#23 — Brown Goes Down

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This is the twenty-third post of Deke Dangle RPF Anon, a community for all your ice hockey anon meme needs.

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Comments

Re: General fandom discussion

[(Anonymous)]

So I was watching the game last night and everyone was pretty much ready to kill Kunitz and openly hating him and it got me thinking about how in 5,6 years Geno might not be playing that well anymore and that people will probably start praying for a trade and/or hating him too and it made me sad. lol @me and my emotions.

Re: General fandom discussion

[(Anonymous)]

His contract is only for 5 more years. I think he'll keep playing well until then. If not, he'll get traded, but management will give him options. He'll be just fine either way.

Also, you could say that about all players. Flower had it those two years he sucked. Sid had it at the beginning of this season. Fan bases are fickle, man.

Re: General fandom discussion

[(Anonymous)]

I fully expect him to "retire" and move back to Russia once it comes to that.

Re: General fandom discussion

[(Anonymous)]

He has previously said he will retire in Russia but I don't think so anymore. He's building a house for his parents in Pittsburgh. He has at least one summer house in Florida. He's going to have children in America. Gonch's family is here. Doubtful Geno will go back imo.

Re: General fandom discussion

[(Anonymous)]

I'm not saying Geno doesn't expect to play out the rest of his contract in Pittsburgh. I'm just saying that in a hypothetical future scenario where he's in a position like Kuni is now (either due to injury or aging), then I think he'd rather return to Metallurg than waive his NMC and be traded to another NHL team. Unlike Datsyuk, I think his cap hit should come off so it wouldn't hurt the Pens either.

You can sell houses or simply hold on to them. iirc Kovulchuk still owns his house in NJ.

Re: General fandom discussion

[(Anonymous)]

That...doesn't engage with what I said at all. Why would he go back to Metallurg when his parents are in Pittsburgh? Why would he rather his children go to schools in Magnitogorsk when schools in any North American city (that he could/would choose to waive for) would be much, much better? Why would he drag his Muscovite wife there for that matter?

And I don't think Kovalchuk's the example you want to be using here, since he was allegedly pressured to go back, he's clearly miserable there now and Geno's not idiot enough to put himself in that position.

Re: General fandom discussion

[(Anonymous)]

NA, but didn't he sort of have to press his wife to come to the US? She might be happy to go back to Russia. (And who says he'd have to go back to Magnitogorsk anyway? Dude's rich. He could just as easily buy a big place in Moscow and have his parents stay with him some portion of the year if he so chose. Even his parents having a house in Pittsburgh could very well be just with the thought of it making it easier to visit him while he's still playing for the Pens. He has enough money that just buying another house doesn't really indicate anything about anyone's permanent living status.)

Idk, I think your comment kind of ignores the perspective of an immigrant who still strongly identifies with his home country. You can say all you want that the schools in NA are all "better" or whatever, but there's really no substitution for being back where everyone speaks your language and understands your cultural context.

Re: General fandom discussion

[(Anonymous)]

We're probably going to have to agree to disagree on this one. I clearly have a very different take on his feelings for his homeland and his old team. I think if he moved back to Magnitka (or Moscow or wherever), he'd simply move his parents too. I don't see how that is an issue? He's loaded. I also think he'd actually prefer to raise his kids in Russia. He's in the States to play in the NHL (because he wants to play in the best league while he's at his best), not because he wants to live in America.

I only mentioned Kovy to illustrate that his properties aren't going to be an issue.

Re: General fandom discussion

[(Anonymous)]

The reason Datsyuk's cap hit doesn't come off is because he was over 35 when he signed the contract.

Re: General fandom discussion

[(Anonymous)]

The Pens are pretty much stuck with Malkin until the end of his contract. Who is going to give up valuable assets for a 30+ year old center who can only stay healthy for half a season? He's pretty much the third line center now and every winger he's played with has looked better on another line, so I predict that contract will start looking really ugly sooner than later. They should've traded him a couple of years ago.

