Joining fans for a titled elbow following the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ sensational celebration of Marc-Andre Fleury Saturday, no one denied a few tears as Fleury took a final lap before heading down the tunnel into Penguins lore.

The game and Fleury’s performance, both in the locker room and on the ice, unleashed a torrent of emotion from all directions.

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It was incredible.

One might wonder if Fleury’s ability to say goodbye on his own terms, with a dedicated night and outpouring of emotion, might alter some thinking, specifically of Evgeni Malkin.

First, it’s necessary to debunk the bubbling trade rumors that the Florida Panthers should look carefully at Malkin to replace the injured Sasha Barkov, who is out for at least seven months after ACL surgery.

The rumors are predicated upon misunderstood comments that Malkin made when he spoke to the media on the first day of training camp.

As someone who was front and center in the conversation, Malkin did not cite Brad Marchand’s trade from the Boston Bruins to Florida as a reason he’d consider the same.

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“It’s hard. You know, we see a story like with Brad Marchand. It looks good. If (they) trade you and (he) wins the Cup, it’s a bit weird,” said Malkin. “But again, we’ll see what’s going on with the future. Of course, everybody wants to play in the playoffs and maybe one more run to the Cup. It’s a great story when you see it on TV, but I don’t know how I would feel if the team wants to trade me.”

No, Malkin cited the trade as an example that anything can happen when your team doesn’t want you, but he didn’t know how he’d react in the same situation. Indeed, it was a great story for fans and media to see Marchand get traded and win the Stanley Cup.

But it doesn’t usually end like that, and Malkin knows it.

However, perhaps Fleury’s memorial opened a door for Malkin, knowing that he could accept a trade and still come back to a hero’s welcome.

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For Florida’s part, there’s no better fit. A player with one year remaining on his contract who won’t interfere with the salary cap structure when Barkov returns for next season, but is easily capable of 50 or more points from the middle.

Fleury seemed to dispel Thomas Wolfe in one period of hockey. He did indeed go home again.

Could general manager and Kyle Dubas kick at the three-legged stool of his team’s core in order to push forward the youth movement?

And would Malkin, who has a no-movement clause, say yes? Perhaps the promise of his own celebration would ease the worry over leaving. While many might think the emotion of the weekend would be the reason to stay, this reporter thinks the opposite.

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On Florida’s side, they don’t have many prospects. Just as the Penguins found, trading away those picks as they’ve won the Eastern Conference in three straight seasons and two straight Cups will deplete the reserves.

One potential Penguins target in this purely speculative conversation would be Mackie Samoskevich, 22 had a nice run at the end of last season as he began to come into his own after being a 2021 first-round pick, but he was a healthy scratch through the playoffs.

He signed a one-year, $775,000 extension this summer.

If the trade could go down, the Penguins should want nothing less. If Florida wants a third Stanley Cup, it should expect to give up nothing less, and it likely cannot do better than Malkin.

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This season is the last for the current long-term injured reserve rules, which will allow Florida to put Barkov ($10 million) and Matthew Tkachuk ($9.5 million) on LTIR, thus giving them about $4.5 million to replace Barkov, pending any salary sent the other way in a trade.

Irony. A night to honor the legacy of the first member of the Core Four could open the door to the first departure of the Core Three.

The post Could Fleury Influence Malkin? Why a Trade Makes More Sense appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now.

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