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Have you heard that former Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford and Mike Sullivan were at war? Did you know Rutherford wanted to swap Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and the cotton candy guy who used to take his shirt off, but Mario Lemieux figuratively slapped Rutherford?
Did you also know that these wild theories are absolute rubbish?
Hey, if the Chinese government interfered with the voting machines and the green berets, they stormed a warehouse in Germany. Simultaneously, former Venezuelan adversaries, long dead, conspired to change the US presidential election. Crafty Jim Rutherford surely had several trades on the launch pad ready to bring the Pittsburgh Penguins an unprecedented fourth, fifth and sixth Stanley Cup in the era of the salary cap.
Welcome to our world, I guess.
If only Rutherford wasn’t in conflict with the head coach. If only the Penguins’ ownership wasn’t more concerned with jersey sales. And that’s why Rutherford resigned. Am I right or am I right?
Ok, enough sarcasm.
It’s time to listen to the facts and the reason, but sadly the truth isn’t as sexy and fun as spun threads to explain what is somewhat inexplicable.
I absolutely have to admit that Rutherford’s resignation was a “Holy Sh * t” moment. In fact, my phone exploded with those exact words from at least two colleagues and several friends.
Now a hard truth. Do you think that a trade whose scope involves Malkin could be kept a secret? Malkin would have to approve it too. The last time a team threw the tires on Malkin, we knew that.
But suppose a few people can keep it a secret. Everyone involved, including Rutherford, not only denied it, but denigrated it.
You’ll notice that no legitimate journalist, from Elliotte Friedman at Sportsnet to Darren Dreger at TSN, smelled like such a profession.
Let us take the denials a little further. Most of the league’s GMs have gone into trades that property or team presidents scuttled. This is no reason to quit with just a few months of contract, especially from a supportive team.
It is not just implausible; there is no gossip that it was legitimate. No. Nada. Zip *: French. Nothing. Zero. Bubkis. Berth.
Why do I feel that your keyboards are already giving angry answers? Be careful not to believe what you want to be true, rather than the simpler reasons.
Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford has decided to leave. Maybe there was something he didn’t like. Rutherford’s mistakes were starting to pile up, and one of his Houdini-style escapes seemed less and less possible.
Update: There was clearly something he didn’t like, but public theories don’t agree.
Rutheford used the Mark Madden radio show on the Penguins’ flagship radio station to label rumors he had quit for attempting to trade a “far-fetched” star.
In his resignation, he cited personal reasons.
Look, I’ve covered fishy situations where parties have issued refusals that smelled worse than fish thrown in the back of my minor league car one summer. If you are objective, you can tell. There is a huge difference between rejecting the truth and rejecting a story because denials are disconnected double talk.
Trade Malkin!
The time to trade Evgeni Malkin was summer 2019, when Florida called with a heavy package. But one cannot overestimate what happened as a result of the discussions.
Several outlets, including Pittsburgh Hockey Now, have reported the internal findings: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang should be allowed to retire with the Penguins if they wish.
This fact has been reaffirmed by all parties concerned, once again this week.
Malkin is fighting this season. There is no doubt, and the big man of the Penguins recognized it Thursday night.
It may seem like a lifetime ago, but it was Evgeni Malkin wearing the Penguins last season with 74 points (25g, 49a) in just 55 games. Malkin’s admission that his conditioning has been affected by COVID restrictions holds water; he’s not the only slow veteran to reach his peak game.
What is the vitriol towards Malkin? It’s a bad look.
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