Alternate destination revealed for Evgeni Malkin if Penguins don't sign him back

Alternate destination revealed for Evgeni Malkin if Penguins don't sign him back originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . Evgeni Malkin has made it clear he doesn't want to leave the Penguins.

He wants to stay in Pittsburgh. GM Kyle Dubas has suggested they're interested in bringing Malkin back, too. But until anything is completed, the door is still open.

Malkin could still leave. He has also made it clear he won't retire, and that he'd play elsewhere if needed. One destination has emerged if Malkin does leave: the Minnesota Wild .

The Athletic's Michael Russo is one of the NHL's top beat reporters, so his word has to be taken with some serious credence. And he suggested in a recent article that Malkin and the Wild could be a quality match. "If Malkin is willing to leave Pittsburgh and the Wild aren’t able to trade for a big-fish center, at least the future Hall of Famer would give them someone with a pulse at their biggest position of need," Russo wrote.