Giving Evgeni Malkin another season in Pittsburgh is what’s right for the fans.
It’s what’s right for Sidney Crosby and the locker room.
It’s what’s right for the new owners, who won’t be villainized.
But it feels wrong for the Penguins.
Here’s betting Kyle Dubas retained Malkin through clenched teeth. Because he felt had to, not because he wanted to.
Dubas is the Penguins’ president of hockey ops/GM, and re-upping a 39-year-old who’s chock full of injuries, suspensions and liabilities isn’t how Dubas operates or manages.
But that obligation arrived in Pittsburgh long before Dubas did.
Dubas got double-crossed when the Penguins grabbed a playoff spot instead of finishing bottom-five in the NHL as predicted.
In a vacuum, it’s no biggie.
Malkin’s salary-cap hit of $5.5 million is reasonable. He’s a competent second-line winger. A franchise legend. Good in the room. A mentor for fellow Russian Egor Chinakhov, and maybe Sergei Murashov, next year. Not much of a goal-scorer anymore.
But it’s the trickledown.
Malkin goes back on the No. 1 power play. Veteran respect. The culture dictates.
Malkin blocks Chinakhov and/or Ben Kindel, who simply must be on that unit to both execute and develop.
There’s no room for winger Ville Koivunen in the top six.
Is Koivunen good enough? Probably not. Has he earned it? No.
But top-six is what Koivunen’s skill set dictates. He’s 22, and it’s time to find out. Except the Penguins won’t.
The Penguins never gave Markus Naslund that sort of chance. Naslund, the Penguins’ first-round pick in 1991, went to Vancouver and scored 346 goals in 12 seasons with the Canucks.
Same thing happened with Aleksey Morozov, the Penguins’ first-round choice in 1995.
Morozov played on the third and fourth lines, learning to be a bottom-six. Chip and chase.
So, Morozov returned to his native Russia and won MVP, two playoff MVPs and a goal-scoring title. Russia isn’t the NHL, but it’s the second-best league in the world.
The Penguins of that era were star-studded. The Stanley Cup winners in 1991 and ‘92 weren’t in that orbit, but the Penguins made conference finals in 1996 and ‘01.
That team was for real. It was tough to get a roster spot, let alone crack the top of the depth chart.
These Penguins haven’t won a playoff series since 2018 and got eliminated by their bitter rivals in this year’s first round.
Bringing back Malkin feels like confirmation that an aging roster will again try to scratch and claw its way to a first-round playoff loss, sacrificing another NHL season in terms of development.
Like this past campaign, when most of the youthful energy got sent to the minors after fool’s good got struck via an 8-2-2 start.
That’s not to say the season wasn’t enjoyable. But it got the Penguins no closer to being a legitimate contender.
The same will likely happen next season. The scratching and clawing part, anyway. Another playoff berth is far from guaranteed.
To be fair, it’s not like the Penguins have a plethora of young talent poised to immediately break through. It’s more about approach, attitude and samey-same.
This feels like selling tickets and jerseys.
I understand. This was a hard decision.
So, the Penguins made the easy decision. I’m not even sure it’s a bad decision.
But the repercussions seem non-negotiable.
The last half-decade has proven there’s no splitting the difference. Though Dubas and his staff as doing their best to navigate.
The Penguins are neither winning enough, nor laying the foundation for the next time they legit contend for a championship.
The Penguins have kept all your heroes.
You shouldn’t get mad if they don’t win.
But you will.
This is no indictment of Malkin, or of keeping him. He’s going to get a statue. He’s still a decent player.
This is an honest assessment of the current approach and situation.
Right now, the Penguins are selling nostalgia. Break out the bobbleheads. Could they set off fireworks indoors?
Things could change. Retaining Malkin might be the exception, not the rule. Dubas could start ditching veterans, perhaps at next season’s trade deadline if things go bad.
But the Penguins currently have 16 returning players under contract, with restricted free agent Chinakhov certain to be retained.
That doesn’t leave a lot of room to promote kids, or to use that big wad of $37 million worth of cap space.
Heck, spend all of it.
Give aging veteran free agents too much for too long.
Trade future assets to win now. Build on old, with old.
It would fail miserably.
But at least the Penguins would be choosing a direction.
Are you watching the playoffs?
The Penguins aren’t remotely close.
No quick fix can close that gap. Nor will Malkin’s return. This is about the narrative, not results.