The three-time premiership coach is open to the idea of his designated kickers experimenting with torpedoes from kick-ins.
It's a tactic that Malthouse employed with some success at Collingwood, when he empowered Tyson Goldsack as his occasional rocket-launcher from full-back.
When Goldsack made sweet contact, the ball would land deep inside the centre square and the Magpies would often surge towards an open forward line.
The Blues used the ploy only sparingly last year under former coach Brett Ratten, but it could be exploited further under Malthouse.
Keen to broaden his team's ball-movement options, Malthouse has given licence to his two longest kicks, Matthew Watson and Zach Tuohy, to attempt the odd spiral punt from the defensive goalsquare during match simulation drills.
The pair have also been practising their long-range kicking after training, with both regularly sending bombs into the centre of Visy Park. Malthouse has been a hands-on observer, strategically placing cones as targets and providing instruction on technique.
Malthouse's intention was revealed last week when Watson put it into practice during a modified scratch match at Carlton headquarters.
The left-footed key defender drew gasps of admiration from fans when he roosted a kick-in that travelled about 70m. Significantly, it carried the pack and landed in open space, where a teammate ran onto the loose ball and delivered it to a leading forward.
In the blink of an eye, defence had turned to attack.
Blues defensive coach Gavin Brown said it was a result of Malthouse's desire to learn more about his players' capabilities and limitations, and explore their strengths.
The torpedo, particularly at kick-ins, is a double-edged sword: a potentially high-reward kick that is also high-risk. Accordingly, Brown insisted there were no guarantees the Blues would employ it in the premiership season.
"It's not in the game plan, but they're both long kicks and Mick's letting them have their head a bit at this stage to show a bit of flair and whack one long down the middle every so often," he told AFL.com.au.
"I'm not sure what's going to happen when the season gets underway, but I suppose that'll be determined by what happens in the practice matches. If the ball comes straight back over their heads for a goal or two, it mightn't last long. But hopefully it's something we'll have in our repertoire.
"We don't want to be predictable. We want to have as many plays in our playbook as possible, and try to penetrate the opposition's defence as many different ways as we can, because that makes it harder for the opposition to pick you off.
"I'm sure that our kick-ins will be a little bit different to last year, so I guess that's one advantage that we've got: that the opposition have got to redo their homework."
The AFL's decision to reduce the kick-in time to just six seconds might well provide more opportunity for some ball-bursting punts.
Brown described Watson as "a magnificent kick". The 1990 Collingwood premiership player rated the 20-year-old alongside former Magpie teammates Peter Daicos, Doug Barwick and the Rocca brothers as one of the longest kicks he had been involved with.
Brown said Watson was "pretty consistent and accurate" with his torpedo attempts, but believed his drop punts travel almost as far.
Now the big blond just has to get a regular game – no easy task given the Blues are virtually injury-free. However, Watson (who played eight of his 11 AFL games in the second half of last season) is as well prepared as ever to establish himself. He has added a few kilos of muscle to become an even more imposing presence.
Brown continues to be impressed by the kicking progress of Irishman Tuohy.
"He's unique," he said. "To be given kick-in responsibilities, which is as much about decision-making, let alone the actual execution of the kick, it's a pretty decent effort. It's the hardest kick to do. And to do a torp is even harder. And they'll only have six seconds this season. But he is very capable."
The Blues are well endowed with capable designated kickers, with Watson, Tuohy and the likes of Kade Simpson, Chris Yarran, Michael Jamison and Lachie Henderson providing different skills for every occasion.
