Something STRANGE is going on…

Something STRANGE is going on…

Something strange is going on as an insider has just revealed a major update on Evani Malikin and his future in not just the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, but the NHL as a whole. And we also get an update on what Kyle Dubis is planning to do with Evani Malcin. We’re going to break it all down in this episode of Penguins Digest. But before we do that, a quick reminder to hit that subscribe button. About 68% of you who watch these videos are not subscribed to the channel. So, if you want to stay up to date with everything that’s happening with the Pittsburgh Penguins, this is the place to be for all your daily Pittsburgh Penguins news. But Nick, let’s jump right into it. We have some conflicting reports. I guess we have some stuff from Kyle Dubis. And my conspiracy theory lives that I think that Kyle Dubis is saying one thing and he’s doing the other, but we will certainly get into that. But you can see this here from Josh again. He said that even though it’s not official, this is Afghani Malcin’s farewell tour. And that I feel like that’s a pretty big report in and of itself. We heard that about a month ago that you know whether it’s you know him playing somewhere else like it’s it’s not going to be with the Pittsburgh Penguins next year even if he’s staying in the NHL and that’s kind of up in the air right now as well. And obviously he just had his birthday uh just a couple days ago or I guess a week at this point. Uh he’s 39 years old now. you know his production has dipped right he is still giving like decent production but for his cap hit his age all these things you have to consider that uh and again Malcin uh you know he’s a very interesting player for this team right now obviously last year of his extension Kyle Dubis came out and said this about the player and I’m very curious for your thoughts on this Nick and not only that but his future with the team I also want to get into another report uh you know from or a quote from Kyle Dubis himself but he went on to say that uh I talked to Malin at the end of last year in the exit meeting and followed up with him. And I get it, he’s in the last year of his contract. It’s been a topic of discussion, but with the way we’re going to approach, we’re going to go into the year, as I told Malikin, in the exit meeting, uh, we’re going to meet at the Olympic break this upcoming season and then meet after the season, uh, and figure it out. So, uh, pretty interesting stuff there. What do you make of that? I think that that’s a, you know, something that’s going to happen with the Pittsburgh Penguins in terms of Tristan Jarry, a lot of other players, Sydney Crosby. Let’s see where we’re at at the Olympic break. Let’s see where we at at the end of last or next season. But I do think that there is a real possibility Malikin has traded at this year’s trade deadline. No. And uh I think something interesting to look at is the way the Penguins are kind of looking at the organization in like a like a like a timeline kind of thing, especially throughout this season. Um, let’s look at training camp. Let’s see how things go because, you know, a lot of the trades in the NHL and for the Penguins are going to depend on how good players are or how not good players are. Of course, uh, in our, uh, video yesterday about Tristan Jarry, we mentioned that a lot of that rides on what’s going to happen this season. And I think what happens to Malin honestly might be an outlier to that because all these reports obviously Dubis doesn’t make as many um um cold blank statements anymore as he used to when he was in Toronto when he was a younger uh GM coming to the league. He’s more reserved more diplomatic and I think that’s the smart way to go about it. Obviously Agenei Malin loved by Penguins fans but I think they are from from what I’ve read they are more willing to see him go than Sydney Crosby especially because his production has fallen off a main point you made Darius of course again full credit to Mulin at times I want to say he was like arguably the best player in the NHL he has the awards that do show that but you know he’s older now he’s 39 uh he only had like 60 points last year and I think taking it you know day by day um looking at him at the Olympic break I don’t know if he’s going to um no He actually can’t play in the Olympics. I don’t even know why I brought that up, but um uh he won’t he obviously won’t be at the Olympics, so uh that’ll be a good time for them to take some time. And honestly, I think uh that’ll this will be a more more of a less uh low stakes season for Malin, especially if he does know what’s going to happen in the end of the season. Um the Penguins aren’t going to be a a great team. I still think their four core is a little underrated. If you look at the whole um the all four lines, they’re actually still pretty good. Um, and last year obviously only uh only 50 points, 16 goals. Um, a little bit of a drop off, but he only played 68 games. So, you know, maybe if he pro that it’s a little bit better. Obviously, a dash 24, but the Penguins weren’t good, so that’s not going to that’s not going to look good for him. But, um, Darius, I I do want to ask you, um, do you think it’s more um um more likely that Malin ends the season as a Penguin? You know, just, you know, you may as well just uh, you know, your production’s falling off, you have your cups, you have your awards, you’re Hall of Famer. Why not do why not do what a lot of players want to do and have that one team career or is he gonna go to another team do you think at the trade deadline a team that wants a third or second line center he can play in a lesser role um and really maybe look good there we’ve seen a lot of teams do that and be successful a team like Florida comes to mind I don’t know if that’ll if it’ll beat them maybe another team in the Atlantic but what are you thinking from that end Darius well let’s hope it’s not Florida first of all but I think that uh because they you know they’re getting everyone at this point but I think that Malin has the luxury of really deciding his own fate this year. Does he want to have that kind of storybook um you know final Stanley Cup run? It doesn’t always go that way. We’ve seen that in the past. You’re never uh you’re not always Brad Marshawn last year, right? It doesn’t necessarily always go that way, but he has the opportunity to do that and I think helped the Pittsburgh Penguins in that way by obviously getting assets back because yes, his production has dipped, but like you said, 50 points in 68 games last year, that’s not horrible. definitely his worst season, but you know, a couple years ago still hovering around a point a game player, like not horrible production and with retained salary can help a team and I think that a team would be interested in him. on the other side of things like you brought up um you know he has an opportunity to stay with one team for his entire career and if he goes out through this year I do