NHL Rumors: Five Teams That Should Sign Evgeni Malkin
By Jim Lynch
The Pittsburgh Penguins might not be able to re-sign Evgeni Malkin. Today let’s go over a few teams that should sign him.
The Pittsburgh Penguins and Evgeni Malkin have been a match made in heaven since the team drafted him second overall in 2004. Malkin won three championships with the Penguins and the Calder trophy in 2007.
Throughout his 16-year career with the Penguins, he has played in 981 games, putting up 444 goals and 702 assists, good for 1146 points.
The history of the Penguins has seen a lot of success, and a lot of great players take the ice with the Pens jersey, but if you look at who the top guys are, Malkin is definitely in the discussion.
Malkin will go down in Penguins history as the third-best player to take the ice with the team. He is second all-time in games played behind just Crosby, and he is third all-time in goals, assists, and points behind Crosby and Lemieux., not lousy company to be with.
Malkin is 35 right now and will be 36 by the time next season comes around. He signed his last contract ahead of the 2014-15 season, and he made 9.5 million a year through eight seasons. His current deal is up, and while the Penguins might want to re-sign him, I believe some better teams out there could look to add Malkin.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are trying to keep the band together, but that band has not won a series since 2018. The Pens might still have Crosby, but the supporting cast is dwindling, and keeping Malkin will only make things tighter cap-wise.
Some better teams out there could use a player like Malkin to help lift up their chances at a playoff run, and let’s go through those five teams right now.