I felt like I had a pretty good sense of how things were going to go for the Pittsburgh Penguins this offseason.
The reality of the playoff loss to the Philadelphia Flyers was going to hit like a truck. Everyone was going to scream that the team needs to get younger, faster and hungrier.
Then a few weeks would pass, and the fanbase would start clutching its pearls over the idea of Evgeni Malkin leaving. There would be a groundswell to keep him. Kyle Dubas would listen, and Malkin would probably get a new contract at a reduced rate.
Then the fans would celebrate like 2009 Geno was going to be on the team for 2026-27.
How am I doing so far? Need proof I’m right now that Malkin has re-signed?
Well, here’s this week’s “U mad, bro?”
This person didn’t like the column I wrote about the Penguins giving Evgeni Malkin another contract at the age of 39.
Perfect actually. Why argue any of it
— jkclo (@jkclo9906) May 27, 2026
Well … um … for all the reasons I argued in the column. If you disagree with any of them, let me know which ones and why.
Laura wasn’t exactly a fan of that post either.
“This is a lot of words that tell us nothing any Penguins fan didn’t already know. It’s also just plain snarky about a player who has devoted his career to a team and a city. If you can’t do better than this you need a new job.”
Seeing as how the news of Malkin’s signing wasn’t even eight hours old when I filed that story overnight, I’m pretty sure not all Penguins fans were aware of the intricacies and nuances of the Feb. 1 trade addendum, the breakdown of the bonus payouts and the corresponding salary cap implications.
If you did, good for you. Sometimes, though, a column is written for a broader audience than obsessed fans who are constantly refreshing their favorite social media accounts all day.
But one thing is obvious from your email. The “new information” element of the column was never what bothered you.
Be honest, Laura. If I had stopped that column halfway through, after simply listing all the reasons why the new contract did make sense, or if I had just written the phrase “Point per game! Point per game!” in all caps and bold 100 times over, or if I had simply reprinted Malkin’s career stats from NHL.com, you would’ve emailed and told me it was a great piece.
Because it’s clear to me that you don’t want both sides of the story, which I provided.
Ironically, you are the one who wants to hear what you already know, and you are someone who only wants to be told what they prefer to hear.
All you want to read is “Geno was great! He still is great! Goodbye tour! Nostalgia! 2009 versus the Hurricanes! He loves Sid! Sid loves him!”
That’s not my job. I’m a columnist who works for a news outlet. Not a public relations employee of the team.
Is that enough snark for you? If not, I promise to try harder next time.
If you thought Laura hated that piece, check out this exchange I had with @wayzari.
Pgh media hacks need to get clicks somehow, as always
— ???? (@wayzari) May 27, 2026
And “Pgh” fanboys can’t handle a dissenting opinion, as always.
I didn’t even read this ???? Because there’s nothing controversial with this contract at all. Y’all just gripping on bs for engagement. And I’m not a Pgh fanboy.
— ???? (@wayzari) May 27, 2026
You’re right. I should probably just agree with everything the Penguins do. Because everything they’ve done the last eight years has been right — as is evident by all those playoff series victories they’ve had over that period of ti …
Wait a minute.
Tom in South Carolina emails about the Steelers.
“The Steelers have gone from telling players they should get on with their life’s work, cutting legendary Franco Harris, saying Sidney Thornton’s ‘problems are great and they are many,’ to acquiescing to a 42 year old quarterback who clearly would not have received any other starting quarterback offers.
Aaron Rodgers conveys as if he’s doing the Steelers a favor, and is only returning because Mike McCarthy is now the head coach.
It’s rather embarrassing for what was once a proud NFL franchise.”
Tom, a bigger embarrassment than the pursuit of Rodgers might be that the franchise is still in a position to be pursuing him in the first place — seven years after Ben Roethlisberger blew out his elbow.
Ronald wants to push back on my column about all the Steelers’ offensive linemen switching sides.
“Wouldn’t (it) be best for the Steelers o lineman to learn both right and left side? In case of injuries, or poor performance, maybe something else. But I know tim, you’re the ‘expert.’”
I’m not questioning “learning,” Ronald. I’m questioning them being moved on game days. That’s how they stalled Broderick Jones’ development. Chuks Okorafor too.
He was a college left tackle who was moved to right tackle. They wanted to move him back to LT, but couldn’t because Zach Banner was unable to return from injury, so he stayed at RT. And they wanted to move Dan Moore, but he couldn’t move because it was too hard for him.
But, hey, you’re clearly more of an “expert” than I am. So I won’t bother second-guessing.
Just like the Penguins, the Steelers have had so much playoff success the last eight or nine years, who am I to quest …
Wait another minute.
Finally, I had to take a shot at the movie “Moneyball” when I had the chance.
It’s almost like someone shoulda made a movie about these guys…. https://t.co/R0xD8gBkKj
— Tim Benz (@TimBenzPGH) May 20, 2026
Michael decided to chime in.
Yeah but what if they had the current pirates bullpen
— Michael Dillon (@dillonerd) May 20, 2026
They made a movie about the Pirates bullpen too. It was called “Titanic.” And those relievers seem to find an iceberg in springtime on the Allegheny River on pretty much a nightly basis.