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Evgeni Malkin

Evgeni Malkin Signs Four-Year Extension

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Turns out Evgeni Malkin isn’t heading to market after all. After going back and forth for months, the Pittsburgh Penguins and their Russian superstar have come to an agreement just 12 hours before he was set to hit the open market. Malkin has signed a four-year extension that will pay him $24.4MM ($6.1MM AAV).

General manager Ron Hextall released the following statement:

Evgeni is a generational talent who will be remembered as one of the greatest players in NHL history. His hockey resume and individual accomplishments speak volumes about him as a player, and we are thrilled to watch him continue his remarkable legacy in Pittsburgh.

Malkin, 35, will now be under contract through the 2025-26 season, one year longer than teammate Sidney Crosby (but two years shorter than the recently-extended Kris Letang, who now carries the same cap hit). Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports the full details of the contract:

  • 2022-23: $4.0MM salary + $4.0MM signing bonus
  • 2023-24: $6.0MM salary
  • 2024-25: $5.6MM salary
  • 2025-26: $1.0MM salary + $3.8MM signing bonus

The deal also includes a full no-movement clause throughout, though trade speculation will likely never stop, as it has followed Malkin through most of his career.

What a career it has been. The second-overall pick from 2004 stepped into the NHL in 2006 as an instant superstar, winning the Calder Trophy in a landslide over Paul Stastny (Malkin received 120 of the 143 first-place votes) and scoring 85 points in 78 games. By year two, he was already the Hart Trophy runner-up and by year three he was taking home the Art Ross as the league’s most productive player. He also happened to take home the Conn Smythe that year, as the Malkin and the Crosby-led Penguins lifted the Stanley Cup for the first time. They would do it twice more with that dynamic duo in place, and now look to try it again while they are still effective.

It has never been Malkin’s effectiveness that is questioned, only his consistency and health. The big center has only played 70 games in a season once over the last decade, usually missing significant stretches due to injury. This season he played in just 41 games, though he still managed to score at a better than point-per-game pace, registering 20 goals and 42 points.

The negotiation, obviously stressful on both sides, has resulted in a deal that seems more than reasonable. The Penguins get to have Malkin back for a cap hit quite a bit lower than the $9.5MM he had been carrying since 2014, while the veteran forward gets the security of a four-year deal to play out his career in Pittsburgh.

Now the question of whether Malkin, Crosby, and Letang are still good enough to lead this team to the promised land will be asked–or whether all this contract confirms is that they will each be Penguins for life.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Kane, Bowman, Malkin

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Forward Evander Kane is nothing if not the most polarizing and interesting free agent on the market this offseason. The 30-year-old power forward has had his fair share of off-ice controversies in his career, including a pending arbitration hearing that may award him back to the San Jose Sharks after the team terminated his contract during the 2021-22 season. Yet Kane was still spectacular on the ice after signing a one-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers for the remainder of the season, notching 39 points in 43 regular-season games and leading the NHL in scoring during the playoffs with 13 goals in just 15 games.

Yet, reports surfaced earlier this week that Kane and the Oilers weren’t close on an extension. Today, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta adds that there haven’t been any conversations yet today between Kane’s camp and the Oilers, adding to the likelihood Kane hits the open market tomorrow. It doesn’t limit Edmonton’s ability to re-sign him, and quite frankly, it’s still the most likely destination for him. Kane’s risk factor is only increased by the pending arbitration decision, and other teams will be hesitant to commit term to Kane without either having a deal in place with San Jose to trade back for him or having clarity on his future.

  • Legendary coach and executive Scott Bowman is moving on from the Chicago Blackhawks organization this summer, per the man himself. Now 88, Bowman had been a senior advisor for the Blackhawks since 2008. A winner of 12 Stanley Cups, Bowman will likely have any job he wants if he wants to continue his management career in the NHL.
  • Pittsburgh Penguins president of hockey operations Brian Burke spoke today, denying rumors that the team didn’t offer Evgeni Malkin his desired term of four years. He did say that giving a six-year contract extension to Rickard Rakell yesterday didn’t rule out Malkin’s return, and said that “the window is still open” for Malkin. However, with all the varying reports of Malkin’s unhappiness with the situation, his moving on in free agency is likely still a done deal.

Evgeni Malkin Expected To Test Free Agency

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Earlier today, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic had tweeted that there was some progress in the last 24 hours between Evgeni Malkin and the Pittsburgh Penguins, but it now appears talks have broken down. Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the superstar center will test free agency on Wednesday. Dreger tweets that Malkin “wants to see what his options are,” given that he has never been a free agent previously.

