Fan Proposal: Parise for Malkin

Parise doesn’t offer what we need? Boy howdy

idk they r both coming of of injuries and zach loves nj what r the details on malkins contract?

I don’t see how this benefits Pittsburgh unless for whatever crazy reason they are trying to clear cap space or gain something other then Parise.

 Sure Malkin is a center but I believe he plays the wing also. So I don’t see how picking up a player who only plays wing helps them.

• While Parise missed most of last year due to injury he has never missed more than one game in any other season, Malkin has missed parts of the last two seasons due to a whole slew of injuries.
  *Take a look at some of the advanced stats from Behindthenet.ca. In 2009-2010, Zach Parise had a Quality of Competition of 0.099. Our top two centers were at 0.375 (Zajac), and 0.008 (Elias). Malkin came in at 0.000.

Malkin was also a negative on the defensive side of the ice. Goals against per 60 went up from 2.05 to 3.65 when Malkin stepped on to the ice. When Parise stepped on to the ice, goals against per 60 went from 2.13 to 1.82. Our second line centers were also positive factors on the defensive end. Goals against per 60 dropped from 2.22 to 1.48 when Zajac was on the ice, and from 1.84 to 1.30 when Elias was out there.

On the offensive end, Malkin’s presence boosted Pittsburgh’s goals for per 60 from 2.84 to 3.29. For Parise, the jump in goals for per 60 was from 1.86 to 3.36. For Zajac and Elias, the jumps were from 2.00 to 3.10 and 2.11 to 3.67 respectively.

So, no, I am not in favor of trading a player who excels at both ends of the ice against tough competition for a center who is a defensive liability against weaker competition than our current “2nd line centers.”

brad richards would be gr8 ohh w8 2 late
or jason spezza

As it was last season, there’s some room to discuss this proposal in a rational fashion. That being said, I still don’t see this trade as a possibility at this point.

Pittsburgh is not going to make this trade right now under any circumstances. It would be too risky for them to deal an elite talent such as Evgeni Malkin for a player who can be a rental…. and Zach Parise can’t sign an extension until January 1st. Once you get to January 1st, I suppose they’d think about it…. but I don’t see how it addresses Pittsburgh’s issues. While they can certainly play without Malkin (as they demonstrated last season), this sort of trade doesn’t address their lack of overall forward depth, and I imagine there are many in the Steel City would view Malkin to Parise as a downgrade. In any event, the Penguins would want a window to get a contract extension out of Parise in a post-January 1st world, or they’ll shoot down any Malkin/Parise swap out of hand. No extension, no deal.

New Jersey isn’t ever going to make this kind of trade. The only way I see a Parise deal is if it is made clear that Zach Parise will walk as a free agent this summer…. and at that point Lou Lamorello loses all his leverage and much of Parise’s trade value unless he finds a way to keep the information secret long enough to consumate a deal.

Pittsburgh is considerably deeper at center than they are on the wing…. but I don’t know that they’d have any more success with Parise instead of Malkin. They’d have a terrific top line with Crosby, Parise, and whomever…. but their second line would be a substantial drop-off from that, and their third line isn’t going to be particularly good. We’ve seen a number of “one line” teams in the NHL in recent years — the Tampa club the Devils played in the 2007 playoffs comes to mind — and a team like that strikes me as incredibly feast-or-famine and unlikely to make a lengthy run in the playoffs.

For the Devils, I think you’ve got a similar conundrum of how you construct your lines and how much depth is there. If you put Malkin and Kovalchuk together — with a right wing to be named later — you’ve almost got a “one line” team issue, because I don’t see how an Elias/Zajac/whomever combination is going to provide you the secondary firepower you desire…. both Elias and Zajac strike me as guys more suited to be a set-up man and not a scorer.

In addition, there are the points HockeyWeasel raises above, about how Parise is a more complete player than Malkin and contributes in a number of ways beyond putting the puck in the net. I’d ask the question about how much Malkin (and his numbers) have benefitted from not having to be “the Man” in Pittsburgh, and how much Malkin (and his numbers) have benefitted from a more offensive system and a more robust defense corps (especially at the offensive end). Would Malkin be able to adjust to a different team and style, or would we have issues similar to what we’ve had with Ilya Kovalchuk at times when the defensive side of things is lacking?

Finally, what about the financial ramifications? Parise makes $6 million this season on a one-year deal. Malkin has a cap hit of $8.7 million for each of the next three years, and is making $9 million this season and next (and $7.5 million in 2013-2014). Does this fit with the Devils’ payroll, or would another move have to be made to accomodate the monetary end of things? Trent Hunter would have been an ideal guy to throw into a theoretical Parise/Malkin swap to balance out the numbers, but he’s gone. The guy who would make the numbers “match” is David Clarkson, but would you want to throw him into the deal and would Pittsburgh be interested in taking him on? If so, could the Devils get anything else to “balance” the trade from a hockey perspective (a pick or prospect), and what kind of return would that be?

I don’t see this kind of deal happening. I wouldn’t make it myself. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t something that can’t be talked about to pass the time before training camp.

