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Evgeni Malkin

Pittsburgh Penguins Expect To Sign Kris Letang

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There wasn’t much hesitation in Ron Hextall today as he met with the media, explaining to reporters including Chris Johnston of TSN that he would be “surprised” if they didn’t sign Kris Letang to an extension. Hextall hopes to have it done by the time they leave Montreal, where the hockey world is congregating for tomorrow’s draft.

On Evgeni Malkin, the team’s other franchise icon closing in on unrestricted free agency, Hextall said they are “still working” but didn’t share any other details.

Letang, 35, is still an extremely effective player and is actually coming off the best offensive season of his career. With 68 points in 78 games, racking up a career-best 171 hits, and still averaging close to 26 minutes a night, he finished seventh in Norris Trophy voting.

The three-time Stanley Cup champion is arguably more important to the Penguins than Malkin, at least in terms of this current championship window, as there is no internal option to fill the hole that Letang’s departure would leave. The team would have to look outside the organization, and players of his caliber obviously don’t hit the open market very often.

That’s also why a contract for Letang could still have a big number attached to it, meaning a multi-year extension carries quite a bit of risk for the Penguins. The team will be married to this aging core, meaning if he or Sidney Crosby takes a step back in effectiveness, any thought of contending for the Stanley Cup would likely go out the window.

Still, that’s likely the case even if Letang left in free agency, as the Penguins’ results are really tied to Crosby’s career at this point. Pushing in for a player you know and love–and also one who has spent his entire career in Pittsburgh–always did seem like the prudent option, even if it will mean committing lots of money to an aging talent.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Latest On Evgeni Malkin

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Evgeni Malkin in a different uniform? That still seems unlikely, given how much he has lobbied publicly to stay with the Pittsburgh Penguins for his entire career but Josh Yohe of The Athletic writes that there is growing pessimism about Malkin’s return.

The 35-year-old center is a franchise icon, and future Hall of Famer, and has indicated that he would take a discount to stay with Sidney Crosby and fellow free agent Kris Letang for another few years. Whether that discount is palatable to general manager Ron Hextall appears to be a different story, however. Yohe writes that “numerous agents” actually believe it is unlikely that Malkin returns to Pittsburgh next season.

It would be a shock to see the 2012 Hart Trophy winner in a different sweater, though even with his best years behind him, there would certainly be interest on the open market. Malkin still had 20 goals and 42 points in 41 games this season, producing well whenever he was healthy enough to take the ice. That health is a concern, as it’s been more than a decade since he played every game in a season, but it is not every day that you find a two-time Art Ross winner available in free agency.

With just over two weeks before the start of free agency, the clock is ticking on Malkin and the Penguins. The team has several other important UFAs to try and keep–including Letang and Rickard Rakell, whose situations are also examined in Yohe’s piece–along with arbitration-eligible RFAs in Danton Heinen and Kasperi Kapanen.

All that with a new ownership group that is not ready to take a step backward and wants to contend for the Stanley Cup next season. If there is a team worth watching over the next 16 days, it’s Pittsburgh.

Latest on Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have earmarked the 2022 offseason for years as a potential turning point for the franchise. Two-thirds of the core that has led the team to its lengthiest run of playoff success in franchise history, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, were scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency. In recent years, Bryan Rust has thrown his name onto the list of important Penguins with expiring contracts this season as well.

The team dealt with Rust, signing him to a long extension last month. Malkin and Letang remain unsigned with now less than a month remaining until free agency begins on July 13. However, The Athletic’s Rob Rossi reports that the organization’s top priority is signing Letang to a multi-year extension, according to multiple sources.

While the wording of that headline could raise some eyebrows, it’s unlikely that the inference the team truly prioritizes Letang over Malkin is accurate. It’s impossible to go into such a pivotal offseason without a plan of attack, and management needs an order of operations in order to manage their salary cap situation. The goal here is likely to figure out an average annual value for Letang as soon as possible so that they can make the appropriate salary cap moves to accommodate Malkin.