believe Kyle Dubis listen he’s going to say a bunch of stuff and he said even this right this is from west that Kyle Duba said no decision has been made on of Malcin uh if this is his last season with the team but let’s be honest it’s looking like it’s going to be his last season with the team and they’re probably want some assets back from him so I think if you’re Malin and you’re the team um you know there’s going to be maybe some hard feelings there but I wonder if you try to look at a trade after the or around the trade deadline, excuse me, and after the Olympic break because that could make sense for both parties. But, uh, to me, you know, it would be nice to see him obviously stay with the Pittsburgh Penguins his entire career. But, I do think, make no mistake about it, right now Kyle Dubis is, you know, he might be saying something or like you’re saying like he’s not as direct as he was in Toronto and I think that could be a good thing. Uh, but I I I feel like, you know, the writing’s on the wall. This is going to be his last season. And, you know, there’s been a lot of talk already. There’s a lot of articles, this is from yesterday, about, you know, where he fits in around the league. The Toronto Maple Leafs are brought up as a logical trade partner. There’s other teams that have been brought up. There’s, you know, the Colorado Avalanche. There’s a bunch of others that have been brought up. So, I think ultimately, uh, you know, what I think is going to happen versus what actually will happen is very different, of course, but I think that for the Pittsburgh Penguins, it makes a ton of sense, and I’ll throw it back to you, Nick, too, for your thoughts on this. Like it makes a ton of sense to me to if you both agree, if you’re meeting, let’s say like you said, Kyle Dubis is saying, you know, you have kind of these checkpoints throughout the year. If you’re meeting around the Olympic break and you’re going, “Okay, we’re definitely not making the playoffs. Uh we’re making the decision to move off of you. Uh do you want to go somewhere else?” Could that make some sense? And I think that that’s the route that, you know, maybe the team should go, even though it’s going to be painful to do that because he’s, you know, he’s been here his whole career. He’s one of the best players of all time and at some points, like you were saying, was one of the best players in the entire league for the Penguins. No, of course. And and I I I think obviously the emotional, you know, at the end of the day, it’s a business, but these guys are humans. I think it’s easy for me and you to look at stats and contracts like, oh, you know, just trade him, just get rid of him. Um, but uh I think uh for Penguins fans, it’s going to hard to see him go again. I said earlier in the video, I think it’s just the reception I’m getting online. It seems like it’s going to be an easier move than Crosby would be. Um, you know, emotionally. Uh, but if if Crosby gets moved, I I don’t know how likely that is, of course, but I walkin move is probably one of the higher percentage ones. Like obviously like the Rustin and Raquel’s probably seem like they’re going to happen this season. Same thing with Carlson. The Penguins are going to be busy and you know, we think it’s easy to just sell off players like we do it in NHL 25 franchise mode. you can just press trade finder and all these cool offers come up, but it’s not that easy in real life. So, um, making all these moves is going to be tough. And I think adding Mulin adds more business for Dubis to get done. And the Penguins could be electric throughout the season in terms of trades and maybe they can surprise some teams and and where players go and what they can get back. But to be honest, for me, I think the Malin situation is almost similar to the Latang one, except he’s just been in more rumors. I think for me with Crosby, I’d honestly like to see him go to another team because he’s still like a top 10 center in the league. Um, putting up insane numbers. So, I could see him like he could probably be a one se on a lot of teams he would be traded like traded to. Yeah. But for Malin, you know what I think for me, it’s at the point where he’s in the sunset of his career. All his rumors were about the last season. You know what, man? I’d say just finish it out in Pittsburgh. Uh, that’s what I’m of the opinion of. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m a sports fan. I like to see big names being traded all the time and it makes uh for a lot of cool stories. But I think it’ll be really cool if uh Malin could just, you know, ride off, go back to the KHL in Russia, have, you know, have his hockey DB look really clean and just say Pittsburgh Penguins the whole way down. Um and I think the assets that we’ll get that they’ll get back might not even be that crazy because um he’s just going to pick the team he wants to go to and that’s the team he’s going to get traded to. So, it’s either going to be like here’s two teams, maybe the Rangers or the Leafs or the Panthers, whoever it might be, someone over in the Western Conference that’s pretty good. Um, and because we like the Marshian trade return wasn’t even that great because he just wanted to go to Florida. So, I think the same thing would apply to Malcolin and I think the Marshian situation made way more sense than the Malin situ situation would. So, for my for me, Darius, I don’t know if you agree with me. I’ll throw this back to you quickly before we end the video. Um, I think Malgan should stay in Pittsburgh. I I think that it could be worth it. uh to make that trade if you’re the Penguins because Malcolin will be leaving for nothing. But I think again the emotional aspect from the fan base and we’re curious too. We want to hear what you have to say in the comments about that. Would you like to see Malcolin ride off into the sunset as a Pittsburgh Penguin after this season, you know, ride it out the season and never play for another team? Or would you like some type of asset back? If it is similar to Brad Marshon because you bring up a good point, I don’t know if I would like that too much. I do, you know, I might rather him just like ride ride off into the sunset as a penguin. But, uh, we want to hear what you have to say. So, let us know how you feel in the comments. And if you haven’t yet, hit that subscribe button so you can stay up to date with everything Pittsburgh

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Penguins Digest is a YouTube channel dedicated to covering all the latest news, trades, reports, and rumors about the Pittsburgh Penguins. We provide in-depth coverage of game highlights, player performances, and analysis of team strategies. Our channel features discussions on key players like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Erik Karlsson, along with insights from Head Coach Mike Sullivan and General Manager Kyle Dubas. Stay tuned for all the exciting updates and engaging content on everything Penguins!

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