Malone

[ru10tu10]

I think Malone has had one too many chances here to produce anything. He isn't scoring. His assets are on the PK and grinding. He's a 3rd liner. Unfortunately for him, we have a plethora of those and most produce more often than Malone and also kill penalties.

Is he a UFA this year? Or are we talking about trading him? Not sure if we could get much for a trade if that's the case.

Malone is signed for 1.45 next year...

[Mad City Mike]

Malone is signed for 1.45 next year...

There you go. Ryan Stone or Stephen Dixon can do the same job for ~ 1/3 that amount. There is no reason at all to pay him that much just to be a penalty killer, and that is all he did well this year.

[Dickie Dunn]

Malone is signed for 1.45 next year...

There you go. Ryan Stone or Stephen Dixon can do the same job for ~ 1/3 that amount. There is no reason at all to pay him that much just to be a penalty killer, and that is all he did well this year.

Yea, but despite the fact that it was woefully inconsistent, Malone still chipped in 16 goals and 15 assists this season, numbers that Stone and Dixon probably would not achieve next year.

[Henry Hank]

Because they're both free agents after next season. We can't look down the road with them anymore. Both of them came into this season with the expectation that they'd step up their games to the next level. Neither did. Malone's a good penalty killer but he couldn't even produce with Crosby. Clearly, he's not going to be the goal scorer we hoped he'd be. Orpik had his minutes cut compared to 05-06 and was taken off the PK. Why make excuses for him when Whitney and Scuderi, for example, were in the same situations and both have improved at a much quicker rate and are trusted in more situations?

If Orpik's only going to play 15 minutes a game next season and not contribute on special teams, there's no reason to bring him back when you can replace him with someone you know will be good. Even if Orpik did improve next season, there's no guarantee he'd be back being a free agent. Same deal with Malone. If all he's going to be is a good penalty killer and third liner, we're better off letting him go. His penalty killing role can be replaced by another player, say a right-handed center who is strong on faceoffs (e.g. Scott Nichol) who will play on the fourth line, and we can use someone like Christensen who can contribute more offensively on the third line instead.

[Ace]

I think Malone is a third line player, but due to his size, and at times his hands, thought could be a power forward type player on the first line.

Realistically though, that is not what he will become. He does chip in with goals, but the majority of those do come when he's playing on a top line. I doubt he would be able to produce half the amount of goals if he plays on a third line for the full season with Talbot and Armstrong.

The question is, if someone is ready to come up from WBS to take his spot on the third line, then great. The Pens should start looking at possibly trading him. He's in the last year of his contract....usually when players try harder to get a big raise, right? So just hold on to him, let him play his heart out, get as much as you can out of him, and then see what happens.

I see him staying for next season on the third line.