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Evgeni Malkin is not the savior of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan instead refers to him as one of the two generational talents of the Penguins, including Penguins captain Sidney Crosby.
The job of saving the Penguins was immediately and then intermittently imposed on Malkin throughout his career. When the Penguins racked up the top five picks, including Ryan Whitney (5th overall, 2002), Marc-André Fleury (1st overall, 2003) and Malkin was the second overall pick behind Alex Ovechkin in 2004, Malkin was to be l man in the middle.
Brooks Orpik, Whitney, Fleury and Malkin were to be the core of the Penguins until an unlikely lottery win in 2005 also delivered Crosby.
On Friday, the Penguins revealed that Malkin had undergone what looks like serious knee surgery. He’ll be out of the Penguins roster beyond September, and that’s all we know. The Penguins said more information will be available during training camp in September.
Here’s the bet that head coach Mike Sullivan qualifies from week to week (laughs, laughs).
For Malkin, it’s yet another injury suffered late in the season.
Some truths about Evgeni Malkin have been present from the start, some have evolved and some, unfortunately, are staring us in the face.
Evgeni Malkin can carry the penguins
I’m not sure why Malkin switches to beast mode when Crosby isn’t in the lineup, but it’s true. This is damn true. Without Crosby for 28 games in 2019-20, Malkin crammed the beleaguered Penguins onto his back and scored 74 points in 55 games before injuries hit him as well.
During Crosby’s absence that season, in which the Penguins climbed to No. 1 in the Metro Division, Malkin contributed 40% of the Penguins’ goals.
It’s ridiculous.
This was the most recent example of Malkin wearing the Penguins in time of need.
Malkin was on another heater in beast mode in March until Boston Bruins defenseman Jared Tinordi bit into him with a free kick near the corner. The hit included a knee-to-knee collision, and Malkin was again shot down. But the great Russian has collected 12 points (4-8-12) in the previous eight games.
He and Kasperi Kapanen looked like world champions.
Malkin’s fragility
There is no doubt that Malkin was somewhat prone to injury. He typically plays between 60 and 69 games per 82 game season. Nine times in his 15-year career, he has missed more than 12 games, including 23 games missed in that shortened season.
To his credit, Malkin also suffered significant injuries that required more than a little cleaning on the operating table. His wrist was seriously injured in 2017. Or was it the wrist in 2016 and a leg in 2017? Or was it both? It is difficult to keep track.
He played with a wing the entire Stanley Cup race. Malkin couldn’t shoot the puck in the playoffs, but played gallantly.
In the 2021 playoffs, Malkin apparently had a torn knee. LCA, MCL, meniscus? It doesn’t matter. When a player is away for more than four months, the operation was important. And yet, Malkin was one of the best Penguins in Matches 5 and 6.
Doesn’t that deserve praise rather than criticism?
Do you know which other Penguins star was injury prone like Malkin? Mario Lemieux. Yes.
Reality
Bigger, stronger superstars have a lifespan. The blows they take, the blows they take match by match because they can, end up catching everyone.
Malkin played it all. A wrist injury. Knee injuries. Anything but a nasty sunburn (looking at you, Florida sun).
Malkin delivered for Penguins fans like few others. He deserves to be in this pantheon of Lemieux, Jagr, Crosby… and Malkin.
Still, there seems to be a noisy minority seeking to take away its effectiveness. This minority seeks to deny what Malkin meant and means to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Penguins have won three Stanley Cups. Malkin has a Hart Trophy, a Calder, Three Rings, a Conn Smyth, two Honors Art Ross, a Ted Lindsay, and leads the league at overlooked times.
Malkin doesn’t have to be one of the five best players of all time like Crosby to receive recognition that he is one of the best of the day and played a pivotal role in the success of the Penguins.
As Malkin nears 35 next month, it’s time for everyone to pay the piper. We are not content to get rid of the players who have been a pillar of the organization for 15 years. You don’t whine and complain like kids that a 35-year-old doesn’t have 25 anymore.
And you definitely don’t trade Evgeni Malkin and just get a younger one in return.
It’s time to pay the piper
It was still the case. Evgeni Malkin played for less than market value, and in return he was given a full no-move clause to stay with the Penguins for as long as he wanted. While players like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Alex Ovechkin and Connor McDavid dunked their teams for maximum bucks, Crosby and Malkin took far less than their market value.
Beyond their game on the ice, their first paychecks got GMs Ray Shero and Jim Rutherford going crazy in the NHL commercial market. And sometimes they did. Submarket valuation contracts also allowed the Penguins to sign free agents and build a competitive team around them, even though the organization lost years from 2011 to 2015 in a kind of hockey teenage. .
Malkin must pay for the boldness of aging. The fans have to pay for the pleasure they received. Penguins must also pay for the benefits they received.
It’s almost a miracle that the Penguins’ window hasn’t closed yet. They have been very lucky this season. They should have beaten the New York Islanders hands down. The Pittsburgh Penguins dominated New York significantly, but it was the mid-twenties who made it on court, in net and on the wings.
Sure, the Pittsburgh Penguins could strip the team bare and start a rebuild, but too many people think this fantastic process would start all over again; have growing pains for a year or two, qualify for the playoffs and start winning more Stanley Cups in a few years.
Sorry kids, it doesn’t work that way. Not even in Pittsburgh.
Ask Detroit how it’s going. Maybe ask Buffalo, LA, Chicago, Anaheim, Arizona, New Jersey…?
When the Penguins say goodbye to each other, it’s going to start a difficult process that probably won’t end in a Stanely Cup anytime soon. Great teams like the Washington Capitals, St. Louis Blues and even the Toronto Maple Leafs have been waiting for generations.
The entire hockey universe in Canada has not seen a Cup for 28 years.
Toronto has failed since Herman’s Hermits, and the Monkees were among the top 40 radios. 1967. The last Toronto Cup precedes Jimmy Hendrix at Woodstock, Led Zeppelin, the moon landing and the Rolling Stones’ first farewell tour.
Of course, the Penguins delay the inevitable. Of course they are! By keeping Malkin, Kris Letang, and even Sidney Crosby, they once again hope to catch Lightning in a Bottle.
They almost had it this year with Jeff Carter.
The time to reload was two years ago, when rich offers were made for the Penguins’ main players. But it’s over, and there is no sense in complaining now.
Realize that once this is done, the Penguins must cross the desert again. It won’t be fun. It won’t be easy. There will be 12,000 fans in the arena, 30,000 fans claiming to have been there and a lot more fans who will say, “let me know when they make the playoffs.”
Everyone pays the piper. At least these penguins can still dance, even with a wrist, leg, or knee.
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