Ha, ha. It's possible that all the GMs now operate like you, but I tend to be skeptical of anyone who thinks they can predict thirty people's actions. Malkin's been an MVP and a playoff MVP. He's still a decent 2C, who can play a few spots on the power play pretty well. He's big and he hits hard. His cap hit might stop teams from signing big UFAs over the summer except...wait... the biggest UFA this summer is gonna be Hall again, and he only has two more points than Malkin, but isn't big, doesn't hit, and doesn't play center. Maybe some team would pass on a free Malkin to take a crack at overpaying RNH for longer? I don't really see it.

You’re just living in the past. His MVPs mean nothing. His playoff performance? He has 1 point on a very potent powerplay. He is not what you think he is.

Last year he finished with 74 points in 55 games. Early this year, he's a bit behind Namestnikov and Ryan, but he'll catch up. If the Pens wanted to give Malkin away, the Red Wings and Senators each could put in a claim and demote someone else to make enough cap space. Then they could retain a little and flip him within 24 hours to add a 1st round pick and a decent prospect, plus an okay roster player.