Maple Leafs Division Rival Reportedly Emerging as Frontrunner to Land Evgeni Malkin

The likely future Hall of Famer Evgeni Malkin is in the final year of a four-year contract, and the 39-year-old Hart Trophy winner hasn't shown any signs of slowing down, or that he's ready to retire.

The Pittsburgh Penguins on the other hand seem like a new era is incoming. After three Stanley Cup wins with Malkin, the Penguins have found themselves a team on the outside, and closer to a potential rebuild than a cup run.

The potential for the Penguins to change course and rebuild could spell the end of Evgeni Malkin, and one major contender seems to be implied as an option for the Russian to potentially wind down his career.

Evgeni Malkin is being hinted at with a potential trade out from the Pittsburgh Penguins, with one rival of the Toronto Maple Leafs floated as one possible contender for his services.

A report from Greg Wyshynski of ESPN says that the Florida Panthers are a team that could be taking a strong gamble at Evgeni Malkin. The Panthers, back-to-back reigning Stanley Cup champions, could be one team in the hunt.

The Florida Panthers are without forwards Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk, depending on the length of their absences opening up salary room for this season. Florida has $2.2M in available cap space, Malkin has a $6.1M contract.

Malkin, 39, is playing in his 20th NHL season, his entire career having spent with the Pittsburgh Penguins, third in all-time points among active NHLers, but a change of scenery is something being heavily floated in reports.

The Panthers could put one or both of Barkov and Tkachuk on season-ending LTIR depending on if they can come back, and use whatever salary they have to add Malkin, and get them back in the playoffs when the salary cap is no longer a factor.

Although Malkin having a house in Florida means little in terms of a potential trade, but the links of Malkin to a move from the Penguins are one that has gained traction as the Penguins are indicating they're headed to a new phase as a team.

The potential acquisition for the Florida Panthers of Evgeni Malkin will be a major strengthening of a depleted Panthers roster that is in need of some additional offensive help.

Malkin would be a major help for a Panthers roster that has been dealt two major losses to their forward group, and can still be a top-six center on an NHL team at 39, and still has a lot in his game to go for at least another couple of years.

Malkin's longtime teammate Sidney Crosby is another player who has been linked to another Atlantic rival in the Montreal Canadiens as a possible option. Both Crosby and Malkin in the Atlantic would create a highly competitive division that challenges Toronto's ability to take advantage.

Already having had a quiet offseason with the loss of Mitch Marner, the addition of two highly skilled forwards to two different rivals could spell a nightmare for the Leafs, although they'll be banking on being able to hold them down physically.

In an Atlantic Division that is right now open for the taking, a major grab could tip the scales, and the Panthers injury blows may turn out to be a quiet blessing in disguise in the playoffs, and one that the Leafs may need to fight even harder to beat.