Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins. All Rights Reserved
This is not about the huge weekend Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin just had. (OK, maybe a little bit.)
And it’s not about nostalgia. (Well, that might factor in a tiny amount.)
This is about Malkin’s quest for a new contract, and how things might have changed – should have changed – since the start of the season.
That huge weekend in back-to-back Penguins wins over the Florida Panthers further thrust Malkin’s future into the spotlight. He had a hat trick plus an assist Saturday, then added a couple of assists Sunday. That gives Malkin 18 goals, 59 points in 54 games this season.
This summer, weeks before his 40th birthday, he is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent. That should absolutely not happen – the free agent part; birthdays, even big ones, happen regardless of whether we want them to.
Malkin has been a valuable asset this season. He has hop. He has swagger. He has said he wants to re-sign with the Penguins.
He has done what he can to keep his contract situation from being a distraction – after practice a couple weeks ago, he declined a request from reporters to be interviewed, accusing them of just wanting to ask about his contract. He wasn’t wrong. It’s a hot topic for a reason.
Let’s take a quick pros-and-cons assessment.
Pros: Malkin is a future Hall of Famer who on Saturday became the 23rd player in NHL history to eclipse 1,400 points. He certainly does not seem to be out of gas, and, in fact, seems as hungry as ever. He has willingly moved from center to right wing. Signing him for another season would bring an important continuity to the locker room, where he and 20-year teammates Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang have formed a bond that is mutually beneficial.
Cons: Well. Umm. He does lead the team with 62 penalty minutes, some of them ill-advised. He has missed time because of injury and a five-game suspension.
So what’s the problem? Malkin can’t be described as fragile any more than Crosby or others who have been hurt this season. The idea that he will cross some sort of line in the sand when he hits 40 is silly. Judge the player, not the age. Even if he regresses slightly next season, he will still be one of the team’s better forwards. And the notion that he would block a deserving prospect is unknowable. Remember when fans assumed that Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen would be productive members of the NHL roster all season? And Malkin certainly hasn’t blocked the path for 18-year-old center Ben Kindel.
We don’t know what Malkin will demand to re-up. He’s in the final year of a four-year contract with a $6.1 million AAV. Maybe he won’t settle for a paycut, but maybe he will. And with the salary cap expected to rise, and the likelihood of a couple forwards being lost to free agency, the Penguins can afford to bring Malkin back (assuming incoming owners the Hoffmann family allow the team to continue to spend up to the cap if it needs to).
Let’s say Malkin will sign for $5 million for next season. He would be worth it, even for, say, a third-line winger, especially with player values probably going up along with the cap.
Here’s the rub: Penguins president of hockey operations/general manager Kyle Dubas has not exactly come across as someone itching to bring Malkin back. He did not engage in contract talks last summer. He was expected to talk to Malkin and his camp during the Olympic break, but that got pushed back until after the season.
At this point, Malkin has more than proven himself worthy of a new contract, even though he is willing to keep trying to do that.
Imagine a player of his caliber — three-time Stanley Cup winner, two-time Art Ross winner and one-time Hart Trophy winner — and at this stage of his career having to practically beg for a new contract, and being willing to prove himself over and over during the season.
Asked after Saturday’s milestone game about proving himself during this final stretch of games and the playoffs, which seem to be nearly a lock, Malkin put his heart squarely on his sleeve.
“If I say I deserve it but he says no, what’s to talk about?” he said of Dubas. “We’ll see how the playoffs work. It’s how I play in the playoffs, how I play in the last five games. We’ll see what’s going on in the summer, but now it’s the most fun time of the year.
“Every goal helps me to (a) contract, trust me.”
Malkin even embraced the move in recent weeks to wing, something some star veterans might have balked at.
“I love playing center all my life, and now I love playing wing,” he said. “It’s crazy. But maybe I’m an important player. I can play both. Talk to Kyle. What he love. Coach say play right wing. It’s working. We see what’s going on. I feel better every game. I understand the role playing wing, (defensive) zone and offensive zone. I (feel) comfortable. I love it.”
If Dubas has strong reservations, or even moderate ones, it’s difficult to understand what those might be. He can see the stats, the hunger. He could hear the chants of “Geno, Geno” Saturday that nearly brought Malkin to tears. While nostalgia doesn’t normally have a place in a business plan, in this case it could provide a valuable stability in the team’s psyche. Mess with good team chemistry at your own peril.
Coming into the season, there was a question about whether Malkin had what it took anymore. He dipped to 16 goals, 50 points in 68 games last season, with an ugly minus-24. He has answered that resoundingly, back over a point a game on average, so things have changed.
Unless Dubas is scared off by Makin’s age, or for some reason simply doesn’t like Malkin and is willing to let something personal like that guide his moves, the path forward is clear.
Bring Makin back.
Bring. Him. Back.
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