Evgeni Malkin reportedly connected to the Penguins arch rival
Pittsburgh Penguins Center Evgeni Malkin has been with the club through thick and thin, including 3 cup runs in 2008-2009, 2015-2016 and 2016-2017. That being said, he's looking to get paid.
His current cap hit is $ 9.5 million AAV for 8 years, for $76 million with a no-movement clause attached. Given his UFA status, this could make paying the vet complicated, considering they have to decide who next to sign, with Kris Letang in line too.
Evan Rodrigues who has been an excellent depth piece this season is also a UFA, so while the Penguins have $23 million of project cap space, per CapFriendly Ron Hextall will be prioritizing who gets a raise and who gets moved, and there's been discussion of moving the aging core if they won't take a team-friendly deal.
This could lead to terrible consequences for the Penguins, Malkin is a UFA and given Nicklas Backstrom being out indefinitely after his surgery, he could be a solution to a Capitals team lacking center depth, other than Lars Eller and Nic Dowd.
Connor McMichael still has a lot of growing pains to go through to develop into a great NHLer, so he really isn't the answer to the problem Backstrom leaves.
In the meantime, Malkin could solve the Backstrom issue and contribute immediately. Brian McClellan would be stupid not to take advantage of Hextall's mistake.
«I understand it's a business,» he continued. «I love this city, I love these fans so much. But if the team wants young blood and new guys and says �you should move on', I'm fine. I hope I stay here. I hope I retire here.»
