PITTSBURGH (AP) — Evgeni Malkin is staying in Pittsburgh after all.
The Penguins and the Russian star agreed to terms on a four-year contract late Tuesday night worth $6.1 million annually. The contract was signed just hours before the three-time Stanley Cup-winning center became a free agent for the first time in his career.
Instead, the 35-year-old Malkin will stick with longtime teammates Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang. The Penguins signed Letang to a six-year deal last week, but progress on a new deal with Malkin appeared to have stalled as recently as Monday, when a person familiar with Malkin’s thought process told The Associated Press that Malkin intends to test the open market.
What looked like a potentially bitter divorce with the start of free agency looming on Wednesday instead turned into an 11th-hour deal. The 2012 Hart Trophy winner and two-time league scoring champion will remain with the team that took him with the second pick in the 2004 draft.
“Eugene is a once-in-a-generation talent who will be remembered as one of the greatest players in NHL history,” Penguins general manager Ron Hextall said in a statement. “His hockey resume and individual accomplishments speak volumes for him as a player, and we are excited to watch him continue his remarkable legacy in Pittsburgh.”
Pittsburgh’s core of Malkin, Letang and Crosby will remain together until at least 2025, when Crosby’s contract expires. Crosby made it clear he wants the Penguins to find a way to keep both of his longtime teammates, with Hextall allowing that “in a perfect world” the club would find a way to make it work.
At the last minute, the planets apparently aligned.
The Penguins are counting on Malkin’s return to form as he enters his late 30s. Malkin missed half of last season while recovering from knee surgery. He scored 20 goals with 22 assists in 41 games and added three more goals and three assists in Pittsburgh’s series loss to the New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs.
Malkin has played more than 70 games in a season just once since being named MVP in 2012.
Still, when he’s involved, he remains a potent scorer, especially on the power play. The wildly popular Malkin has long thrived alongside Crosby. He is in the top five in most major statistical categories in franchise history, including games (981), goals (444), assists (702) and points (1,146).
The deal follows several re-signings by the Penguins, who reached the playoffs 16 straight seasons but fell short of the first round in 2018.
In addition to bringing Letang back to a six-year deal, Pittsburgh signed forwards Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell to lengthy extensions.
The Malkin signing means the Penguins won’t have much money to spend in the open market as they try to keep their Stanley Cup window open with their aging core.
Malkin’s return shows that Hextall and president of hockey operations Brian Burke believe there is enough left in Malkin’s tank to keep the Penguins in the mix in the Metropolitan Division.
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