NHL Trade Rumors: Minnesota Wild Have a Trump Card To Lure $24.4M Penguins Veteran Away From Pittsburgh

With the approach of the NHL trade deadline, rumors surrounding several players across the league have only gotten louder than before. The Vegas Golden Knights just acquired star defenseman Rasmus Andersson in a blockbuster deal with the Calgary Flames, and there could be more in store for hockey fans as elite players like Artemi Panarin and Kiefer Sherwood remain caught in the trade rumor vortex.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota Wild, who have never been the team to shy away from making big moves, could have an uncanny advantage when trying to acquire this iconic Pittsburgh Penguins forward.

Kirill Kaprizov Can Play an Instrumental Role in the Minnesota Wild’s Geno Malkin Pursuit

The 39-year-old Malkin marked his terrific return to the ice for the Penguins with a goal against the New Jersey Devils. The Penguins won the game 4-1, and Malkin just proved his prowess for the umpteenth time. Pittsburgh is clearly in playoff contention this season, enjoying the third spot in the Metropolitan Division standings. When things are going so well, it is unlikely for trade rumors to follow.

But despite that, Wild insiders Michael Russo and Joe Smith believe Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin’s names could appear at the trade deadline.

According to insiders, even though Crosby and Malkin are familiar with Bill Guerin and, of course, Marc-Andre Fleury is part of the Wild organization, the Penguins veterans will need more solid reasons to part ways with the team they have only ever played for.

“It doesn’t matter if Crosby and Malkin know Guerin well from their Pittsburgh days, or that Marc-Andre Fleury is part of the Wild organization. It’ll truly take more than that for Crosby and Malkin to want to leave the only place they’ve ever known as pros,” the insiders wrote.

Guerin could be more interested in Crosby than in Malkin. However, surprisingly, as insiders point out, the Wild organisation could have better luck in acquiring Malkin because, for the veteran Penguins forward, the familiarity factor does not end with Fluery and Guerin: he is also well acquainted with franchise cornerstone Kirill Kaprizov.

“Sure, the Wild would love to have Crosby and, to a lesser extent, Malkin, who is a good friend of Kaprizov’s and has trained with him over the summer. There’s nothing Minnesota needs more than a top-flight center, and both would fit.” Russo and Smith wrote on the subject in a recent contribution to The Athletic.

However, none of this would matter if the Penguins keep playing as they have. Crosby had impassionately opined that trade rumors are bound to follow if a team fails to perform at a respectable level over time. The picture in Pittsburgh is shockingly different this time. If a trade between the Wild and the Penguins for any of the two does come to fruition, expect Minnesota to part ways with a key player: perhaps Jesper Wallstedt.