NHL Free Agency: Should the Penguins Trade Evgeni Malkin?

The Pittsburgh Penguins missed Evgeni Malkin this season. Their goals per game strongly declined after both Malkin and Sidney Crosby were injured. They will welcome him back this season, and they will get his offensive production back.

However, should they just trade him away this summer? He showed that 2010 and 2011 were not his best seasons. The Penguins' depth at center is really strong, and they could really use a scoring winger.

So should the Penguins trade Evgeni Malkin?

No, not this summer. But eventually, yes.

Malkin still has three years on his contract. There is no point in trading him right now. He will bounce back from two mediocre seasons and perform like he used to. He is one of the best players in the game, and he is part of the core of the Penguins.

For the foreseeable future, Malkin will be wearing the black and gold.

However, a year and a half or two years from now, it will be very sensible for the Penguins to trade Malkin.

At that time, in two seasons, Crosby's contract expires. Crosby will be 25, turning 26, during the summer of 2013. He'll be looking for the biggest contract of his career with as many years and dollars as possible. There is no doubt the Penguins will shell out top dollar to Crosby, and he deserves every penny of it. Crosby should be the Penguins' top priority, and he probably will be.

So where does that leave Malkin? He enters the last season on his contract, and he probably will be expecting top dollar too. If the Pens want to win Cups, they need to have depth on their roster. It's not all about the top two lines. Without money to spend, they will not have enough money to spend on role players.

The summer the Penguins give Crosby that huge contract, they should trade Malkin. It's not foreseeable right now who the Penguins should get for him. But they could get high draft picks and very good young players for him. Perhaps trade Malkin for a Taylor Hall, who will just be getting ready to make money. Any star that will get paid less than Malkin and have fewer years on his contract should be fine.

The reason for doing this is simple.

Evgeni Malkin is going to deserve his money, and he's going to want it. He's going to want a long-term contract. It's his one shot to make big money, and he's going to use it to his advantage—and he should. The Penguins know this, and they know they will not be able to afford to keep both Crosby and Malkin. (Let's not forget they need to pay Jordan Staal and Marc-Andre Fleury too.)

So why should the Penguins risk losing him for absolutely nothing? They should trade him away that summer and get some stars and draft picks in return.

This way the Penguins will still be able to compete for a Stanley Cup year in and year out without Geno.

Despite this, Geno will forever be a Penguins legend for his contributions.