Evgeni Malkin #71 of the Pittsburgh Penguins (Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)
Forward Evgeni Malkin hopes Pittsburgh Penguins captain and his longtime teammate Sidney Crosby will stay in Pittsburgh and sign a new contract before next summer when he can become an unrestricted free agent.
"Pittsburgh is Crosby. Crosby is Pittsburgh. No one in Pittsburgh would understand if he changed teams," Malkin said in an exclusive interview with RG. "Although anything can happen, sometimes things happen that have a one percent chance of happening. But before signing my current contract, we talked. And he told me that the Penguins are us: me, him, [Kris] Letang. I signed my contract. He will probably make the same decision."
Malkin, who turns 38 on July 31, signed a four-year, $24.4 million contract with the Penguins on July 12, 2022. Crosby, who turns 37 on August 7, has one season remaining on a 12-year, $104.4 million contract he signed on July 1, 2012.
"Now I can't imagine myself on another team, although two years ago when I signed my current contract, I had different thoughts," Malkin admitted. "We had tough negotiations. Many players changed teams—even Wayne Gretzky. Steven Stamkos recently did it. There aren't many players who've spent their entire careers with one team. Now, I can't imagine going anywhere, but there was such a chance two years ago."
Malkin said that he would only be ready to play until he's 45 in one case: if Crosby signs an eight-year contract with the Penguins.
I want to play for another two years. As for another one, we'll see after that.
"It will be hard, of course, but I have to," Malkin said to RG. "I hope I won't play until I'm 45, actually. I want to play for another two years. As for another one, we'll see after that. I still want to spend time with my family. Family is a very important part of life. Many say they want to return to hockey soon after they retire. But I think my body will tell me when to stop. Maybe it will be expressed in a loss of desire to play. Or I'll start wondering if it's time to retire. Probably, it will happen like this: I'll wake up one morning and realize that I don't want to play hockey anymore."
Malkin, who has suffered from injuries for many years, has played 82 games in the regular season for the past two years. This was the first time this had happened to him since the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons. But after 16 straight playoff appearances and three Stanley Cups, the Penguins have failed to make the playoffs in the last two seasons.
"I have mixed feelings about it," Malkin said. "I played 82 games twice, and both times, we missed the playoffs at the last minute. I thought about it a lot, to be honest. I guess the secret is that I prepared for the seasons correctly. It's important to extend my career as long as possible. I still have the desire to play. I still enjoy going out on the ice in every game. It gets harder every year, of course. But I enjoy hockey a lot. I hope to play all 82 games again next season and make the playoffs. I hope there won't be any injuries. Small injuries happen anyway, but I hope there won't be any serious ones."
Sergey has been in sports journalism since 2007 as a reporter, editor, and manager. He has covered the Olympic Games, soccer World Cups, the World Cup of Hockey in 2016, the European championships, the Stanley Cup Finals, IOC events, and many others. Sergey interviewed the sport's greatest athletes, coaches, and executives. Since 2016, he has been an Independent Senior Editor of NHL.com/ru.
