Evgeni Malkin Re-Signs With Penguins on 1-Year, $5.5 Million Deal as Rebuild Questions Deepen
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · May 26
Evgeni Malkin Re-Signs With Penguins on 1-Year, $5.5 Million Deal as Rebuild Questions Deepen
8 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 26
$5.5 million keeps Evgeni Malkin in Pittsburgh for one more season, giving the franchise icon a likely final NHL sendoff after he and the team agreed to a one-year contract Tuesday.
The deal also sharpens uncertainty around the Penguins' direction: next season's core would feature Sidney Crosby at 39, Malkin at 40, Kris Letang at 39 and Erik Karlsson at 36.
Kyle Dubas has repeatedly stressed getting younger, but Pittsburgh's better-than-expected playoff season appears to have altered plans that had previously pointed toward moving on from Malkin.
That surprise run was fueled by rebounds from veterans and contributions from newer pieces such as Egor Chinakhov, Elmer Soderblom and rookie Ben Kindel, leaving the club caught between chasing one more Cup and building for the future.
Malkin's return pleases fans and preserves the Crosby-Malkin-Letang era, but it does little to resolve whether Pittsburgh can contend soon without further blurring its long-term reset.
Is Malkin's return a final Stanley Cup push or just a costly farewell tour for the Penguins' aging core?
Did one surprise season force the Penguins to sacrifice their long-term rebuild for short-term nostalgia?
With $40M in cap space, how can GM Kyle Dubas build a true contender around the NHL's oldest team?