The Pittsburgh Penguins were embarrassed Saturday night by the New York Rangers 6-1 in former Penguins coach Mike Sullivan’s Pittsburgh homecoming. It was a fair turnabout as the Penguins embarrassed the Rangers in their home opener on Tuesday.
For their home opener Thursday, the Penguins both unveiled their new third jerseys and honored the longest serving trio in sports history, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang.
But the feat almost didn’t happen.
Earlier in the week, former Penguins president of hockey operations Brian Burke admitted on The Sheet podcast hosted by Jeff Marek that the team was prepared to trade Malkin and Letang before signing the duo to last-second contracts just days before the NHL free agency period in 2022.
Burke served as the Penguins’ president of hockey ops following the abrupt resignation of Jim Rutherford on Jan. 27, 2021. On Feb. 9, Burke was tabbed as the team’s hockey president, and Ron Hextall was named general manager.
“Yes. We talked about trading both Tanger and Geno if they wouldn’t take pay cuts,” Burke admitted. “They both did, and I said to Ron, ‘We want to keep the band together.’ We want to see what we can do with this group, but they had to take pay cuts.”
Letang, who was about to turn 35, signed a six-year deal with a $6.1 million average annual value on July 7, 2022, just six days before free agency began.
Malkin, who was 36 at the time, had a contentious battle with the team. In the days leading to free agency, multiple sources told Pittsburgh Hockey Now that Malkin would become a free agent when the signing period began on July 13.
However, on July 12, the team and Malkin signed a four-year deal with the same $6.1 million AAV.
“So, there was no serious consideration because they were both realistic and reasonable to deal with,” Burke concluded.
Each player received both a full no-movement clause and front-loaded contract with signing bonuses, thus making the deals 35+ contracts, which means even if the player retires or is bought out, he counts 100% against the salary cap for the entirety of the deal.
Letang’s full no-movement clause ends on July 1, 2026, and becomes a no-movement with a 10-team approved trade list.
Malkin’s deal expires after this season. The 39-year-old led the NHL in scoring beginning league-wide play on Saturday. Malkin had five points, all assists, in the first two games. He was originally credited with a goal on Thursday, but scorers later awarded the tally to Rickard Rakell. Malkin earned an assist.
Burke and Hextall served as the Penguins’ president of hockey operations and GM until they were terminated by the Fenway Sports Group in April 2023, after just over two seasons on the job.
Tags: Evgeni Malkin Kris Letang Penguins Trade Pittsburgh Penguins
Categorized: Penguins Trade Talk