PITTSBURGH (AP) — Evgeni Malkin is going to get a chance to finish what he started in Pittsburgh.
The Penguins re-signed the franchise icon to a one-year deal worth $5.5 million on Tuesday, answering perhaps the club's biggest offseason question before the offseason truly starts.
Malkin, who turns 40 in August, was set to become a free agent on July 1.
The Russian had maintained for the past year-plus that he wanted to stay in Pittsburgh rather than hit the open market for the first time in his career.
General manager Kyle Dubas spent months declining to offer any specifics on the prospect of keeping Malkin around.
“It’s not easy for Kyle, maybe he wants new blood here,” Malkin said shortly after the Penguins' bounce-back season ended with a Game 6 loss to rival Philadelphia in the opening round of the playoffs. “I understand business. I understand he wants maybe new team, see new faces here.”
Dubas didn't tip his hand until recently, saying on May 12 that the Penguins would “love” to have Malkin back for a 21st and perhaps final season of a career that will almost certainly end with him entering the Hall of Fame.
While he missed 20 games because of an injury and another five to a late-season suspension for an illegal hit, Malkin finished with 19 goals and 42 assists in 56 games to help Pittsburgh return to the playoffs after a three-year absence.
And while Dubas has given the roster a significant overhaul and a needed influx of young talent since taking over in the summer of 2023, that talent is not ready to supplant Malkin on Pittsburgh's second line.
"I don’t think he’s blocking anybody,” Dubas said earlier this month.
The signing means Malkin, and longtime running mates Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang are all under contract for next season. The trio has played 20 seasons together, the longest run by any three teammates in major North American professional sports history.
Malkin, the second overall pick in the 2004 draft, a three-time Stanley Cup champion and the 2012 Hart Trophy winner as the NHL's Most Valuable Player, acknowledged he was open to playing elsewhere next season.
It never came to that.
While Malkin will take a bit of a pay cut from the $6.1 million he made on the deal that expires on June 30, when healthy and engaged, he remains a dangerous offensive player. His strong start last fall helped fuel Pittsburgh's return to contention under first-year head coach Dan Muse, and his 1.09 points per game tied Crosby for tops on the team.
Malkin's 1,407 career points are second all time among Russian-born players, trailing only NHL all-time leading goal scorer Alex Ovechkin. While Ovechkin's future remains up in the air, Malkin's now is not.
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Will Graves, The Associated Press
