The Minnesota Wild need a No. 1 center this offseason, but they may not have the assets needed to make a big trade. If the market is too pricey, general manager Bill Guerin could use his previous connections to lure Pittsburgh Penguins star Evgeni Malkin to Minnesota via free agency, but those plans may have already been foiled by Sidney Crosby.
“I’ve just always expected to be playing with him,” Crosby told Josh Yohe of The Athletic on Friday. “I don’t know. After talking with everyone at the end of the year, it felt like it was in a good place in terms of getting something done.”
With Crosby adding in a separate interview that he plans on playing “for as many years as possible,” and is not mulling retirement, the 38-year-old's presence could be a significant selling point to have Malkin remain a Penguin and leave the Wild looking somewhere else for their top center.
Sidney Crosby sounds like Evgeni Malkin could return to Penguins over signing with Wild
The Wild’s pursuit of Malkin makes a ton of sense. While he will turn 40 on July 31, the Russian center remained productive in his 20th year in the NHL, scoring 19 goals and 61 points in 56 games. As a long-time Penguin, he also has connections to Guerin, who was a teammate of Malkin from 2008 to 2010 and worked as a player development coach and assistant general manager in the front office from 2011 to 2019.
Minnesota would probably like to find someone younger for their top center role. But with the Toronto Maple Leafs likely requiring a godfather offer for Auston Matthews and few solutions available in free agency, Malkin could be on speed dial unless the Penguins decide to keep him around.
Dubas is on the record saying he “would love to have [Malkin] back" and Crosby’s presence could be another factor in that decision. While the Penguins are trying to get younger and remain competitive with fellow franchise cornerstone Kris Letang, Dubas has done his best to work around the three veterans, and did so successfully last year in an unexpected playoff appearance. While Malkin has been open to playing for another team, he added that his top priority is to remain in Pittsburgh.
Things can change quickly and Crosby admitted “there’s been a lot of players over the years,” who he thought would be back before signing elsewhere. But there seems to be a significant obstacle blocking Malkin’s potential path to Minnesota and with Crosby looking unlikely to go anywhere, it could increase the odds that Malkin won’t be putting on a Wild sweater when next season begins.
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