Evgeni Malkin has played his entire NHL career with the Pittsburgh Penguins after the team selected him No. 2 overall in the 2004 NHL Draft. In his 16-year career, he’s helped lead the team to three Stanley Cups and 16 consecutive playoff appearances.
But it looks like Malkin could be finishing his career elsewhere as the star forward has decided to enter the open market and become a free agent, according to NHL insider Darren Dreger.
“Malkin has never been a free agent before and wants to see what his option are,” Dreger said in a Tweet.
The move comes after contract negotiations between Malkin and the Penguins appear to have halted. Malkin, in the last year of his eight-year contract, was reportedly seeking a new contract with more than three years from the Penguins, but that offer never came.
While Malkin and Pittsburgh had been embroiled in a contract dispute for some time, the news that the Penguins star could be leaving his longtime team still came as a shock to the NHL world when they heard the news.
Sorry, Pittsburgh is not allowed to lose Heinz Field AND Malkin on the same day. That is simply unacceptable and I won't allow it https://t.co/8HeIXBqna4
— Joshua Axelrod (@jaxelburgh) July 11, 2022
The 35-year-old has had a storied NHL career up to this point, winning the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 2011-12 and the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2009.
When Malkin does hit the open market, the eight-time All-Star will undoubtedly have plenty of suitors.
[Darren Dreger]