When a hockey player gets a goal, assist and fighting major in the same game, that’s a Gordie Howe hat trick.
On Monday at Denver, we saw the birth of the Evgeni Malkin hat trick: A goal, assist and dumb offensive-zone penalty in the same game. (Though it’s hardly the first time Malkin has done that.)
Malkin infuriated by committing a lazy tripping infraction just 48 seconds into his first game back after a five-game suspension, then electrified by bursting out of the penalty box and netting a spinning backhand shot. Highlight-reel stuff.
No complaints.
That’s just Malkin.
Malkin added another goal, then a helper as the Penguins cruised to a surprising 7-2 win over Colorado, the NHL’s overall leader at 97 points.
The Rocky Mountain way is better than the way we had. Even without Sidney Crosby, who is still hurt.
Malkin’s performance reignited talk about his future — though Malkin says he’s content to table that discussion till season’s end, as Penguins president of hockey ops/GM Kyle Dubas prefers.
Malkin does want to play another year. “Maybe two years, who knows?”
Two years?
Yikes.
Malkin is 39. Any approach besides year by year would be foolhardy on the Penguins’ part, akin to the Steelers giving T.J. Watt a three-year extension that guarantees $108 million when they could have played it year by year and cheaper via the franchise tag and better navigated Watt’s decline, which is already in progress. (Only seven sacks last season.)
OK, maybe not that stupid, but you get the idea.
Was Malkin’s agent rebuffed upon seeking a two-year extension prior to Malkin getting the boo-boo face, then trying to behead Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin to earn his five-game ban? That seems possible.
Malkin’s future is tied to Crosby. Crosby wants Malkin to remain his teammate in perpetuity.
But that knife cuts both ways.
Crosby is signed through next season.
Malkin can’t get term that goes beyond Crosby’s.
If Crosby retires or leaves, then the Penguins are 100% in rebuilding mode. There’s zero point in having Malkin without Crosby.
There’s no harm in going year by year with Malkin. That applies even if Crosby gets extended.
Malkin isn’t Crosby. It’s what makes sense.
Except to Malkin fans, who are more attached to the No. 71 jersey hanging in their closets than to the logo on the front of it.
Malkin deserves another year and will likely get it. Even against Dubas’ better (and definitely initial) judgment.
That’s barring catastrophic injury to Malkin, or him playing abysmally down the stretch, or the Penguins collapsing.
Right now, Malkin is a safe bet to return.
But this year’s performance alone doesn’t necessarily merit. Malkin is averaging over a point per game, but for the first time since 2022-23.
A big argument in Malkin’s favor is that the Penguins’ youth movement hasn’t yet taken hold.
Egor Chinakhov and Ben Kindel — 25 and 18, respectively — are the only young skaters making significant impact. Better was expected out of Ville Koivunen, 22, and Rutger McGroarty, 21, but they haven’t delivered. That doesn’t mean they won’t. But they haven’t.
Another season of Malkin at a reasonable price might serve as a useful bridge. The Penguins won’t want to go backward after an unexpectedly good (so far) campaign.
Hopefully Malkin’s contract issue really does remain on the backburner till season’s end. No more boo-boo face. That would be best for the Penguins.
Pittsburgh sports fans are a sociological phenomenon of sorts. They never want to turn the page.
Keep Andrew McCutchen forever.
Keep Cam Heyward forever.
Those two don’t have a ring between them. Malkin has three. (Heyward is still very good, as is Malkin.)
But you don’t want to turn your locker room into a museum. (That’s a catchy phrase, which is why I use it constantly.)
Some have trouble adjusting to life after hockey.
Maybe Malkin is one of those. Perhaps he intends to never quit.
His time with the Penguins could yet end bad. Like McCutchen’s did with the Pirates.
But it doesn’t need to end for at least another season.
Unless Malkin insists on a two-year deal. The Penguins simply can’t do that.