Penguins Believe Core Member Doesn’t Get Proper Respect
Evgeni Malkin hasn't seen enough spotlight over the years and his Pittsburgh Penguins teammates recognize that.
Throughout the course of his career, Evgeni Malkin has almost always played in a secondary role on the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Always being the Penguins second line center behind Sidney Crosby has forced people to not give credit where it is due for Malkin.
In his two-goal performance against the New York Islanders, Malkin passed Sergei Fedorov for second most by a Russian born player, trailing only Alex Ovechkin in that category.
“He probably doesn’t get the credit that he deserves,” Crosby said. “He’s a competitive guy. He’s shown that year after year.
That kind of mark is a big deal as Malkin quietly climbs the ranks as one of the greatest players of all time.
Despite the distinction of being one of the best, there is still a belief Malkin doesn’t receive proper credit or respect for his work.
“People are talking about Ovi a lot,” Kris Letang said. “[Connor] McDavid. People talk about [Nathan] MacKinnon. You don’t hear Geno’s name a lot. What he’s been able to do in this league for that long at this age being the scorer that he is, it’s special.”
Letang has been a teammate of Malkins for nearly 20 years and has seen first-hand exactly what Malkin brings to the Penguins every night.
In 1,096 career games, Malkin has scored 484 goals and 774 assists for 1,258 total points.
Malkin is closing in on 500 total goals, yet has always had to fight for proper recognition.
Letang said aside from Malkin’s MVP season in 2011-12, he’s always been wrongfully put in the rearview.
As Malkin enters the final years of his career, it might be a little late for fully proper recognition, but there isn’t any doubt he’ll one day find himself in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
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