Malkin's Struggles: A Closer Examination

By all accounts, this season's play of 2009 Conn Smythe Trophy winner and Pittsburgh Penguins' all-world center Evgeni Malkin has been widely dissected.

On pace for a mere mortal 75 or so points on the season, Malkin clearly is and has not been playing up to his usual form.

So why the struggles? And, more importantly, what can he or the Penguins coaching or management staff do to help him halt the funk?

This is my take.

I think Malkin's struggles have their root in a couple different factors.

The first is his lack of help on the wing.

Right now, he's playing with Ruslan Fedotenko and Max Talbot -- the same line that did so much damage in last year's postseason, but looks like a shadow of its former self at the moment.

While Feds has seen a majority of his time on Geno's wing, Malkin has had a variety of other wingers this season, too. Bill Guerin saw about 3 to 4 weeks with Geno. Pascal Dupuis has played there. Matt Cooke has seen a game or two. So has Mike Rupp and Luca Caputi.

We all know how much Rusty has struggled this season, but him aside, none of the rest of the guys who have played on Malkin's wing -- except maybe for Guerin -- have had an immediate and notable impact.

It is true that Maklin didn't have a star complement of wingers to play with last season either. Certainly, he produced at a high level then.

But when compounded with other factors, the lack of a proven scorer on his wing certainly may finally be catching up to him.

Another of Malkin's problems right now is that he's simply trying too hard.

Most players who slump do that and, while it's a detriment in the short-term, the reality is that it means the player truly cares about getting out of his malaise.

Malkin is no different.

As he has tried -- mostly unsuccessfully -- to get out of his slump, his confidence has taken a major hit.

You still see flashes of Malkin's dominance out the ice, but what you see more of is the quick frustration that sets in if something he tries doesn't work.

Malkin trying too hard is, in turn, leading to the third thing plaguing his game lately.

Lack of focus, both in the defensive zone and in the offensive zone.

By trying too hard, Geno is turning over the puck more. And doing it carelessly.

He's also taking needless penalties -- most born out of frustration -- that have been hurting the team a little.

All of these things have plagued the group as a whole in various forms during the last month or so, but Malkin has probably done more of that than most players in the spirit of trying to make something happen.

The good news is that most of these issues will likely sort themselves out in time. And probably all at once.

But what can be done to accelerate getting Geno going again?

Head Coach Dan Bylsma has already done what I would have done a few weeks sooner, which is take Malkin off the left point on the power play. That's a place he's clearly not comfortable and, more importantly, because he's a left handed shot, not nearly as effective.

I would put Malkin exactly where he is on the right half-wall and let the entire play funnel through him.

While fellow all-world center Sidney Crosby is just as effective there, he can also be effective distributing the puck down low and working around the goal.

I mean, the power play can't get worse, right? If Malkin doesn't get things going immediately, the Penguins aren't necessarily worse for wear.

The next thing I would do if I were Bylsma is move Bill Guerin back down to play with Geno.

By all accounts, Bylsma wants to give the Malkin, Fedotenko and Talbot line some time to see if it can get going again, but the fact is that Guerin is the only linemate who produced with Malkin this year, and Crosby is generating enough offense on his own that it's worth seeing if Crosby can make hay with other wingers.

Bylsma seems to be exploring playing Crosby without Guerin, giving Mike Rupp some time with Crosby recently, but those two haven't shown the ability to click in the short periods of ice time they've shared.

If the Penguins don't send Caputi down to Wilkes-Barre in the coming days, Bylsma should try him with Crosby. Or, if it means playing Guerin with Crosby, he should move Max Talbot up. Again, helping get Malkin's MOJO back should be a priority right now. Let Crosby see what he can manufacture with less help. At least for the time being.

If those line changes aren't tried or don't work, Bylsma might want to consider giving Jordan Staal some time with Malkin.

Their success together in Staal's rookie year has been well-documented, so based on that alone, it can't hurt to at least try it, but doing that would really change the Penguins' third line, and that is something that Bylsma is loathe to do.

Another thing the club can do for Geno is try to acquire more of a proven guy to play with him. I expect Pens' GM Ray Shero to do this leading up to the trade deadline, making it three years running the club looks to acquire a scoring winger of some kind for the stretch run.

That's the by-product of buidling the team down the middle, really.

The final things that need to be done to improve Malkin's game need to be done by Malkin himself.

The first thing he needs to do is start being physical.

Laying the body on the opponent tends to jump start certain players' games. It might work for Malkin. He's usually at his best when he's moving his feet and battling for the puck.

Mind you, Geno needs to be careful with this. Among the careless penalites he has taken in recent games are two boarding penalties. But I don't think those plays are going to happen in every game. Malkin can and should be more physical without that being a big concern.

The other thing he needs to do is start shooting the puck more.

Malkin has a wicked shot, and while he doesn't have confidence in it right now, he must start making a purposeful effort to just unleash that thing. All the time. Left. Right. Forwards. Backwards. Every chance he gets. Especially on the power play.

Finally, Malkin has to at least eliminate the turnovers in the defensive zone.

I mind them less when he's at least trying to create something in the offensive zone, but he has to stop doing things like making passes across his own blue line. In part, this is simply him not being focused and not paying attention to detail -- which everyone on the club has to do a better job of right now -- but it's even more important for Malkin because his confidence plummets even further when there's a bad result of something he's done.

I'd like to sit here and say Malkin needs to stop trying so hard, but that's just unrealistic for a star player like him. He wears his heart on his sleeve and the best players in this game always have expectations through the ceiling for themselves.

If Malkin concentrates on getting the small parts of his game going -- and if he gets a little help from the coaching staff (and, maybe, through a trade) -- the rest will take care of itself.

Again, just my take.