The Pittsburgh Penguins took care of business Tuesday when they re-signed Evgeni Malkin, but there is still more work to be done — and the priority has shifted to young Russian winger Egor Chinakhov, a pending-RFA.
The Pittsburgh Penguins took care of a highly anticipated bit of business Tuesday when they inked veteran forward Evgeni Malkin to a one-year, $5.5 million contract extension for the 2026-27 season.
While, arguably, the hottest news topic of the summer for the Penguins has already been taken care of, there is still a fair amount of business to attend to. GM and POHO Kyle Dubas still needs to make some decisions regarding free agents Anthony Mantha and Stuart Skinner, as well as consider whether or not Arturs Silovs's strong playoff showing warrants an extension.
But the biggest outstanding piece of business pertaining to a player rostered last season involves restricted free agent winger Egor Chinakhov.
Chinakhov, 24, was brought over from the Columbus Blue Jackets in a late-December trade for forward Danton Heinen, a 2026 second-round pick, and a 2027 third-round pick. He requested a trade last summer and found himself in the press box a few times and relegated to fourth-line role in Columbus, producing just three goals and six points in 29 games.
When Dubas and the Penguins acquired Chinakhov, however, they believed in his potential as a high-end top-six winger. And, if his tenure with the Penguins post-trade is any indication, it looks like they may have been correct in that assessment.
In 43 games with the Penguins, Chinakhov had 18 goals and 36 points, and he flashed that potential with his elite shot - among other tools - that helped the Penguins win hockey games and qualify for the playoffs. The impressive thing, too, is that just two of those goals and six of those points came on the power play, as Chinakhov was relegated to minutes on the second unit.
His five-on-five play was impressive. And much of it was spent playing alongside Malkin.
Of his 18 goals with the Penguins, seven were assisted by Malkin, with six of those tallies being primary assists. Chinakhov spent the better part of the last month of the season - beginning with Malkin’s exit from the lineup due to a five-game suspension in early March - playing on a line with either Rickard Rakell or Sidney Crosby, and he also found success with those guys. But of the 10 goals he scored before Malkin was suspended, Malkin factored in on six.
Chinakhov and Malkin have some legitimate chemistry, and the Russian linemates were clearly able to feed off each other. A huge priority for the Penguins moving forward will be to best-position their young players to find the consistency required for long-term success.
The soon-to-be-40 Malkin may not be around for the long-term future of the franchise. But, Chinakhov, hopefully, will be. So, if having Malkin around - even for a short while - helps Chinakhov build on what he accomplished with the Penguins last season, it’s worth it.
And, well, the Malkin part of it is done. Now, the focus has shifted to the Chinakhov part of it, and it's something the Penguins should not take lightly, especially in a situation where they have plenty of talent on the verge of the NHL in their system but not a high quantity of talent that has the ceiling potential Chinakhov possesses.
So, if re-signing Chinakhov is now the Penguins’ biggest offseason priority, what should that look like?
Of course, giving Chinakhov a lucrative deal after half a season of performing well is probably doing too much at this point. Even if he showed a significant degree of potential as a legitimate top-six winger, it’s still on him to prove that he can sustain that over a longer period of time. So, with that, a bridge deal makes some sense in this case — perhaps in the two-year, $12 million range, taking into account the rising cap.
After all, the Russian sniper is an RFA, and the Penguins hold the leverage. They can drag out this process, or they can get a deal done that meets the needs and expectations of both parties. It’s always possible that Chinakhov is betting on himself and may seek a bit more term and a little more average annual value, although a prove-it extension does seem to make sense.
But, Chinakhov himself has expressed his desire to return to the Penguins for the long haul — and he has been pretty emphatic about that for a while.
“Yeah, for sure,” he said during locker cleanout day. “I’d love to be part of this organization for a long time, and yeah, we’ll see. But, I love to be here, for sure.”
Malkin, too, loves playing with Chinakhov, and he even quipped that he wanted his linemate to sign first. Things may not have panned out that way, but the fact remains that the Penguins are a much better team with both Chinakhov and Malkin on it.
So, if they truly value taking big steps next season, a Chinakhov extension has to be priority No. 1 in the coming days and weeks.
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