The Friday Four is a collection of thoughts and information on some intriguing storylines from around the NHL. On deck this week:
· Evgeni Malkin could be a hot commodity at the trade deadline
Evgeni Malkin sure doesnâ€t look like someone getting ready to hang up his skates.
Malkin sits in the top five in league scoring, is tied for first with 14 assists and is on pace for 116 points. The Pittsburgh Penguins forward looks 29, not 39. Heâ€s one of the biggest reasons the Pens have started 8-2-2 and occupy the top spot in the Metro, in a season where the only thing they were supposed to be competing for was the right to draft Gavin McKenna.
There were rumblings this summer that this was going to be Malkinâ€s final season in Pittsburgh and how the story finishes remains to be seen. As good of a start as the Pens have had, it seems unlikely theyâ€ll be able to keep this going over 82 games. Justin Brazeau and Anthony Mantha have a combined 12 goals between them, Pittsburgh is fourth in team save percentage and the Pens have a plus-13 goal differential. All things that will be almost impossible to sustain.
Malkin himself should regress at some point, too. You may remember he had a hot start last year as well, tallying 11 points in his first five games before cooling off substantially. Even if he follows a similar pattern in 2025-26, Malkin would still be in high demand should he consider accepting a trade around the deadline. For that to happen, the Pens would have to fall out of it and become sellers, something it felt like they were destined to do when the season started. If you think it would be hard to imagine Malkin in anything other than a Penguins jersey, you could say the same thing about Brad Marchand and a Bruins jersey. Anything is possible.
Marchand took a big leap of faith by joining the Florida Panthers after spending nearly 16 years with the Bruins and it could provide a blueprint for Malkin to also explore his options outside of the only organization heâ€s ever known. Not only did things work out swimmingly for Marchand, but he was a critical part of Floridaâ€s second of back-to-back Cups. The former Bruin notched 10 goals and 20 points in 23 post-season games for the Panthers, earning himself a big contract extension in the process.
Now, given Malkin is a few years older than Marchand, an extension likely wonâ€t be on the table with a potential new team, but one final post-season run very well could be. There would be a lineup of suitors a mile long for Malkin, should he make himself available, and who wouldnâ€t want a big centre who has three Stanley Cup rings. Malkin has a boatload of playoff experience and 180 points in 177 post-season games.
So, who could target Malkin come the trade deadline? How about Marchandâ€s new team, for one? Things worked out so well for the Panthers last spring, why wouldnâ€t they try again with Malkin? Aleksander Barkov is sidelined with a knee injury and itâ€s unclear if heâ€ll be able to make it back this season, meaning Malkin could fill a hole for the team at centre. Malkin also has a home in the Miami area, perhaps making the potential transition easier than it would be to another team.
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Thereâ€s also the Vegas Golden Knights, who are never shy about moving heaven and earth to load up at the deadline. Vegas has a history of getting creative with its cap dollars and wouldnâ€t hesitate to move out money in order to bring in a player like Malkin if it thinks he can help it get to another Stanley Cup.
What about north of the border? The Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets are all in need of another centre, and each team is hoping to be playing deep into the spring. Malkin would make their offensive units more potent while making their lineups more difficult to matchup against.
Ultimately, Malkin holds all the cards here. He has a full no-move clause and has earned the right to decide how he wants to close out his NHL career, but Marchandâ€s decision a year ago may make a bold move more intriguing for a veteran player such as Malkin. Mikko Rantanen may have been the biggest name to move at last seasonâ€s trade deadline, but itâ€s hard to argue Marchand wasnâ€t the most impactful. If all the stars align, Malkin could make a similar impact next spring.
Any hope of a hometown discount from Adrian Kempe appears to be fading.
The Los Angeles Kings forward is due a new contract on July 1, and there has yet to be any progress on an extension between team and player. Iâ€m sure the Kings were bracing for a significant raise on the $5.5 million Kempe is earning now, but the way things are going, the number is climbing each and every night. Kempe is off to a tremendous start, notching 15 points in his first 12 games. That puts him on a more than a 100-point pace and likely means heâ€s easily going to get more than eight figures a season.