Re: General fandom discussion

[(Anonymous)]

RME.

Re: General fandom discussion

[(Anonymous)]

You really think current Malkin is worth 9.5 million a year? It's not 2012 anymore.

Re: General fandom discussion

[(Anonymous)]

na

Not even a huge Malkin fan, but, um, yes? Obviously it's unrealistic to expect that Malkin's level of play won't deteriorate as he ages, but given how much guys are getting paid now, that contract is going to look better before it starts to look worse. Honestly, asking if Malkin is worst 9.5 is laughable when Toews is getting 10.5, Perry is getting 8.625, Voracek is getting 8.25....

Re: General fandom discussion

[(Anonymous)]

*if Malkin is WORTH 9.5

Re: General fandom discussion

[(Anonymous)]

DA

I wouldn't bother engaging. I'm pretty sure this is Malkin Hateboner Nonny, and nothing you say will get through.

Re: General fandom discussion

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, you could say he's not worth 9.5, but he'd still be in that ballpark even if 9.5 is overpaying.

Re: General fandom discussion

[(Anonymous)]

Nah, this just shows how Malkin is living off his past reputation and not his current production. He and Perry have similar numbers over the last few seasons, with Perry having more goals. You can bring up PPG all you want, but people don't pay for hypothetical production. I don't even hate Malkin (just how overrated he is), but his contract is definitely not better than the ones you listed. He can't stay healthy, can't win a faceoff, isn't great defensively, the wingers he played with throughout the season (Hornqvist, Kessel, Perron, Hagelin, hell, even Plotnikov) all looked significantly better once they were taken off his line... the idea that he's as equally valuable to the Pens as Toews is to the Blackhawks is hilarious. The Pens would be exactly where they are now even if Malkin was sitting in the press box. So no, he is not worth his contract and if he hadn't injured his elbow (which allowed the HBK line to develop), the Pens probably wouldn't be in the ECF.

Re: General fandom discussion

[(Anonymous)]

I can maybe understand trying to claim no player is worth that much. It's unrealistic as hell, but I can sort of get it. But if you don't think Malkin is in the top echelon of all NHL players, you're smoking crack. You're not going to be able to get a Malkin-level player for cheaper.

Re: General fandom discussion

[(Anonymous)]

Isn't that the general crux with how paying players in the NHL works, especially faces of the franchise type players who had success early on when they couldn't earn as much as they were worth then? so what might become a bad contract in the future is still signed based on past success and the hope that maybe a few more good years are left before an inevitable rebuild?

Re: General fandom discussion

[(Anonymous)]

Current Malkin, no. But sports - all sports - are fickle and what looks like a good deal when the contract is signed doesn't mean ANYTHING for the future.

I'm not a Hawks or a Pens fan but comparing Malkin to Toews is laughable.

Re: General fandom discussion

[(Anonymous)]

In the middle of the Washington series less than two weeks ago, Malkin was the Pens leader in playoff points. That was with Fehr and Kunitz on his line. His contract sure seemed worth it then.

Sports are fickle and although the HBK line has been doing well, that has meant the comparatively weaker lines, both Malkin's and Crosby's, have suffered. That doesn't mean that generational talents are no longer generational talents.

Re: General fandom discussion

[(Anonymous)]

As an outsider looking in, this seems like a surprising opinion, as I thought he was an important piece of the Pens core?

Re: General fandom discussion

[(Anonymous)]

He is. I don't know where people are getting the idea that he isn't. if it weren't for him and Flower at the start of the season, the Pens would've been in a lot deeper shit. People tend to forget that now that everything's all hunky dory with Sullivan.

Re: General fandom discussion

[(Anonymous)]

Looking at the numbers wow he hasn't play a full season for awhile now. Watching the playoffs I haven't been impressed by what I've seen so far.

Re: General fandom discussion

[(Anonymous)]

No one could have predicted he'd be this injured when they signed the contract, though.