his body holds up . . .

And how long it takes @ColePens boy Jack Johnson to driver him insane.

 

[KIRK]

That's what I was thinking. One organization is embarrassing us. The other CONSTANTLY delivers and makes me so proud.

The sid and geno era has been incredible. I love it so much.

I'm not sure any other two people could've made it work the way they have.

This also does highlight that we are keeping JR's leash waaaaaaaaaaaaay too loose. I understand he earned it with 2 Cups, but this guy was an explosive waiting to go off and we all knew it.

I agree BUT as noted above I think, reading between the lines, here's what happened at the end of the season. Geno said something like he can't go through another season of this. Perhaps he threw out an 'even if it means I have to go'. I suspect, with emotions running high, it was more thrown out there than a 'me or him' thing. So, JR, with emotions running high, reacts to that by excluding Geno from his list of people who may be part of the future ('well, he just told me he's willing to go if that's what it comes to'). Then, you get Geno like 'WTF, your public reaction was to intone that I'm not part of the future'. Honestly, it makes sense of some things that I'd heard and that weren't adding up.

And, yes, JR was ******* stupid to do what he did. I'm only explaining what I feel pretty confident the sequence was, not justifying it.

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

Said a long time ago that Sid and Geno started to really become close when they were both injured in 2010 (Sid concussion, Geno knee). They became tighter when Geno nuked the captain crap during the following season when Sid still was out. Even tighter still in the pre Sullivan tenure when those two became the fall guys for crappy management and coaching. No chance Sid wasn't going to have Geno's back this summer.

As to the article, there's nothing off in there. I remember during the season noting there were some family issues and at the end of the season noting the 'talk' going into the offseason (even before JR opened his yap) was different. I didn't know the Phil part of it, but it certainly makes sense . . . I'm sure he didn't say 'me or him', but he may have said something like 'I can't do this again, even if it means you have to trade me' or something along those lines. It certainly would make sense of why JR then opened his yap the way he did (it was dumb to to it so indelicately, of course, and I'm sure that's why Geno was miffed).

Anyway, it's done. It SOUNDS like the season focused him like the knee injury once did. The question now is how his body holds up . . .

And how long it takes @ColePens boy Jack Johnson to driver him insane.

One of my favorite things was that joint interview they did where they asked Geno about considering playing for Dallas. Sid was like "wait, is that true?" Shocked that Geno kept a secret from him. You can just tell how close they are.

I remember people were getting mad at us for discussing how missing his wife and child during the season could affect him.

 

[Peat]

Really? I guarantee we are. We only have to look to 2015 to see the Pittsburgh budget concerns rear their ugly head. Same reason I think you’ll never see the Pens buy out a contract.

And it likely isn’t bodies. It is likely the fact Toronto can just fly over to Russia and view games in person versus digestion videos. This was definitely the point in the interview that I’m alluding to. Bourne has alluded to this as well and considering his connections to the franchise I expect he knows what he is talking about.

Guerin and a Pens Player Development Coach both watched a game of Hallander's live last year; we also know Allvin's flown to Russia in the past, as he's told stories about travel disruption (I think he also mentioned making friends with airport security staff from meeting some of them so often in the same podcast). If that's the level of flying already going on, I don't see why they couldn't afford to be more in on Russia if they so chose.

 

[SherogoesHAM]

Saying that Penguins should draft more Russians for Malkin is laughable. Not all Russians get along just like other players from the same country. Just because Malkin is friends with Radulov or Kovalchuk doesn't mean hes close buddies with Ovy, Kuznetsov, or any other Russian player.

 

[Gurglesons]

Guerin and a Pens Player Development Coach both watched a game of Hallander's live last year; we also know Allvin's flown to Russia in the past, as he's told stories about travel disruption (I think he also mentioned making friends with airport security staff from meeting some of them so often in the same podcast). If that's the level of flying already going on, I don't see why they couldn't afford to be more in on Russia if they so chose.

My point is a team like Toronto or Washington focuses a ton of its efforts on Russia or turning over every stone.

Or team doesn’t. I don’t think that is a critique towards a Russian bias rather an allocation of money and time.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Sid saved us all from losing Geno.

 

[Jacob]

Crosby for GM.

 

[MrBurghundy]

Saying that Penguins should draft more Russians for Malkin is laughable. Not all Russians get along just like other players from the same country. Just because Malkin is friends with Radulov or Kovalchuk doesn't mean hes close buddies with Ovy, Kuznetsov, or any other Russian player.

While that's also true, those players are also to actually able to converse with him in his more comfortable and well known native language, unlike anybody else on the team. One only needs to look at this recent article as a major example of how important that is.

 

[KIRK]

Crosby for GM.

* As long as we don't sign his buddies.

 

[MrBurghundy]

* As long as we don't sign his buddies.

I dunno... I'd be ok if we found a way to get MacKinnon.

 

[JackFr]

I'm as hyped for the return of dominant Geno as anyone but if Johnson - Schultz is our second pairing for an extended period of time it's just not going to happen. The stats don't lie - a huge part of Geno-Kessel's struggles last year were the result of having an anchor tied to their ankle and I don't know if Geno and Galchenyuk can overcome that.

 

[66-30-33]

Kessel really is cancer isnt he? every team he goes to, Arizona will be next.

 

[KIRK]

I dunno... I'd be ok if we found a way to get MacKinnon.

His good friends who can play never come here though.

 

[KIRK]

I'm as hyped for the return of dominant Geno as anyone but if Johnson - Schultz is our second pairing for an extended period of time it's just not going to happen. The stats don't lie - a huge part of Geno-Kessel's struggles last year were the result of having an anchor tied to their ankle and I don't know if Geno and Galchenyuk can overcome that.

That's 100% a concern. Even if everything is right, he won't be able to work miracles with a pairing where one defenseman is an offensive black hole and the other one, for all of his offensive skills, refuses to skate with the puck to pressure.

 

[MrBurghundy]

His good friends who can play never come here though.

Because the good friends are actually wanted by other teams.

 

[MrBurghundy]

I'm as hyped for the return of dominant Geno as anyone but if Johnson - Schultz is our second pairing for an extended period of time it's just not going to happen. The stats don't lie - a huge part of Geno-Kessel's struggles last year were the result of having an anchor tied to their ankle and I don't know if Geno and Galchenyuk can overcome that.

I'm holding out hope that it's a bit of both tbh. I mean Kessel wasn't helping in his own end much either.

 

[JackFr]

I'm holding out hope that it's a bit of both tbh. I mean Kessel wasn't helping in his own end much either.

Maybe that's the case but without Johnson, Kessel and Geno were actually above average defensively.

 

[MrBurghundy]

Maybe that's the case but without Johnson, Kessel and Geno were actually above average defensively.

Well I'm not here to excuse Johnson's sucktitude, that's for sure.