Although much talk has surrounded teammate Sidney Crosby, Malkin sets out to make history of his own
Sidney Crosby has been the talk of hockey for nearly two decades, and rightfully so. Crosby surpassed several career milestones last season, entering the top-10 all-time in points, surpassing 1,000 assists, and tying Wayne Gretzky's record by registering his 19th consecutive point-per-game season.
But his teammate had some milestones of his own - and more on the way - to conquer as well.
Center Evgeni Malkin, approaching age 38 with 1,296 career points, surpassed fellow countryman Sergei Fedorov last season to become the second-highest goal-scorer among Russian-born players in history - behind only Alexander Ovechkin, who is slated to become the greatest goal-scorer of all-time - in 2023-24.
He should surpass several milestones during the 2024-25 season as well, as he will almost surely hit the 1,300 points mark, he is two goals shy of 500, and he's also two assists shy of 800. He is also currently 23rd all-time in points-per-game with 1.13.
But even beyond the upcoming campaign, there is still more work to be done.
Currently sitting at 37th all-time in points, Malkin is one of only five active players in the top-50 all-time, the others being Crosby (10th), Ovechkin (13th), Patrick Kane (38th), and Anze Kopitar (48th). He is second only to Ovechkin all-time in points by a Russian-born player.
Malkin is also only 125 points shy of topping Adam Oates and breaking the top-20. Given that he has two more years on the four-year, $24.4 million deal he signed in summer 2022 - and assuming he retires when his contract expires - he would need to average 62.5 points over the next two campaigns.
He scored 27 goals and 67 points in 2023-24, and this followed a 27-goal, 83-point season where he had more consistent and productive linemates. It's fair to assume that Father Time had something to do with his decline in production last season - but his offensive metrics suggest he could have put up higher numbers with better linemates. And his numbers in general last season were hardly lackluster:
There is some proof to back up the "linemates" claim, too: In the 21 games following the trade deadline - after the Michael Bunting acquisition - he registered 19 points, which would've put him at a 74-point pace. The line of Bunting, Malkin, and Rickard Rakell put up strong numbers and chance creation metrics for the remainder of the season, so it may also be fair to assume that Malkin will register more points this season with those two as permanent fixtures on his line.
To be honest, the biggest hindrance to him reaching the top-20 might be his health. He has played in all 82 games the past two seasons, but prior to that, he hadn't played in all 82 games since 2008-09. Health is, unfortunately, never a safe bet with Malkin - or any of the Penguins' "big four" in Crosby, Kris Letang, and Erik Karlsson as well - but, hopefully, he can avoid missing any prolonged periods of time over the next two seasons.
And, hey, you never know. Malkin may well want to sign a short-term extension in two years. If he's still putting up numbers, and his health holds up, why not?
Regardless of whatever his future holds, "Mr. 101" is one of the best and most accomplished players of all-time, and it's about time people - and greatest players lists - start acknowledging him as such.