Top 20 Players To Keep An Eye On At The 2021-22 NHL Trade Deadline
By Jim Lynch
13. Evgeni Malkin – Pittsburgh Penguins
Evgeni Malkin is in the final of his contract, and the Penguins are not going to be competing for a Stanley Cup forever with this core. If the team wanted to get some assets in return for one of their franchise players they could move Malkin to a contender and move forward with their season knowing they added some value that can extend the window down the line.
Malkin has had trade rumors for a long time and considering this is the final year of his deal they are not ending right now. Considering he has a no-move clause, has a contract of 9.5 million, and has spent a lot of the season on long-term injury reserve, the chances of a Malkin trade are kind of low though – but hey, anything can happen!
14. Joe Pavelski – Dallas Stars
Joe Pavelski is in the final year of his contract with the Dallas Stars. He has a cap hit of 7 million dollars and a modified no-trade clause. The Stars are definitely not going to be in a playoff position this year with all of the tough teams ahead of them in the standings. So they could use this time to move a veteran forward who is competing for a championship in his career.
Pavelski is around a point per game right now with 29 points in his first 31 games on the season. He can still play serious minutes and is above 50 percent in the faceoff dot. A team looking to add a veteran presence would be lucky to add Pavelski, especially considering he has been to the Stanley Cup Final twice in the past ten years.