First Call: Steelers reportedly move on from Desmond King; Evgeni Malkin snubbed from another Top 100 list

Wednesday’s “First Call” starts with a surprising move by the Pittsburgh Steelers and a surprising omission for the Penguins from an ESPN list.

Plus, it was a memorable night for a former Penguin, and an ex-Pirates executive may land a big-time job back in Major League Baseball.

Well, that was quick

So much for the Desmond King era in Pittsburgh.

According to Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, the Steelers plan to release or trade the veteran defensive back and replace him with Kansas City Chiefs practice squad member Darius Rush.

In a related move, Pittsburgh is expected to sign rookie CB Darius Rush off the #Chiefs' practice squad, per source. https://t.co/pn02keqa0d

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 18, 2023

On Aug. 31, King was signed by the Steelers after a release from the Houston Texans. The move was met with great applause, but King saw the field for just one play on defense and a few kick returns.

Here is how The Athletic’s Dan Brugler assessed Rush coming out of the draft when he was selected in the fifth round by Indianapolis this spring.

“A good-sized athlete, Rush has excellent reactionary quickness in man coverage with balanced movements to transition cleanly out of his breaks and make plays on the football,” Brugler said. “Though he does a great job closing space in coverage, his route anticipation is still a work in progress, and his play strength must improve to better match up with physical NFL wideouts.”

Between King’s immediate dismissal, Kevin Dotson and Ahkello Witherspoon improving in Los Angeles, and even Kendrick Green being part of an offensive line that shut out the Steelers’ pass rush in Houston, are we maybe going to dial back some of the “Khan Artist” hype for Omar Khan every time he makes a minor move going forward?

Give it some thought.

More sports

• Tim Benz: The time is right, the need is present for Steelers to start Broderick Jones, Joey Porter Jr.
• Penguins' trade lands defenseman Jack Rathbone, forward Karel Plasek from Canucks
• Mike Tomlin anticipating return of 'expert route running' from Steelers WR Diontae Johnson

No for Geno

ESPN.com published a list of the top 100 current NHL players. Penguins center Evgeni Malkin isn’t on it.

Among active players, Malkin’s 1,235 points are fifth behind Joe Thornton (1,539), Sidney Crosby (1,506), Alex Ovechkin (1,485) and Patrick Kane (1,237). His six points are tied for the league lead so far in the young season. But he didn’t crack the top 100.

The list was compiled via “an ESPN panel of more than 50 broadcasters, analysts, reporters and editors to rate players based on how good they will be in the 2023-24 season compared to their peers.”

As you might expect, a search on X for Penguins fans’ responses to that oversight resulted in, shall we say, less than favorable reviews. Pens analyst Jay Caufield politely expressed his disagreement on 93.7 The Fan.

An ESPN list did NOT include Evgeni Malkin among the Top 100 Players in the NHL right now.

Jay Caufield's thoughts on that?

More expansive Caufield from the #CookandJoeShow here: https://t.co/31T7kFOqMF pic.twitter.com/nye2FMTJth

— 93.7 The Fan (@937theFan) October 17, 2023

Other Penguins who made the list include Sidney Crosby (23), Erik Karlsson (41), Kris Letang (56) and Jake Guentzel (71).

If Malkin had made the list, there would likely be equal ire about Crosby being at 23. But Malkin’s omission makes for easier — and more effective — performative outrage. So we’ll stick with that for now.

Edmonton Oilers center and captain Connor McDavid landed at No. 1. Brian Metzer and I discussed the list during this week’s “Breakfast With Benz” hockey podcast.

Montreal moment

It was quite a night for former Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury in Montreal. The native of Quebec made 27 saves en route to a 5-2 win for the Minnesota Wild over the homesteading Canadiens.

Marc-Andre Fleury makes a spectacular save pic.twitter.com/znKzvdw080

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) October 18, 2023

“Flower” received the game’s No. 1 star and a standing ovation after what may be his last performance in front of his hometown crowd before retirement.

Awesome moment for Marc-Andre Fleury in Montreal. #MNwild pic.twitter.com/cYRoStGO7o

— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) October 18, 2023

Fleury got the traditional shaving-cream pie-in-the-face treatment during a postgame interview on RDS.

MOOSE: 1 #mnwild pic.twitter.com/QIJ4pbxrrP

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) October 18, 2023

That’s Fleury’s 545th win, six behind Patrick Roy for second all-time.

New gig for Neal?

Neal Huntington may be in line for a new job.

According to Rob Bradford of WEEI.com, the former Pirates general manager is a candidate to become the new Boston Red Sox head of baseball operations.

Multiple sources confirm that former Pirates GM Neal Huntington is a candidate for the Red Sox head of baseball ops position. Was let go in Pittsburgh after 2019 season. Worked with Guardians last season. A New Hampshire native.

— Rob Bradford (@bradfo) October 16, 2023

Huntington was the Bucs GM from 2007-19. He was in charge of the roster when it finally broke the franchise’s 20 years of losing in 2013 by winning 94 games and making the playoffs for the first of three straight seasons.

The 54-year-old has New England ties. He is an Amherst graduate and is a native of New Hampshire. Huntington worked in the Cleveland Guardians front office last season as a special assistant for baseball projects.

WEEI.com reports that “other than internal candidates, the only known candidates in line to be interviewed are current Twins GM Thad Levine and Huntington. It is expected the Red Sox will show interest in former Marlins general manager Kim Ng, who declined her side of the mutual option to return with Miami.”