Kempe is blossoming into one of the game’s elite power forwards, using a blend of size, skill and physicality to become a standout in Los Angeles. The 29-year-old can easily deliver 35-40 goals, and he annually tallies 100 hits. Heâ€s hit the century mark in each of the past four campaigns and this year Kempe is trending to blow that out of the water with 31 hits thus far. There just arenâ€t many players who boast Kempeâ€s skillset.
Compounding matters is a rising cap and recent extensions from players who have shaped a market for top forwards. Jack Eichel just got $13.5 million per year from Vegas, Kyle Connor landed $12 million from Winnipeg and Logan Cooley secured a $10-million AAV with Utah. Not to mention Martin Necas†$11.5-million salary that he agreed to on Thursday. Kempe wouldnâ€t be on the high end of those numbers but a cap hit in the $11-million range feels inevitable. Itâ€s paramount Los Angeles gets this right because some of the recent deals it has inked may not age well. The Kings are spending a combined $8.5 million per year for the next few seasons on Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin, two defenders north of 30. Those deals may not look great in a year or two.
The Kempe contract is something the Kings canâ€t avoid, but they want to at least try to keep it reasonable, which is why they should do it sooner rather than later. When you watch Kempe play, itâ€s clear heâ€s on the path to a big contract year, and the longer Los Angeles waits to get a deal done, the higher the price is going to get.
The 2024-25 campaign was one to forget for the Boston Bruins. They missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and traded away captain Brad Marchand, leaving the franchise on an uncertain path on whether to retool or rebuild.
One player who will be part of the Bruins future is Morgan Geekie, who was rewarded with a six-year, $33-million contract extension in June. Geekie earned the lucrative deal after somewhat coming out of nowhere to score 33 goals last season, which some thought couldâ€ve been an anomaly. The 27-year-old shot 22 per cent a year ago and took advantage of time playing with David Pastrnak. Once viewed as a bottom-six depth forward, Geekie capitalized on a promotion for a big offensive season.
The question was, could Geekie replicate his success going forward and justify the contract? So far, the answer has been a resounding yes. Geekie has already scored nine times this season and in six straight games, putting him on pace for a 57-goal campaign. Geekie is shooting a whopping 32 per cent and thatâ€s going to drop, but with the pace heâ€s on, thereâ€s lots of room to regress and still finish with a strong output. Another 30-goal season seems very plausible on the low end.
If Boston isnâ€t planning on a full rebuild, itâ€s going to need someone like Geekie to be a key part of the offence. There isnâ€t a ton of high-end talent in the Bruins forward group beyond Pastrnak to help spark the attack. Elias Lindholm is off to a decent start after a disappointing first season with the team, but outside of that, where are the goals coming from? Geekie has suddenly become a big part of the Bruins present and future.
A number of seventh-round picks have had an impact at the NHL level, but few have done so as quickly as Emmitt Finnie.
The Detroit Red Wings forward was taken 201st overall in the 2023 draft and rapidly climbed through the organization. Finnie not only started this season as a 20-year-old in the NHL, but heâ€s also played the majority of the campaign on Detroitâ€s top line, next to Dylan Larkin, to excellent results. The Kamloops Blazers product has four goals and eight points in his first 11 games, to go along with a plus-six.
Finnie turned into somewhat of a late bloomer, as he went from having 35 points for Kamloops in his draft year, and then the next season he jumped up to 59 points in 62 games. Then, in 2024-25, he really took off, exploding for 84 points in 55 contests with the Blazers. That gave the Red Wings the confidence to fast-track him to the NHL, as despite playing just 13 games for Grand Rapids in the AHL, Detroit still felt Finnie was ready to make the jump this year.
The Red Wings have a long history of finding gems late in drafts. Fellow seventh-round pick Henrik Zetterberg immediately comes to mind as someone Detroit turned into a cornerstone player for the franchise. Zetterberg went on to score 960 points and capture a Conn Smythe Trophy. No one is suggesting Finnie is going to reach Zetterbergâ€s level but if he turns out to be even half as good as the former Red Wings captain, Detroit is going to have an absolute steal on its hands.
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