Florida Panthers: Denis Malgin Trade a Sign of Poor Asset Management

No matter what your thoughts may be on Denis Malgin, I think we can all agree that his return was a sign of poor asset management by the Florida Panthers.

Denis Malgin was the type of player who drew mix feelings throughout the Florida Panthers organization. Some fans weren’t too high on his game while others viewed him as an essential depth piece for this roster. There are arguments to be made on both sides, but the way that Dale Tallon handled this trade couldn’t have been any worse.

It’s been reported that Malgin’s camp had asked for a trade for quite some time, with the obvious reason citing to lack of playing time. Tallon, of course, didn’t jump at the first chance to dangle him, but eventually, as time moved on, his hand was forced and he had no choice but to deal the Swiss forward.

What did Tallon get in return for the 23-year-old? Mason Marchment, who’s played a whopping four NHL games throughout his career to date.

By no means was Malgin going to command a ransome return but to receive a career AHLer in exchange for a forward who’s played in over 150 NHL games through four seasons is quite underwhelming.

You’re telling me that Tallon couldn’t have asked for one of Jeremy Bracco or Dmytro Timashov? Better yet, he couldn’t have picked out a defenseman that resembled an Ethan Prow-like player to help strengthen Springfield’s defense?

I feel like while Dale was forced to trade Malgin because of a trade request, he still could’ve maximized his return a lot more appropriately that would’ve set his club up better for the present and the future.

Marchment doesn’t fit a particular need as the Panthers have enough forwards like him that play the same style and offer the same skillset. He’s a big player who stands at 6’4″, 210 lbs, but he’s a poor skater with a limited tool bag offensively.

His numbers on the Toronto Marlies may standout to some, but make no mistake, his numbers down in the AHL were largely inflated because of the level of talent he was playing alongside and the team itself he was playing on.

On Springfield, he isn’t going to receive such fruitful production, largely because of the talent drop-off between the Marlies and Thunderbirds. He’s essentially going from one of the best (if not, the best) team in the AHL to arguably (and statistically) one of the worst.

That jump needs to be taken into consideration, especially when dealing with passenger-type players like Mason Marchment who don’t drive play and rather feed off of other talented individuals around them.

On the flip side, the Maple Leafs are getting a talented little player in Denis Malgin who they can cycle in and out of their lineup where they see fit. With all the injuries that have recently piled up, Malgin serves as the perfect depth option to fill a void in their bottom six.

At the same time, he has enough NHL experience required to know the ins and outs of the game without having to receive brief stints. More importantly, he fits the Maple Leafs system and perfectly slides onto one of their bottom two lines. Malgin’s speed combined with his good puck-handling skills fits well onto this Leafs team that stresses the importance of puck possession, meshed with good speed and skill.

Unfortunately, this is just yet another example of poor asset management by Dale Tallon and co. Recently, he waived Jayce Hawryluk in an attempt to create more cap space because of his inability to shed deals like Mark Pysyk’s – which no team is prepared to take on or consider. Giving up depth assets like Malgin and Hawryluk for pennies on the dollar is just poor use of resources that can either be kept with better cap management or parted with something in equal of value.

Florida will continue to experience their same old problems so long as they continue down this never-ending path of parting with assets that don’t need to be parted from and more importantly, given up for little in return.