The great Evgeni Malkin deserves a farewell tour.
This should be an easy call, and if president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas isn’t willing to make it, then the Pittsburgh Penguins’ new owners should: bring back Malkin for one more season and send him off with all the respect and adoration he deserves.
The consternation over this matter is more than a little baffling.
It’d be different if Malkin had become a broken-down sideshow like Willie Mays with the New York Mets or Joe Namath with the Los Angeles Rams. But he led the Penguins in points per game this season!
What are we doing here?
Malkin technically tied with Sidney Crosby for the team lead in points per game at 1.09 and subsequently tied for the team lead in playoff goals.
The points-per-game mark was good for 22nd in the NHL, ahead of the likes of Jake Guentzel, Connor Bedard, Artemi Panarin, Sebastien Aho and Tage Thompson, yet you have people talking about Malkin like he is some sort of relic from the ancient Penguins past, like he needs a walker to make it to the ice.
The fact that he is no longer vintage Malkin hardly makes him a liability. He’s also one of the best bargains in the NHL. His cap hit of $6.1 million ranked a laughable 169th among all players and 98th among forwards, according to spotrac.com.
To review:
Cap hit among forwards: 98th
Points per game among all players: 22nd.
The Penguins have had plenty of stars. Malkin is a franchise legend — one of the four greatest Penguins of all-time (third on my list, behind Mario Lemieux and Crosby). His number will surely be retired. He is beloved inside and outside of the locker room. He can still play. He won’t break the bank.
And quite conveniently, he just put a definitive timeline on how long he wants to play. In speaking with reporters at locker-cleanout day Friday, Malkin said, “I want to play one more year in the NHL.”
There you have it. One more year. Surely, you don’t want to see him spend that year in a Washington Capitals jersey (or worse), do you?
That would be only slightly less sickening than Jaromir Jagr and Max Talbot in Flyers jerseys (not to mention Jagr as a Capital).
Malkin said he’s going to play somewhere in the NHL next season if the Penguins don’t sign him. So sign him, and, yes, milk it for all it’s worth. Have another Malkin Bobblehead Night and a Malkin Magnetic Calendar Night and Malkin Farewell Night and a Geno Geriatrics Night (everybody 85-and-up gets in free) and whatever else you can dream up.
More milestones lay ahead. Malkin, who turns 40 in July and has willingly moved to wing, has a chance to move into the NHL’s all-time top 30 in goals (ahead of Maurice “Rocket” Richard) and top 20 in assists (ahead of Nicklas Lidstrom) and points (ahead of Bryan Trottier). He already sits 31st all-time in points per game, just ahead of Jagr, Bobby Hull and Jean Beliveau.
Like I said, this is no ordinary star.
Meanwhile, so much of his career has been spent in Crosby’s shadow, which has been largely a blessing because it took the focus off Malkin. Next year, however, much of the focus should be on Malkin. And it should mean something, too, that Crosby wants him back.
Malkin didn’t sound overly hopeful the other day, saying Dubas might want “new blood” around. There is plenty of room for younger players. Malkin isn’t blocking anybody. There is ample cap room to improve the team, as well, via trade.
What’s the worst that can happen? Malkin underperforms? His one-year cap hit of $6 million or so won’t exactly bankrupt the franchise. It’ll be OK.
Hopefully, Dubas does the right thing here. If not, the Hoffman family should, assuming the sale goes through.
The great Evgeni Malkin deserves a farewell tour.