With all the other departures/injuries, an injury-prone Malkin with one year left on his contract does not put MTL over the top. They're likely not going after him if he's available.
Malkin turns 35 in less than two weeks, has a big cap hit and is a rental. I can't see the Canadians trading Kotkaniemi for him even up. The most I can imagine is Drouin and a first for Malkin and a more immediate second.
Imo it frees up space, it allows there to be a good player and hitter on Crosby's line. And we can sign a center in FA. Like Landy maybe
true but imo it won't make us any better (if geno is healthy he is one of the best to do it and much better then landy) sure he had some injuries but he is generational the best player after sid in the last decade or so when healthy.
plus next year he will need a new contract and I low key think he is going to take a different approach compared to ovi (he is getting like 10 mil a year) I think he might even cut a little his aav to give us an even better chance to keep rust plus others