Florida Panthers: If Evgeni Malkin is Available, the Cats Need to be Interested

Evgeni Malkin’s name is in trade rumors again, which seems to be a tradition dating back almost a decade after a bad Pittsburgh postseason.

More novel is that his name has been linked in said rumors to the Florida Panthers. Malkin has a home in the area, the Panthers have already said that they are big game hunting, and there is no bigger name they could acquire this offseason than Malkin.

If by some miracle, he’s actually on the trade block, then the Panthers must do their diligence in seeing if they can trade for him, and it would be malpractice if they didn’t.

Such a trade would be extremely complex and hard to pull off. First, Malkin would have to want to play for the Panthers, which is easier said than done.

Many players have homes down here, want to live in the area for obvious reasons, but that hasn’t made it easy to get big names to play hockey in South Florida.

Malkin is another example, alongside rumored targets Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky. But have those tides now turned?

Joel Quenneville is a coach anyone wants to play for, the Panthers have always been a very Russian friendly organization and should Malkin want to come here, then the wheels could be greased for such a move.

If Malkin would waive his no-move clause to leave a very good situation in Pittsburgh and would waive to come to Florida over other suitors like the Rangers (which might be an easier pill for the Penguins to swallow), a deal could start to unfold.

But first, the Penguins would have to actually want to move Malkin, which even though the oft-persistent rumors have suggested they might, they never lead to any actual talks.

Why should this offseason be any different than those others from a Penguins perspective? Could a potential Panthers trade package entice them to make the move they’ve not wanted to make before?

Speaking of a trade package, what would one for Malkin look like? It would be gigantic, and it would need to be because the Penguins would need not only players who could step in right away and fill the Geno-sized void in the lineup but futures and cap relief too.

Both teams linked to Malkin have each of those three boxes checked, though perhaps Florida more so. So what are the Penguins likely to be looking for?

They would desperately need a center to replace Malkin, and the obvious answer from Florida’s perspective is Vincent Trocheck.

He is by no means on Malkin’s level, but at his best, he can be a very solid No. 2 center in the NHL. His cap hit is half of Malkin’s, he’s a Pittsburgh native and is still young enough for the potential to be part of the sell.

Since Malkin would take Trocheck’s role in Florida, this would have to be the start of the deal. Henrik Borgstrom could be a part of it, but wouldn’t be the centerpiece because he is too young and not yet proven to be even what Trocheck is yet. Dale Tallon should also not give up on Borgstrom either.

What else would Jim Rutherford want? He’d want futures in terms of high-end prospects. One could be Borgstrom, but Tallon would more likely offer up one of Owen Tippett or Grigori Denisenko.

Florida could afford to trade one and not rob themselves too much of future potential, while the Penguins would be getting a high-end prospect who could contribute almost immediately.

Would it take both of those names to pull off a trade? Erik Brannstrom was the centerpiece in the Mark Stone trade, which came with a contract extension, so the Panthers have precedent to follow, but this trade wouldn’t be that similar to the Stone deal.

Pittsburgh will also want Florida’s first-round pick, and perhaps another pick or lower end roster player such as Denis Malgin.

If the package for Malkin was Trocheck, Tippett/Denisenko, their first-round pick, and a later pick/Malgin or equivalent, the Panthers would be insane not to take the deal.

Even though Malkin has a history of injuries and might not be what he was, he is still at his best one of the best centers in the game and his contract runs concurrent with the opening of a three-year window to win with Aleksander Barkov’s cap hit being so good.

Such a trade might eliminate the possibility of signing Artemi Panarin, but such a deal would be too good to pass up.