Comparing Evgeni Malkin and Rihanna
The Pittsburgh Penguins lost in the Stanley Cup Finals in 2008 and then won in 2009 (both series against the Red Wings). Between then and 2016, they made the playoffs every season but never back to the Cup Finals. Reasons for that might include lackluster goaltending performances, insufficient depth behind the stars, or just the fact that, hey, it’s hard to win in the NHL playoffs.
Because of these playoff shortcomings, there were constant trade rumors swirling in various publications and clamoring from a not-insignificant number of fans about trading Evgeni Malkin, a future Hall of Famer and probably one of the 100 greatest players of all-time despite what the NHL says. It became a running joke.
Here’s a list of some examples from Adam Gretz:
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It would have been exceedingly difficult to trade Malkin and get fair value in return because he is such a high-end player. Having Sidney Crosby and Malkin as the top 2 centers on separate lines has been an enormous competitive advantage that other teams simply can’t match.
The idea of trading Malkin reminded me of an old tweet from financial writer Morgan Housel recounting when Rihanna, the singer, got mad at her financial advisor when she almost drained her finances to 0. Her financial advisor retorted, “Was it really necessary to tell her that if you spend money on things, you will end up with the things and not the money?”
If the Penguins were to have traded Malkin for players/picks, then they would end up with those things in lieu of Malkin.
The rashness with which some fans and journalists wanted to trade him made it seem like they didn’t really think this through.
The thought of trading him could be very exciting until reality sets in that the homegrown future Hall of Famer is gone.
Just like the mansions, yacht trips, and wardrobe pieces that Rihanna bought are really cool until the realization that now the bank account is drained.
Lo and behold, the Penguins won back-to-back Cups in 2016 and 2017 with Malkin a key contributor on the team. He registered 46 points in 48 playoff games.
The rumors started swirling yet again after the Penguins got knocked out in the first round of the 2019 playoffs.
He remained with the Penguins and rattled off 2 more productive but injury-shortened seasons.
The idea of actually trading Malkin never really made sense.