The last reported offer the Penguins made to Letang was “a little less” than his current cap hit of $7.25MM for four years, but that was almost a month ago now. If Letang signs for his current cap hit, Pittsburgh would be left with about $15.6MM in cap space this offseason, per CapFriendly. With that number, the Penguins would need to not only re-sign Malkin but also find a goalie to pair with Tristan Jarry and fill multiple spots at forward. It’s extremely doubtful they’d be able to make that work.

Really, all the Penguins are looking for at this point is some cost certainty. General manager Ron Hextall will need some time to make some cap-clearing trades work if necessary, but the team remains fully committed to retaining their core.

Penguins To Name Kevin Acklin President of Business Operations

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The Pittsburgh Penguins continue to overhaul their front office and management after a recent sale to Fenway Sports Group. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Mike DeFabo reports that the team is expected to name Kevin Acklin the team’s President of Business Operations, filling the role left by longtime executive David Morehouse.

Morehouse vacated the role two months ago when the CEO of 16 years stepped down, reportedly on his own terms.

As DeFabo notes, Acklin is an internal promotion. Since 2018, Acklin had been the team’s COO and general counsel. Similar to Morehouse, Acklin is a Pittsburgh native.

The changes in leadership come as the Penguins are set to embark on a tough road ahead over the next decade or so. As stars Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang age and/or leave the organization, the team will need strong leadership to avoid the business concerns the team has had in the past during periods of poor play. Acklin will now have a big part to play in that role, and his choices will have a significant effect on the team’s future.

East Notes: Giordano, Rust, Hextall

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Yesterday, Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Mark Giordano signed a two-year extension to remain in Toronto, an extension that was immediately characterized as being highly team-friendly in nature. It seems that the team-friendly nature of the extension was by design and by the request of Giordano himself. According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the original deal between Giordano and Toronto was “around” $1MM AAV, but Giordano preferred to sign at around $200K lower than that offer in order to allow the Maple Leafs “go out and do something else to help [them] win.”

While $200,000 may seem like a relatively small amount within the grand scale of the NHL’s salary structure, one has to remember that it is a significant amount of money for any person. For Giordano to reportedly forgo that amount of money, a sum that he has rightfully earned with his play in Toronto, in order for his team to have a little extra wiggle room to add players is an incredibly generous gesture. Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas said as much, referencing a “tremendous sacrifice” in Giordano’s contract negotiation process. The Maple Leafs have serious designs on competing for a Stanley Cup in the near future, and it now is evident that at least one of their players has quite literally bought into that vision.

Now, for some other notes regarding the league’s Eastern Conference teams:

  • The Penguins recently extended forward Bryan Rust on a six-year deal worth just over $5MM per year. Today, Penguins GM Ron Hextall had some other news regarding Rust, stating that the forward had undergone a “clean-up” surgery. Hextall downplayed the importance of the operation, stating that it was only a minor procedure and that Rust will be ready for the start of next season. Given the amount the team has now invested in Rust and his health, it’s important for Rust to be on the right health footing at the start of next season so the Penguins can hit the ground running on their next chance to win a Stanley Cup.
  • With the pending unrestricted free agencies of Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin looming, some believe that next season could be a transitional one for the Penguins, where they perhaps take a small step back from true contention in order to re-tool and extend their overall competitive window. Today, Hextall spoke on that idea and clarified the direction of the Penguins franchise. He stated, as relayed by Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, that the team is going to “continue on trying to win the Stanley Cup,” and that their new owners, Fenway Sports Group, are “totally on board” with this all-in approach. Despite the contract uncertainty of Malkin and Letang, two players Hextall deemed “generational,” it looks as though the Penguins will not be embarking on the re-tool some fans believe they need and instead will be doubling down on their chance to win a Stanley Cup with their current core.

Update On Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang

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Earlier today Evgeni Malkin addressed his pending unrestricted free agency and future with the Pittsburgh Penguins, stating that he hopes to retire in Pittsburgh. For that to be possible, he must ink a contract extension with the only team he has ever known. Malkin, 35, has remained consistently productive as he has aged (42 points in 41 games this season) but has also struggled to remain in the lineup on a regular basis. So, his importance to the franchise and his strong production square up against the declining reliability of his health to make his upcoming contract situation an especially intriguing one.

