Pittsburgh Penguins icon Evgeni Malkin signed a one-year contract extension Tuesday. The team still looks closer to rebuilding than winning the Stanley Cup, but re-signing a veteran star has many benefits for the next core.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are brimming with optimism as they re-signed center Evgeni Malkin to a one-year contract on Tuesday.
After getting back into the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2021-22, the Penguins did what their fans hoped they would by keeping Malkin for at least one more season. His contract carries a $5.5-million cap hit with up to $3.5 million in performance bonuses.
The Pens' resurgence this season didn't involve them mortgaging their future by trading away young players just to win a post-season round or two. But it's also clear that GM Kyle Dubas and the rest of Pittsburgh's management have embraced their current situation and will run it back one more season as they try to win with Malkin and fellow stars Sidney Crosby, Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang.
Now, it's OK to be skeptical that the Pens can be a legitimate Cup front-runner with their current group. They aren't at that level, and the Penguins continue to delay a potential rebuild by keeping their core veterans.
But if Dubas continues to thread the needle just right and figures out how to cater to his veteran core while developing young players for the long run without tearing everything down, Penguins fans will be overjoyed.
Over the past few years, there's been trade speculation about Crosby, Malkin, Letang and Karlsson. It's understandable why: Dubas could've commanded a king's ransom for his veteran stars, and that could've fast-tracked a Pittsburgh rebuild. But it's commendable that the quartet of stars with no-move clauses want to see this situation move to its logical conclusion and end their career in a Penguins uniform.
We know Crosby and Malkin are no-brainer, first-ballot Hockey Hall of Famers. It would've been a true shocker to see them wearing a different NHL team's uniform.
But the upside of keeping the four veterans in Pittsburgh is that the Penguins' young players – including Ben Kindel, Yegor Chinakov, Rutger McGroarty, Owen Pickering and goalie Arturs Silovs – will again be able to sit under the learning tree from their veterans and develop into difference-making NHLers.
Perhaps Dubas eventually decides to move some of his other veterans, including wingers Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell, for draft picks and prospects. But Malkin's signing means that probably won't happen until the 2026-27 season is well underway, if it happens at all. And what is now much more likely is that Dubas spends some of Pittsburgh's $37 million in salary cap space to augment their lineup without sacrificing many future assets.
It's all going to be a delicate balance for the Penguins, and in what will be an improving Metropolitan Division next season, a lot of things will have to go right for the Pens to get back into the playoffs.
It's hard to blame Dubas for running it back, though. You rarely, if ever, have a quartet of potential Hall of Famers in your organization at the same time, and you need to make hay while the sun shines.
With Malkin's re-signing, the Penguins have the opportunity to prove they still have some fight left in them. But time is of the essence, and if Pittsburgh falters early in the 2026-27 campaign, it will be fascinating to see what Dubas chooses to do with his group.
Ultimately, it could be that Dubas is only delaying the inevitable. Second-guessers couldn't be faulted for doubting what this Penguins team is capable of.
But Malkin's commitment to another season has to please nostalgic Pens fans. Pittsburgh will have Crosby and Malkin returning for what could be their final season together, and if they do the unexpected and run the table by winning multiple playoff rounds, no Penguins fan will bat an eye that Dubas gave Malkin one final lucrative payday.
Although the Penguins were drummed out of the playoffs' first round with relative ease by the arch-rival Philadelphia Flyers, the Pens had a decent season for their fans. Father Time has Pittsburgh on the clock, but this terrific generation of Penguins players is going to have what's likely to be their final kick at the can.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.