Insider Drops MASSIVE Wild Trade Report... This Is Insane | Minnesota Wild News

Last week, TSM's Darren Dreger said it on air, Bill Guerin is interested in Evgeny Malkin. His words, Guerin is interested, but only if the price is right and Malkin is ready to move at that point. And I'll say it right now, I don't hate it, but I just don't think it's the Wild's biggest need. So two things decided, what Malkin is at 40 years old, and whether the money even works. First, the good news, he's not a legacy act. And remember who this is, 1,421 career points, 20th in NHL history, and he passed Adam Oates this season. 539 goals and 882 assists in 1,284 games. 14 points in 15 games this season, 6 goals and 8 assists. That's 0.93 points a game. Joel Eriksson, the Wild's number one center, is at 0.89. Scores on 27% of his shots and his 3.30 points per 60 minutes is in the 93rd percentile. However, it's a different Malkin than the one you remember. Watch this direction. Last season, 61 points in 56 games, 1.09 points a game. This season, 0.93. He wins 40% of his face-offs this season. Eric Sneck wins 49.2. And on November 6th, his line had... One shot attempt in nearly 8 minutes at 5 on 5. The other thing at 40 is availability. Last season, he played 56 of 82 games. And he already missed games this November with a lower body injury, and he was back November 5th. So think of him as a finisher, not a driver. He scores when someone else gets him the puck. He's not winning it back for you. Before the money, flip it. Why would Pittsburgh ever do this? Penguins are 6-9-2 with 14 points, 56 goals for, and 60 against, and at the time of recording this video, currently losing to the Anaheim Ducks. A Pittsburgh beat writer called Malkin the Penguins' best player on October 29th, and he's on line now with Sidney Crosby, and Crosby said, I think we're pretty familiar with each other, shouldn't take much time to adjust there. So nobody's selling at a discount in November. And they don't need the money. Pittsburgh has $7.95 million of cap space. So this isn't a team dumping salary. And if they sell, they sell for what they get back. And Elliott Freedman reads that Kyle Dubas won't insult an icon and that it depends on where Malkin wants to go. That's why January matters. Because if Pittsburgh are out of the race, the price drops. If they're in it, he's not available. Now a bit of the harder part. The Wild have barely any room. Before we get too far into it though, folks, if you haven't already, be sure to drop a sub here on the channel with every single bit of news coming as it drops. We're on the road to 6,000 subscribers as well. Per Spotrac, Minnesota has $1.15 million of cap space under the $104 million ceiling. And here's the number that stings. The Wild still carry $833,000 in dead money for each Parise and Suter. However, that is much better than the previous 16 million. And it is $1.67 million for nothing, and it is more than the room they currently have now. Malkin's cap hit is $5.5 million on a one-year deal, and that runs out after this season. $5.5 million minus $1.15 million, about $4.35 million has to go back to Pittsburgh. The easy matches are Ryan Hartman at $4 million, who has a modified no-trade clause, or Blake Coleman at $4.9, although none of those players likely would go in that deal. And notice what that does. You send Hartman, you lose the Wild's third-line center, and add a second-line one. Not adding any depth there, you're moving a spot in the lineup for someone else. And if you send Coleman instead, you're losing a winger who's playing good. Coleman has 8 points in 19 games, and Bobby Brink has 9 as well. Every version of this cost the Wild a forward who was in the lineup every day. If Pittsburgh could eat some sort of a deal at 50% retention, the Wild would then have $2.75 million to pay. That's still more than $1.15 million of room. About $1.6 million has to come back anyway. Here's the upside for Bill Guerin, is that it's a rental. You know, he's a free agent after this season, so there's no- No term on the risk. He's also very familiar with Malkin playing with him previously. As we said before, Malkin controls where he goes. He has to submit a list of three teams in January, and Drake Bigger expects Minnesota to be on that. But does Minnesota even need him? That is the biggest question, and we have to look at where they are right now. 12, 3, and 4 in the Central. They are first. 63 goals for 43 against in 19 games. Kaprizov has 31 points. Quinn Hughes has 26. Joel Eriksson Ek has 17. And Eriksson Ek is up from 0.73 points a game last season to 0.89 this season. And he's the number one center, and that is absolutely fine. So the top of the lineup works, but where it thins out is behind him. Hartman is a third-line center. He has one goal, three assists in 19 games, and he's a minus seven, and even Daniil Girard on the second line has seven points. Now, some of that is a cold start. I mean, last season, Hartman had 23 goals and 43 points in 76 games. Trenton also has two points in 19 games, and the third and fourth lines are cold, but cold starts have to end at some point. That's the argument against Larkin, the second line is cold, it's not broken, and the team allowing 2.26 goals a game is not crying for help right now. So yes, Malkin would fill a hole at a second line center, if that's the case for it, it's a real one. But a rental fix is the thing that