It didn't take long for the Pittsburgh Penguins to find a new key winger for Evgeni Malkin.

During the 2022-23 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins found a bit of magic between their second line mainstays in Evgeni Malkin and Jason Zucker.

While Bryan Rust or Rickard Rakell usually filtered as the other winger, Malkin found a good deal of success with the fan favorite Penguins’ forward.

Zucker has since moved on to the Arizona Coyotes, however, leaving the role on Malkin’s wing up for grabs.

One of the first moves Kyle Dubas made as the Penguins president was trading a 2024 third-round pick for Reilly Smith.

After being taken by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 Expansion Draft, Smith is coming off of a season that saw him hoist the Stanley Cup.

In their first few practices together, Smith and Malkin have seemingly already found a groove and are likely to share a line come opening night.

Malkin likes Smith on his side, saying that there is already a spark there.

“We try and play together right now and try and understand each other,” Malkin said. “He’s a very smart forward with great experience. I think we’re a stronger team than last year.”

Neither Smith or Malkin will take part in the upcoming split squad preseason games against the Columbus Blue Jackets, but they will likely be the go-to second line come the regular season.

Malkin feels like the Penguins are a much better team and is making it a standard to come out on top of every game possible.

“Be winner every game.”

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