NHL Trade Rumors: Pittsburgh trades Evgeni Malkin to the New Jersey Devils

The 32-year-old Evgeni Malkin has spent 13 NHL seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and it's becoming more and more likely his 13th was his last. According to sources NJ Devils' GM, Ray Shero is very interested in reuniting with the Russian star.

Earlier this week,TSN's Darren Dreger mentioned on his piece on Insider Trading, he's been told only Sidney Crosby is off the Pens' trade board. Ray Shero who spent 8 seasons as GM of the Penguins, is currently dealing with his own superstar issues, as Taylor Hall isn't quite ready to sign an extension. Adding Evgeni Malkin, makes Taylor Hall's decision much easier.

Pens' GM, Jim Rutherford needs to get creative with his salary cap and with Phil Kessel currently saying he isn't going anywhere, Malkin could be the piece to go. A trade with the Devils may be centered around a combination of Damon Severson, Pavel Zacha, Kyle Palmieri and Miles Wood. Rutherford is looking to re-tool on the fly, so adding roster players is essentially, however, with the cap crunch in Pittsburgh he may be open to a package of prospects/picks along with one of the names mentioned. Shero isn't going to budge off the #1 pick in 2019, so don't expect to see Commissioner Gary Bettman making any announcements prior to the first selection. However, the 2019 NHL Draft is setting up to be a haven for deals.

Can Ray Shero convince Evgeni Malkin New Jersey is his new home?