Dubas and the Penguins 'Want to Avoid' One Specific Scenario With Evgeni Malkin's Future
Photo credit: The New York Times
Per analyst Josh Cybulski of Pro Hockey Rumors, Kyle Dubas and the Penguins want to avoid Evgeni Malkin's potential last NHL year being only a "nostalgia trip".
The Pittsburgh Penguins aren't projected to be in the postseason this year, much less compete for the Stanley Cup. Their 3 year drought is the longest in the career of Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, and Kris Letang, longtime Penguins mainstays who are all on the back ends of their careers.
Malkin could very well be entering the last year of his NHL career which would mark the true end of an era of Penguins hockey.
But the Penguins don't want him merely to be on a "nostalgia tour" in the words of analyst Josh Cybulski of Pro Hockey Rumors.
He might also drop lower in the lineup, potentially taking on a third-line centre role or playing on the wing of the third line with Thomas Novak. There would be plenty of options available, but they depend on Malkin's ability to keep producing; otherwise, it would just be a nostalgia trip, and that's something Dubas and Penguins management want to avoid.
In other words, the Penguins need Malkin to produce as he's done throughout his career and not be just a body in the lineup going through the motions on a poor team with not much to play for.
The Penguins are in a transitional period
It could very well be a rough ride for fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the next few years, not only as the careers of Malkin, Crosby, and Letang wind down but also as they're projected to come nowhere close to competing for anything significant.
There is plenty of speculation that Pittsburgh's predicted struggles could cause Crosby to seek out a trade to chase the Stanley Cup one more time before he retires, while some feel that the Penguins will intentionally try and tank this year in order to maximize their chances of landing the best possible pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft.
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