Credit Larry Brooks of the New York Post for confirming this morning what we all had assumed: That in the wake of his public dust-up with coach Tom Renney, Marek Malik is indeed on the trade block and in fact is being aggressively shopped by GM Glen Sather.

I must admit, my oatmeal went down a bit funny when I read this line from Brooks’ report:

Sather, we’re told, is demanding the equivalent of a top-four defenseman in return for Malik, who carries a cap charge of approximately $950,000 the remainder of the way for this, the final season of his contract.

While there is widespread interest around the league in Malik, no GM has been willing to meet Sather’s requirement for making a deal.

Well I should certainly hope not! Honestly, what’s Slats thinking here? You may have been able to pass Malik off as a top-four defenseman a year or two ago when he was playing every game with Michal Rozsival on the team’s top defensive pair, but during a season in which Malik has bounced in and out of the lineup, effectively serving as a sixth or seventh man on the blueline, even Glen Sather couldn’t have the audacity to demand a top-four defenseman in return, could he? Moreover, if the team were to acquire another top defenseman, who would be the odd man out amongst Rozsival, rookie Marc Staal, and the steady pair of Fedor Tyutin and Daniel Girardi?

Stay tuned, loyal readers. The NHL Trade Deadline is February 26th.