Did you hear that former GM Jim Rutherford and Mike Sullivan of the Pittsburgh Penguins were at war? Did you know that Rutherford wanted to trade Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and the cotton candy guy who used to take his shirt off, but Mario Lemieux figuratively hit Rutherford’s fists?
Did you also know that these crazy theories are absolute rubbish?
Hey, if the Chinese government interfered with the ballot boxes and green berets, it broke into a warehouse in Germany. At the same time, old Venezuelan opponents who died long ago conspired to alter the United States’ presidential election. Certainly the astute and astute Jim Rutherford had several launch pad deals ready to bring the Pittsburgh Penguins a fourth, fifth and sixth Stanley Cup unprecedented in the age of the salary cap.
Welcome to our world, I suppose.
If only Rutherford wasn’t fighting with the head coach. If only the owners of the Penguins were no longer concerned with t-shirt sales. And that is why Rutherford resigned. Am I right or am I right?
Okay, enough sarcasm.
It’s time to hear the facts and the reason, but unfortunately, the truth is not as sexy and fun as the stories being woven to explain what is inexplicable.
I must absolutely confess that Rutherford’s resignation was a “fucking great” moment. In fact, my phone exploded with those exact words from at least two colleagues and several friends.
Now, some hard truth. Do you think that a trade whose scope would involve Malkin could be kept confidential? Malkin would have to approve too. The last time a team kicked Malkin’s tires, we knew that.
But, let’s assume that some people can keep the secret. Everyone involved, including Rutherford, not only denied it, but also rejected it with defamation.
You will notice that no legitimate reporter, from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet to Darren Dreger of TSN, has smelled such a trade.
Let’s take the denials a step further. Most league GMs have already been involved in negotiations that the owners or team presidents have denied. There is no reason to give up with only a few months left on the contract, especially from a team around you.
It is not just implausible; there is no talk that it was legitimate. None. Nothing. Zip closure. Zilch. Zero. Bubkis. Bunk bed.
Why do I feel that your keyboards are already emitting angry responses? Be careful when believing what you want to be true, rather than the simplest reasons.
Pittsburgh Penguins GM Jim Rutherford 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 did not like, but public theories do not align.
Rutheford used the Mark Madden radio program on the Penguins’ main radio station to call rumors that he resigned because he tried to negotiate a “far-fetched” star.
In his resignation, he cited personal reasons.
See, I covered dubious situations where the parties denied that they smelled worse than the fish thrown in the back of my second division GM car in one summer. If you are objective, you will know. There is a huge difference between rejecting the truth and rejecting a story because denials are a disconnected double language.
Trade Malkin!
The time to negotiate with Evgeni Malkin was the summer of 2019, when Florida came up with a heavy package. But one cannot exaggerate what happened following the discussions.
Several channels, including the Pittsburgh Hockey Now, reported the internal findings: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang should be allowed to retire with the Penguins, if they so wished.
This fact was reaffirmed by everyone involved, again, this week.
Malkin is struggling this season. There is no doubt, and the Penguins’ chief confessed to that on Thursday night.
It may seem like a lifetime ago, but it was Evgeni Malkin carrying the Penguins last season with 74 points (25g, 49th) in just 55 games. Malkin’s admission that his conditioning was affected by COVID’s restrictions is valid; he is not the only veteran slow to achieve his ideal game.
What’s up with the vitriol against Malkin? It looks bad.
