Things aren’t looking great on the Evgeni Malkin front

I’ve spoken with many who are starting to wonder if Evgeni Malkin has played his final game with the Penguins. Ample time has come and gone, but there isn’t a deal yet. Then there’s the Kris Letang situation. Read about this and much more by clicking here: https://t.co/UsVFH2AHY7

— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) June 28, 2022

Numerous agents have told me that, after conversations they’ve had with Penguins general manager Ron Hextall, they believe it’s unlikely that Evgeni Malkin is returning to Pittsburgh. Some people I’ve spoken with in the Penguins organization feel the same way.

It’s impossible to say, but here’s what I know: Hextall is willing to sign him at a certain price. However, sources said the two sides haven’t been speaking regularly after initial talks when the Penguins’ season ended on May 15. Hockey people who speak with Hextall on a regular basis are very much under the impression that Malkin’s return to the Penguins is no sure thing.

It’s impossible to ignore the pessimism I sense from many who have spoken to Hextall, though.

Getting Malkin to re-sign should have been the layup this offseason. It appears they’ve made it just as difficult as getting Letang to re-sign. It isn’t very fun being repetitive, but I’ll say it again. What realistic replacement options are there that are a better value than just keeping Malkin? You have to overpay in unrestricted free agency in both money and term. What happens if it looks like the Malkin back up plans in free agency are going other places. Does the team panic and drastically overpay? Do they head into the season with Jeff Carter #2 center? There are no guarantees in free agency and if you are leaning heavily into it, and the Penguins have to because they have no futures to trade, then you open yourself up for some really bad outcomes in both signing players or whiffing. Just sign the guy.

On Letang

The Penguins have offered Letang a three-year contract. Letang wants five years and something north of $8 million per year annually, perhaps as high as $9 million.

Both sides are going to need to compromise a bit to get this done. But make no mistake, Hextall wants to sign Letang.

Worst case, give him the five-years and ~8.5M. There’s probably room to negotiate between the three years the Penguins offered and the five Letang wants, perhaps that number is a four, who knows I’m just spit balling here...

There’s one guy in unrestricted free agency who has the chance to fill some of, not all, of what Letang does, John Klingberg. The big issue, as it is with Malkin replacements, is that you aren’t likely to get better value. Klingberg is sitting alone in free agency as the top right-handed defenseman. He is going to be in demand. This also assumes Klingberg is even open to coming to Pittsburgh which he may not be.

Then there’s the fact the Penguins haven’t exactly done a great job in free agency over the years. There aren’t many examples of the Penguins acquiring positive difference makers in free agency over the years. In the last decade the three most significant free agent signings were Christian Ehrhoff, Rob Scuderi, Brandon Tanev, and Jack Johnson. Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek were the last two examples of the Penguins signing decent players to a sizeable UFA contract (yes, Michalek was a good player). The only other example is really Sergei Gonchar back in 2005. Since Mario Lemieux was still playing in the NHL until now there are four examples of the Penguins spending 4M+ for a free agent, four. Everything else was via trade and at the current moment that isn’t as viable a path as it once was.

The draft and free agency are fastly approaching. Everything is going to come to a head. Whether or not the Penguins come out of it as good or better than they were last year seems murky at best.

Thanks for reading!

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