Parise is a top notch two way forward. I would feel comfortable comparing him to Pavel Datsyuk (not saying ZP is better than, but comparisons may be easily drawn). I feel this is a huge statement to make since PD is a center, and ZP “only” a winger.

Zach likes New Jersey. He has said consistently that he wants to play in NJ, he answers PAGES of fanmail on Fire and Ice Blog, he is a posterchild for NJ Reads campaign.

New Jersey likes Zach. They made the 100M$ man go to his offwing to allow them to play on the same line. The fans go nuts for him. I’ve even heard “Parise’s Better” when he steps on the ice.

There’s no reason to give up a top 5 LW considering the centers we have developing. Josefson is going to be something special in 2-3 years. Elias is more than capable of playing center. If your definition of Travis’s skills are “servicable”, I can only state that your opinion is representative of the crowd which underappreciates NJ forwards. TZ is a very good center – when I think of teams with Elite Centers: TB, Pitt, LA, SJ, Van, Det, Chi. I think Travis leads the pack of “good centers” just after them.

I love it when fans throw trades out there willy nilly.

Unless you purchase EA Sports’ newest hockey video game and do it.

I am the brother of Jozac21 that he spoke about at the beginning of this
article. I’d like to throw in my two cents here.
For the last few days, I’ve been especially confused by the actions of Lou, (not
that I necessarily disagree with them), just unsure. With the Hunter trade, which
eventually led to the buying out of his and White’s contract, and the one-year deal
for a player as special as ZP, something does seem fishy.
Last year, I heard several rumors, even from Stan Fischler (although I never
really agree with what he says) about a potential trade between Parise and Malkin.
It’s a trade I don’t totally agree with, considering that Zach is one of my favorite
players to put on a jersey, but if it were to happen than I’d simply repeat in my
head "In Lou We Trust."
There isn’t a single person who reads this blog that didn’t almost fall off their
seats when they went on their hockey news site a year and half ago to see that Kovy
is a Devil. Every year there’s a "big story" and I’ve spent my entire hockey-watching
life knowing that my team is rarely ever involved in those controversial player
battles. So when I saw the news that Kovy was a Devil, let alone a few months later
when he signed the most talked about contract in Devils’ history, I came to the
realization that I should probably shut my mouth and see what happens.
Truthfully, as fans, we don’t have a choice but to love Kovy. He will be
wearing red and black until the day he hangs up his jersey after his final game.
So that thought that keeps lingering; that Parise may be traded, seems far
less terrifying since the entire Kovy saga began, considering that I no longer even
know what the direction of this team is.
Would I choose Malkin over Parise? I don’t really know at this point. I’m still
trying to keep up with this team, because it’s far-gone from the one I grew up
watching. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad, only time will tell.
But if Parise were to get traded for Malkin, or anyone else of that caliber, I’d
still repeat in my head "In Lou We Trust," because ultimately, this is the still the
team that’s brought me years upon years of joy, even through John Maclean’s
poppycock coaching.
We need a center. The truth is the undeniable. With Larsson on our team, we
could have this generation’s Stevens, and potentially a return of the notorious
Devil’s defense. But the fact still remains: we need a center; especially if we plan on
ever seeing a cup again.
Even if we don’t make that crazy trade, there’s still this to ask: didn’t Parise
play center in college? Would it hurt to try it?
Ultimately, it IS a little weird to have our two best forwards playing the same
side on wing. I’ve seen two great centers countless times, a center/winger, center/
defenseman, and RW/LW. Perhaps Parise can move his position, solving everything? I
know the line with him and Kovy didn’t work under Maclean last season, but nothing
actually worked under Maclean. I would love to see a wing-to-wing combo
comparable to Naslund/Bertuzzi, or Kariya/Selanne. In theory, ZP/Kovy is far better
than both those combinations.

Two elite left-wingers is taboo, but then again that might just make it work
too. I really never liked Elias at center though. I’ve always thought of him as being
the poster-child for being a perfect wingman. So, if we were to not get a new center,
I’d love to so Josefson step-up to be our 2nd line guy this season; although I doubt
he’s ready.
Thoughts?

Unfortunately, since last season, I feel like only time will clear up all these debates. Perhaps Zajac will prove to be our number one guy down the middle. I still don’t like the idea of Elias at center, but who am I? If it works, it works.

“KovyisLove” is correct though. I think I’ve been denying that Brodeur’s career will be coming to its end soon. Trying to picture the future without him is like trying to imagine what life after death is like. It’s totally unknown.
It’s possible that the prospects in net that we have could fill his shoes someday, but I think his retirement will be coming sooner than they’ll be ready to take the starting position. We’ll probably get a decent veteran goalie to protect the net for a few years until the next Marty (if that’s even possible) manifests.
But I do think we should get a rookie. This whole time, I’ve been saying we should get Bernier, but that’s mostly because he’s the best rookie goalie in NHL11; not that that holds any truth. But I have seen him play, and he is really good, and young.

Malking is over the hill…Can’t take a hit without being hurt..Parise is everything Pittsburgh wishes Malking would be