From the beginning, things had appeared fractured between the Penguins and Malkin. Rob Rossi of The Athletic relayed a text from the Russian star over the weekend, that simply asked “do they want me?” The negotiations have been very public, with offer details leaking every few days, and quotes from Malkin himself being part of the reporting out of Pittsburgh.

Still, it seemed as though the two sides would inevitably get together, given their long history together and the fact that Kris Letang was re-signed for less money than he likely could have gotten on a short-term deal. The team could certainly fit Malkin under the cap at the moment, as they sit with more than $15MM in space.

Previous management groups have called Malkin a legacy player and suggested that there was no way he would pull on another team’s sweater before he retired, something the player himself has reiterated publicly. With new ownership and a front office that doesn’t have the same long-term ties to him though, things never progressed as quickly as expected.

If the 35-year-old center does hit the open market, it will be interesting to see what kind of contracts will be waiting for him. Without that built-in franchise connection, it’s hard to see the four-year deal that Malkin wants, or even maybe a three-year pact given his age and oft-injured status. Still, rival teams are likely pre-dialing his agent in hopes of snatching away a player that has been so good against them for so long. Contenders across the league would be wise to try and add him on a short-term deal if it is possible.

When he’s healthy, Malkin can still be quite effective. He scored 20 goals and 42 points in 41 games this season for the Penguins, and was still a weapon on the powerplay. In the past, a motivated Malkin has been a dominant force; it’s easy to understand how being cut loose by the only team he’s ever known could fuel a resurgent season, even if a multi-year deal might still be a bit of a risk.

At any rate, the fact that he’s not re-signing will add an extra wrinkle to the festivities on Wednesday, where he’ll join plenty of other high-impact forwards on the open market.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Malkin, Sommer, Rheaume

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The Pittsburgh Penguins had two franchise icons to re-sign this offseason, and today they finalized a deal with one of them: Kris Letang. With Letang’s extension finalized, the next priority for Ron Hextall and the Penguins is re-signing Evgeni Malkin. According to Pierre LeBrun of TSN, getting across the finish line with Malkin and his agent, J.P. Barry, could be a challenge.

Per LeBrun, Malkin and the Penguins are “not on the same page” and Malkin is reportedly “ready” to hit free agency if the Penguins don’t offer him an extension with more than a three-year term. Malkin, 35, is coming off of a season where he was above a point-per-game, although his injury woes limited him to playing in only half of the Penguins’ 82 regular-season contests. Injury issues have plagued Malkin for years, and he has not reached the 70-game mark in any regular season since 2017-18. Malkin’s desire for more term is definitely reasonable, he’s such a widely-respected superstar that he could likely get a longer-term deal on the open market, and the Penguins’ desire to keep term down on an extension for their injury-prone, 35-year-old franchise legend is also understandable. It looks like a difficult, complicated situation for the Penguins to navigate, and it seems that the unthinkable possibility of Malkin playing for another NHL franchise is more realistic than it has ever been.

Now, for some other notes from across the NHL:

  • The San Diego Gulls’ next head coach seems to have been found. The Athletic’s Eric Stephens reports that “multiple sources” have told him that the San Diego Gulls will hire Ray Sommer as their next head coach, on a one-year deal. The contract is not yet finalized but once it becomes official the Gulls will be adding the AHL’s all-time winningest head coach. Sommer was previously the coach of the San Jose Barracuda and has been an AHL head coach since the 1998-99 season when he led the Kentucky Thoroughblades to the playoffs.
  • The Los Angeles Kings are beefing up their hockey operations department. Earlier this year they added a former GM to their front office ranks and now they’re adding another accomplished name: Manon Rheaume. Rheaume famously became the first woman to play in any of the four major North American professional sports leagues, when she suited up for the Tampa Bay Lightning for exhibition games 1992 and 1993. Rheaume will take an advisory role with the Kings.

Pittsburgh Penguins Expect To Sign Kris Letang

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There wasn’t much hesitation in Ron Hextall today as he met with the media, explaining to reporters including Chris Johnston of TSN that he would be “surprised” if they didn’t sign Kris Letang to an extension. Hextall hopes to have it done by the time they leave Montreal, where the hockey world is congregating for tomorrow’s draft.

On Evgeni Malkin, the team’s other franchise icon closing in on unrestricted free agency, Hextall said they are “still working” but didn’t share any other details.

Letang, 35, is still an extremely effective player and is actually coming off the best offensive season of his career. With 68 points in 78 games, racking up a career-best 171 hits, and still averaging close to 26 minutes a night, he finished seventh in Norris Trophy voting.

