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Kyle Dubas discusses how Evgeni Malkin's impending suspension impacted his trade deadline plans
Kyle Dubas faced a difficult decision on deadline day with Evgeni Malkin's major suspension looming and now he has spoken on how the suspension impacted his decision to make trades.
Heading into the NHL trade deadline, the Pittsburgh Penguins were expected to be buyers going all-in to make a Stanley Cup run with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin one more time.
However, with the Olympic injury to Crosby and Malkin's ejection the night before the deadline many wondered if GM Kyle Dubas pivoted his plans last minute.
Over the course of the deadline, the Penguins only made a couple of moves bringing in Elmer Soderblom and Sam Girard significantly less changes than many expected.
With Dubas only making a couple moves fans naturally wondered if Malkin and Crosby being out impacted how aggressive he was and now he has addressed these rumors.
Kyle Dubas addresses how Evgeni Malkin's suspension impacted the Penguins' trade deadline plans
In an interview after the deadline concluded, Dubas spoke to the media and was asked how the absence of Malkin and Crosby changed his thought process.
Dubas admitted that having two stars players out made the Penguins GM want to make a splash to help keep the team afloat.
However, he resisted those urges and just chose to make a couple of small moves as to not jeopardize the Penguins bright future.
Dubas said he was emotional when Malkin was ejected but resisted the temptation to do anything big at deadline as a response, which would have diverted from his plan.
Dubas is clearly aware this could be the last time that Malkin and Crosby suit up together in Pittsburgh and seemed to feel the weight of balancing one last run for them with the future of the franchise as a whole.
Only time will be able to tell if Dubas made the right decision holding back on deadline day and making moves on the fringes of the roster.
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| POLL | ||
MARS 7|175 ANSWERS Kyle Dubas discusses how Evgeni Malkin's impending suspension impacted his trade deadline plans Do you wish the Penguins would have made a blockbuster trade at the deadline? | ||
| Yes | 76 | 43.4 % |
| No | 99 | 56.6 % |
| List of polls | ||