Evgeni Malkin signs new contract at the last minute!

The Pittsburgh Penguins have managed to retain star forward Evgeni Malkin. Late on Tuesday night, hours before the opening of free agency, the Penguins and the Russian forward agreed to terms on a on a four-year, $24.4 million contract extension.

The deal will run through the 2025-26 season and carry an average-annual value of $6.1 million. He is coming off an eight-year, $76 million contract with an average annual value of $9.5 million.

According to insider Pierre LeBrun, Malkin will get a $4 million salary and $4 million signing bonus this season; $6 million for 2023-24; $5.6 million in 2024-25; and a $1 million salary plus a $3.8 million signing bonus in 2025-26, the final year of the contract and likely his NHL career. All four years of the extension also feature a full no-move clause.

"Evgeni is a generational talent who will be remembered as one of the greatest players in NHL history," said general manager Ron Hextall in a statement. "His hockey resume and individual accomplishments speak volumes about him as a player, and we are thrilled to watch him continue his remarkable legacy in Pittsburgh."

There were recent reports that talks have stalled between Hextall and Geno, who was believed to have informed his teammates he would test the market on Wednesday, saying that the front office thinks he's "not good anymore." That might have prompted another set of negotiations to finally hold on to Malkin and get him to retire in a Penguins' jersey. 

Malkin's new deal also comes in at the same AAV that Kris Letang received on his new contract, though the defenseman did receive two additional years when he signed.

The deal is hopefully going to prove to Geno that the Penguins still believe in his talent, despite missing the first half of the season while recovering from offseason knee surgery. He still managed to put up 20 goals and 22 assists in 41 games this past campaign while adding three goals and three assists in seven postseason contests.

Pittsburgh is trusting the same core to move forward in 2022-23. The team re-signed trade deadline pickup Rickard Rakell on Monday and now has just $4.2 million in cap space this offseason, according to Cap Friendly. The team has no more remaining UFAs and only one RFA in Kasperi Kapanen.