The three-time Stanley Cup champion is arguably more important to the Penguins than Malkin, at least in terms of this current championship window, as there is no internal option to fill the hole that Letang’s departure would leave. The team would have to look outside the organization, and players of his caliber obviously don’t hit the open market very often.

That’s also why a contract for Letang could still have a big number attached to it, meaning a multi-year extension carries quite a bit of risk for the Penguins. The team will be married to this aging core, meaning if he or Sidney Crosby takes a step back in effectiveness, any thought of contending for the Stanley Cup would likely go out the window.

Still, that’s likely the case even if Letang left in free agency, as the Penguins’ results are really tied to Crosby’s career at this point. Pushing in for a player you know and love–and also one who has spent his entire career in Pittsburgh–always did seem like the prudent option, even if it will mean committing lots of money to an aging talent.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Latest On Evgeni Malkin

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Evgeni Malkin in a different uniform? That still seems unlikely, given how much he has lobbied publicly to stay with the Pittsburgh Penguins for his entire career but Josh Yohe of The Athletic writes that there is growing pessimism about Malkin’s return.

The 35-year-old center is a franchise icon, and future Hall of Famer, and has indicated that he would take a discount to stay with Sidney Crosby and fellow free agent Kris Letang for another few years. Whether that discount is palatable to general manager Ron Hextall appears to be a different story, however. Yohe writes that “numerous agents” actually believe it is unlikely that Malkin returns to Pittsburgh next season.

It would be a shock to see the 2012 Hart Trophy winner in a different sweater, though even with his best years behind him, there would certainly be interest on the open market. Malkin still had 20 goals and 42 points in 41 games this season, producing well whenever he was healthy enough to take the ice. That health is a concern, as it’s been more than a decade since he played every game in a season, but it is not every day that you find a two-time Art Ross winner available in free agency.

With just over two weeks before the start of free agency, the clock is ticking on Malkin and the Penguins. The team has several other important UFAs to try and keep–including Letang and Rickard Rakell, whose situations are also examined in Yohe’s piece–along with arbitration-eligible RFAs in Danton Heinen and Kasperi Kapanen.

All that with a new ownership group that is not ready to take a step backward and wants to contend for the Stanley Cup next season. If there is a team worth watching over the next 16 days, it’s Pittsburgh.

Latest on Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have earmarked the 2022 offseason for years as a potential turning point for the franchise. Two-thirds of the core that has led the team to its lengthiest run of playoff success in franchise history, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, were scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency. In recent years, Bryan Rust has thrown his name onto the list of important Penguins with expiring contracts this season as well.

The team dealt with Rust, signing him to a long extension last month. Malkin and Letang remain unsigned with now less than a month remaining until free agency begins on July 13. However, The Athletic’s Rob Rossi reports that the organization’s top priority is signing Letang to a multi-year extension, according to multiple sources.

While the wording of that headline could raise some eyebrows, it’s unlikely that the inference the team truly prioritizes Letang over Malkin is accurate. It’s impossible to go into such a pivotal offseason without a plan of attack, and management needs an order of operations in order to manage their salary cap situation. The goal here is likely to figure out an average annual value for Letang as soon as possible so that they can make the appropriate salary cap moves to accommodate Malkin.

The last reported offer the Penguins made to Letang was “a little less” than his current cap hit of $7.25MM for four years, but that was almost a month ago now. If Letang signs for his current cap hit, Pittsburgh would be left with about $15.6MM in cap space this offseason, per CapFriendly. With that number, the Penguins would need to not only re-sign Malkin but also find a goalie to pair with Tristan Jarry and fill multiple spots at forward. It’s extremely doubtful they’d be able to make that work.

Really, all the Penguins are looking for at this point is some cost certainty. General manager Ron Hextall will need some time to make some cap-clearing trades work if necessary, but the team remains fully committed to retaining their core.

Penguins To Name Kevin Acklin President of Business Operations

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The Pittsburgh Penguins continue to overhaul their front office and management after a recent sale to Fenway Sports Group. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Mike DeFabo reports that the team is expected to name Kevin Acklin the team’s President of Business Operations, filling the role left by longtime executive David Morehouse.

Morehouse vacated the role two months ago when the CEO of 16 years stepped down, reportedly on his own terms.

As DeFabo notes, Acklin is an internal promotion. Since 2018, Acklin had been the team’s COO and general counsel. Similar to Morehouse, Acklin is a Pittsburgh native.

The changes in leadership come as the Penguins are set to embark on a tough road ahead over the next decade or so. As stars Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang age and/or leave the organization, the team will need strong leadership to avoid the business concerns the team has had in the past during periods of poor play. Acklin will now have a big part to play in that role, and his choices will have a significant effect on the team’s future.

