Elliotte Friedman drops major update on Evgeni Malkin’s future
Elliotte Friedman went on 32 Thoughts and floated the question Pittsburgh has been trying to dodge all year. What happens next with Evgeni Malkin?
The Penguins finished 41-25-16 with 98 points, 10th overall, and watched the season end on a three-game skid.
Friedman's exact framing was that everyone in the building "has to have a conversation and make sure they're all on the same page with where he plays, what's expected." Translation? The future is open.
Malkin just wrapped a season with 19 goals, 42 assists, and 61 points in 56 games. At 39 years old. On a $3.8 million cap hit.
That production is not the issue. The issue is what role he wants, what role Dan Muse wants, and what Kyle Dubas is willing to sign off on.
The +13 rating tells you he was still driving real minutes. The six goals over his last 10 games tell you the hands have not gone anywhere.
Kyle Dubas faces a contract decision he can't outrun
Pittsburgh leaned on Sidney Crosby for 74 points and Erik Karlsson for 66, and the second line was Malkin's room to operate. That gets harder if the Penguins push toward a younger middle six next fall.
Friedman's "fun season" line is the part that should make Pens fans nervous. When an insider talks about a player having fun, it usually means someone close to the situation is wondering if the joy is still there.
And here's the awkward part. Malkin is a no-trade-clause guy with a Hall of Fame resume in one city. You don't just slide a 39-year-old centerpiece down the depth chart like a healthy scratch on a Tuesday in February.
Bryan Rust hit 29 goals. Rickard Rakell put up 24. The supporting cast is fine. The question is whether the Russian center wants one more swing as a top-six driver or accepts a different deployment.
If Dubas wants to retool around Crosby's window, every dollar matters. Even $3.8 million. Even on a legend.
The conversation Friedman described is not a courtesy meeting. It's the start of the next chapter, and nobody in that room has a clean answer yet.
-
|
YESTERDAY
MAY 2, 2026
| ||||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Logan Stankoven | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jackson Blake | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Mike Reilly | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Taylor Hall | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Seth Jarvis | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | - | - | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Denver Barkey | - | - | - | |
| Alex Bump | - | - | - | |
| William Carrier | - | - | - | |
| Noah Cates | - | - | - | |
| Jalen Chatfield | - | - | - | |
| Sean Couturier | - | - | - | |
| Jamie Drysdale | - | - | - | |
| Christian Dvorak | - | - | - | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | - | - | - | |
| Tyson Foerster | - | - | - | |
| Luke Glendening | - | - | - | |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||