Penguins facing Evgeni Malkin contract dilemma
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Penguins facing Evgeni Malkin contract dilemma originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Pittsburgh Penguins had a surprisingly resurgent season.
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That won't reduce their offseason questions, including with the aging Evgeni Malkin.
Malkin is clearly one of the best players the Penguins have ever had, and he was a really high-end player most of this season.
He's also at the end of his contract, and while he seems to be pushing off retirement, the Penguins will still have to decide whether they want him back.
It's a conflict between sentimentality and reality.
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Daily Faceoff's Matt Larkin ranks Malkin as his No. 8 potential unrestricted free agent this offseason in the entire NHL, and he also acknowledges that this could be a tough call for the Penguins' front office.
"Malkin wants to keep playing," Larkin wrote in a new article on Friday. "He wants to keep playing for the Penguins. He’s been quite vocal about that all year, and he reiterated the sentiment days before Pittsburgh’s elimination from the playoffs. Helping Malkin’s chances: his resurgent season and the fact Pittsburgh recaptured playoff-contender status. Working against him: the fact they need to get younger and haven’t won a playoff series since 2018. Can GM Kyle Dubas afford to be sentimental about this case?"
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The Penguins are expected to have both Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang back, unless they change their own tune on potential retirement.
Will the big three with Malkin stick together? That's probably more up to whether Dubas makes him a reasonable offer than anything else. Malkin seemingly doesn't want to go anywhere.