not likely to offer him another deal<\/a>.<\/p>\nEvgeni Malkin’s decline<\/p>\n
Season<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Age<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Games<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Goals<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Assists<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Points<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
2022-23<\/p>\n
36<\/p>\n
82<\/p>\n
27<\/p>\n
56<\/p>\n
83<\/p>\n
2023-24<\/p>\n
37<\/p>\n
82<\/p>\n
27<\/p>\n
40<\/p>\n
67<\/p>\n
2024-25<\/p>\n
38<\/p>\n
68<\/p>\n
16<\/p>\n
34<\/p>\n
50<\/p>\n
The goal is to get young in Pittsburgh, and, for all of Malkin\u2019s greatness and Hall of Fame credentials, he\u2019d be 40 at the start of a new contract. Malkin is aware. So, what\u2019s the ideal way for this to play out in his eyes?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt depends on how the season is going,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we play great, and I play great, and I feel confident and show my game \u2014 why not one more year? The season is huge for me, my team, myself. I\u2019m still hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Malkin\u2019s contract includes a no-movement clause. He was asked Friday if he\u2019d consider waiving the clause if another team comes calling, particularly if the Penguins are out of playoff contention at the NHL trade deadline in March. The franchise icon admitted he\u2019s thought about it and even mentioned one of the most famous trade-deadline deals in recent NHL history.<\/p>\n
Brad Marchand, the captain of the Boston Bruins, was traded to Florida and played an instrumental role in the Panthers\u2019 Stanley Cup run last spring.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard,\u201d Malkin said. \u201cAgain, we see a story like Brad Marchand. Looking good. Team trades you, you win the Cup. It\u2019s a little weird, too. Of course, everybody wants to make the playoffs, maybe make one more run at the Cup. Great story. But I don\u2019t know how I would feel if the team wants to trade me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Malkin said that, if this is the end, he has no regrets and that playing in Pittsburgh for two decades has been a privilege.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this is my last year, I\u2019ve had 20 years,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s not too bad, too. I\u2019m glad to be a Penguin, win three Stanley Cups here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The thought of finishing his career in his hometown of Magnitogorsk, Russia, has crossed his mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so hard to say,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been to Russia and people start talking about me playing one more year in my hometown.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the end, Malkin sounds like someone who prefers to end his career where it started in 2006. Malkin remains extremely close with fellow Penguins stars Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang and has always preferred the idea of finishing his career with the three of them together in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope I stay here,\u201d Malkin said. \u201cLike Sid, Tanger, Penguins forever, for sure. I hope we play great. I want to stay here, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Malkin had a good summer and said he feels stronger than usual.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the second day,\u201d he said of a brutal training camp under new Penguins coach Dan Muse. \u201cReally hard. But I like it. I feel fine. The league is not easy anymore. Thirty-(two) good team, young teams coming into the league. They\u2019re flying. I\u2019m ready every day, focused every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even if there might not be many days left.<\/p>\n
Malkin and Dubas haven\u2019t discussed a new contract, and it\u2019s uncertain whether they will. Dubas said on Thursday that he\u2019ll sit down with Malkin to discuss his future, likely during the Olympic break in February.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t talk yet,\u201d Malkin said. \u201cIt\u2019s a long season. Training camp just started. We\u2019ll see what\u2019s going on. Huge season for Kyle, for everybody here. We missed the playoffs the last three years. It\u2019s not great.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Photo: Bruce Bennett \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. \u2014 Everyone knows it: Evgeni Malkin is in the twilight of his career at 39…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154679,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,4785,85],"class_list":["post-154678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nhl","tag-pittsburgh-penguins","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}