Just as Malkin’s contract is expiring, so is the contract of another Penguins franchise icon: Kris Letang. Letang, who is also 35, is coming off a season where he posted a career-high in points (68) and managed to stay in the lineup for 78 games, his most since the 2017-18 season. With Malkin and Letang both up for new contracts, the Penguins’ front office (and new ownership group) has a fork-in-the-road opportunity to change the direction of the franchise.

Rob Rossi of The Athletic reported yesterday that the Penguins had offered Malkin and Letang matching three-year, $15MM extensions, offers that “did not sit well” with Sidney Crosby. While that is certainly a major development, if true, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet added some context to the situation in his recent 32 Thoughts blog. Friedman supported Rossi’s reporting on the Penguins offering Malkin a three-year term on his extension, stating that the team has symmetry with the three years left on Sidney Crosby’s contract in mind. He also reported that Malkin’s camp and the Penguins were “far, far apart” on the actual dollar value of the extension, a separation that could make Malkin’s return more challenging.

As for Letang, Friedman reported that his offer was larger than the one mentioned in Rossi’s report. Friedman says that the “last he heard” was that Letang was offered a four-year contract carrying an average annual value just “a bit less” than his current AAV of $7.25MM. Given the annual values of contracts other high-end defensemen have received (Seth Jones, Darnell Nurse, and Dougie Hamilton, as comparables, got at least $9MM AAV on deals with significantly more term) it’s an open question as to whether that reported offer will be sufficient to retain Letang’s services.

Letang did say, per Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, that his “main goal” is to stay in Pittsburgh, so perhaps he will not enter the market eyeing a deal comparable to those other elite defensemen. But one does have to keep in mind that this very well could be Letang’s last chance at a massive contract, due to his age. At the very least, it seems from Friedman’s reporting that while the Penguins are apparently undertaking an earnest effort to retain their two franchise legends, there are still obstacles in the way.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Penguins Notes: Malkin, Rust, Rakell

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When the Pittsburgh Penguins were eliminated from the first round of the playoffs in seven games, it may have signaled the end of a significant era. Many of the team’s most recognizable players are pending unrestricted free agents, including Russian superstar Evgeni Malkin. When speaking to the media today in his end-of-year press conference, Malkin made his desire to stay in Pittsburgh very clear:

I love this city and I love these fans so much. If this team wants new blood and young guys and they say to me to move on, we will see… I believe in my agent and I trust him. I want to stay here. I want to play in the NHL… I hope I stay here. I hope I retire here.

The 35-year-old Malkin explained that he wants to play three or four more years in the NHL and was effusive in praising fellow Penguins legends Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang, the latter of which is also a free agent this summer. Malkin has spent his entire career to this point in Pittsburgh, a career that includes 981 regular season games, 1,146 points, a Calder trophy, Hart trophy, two Art Ross trophies, a Conn Smythe, and three Stanley Cup championships. Calling it his “second hometown” he is hoping that the two sides can come to an agreement on a new contract.

  • One of the other extremely important pending free agents wasn’t quite as ready to call Pittsburgh his hometown, at least not in terms of a discount. Bryan Rust explained that he feels as though he has outperformed his contract the last few seasons and is looking for a “reasonable” deal if he’s to stay in Pittsburgh. There’s no doubt that Rust has produced much more than the average $3.5MM player the last few seasons, which have included three-straight years of at least 22 goals. The argument might be that he has yet to play more than 72 games in a single season, which has reduced his overall totals. The 30-year-old has never broken the 60-point mark, despite scoring at nearly a point-per-game pace in the last few years.
  • Then there is Rickard Rakell, who only arrived a few weeks ago at the trade deadline. The former Anaheim Ducks winger fit in quite well in Pittsburgh and believes it is “definitely” a place he would like to come back to if possible. Rakell admitted that he understands the team has some bigger free agents to deal with first, but is obviously open to a contract extension with a club where he believes he can take his game to “the next level.” Rakell scored 13 points in 19 games down the stretch but was ultimately forced out of the first-round series and saw just 19 minutes against the New York Rangers.

