Penguins facing Evgeni Malkin contract dilemma
Pittsburgh has a lot to figure out.
Penguins facing Evgeni Malkin contract dilemma originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . The Pittsburgh Penguins had a surprisingly resurgent season.
That won't reduce their offseason questions, including with the aging Evgeni Malkin. Malkin is clearly one of the best players the Penguins have ever had, and he was a really high-end player most of this season. He's also at the end of his contract, and while he seems to be pushing off retirement, the Penguins will still have to decide whether they want him back.
It's a conflict between sentimentality and reality. MORE: Sidney Crosby is a bad omen for Connor McDavid Daily Faceoff's Matt Larkin ranks Malkin as his No. 8 potential unrestricted free agent this offseason in the entire NHL, and he also acknowledges that this could be a tough call for the Penguins' front office.
"Malkin wants to keep playing," Larkin wrote in a new article on Friday. "He wants to keep playing for the Penguins. He’s been quite vocal about that all year, and he reiterated the sentiment days before Pittsburgh’s elimination from the playoffs.