Evgeni Malkin trade list: what the January deadline means for Pittsburgh

Evgeni Malkin's three-team trade list is due in January, and the Penguins are running out of time to turn this season around.

Pittsburgh is 5-9-2, sitting 29th in the NHL, and just lost its fourth straight, a 6-2 loss to the Bruins on Thursday night. The trade chatter around Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust and Erik Karlsson has been loud for weeks. Now it has reached the most beloved Penguin not named Sidney Crosby.

Darren Dreger reported that Malkin is required to give the Penguins a list of three teams he would accept a trade to, and that it is part of his one-year contract. The Evgeni Malkin three-team trade list report landed Friday, and it changes how every Penguins loss gets read from here.

The timing is awkward because Malkin is not fading. He has six goals and 11 points in 14 games, plays on the top power-play unit and is logging around 17 minutes a night.

He is 40 years old, and nobody could call him a passenger on this team. He leads a group that cannot get out of its own way.

Dreger noted that general manager Kyle Dubas has a plan to move toward a younger roster. He also asked the question that hangs over the whole franchise: if Pittsburgh is still floundering in January, do you keep a 40-year-old on a team going nowhere, or move him to a contender?

Karlsson's expected departure has been widely reported, and Rust is on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, listed as out until at least Dec. 5. Rust has played only seven games this season. The Penguins are being stripped for parts whether they like it or not.

Why Bill Guerin and the Wild make sense

Dreger did not stop at the list. He floated a destination, saying Wild general manager Bill Guerin has interest in Malkin, but only if the price is right and Malkin is willing to go when the time comes.

There is history there. Guerin joined Pittsburgh at the 2008-09 trade deadline as a 39-year-old veteran, when Malkin was 22 and winning the Art Ross Trophy with 113 points. Guerin scored 21 goals in his final NHL season, 2009-10, still in a Penguins sweater. That kind of relationship matters when you ask a franchise icon to leave the only NHL home he has known.

On paper, Minnesota fits. The Wild are 12-3-3, first in the Central Division and second in the league, and they host the Lightning tonight. A veteran center who can still finish and contribute on the power play would help a deep run.

Dreger is not the only one sniffing around the Penguins. Elliotte Friedman's view on quick Penguins deals is that Dubas could sell "pretty quickly" if the losses keep piling up.

If Pittsburgh is going to sell anyway, moving Malkin to a contender while he is still producing is the right play. Keeping him through a lottery season to protect a feel-good story would be a mistake, and it would waste a final year of a player who still has something left.

Pittsburgh visits the Kings tonight, a Los Angeles team that is 5-7-2 and 28th in the league. Every game between now and January will read like a referendum on this roster, and the list is due when the calendar turns.

Quick hits

CALGARY FLAMES: Five straight wins is a nice run, and Cutter Gauthier ended it. His go-ahead goal helped the Ducks rally to a 5-3 win at the Saddledome.

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SAN JOSE SHARKS: Macklin Celebrini tied it Friday night in Minnesota, but the Sharks still fell 4-1 to the Wild. That is four straight losses now, and the Sharks are running short on answers.

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COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS: Zachary Werenski scored again, but the Blue Jackets lost 5-2 in Buffalo. A road game that got away from them, and one more wasted effort from their best defenseman.

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BRUINS: Mikey Eyssimont is back in the lineup after missing a game with a puck to the mouth, according to Mark Divver. Quick turnaround for a player who took one in the face.

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BUFFALO SABRES: Josh Norris scored twice as the Sabres beat Columbus 5-2 at home. Jack Quinn helped lift them too, and the home crowd got a comfortable one.

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Dylan Larkin trade update: a third team emerges in Wild-Red Wings talks