He said he loves it in Pittsburgh and he has no reason to leave the Penguins. And hes right, in his eyes he has everything he could want. A city he finds home away from home, a strong team that is always at the top of the competition, top minutes with important roles. Assistant Captain i believe too and hes well liked in the community and the organization.
If the contract negotiations were to continue to go awry, he would have left for the KHL. Because right now he feels if he plays in the NHL, he must be with Pittsburgh no matter what. Its respected. But if a bad turn of events were to force him to leave, he probbably dreamed of playing elsewhere and those two cities were NYR and Montreal.
Two cities and teams that probably always caught his attention most. He goes on to say there are other options, but basically Dallas was not one.
There are only a few things I can see him ever being available to the Rangers. And none of it seems like it will occur in the next few years.
A trade for Malkin would have to be like 2 current NHL players (either top 6 fwds or top 4 fwds), a 1st round draft pick, and a prospect who has NHL experience. To the Pens, they would probably want a center in return in the NHL mode.
In current situation, the Rangers would have to give up something like...
1) Derrek Brassard
2) Marc Staal
3) 2nd round pick (since i say Staal and Brassard and a prospect, a 2nd or 3rd might do)
4) Fast? Lindberg?
If they were looking to part ways with Malkin, this might be a deal they accept but idk if I like it. I think its just what we could give or it be rejected and anything more would be highway robbery. But even this, doesnt seem like the best deal for us.
Getting rid of Brassard because Richards is probably not desirable and Stepan is a franchise center. Brassard though adds a future for us and though Malkin could do that even better... Brassard is cheaper. I think Brassard plays more of a team game anyway and hes already a fan fave. Lets not break the chemistry.
Staal. I say staal because hes one of our older players, one of our more expensive guys and yet still quite affordable. Hes an all star, but guys like McDonagh have and will continue to fill in Staals role. Girardi might be on the next rather than Staal, but I think every championship team has a guy like Girardi and its not that easy to find an iron man like him. And though Staals eye will never be the same he is still a desirable all star. lets not get to crazy though in wanting Malkin. Staal could come back somewhere in the top 4 and still be a factor in turning our team into the best defensive team in the league. Its nice to have mcDonagh, Girardi, Del Zotto, Moore but its even nicer to have Staal attached to that
JT Miller was a guy I am sure would be in these type of talks. Honestly. I would hate to trade this guy. I think hes a future leader, a franchise player. For the next season or two he will continue to develop with a smalllll price tag. a Fraction of what Malkin costs. In the following seasons he will have an increased contract, still a fraction of Malkins and still very young and high amount of potential. Finally in about 5-7 years, he will get a big time contract which I think will be very good because of how well he will be for us... but it still wont be a maxed out deal. So I hope to keep the strong growing JT Miller, for 10 years and more as he becomes a hero for our team for a fraction of Malkins contract.
And like Torts had us doing, I hope we continue to develop our youth and our team through our organization. It be nice to get Malkin but not at the cost of ruining our chemistry, our depth and our prospect pool which I believe is one of the best in the league