Evgeni Malkin Suspended Four Games

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As many were expecting, the NHL Department of Player Safety has announced a suspension of Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin, this time for four games, for his cross-check of Nashville Predators’ defenseman Mark Borowiecki on Sunday. As the accompanying video explains:

“It is important to note that this is not a case where Malkin raises his stick defensively or reflexively to protect himself. We find Malkin’s cross-check to be retaliatory and aggressive. While we heard Malkin’s assertion that Borowiecki initiated the scrum by restraining him and confronting him, neither action merited Malkin’s response. Players are not excused from violating league rules because of the actions of their opponents. There is simply no justification for a player to forcefully and intentionally cross-check another player in this manner.”

Malkin’s suspension could seem excessive to some, but this is not his first suspension, having been suspended once before, and fined three other times in his career. It is also worth noting that Malkin was assessed a four minute double-minor on the play. In terms of salary-forfeited, the suspension will cost Malkin approximately $190K.

Losing Malkin for four games now is a tough loss for Pittsburgh, who is in no threat of losing a playoff position, but is fighting for seeding, which can have enormous ramifications in their own right. The Penguins currently sit in third place in the Metropolitan Division with 94 points, four ahead of the Washington Capitals who hold the second Wild Card in the Eastern Conference (the Boston Bruins have the first Wild Card with 95 points). The star forward is still producing at a high-level at 35 years of age, despite dealing with injury this season, recording 17 goals and 20 assists in 37 games this year.

 

Evgeni Malkin To Have Hearing With Department Of Player Safety

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The Pittsburgh Penguins could be without one of their stars for the next little while, as Evgeni Malkin will have a hearing with the league’s Department of Player Safety regarding his cross-check of Nashville Predators defenseman Mark Borowiecki last night.

At the end of the second period, Malkin and Borowiecki came together for the incident in question. Malkin first delivered a hard slash to Borowiecki’s side, before hitting him in the face with his stick. The Penguins forward received a four-minute double-minor penalty (Borowiecki was given a two-minute penalty for his own slash), as it drew blood.

This is certainly not the first time that Malkin has been involved in supplementary discipline decisions. The veteran has received several fines in the past and was given a one-game suspension in 2019 for high-sticking.

The Penguins start a home-and-home with the New York Islanders tomorrow, before doing the same with the Boston Bruins in the following two games.

Morning Notes: Scotiabank Arena, Sanderson, Malkin

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It was a concerning scene last night, as a speaker near the ceiling of Scotiabank Arena caught fire, forcing the evacuation of the arena and the suspension of the Toronto Raptors vs. Indiana Pacers NBA game. Although the fire appeared small and contained, there were fears that the speaker could fall to the seats below and firefighters needed room to work. After the situation was under control, players and staff were permitted to return to the court and the game resumed without any fans in the arena.

An added concern now are continued events at Scotiabank Arena, including tonight’s Toronto Maple Leafs game against the Florida Panthers. However, as the Toronto Sun’s Lance Hornby Tweets, all necessary repairs to the arena are expected to be made in time for tonight’s game. It’s not immediately clear what, if any, effect this will have on the game or fans ability to attend, however it’s a positive sign for a team that has already had to reschedule many of its games this season.

  • After his NCAA season came to an end, University of North Dakota defenseman and Ottawa Senators prospect Jake Sanderson is expected to sign his first professional contract, reports Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. Garrioch adds that despite potentially burning a year of his entry-level contract, the Senators still prefer to bring the defenseman in now. It’s also worth noting that Sanderson had hand surgery after a March 5th injury, but Ottawa is confident he will be able to debut before their last game on April 29th. Even still, Garrioch adds, the team wants to have Sanderson around to get accustomed to the team and NHL life, and to work with the team’s medical and training staff. The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, Sanderson put up 10 goals and 31 assists in 45 games on UND’s blueline.
  • According to Pittsburgh Penguins’ Head Coach Mike Sullivan, Penguins’ forward Evgeni Malkin is expected to be a game-time decision for tonight’s game against the Detroit Red Wings (link). Malkin missed Friday night’s game against the New York Rangers, a 5-1 loss for Pittsburgh, with a non-COVID illness and has been away from the team since. The star forward has played a key role for the Penguins this season after missing the first three months with an injury, recording 28 points in 29 games since returning.

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