East Notes: Giordano, Rust, Hextall

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Yesterday, Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Mark Giordano signed a two-year extension to remain in Toronto, an extension that was immediately characterized as being highly team-friendly in nature. It seems that the team-friendly nature of the extension was by design and by the request of Giordano himself. According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the original deal between Giordano and Toronto was “around” $1MM AAV, but Giordano preferred to sign at around $200K lower than that offer in order to allow the Maple Leafs “go out and do something else to help [them] win.”

While $200,000 may seem like a relatively small amount within the grand scale of the NHL’s salary structure, one has to remember that it is a significant amount of money for any person. For Giordano to reportedly forgo that amount of money, a sum that he has rightfully earned with his play in Toronto, in order for his team to have a little extra wiggle room to add players is an incredibly generous gesture. Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas said as much, referencing a “tremendous sacrifice” in Giordano’s contract negotiation process. The Maple Leafs have serious designs on competing for a Stanley Cup in the near future, and it now is evident that at least one of their players has quite literally bought into that vision.

Now, for some other notes regarding the league’s Eastern Conference teams:

  • The Penguins recently extended forward Bryan Rust on a six-year deal worth just over $5MM per year. Today, Penguins GM Ron Hextall had some other news regarding Rust, stating that the forward had undergone a “clean-up” surgery. Hextall downplayed the importance of the operation, stating that it was only a minor procedure and that Rust will be ready for the start of next season. Given the amount the team has now invested in Rust and his health, it’s important for Rust to be on the right health footing at the start of next season so the Penguins can hit the ground running on their next chance to win a Stanley Cup.
  • With the pending unrestricted free agencies of Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin looming, some believe that next season could be a transitional one for the Penguins, where they perhaps take a small step back from true contention in order to re-tool and extend their overall competitive window. Today, Hextall spoke on that idea and clarified the direction of the Penguins franchise. He stated, as relayed by Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, that the team is going to “continue on trying to win the Stanley Cup,” and that their new owners, Fenway Sports Group, are “totally on board” with this all-in approach. Despite the contract uncertainty of Malkin and Letang, two players Hextall deemed “generational,” it looks as though the Penguins will not be embarking on the re-tool some fans believe they need and instead will be doubling down on their chance to win a Stanley Cup with their current core.

Update On Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang

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Earlier today Evgeni Malkin addressed his pending unrestricted free agency and future with the Pittsburgh Penguins, stating that he hopes to retire in Pittsburgh. For that to be possible, he must ink a contract extension with the only team he has ever known. Malkin, 35, has remained consistently productive as he has aged (42 points in 41 games this season) but has also struggled to remain in the lineup on a regular basis. So, his importance to the franchise and his strong production square up against the declining reliability of his health to make his upcoming contract situation an especially intriguing one.

Just as Malkin’s contract is expiring, so is the contract of another Penguins franchise icon: Kris Letang. Letang, who is also 35, is coming off a season where he posted a career-high in points (68) and managed to stay in the lineup for 78 games, his most since the 2017-18 season. With Malkin and Letang both up for new contracts, the Penguins’ front office (and new ownership group) has a fork-in-the-road opportunity to change the direction of the franchise.

Rob Rossi of The Athletic reported yesterday that the Penguins had offered Malkin and Letang matching three-year, $15MM extensions, offers that “did not sit well” with Sidney Crosby. While that is certainly a major development, if true, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet added some context to the situation in his recent 32 Thoughts blog. Friedman supported Rossi’s reporting on the Penguins offering Malkin a three-year term on his extension, stating that the team has symmetry with the three years left on Sidney Crosby’s contract in mind. He also reported that Malkin’s camp and the Penguins were “far, far apart” on the actual dollar value of the extension, a separation that could make Malkin’s return more challenging.

As for Letang, Friedman reported that his offer was larger than the one mentioned in Rossi’s report. Friedman says that the “last he heard” was that Letang was offered a four-year contract carrying an average annual value just “a bit less” than his current AAV of $7.25MM. Given the annual values of contracts other high-end defensemen have received (Seth Jones, Darnell Nurse, and Dougie Hamilton, as comparables, got at least $9MM AAV on deals with significantly more term) it’s an open question as to whether that reported offer will be sufficient to retain Letang’s services.

Letang did say, per Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, that his “main goal” is to stay in Pittsburgh, so perhaps he will not enter the market eyeing a deal comparable to those other elite defensemen. But one does have to keep in mind that this very well could be Letang’s last chance at a massive contract, due to his age. At the very least, it seems from Friedman’s reporting that while the Penguins are apparently undertaking an earnest effort to retain their two franchise legends, there are still obstacles in the way.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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