is a little wrong, because it doesn't fix the thing that actually hurts. Quinn Hughes is playing 28 minutes and 8 seconds a night, with Spurgeon and Faber both on the IR, and if I'm Bill Guerin, that's the number that keeps me up. One more defender goes down and the season is a problem. Not a second line center problem. Malkin doesn't touch the defense. And we've been covering the Larkin chase here on the channel. If that's the real swing for a center that we're going for, you got to make sure that you're keeping your eye on the price because he is there. Kucherov is there that we've had in a video a couple of days ago when Malkin seems to be the fallback plan that there is right now. So let's just say the money actually works. A deal gets done. Where does he actually play? Eric Zek is the center. Kaprizov and Boldy on the first line. Malkin could take the second line in between Trenin and Chabanov, and Yarov would slide down, but Yarov's been very good on that line, and their chemistry is at a very, very high level. So maybe a third line, but the power play is where Malkin makes his money, but the top unit is already Eriksson, Boldy, Kaprizov, Chabanov, and Hughes, and that unit has scored 13 goals in 63 minutes. Kaprizov alone has 16 goals in 19 games, nobody's giving up a seat on the power play built around that, unless the second unit can do the same. So Malkin takes a seat for someone, Chabanov has 5 power play goals, Eriksson is in the 90th percentile in power play points a game. Away from the puck, even though he's a big guy, he averages only .2 hits a game, that's 7th in the percentiles. So he helps the offense on a team that already scores 3.32 goals a game, and he doesn't even help the part that really hurts this team right now, which is the Injured defense. Now, I guess the comparison that everybody will make is probably going to be Malkin versus Larkin. And if you're spending assets on a center... Why Malkin? You know, Dylan Larkin is a guy who's out there, the Wilds have been chasing him, and yes, the price is high, but if you're staying in the reasonable priced zone, it's gotta be Larkin over Malkin. Larkin is 30, he makes $8.7 million a year through 2030-2031, and he has no trade clause. And last season, Larkin had 67 points in 74 games, and that's .91 points a game. This season, he's got 6 points in 10 games, and going for a little under a point per game. On a team like the Minnesota Wild, he has assets around him that can actually help his production while he helps theirs. Plus, he plays 21 minutes and 41 seconds a night, wins 53.4% of his faceoffs. So Larkin is younger, he wins draws, he plays more, he costs 3.2 million dollars more, but for more years instead of one, Larkin is the better fit than Malkin. But the price still needs to drop for Larkin. Here's the catch for Minnesota, is that Larkin's $8.7 million is about $7.5 million of salary the Wild won't have room for, and don't right now. So Larkin is the real fix, and we're talking about repairing this team and a hole that they have, but Malkin is a cheaper bet with an expiry date, so if Guerin can't fit Larkin in with the big move, Malkin becomes a plan B, and you can slot him in on the power play at center as well, and that's why I'm really guessing that Guerin is keeping his eye on Malkin and also trying to say to Detroit. Hey, if we make a trade for a center, you're going to lose out on a trade option for Dylan Larkin. So my take is, I don't really hate it, but right now, I don't think it's the move to make. 40-year-old scoring nearly a point per game for one year and a GM who clearly likes him? That's fine by me. The whole thing comes down to three things. The money, the seat, and the price. The money's tight, the seat can be open, it's not on fire, but the price depends in January, not in November. You gotta remember what Kyle Dubas would want with Pittsburgh, they are kind of rebuilding, so they want younger assets. Hartman and Coleman both expire in 2027, but are not exactly young, so neither is a future for them. So that's the Wilds price, is probably a pick or a prospect instead on top. And that's really where I'd stop. I wouldn't go too much for Malkin. But the price decides it. Hartman and a second round pick, I could be interested. I can explore that. And a first round pick and a young player, no chance. I would like to see that go out the door for Evgeny Malkin. Because what you're buying is one season or at least half a season of a guy who wins 40% of his draws. So if you're putting him on my January checklist where, you know, Pittsburgh is, you got to see where they're going. Jared Drager is asking himself, what if the Penguins are struggling in January? They're 6-9-2 right now. And of course, by the... Release date of this video, that would be a very different record as well. Number two is the list. You know, he's going to have three teams. If Minnesota isn't on it, the whole video is pointless at that point. And three is the Wilds' own health. Because when Spurgeon and Faber come back, the blue line will be healthy. The cap picture, both, with both of them back, will change. So it may not be a need. And four, Malkin. May still want to stay with Pittsburgh. That has to be explored. If he talked before about finishing as a Penguin, he still very well might want to. So do you want Guerin to get Malkin or Larkin? Comment M or L down below and let me know why in specific.