Evgeni Malkin with emotional plea amid Penguins’ struggles

Pittsburgh Penguins star forward Evgeni Malkin has made his intentions clear on Wednesday night. Despite his Penguins currently sitting seventh in the Metropolitan Division at 6-9-3 and winning only two of their last 10 games, the Russian player isn’t looking to move elsewhere.

Following Pittsburgh’s 3-2 overtime loss at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings, Malkin spoke about his desire to remain a Penguin even tough general manager Kyle Dubas has already been making roster changes amid a rough start to the season.

“It’s my second home here,” Malkin told reporters. “I’m glad to be here. It doesn’t matter if we win or we lost, I want to be here always together with (teammates) Sid (Crosby), with Tanger (Kris Letang). We understand it’s a tough time right now. We traded Lars (Eller) yesterday. I want to stay together … We will fight every game, you know?”

It is clear that Geno is hoping to send a message to the team’s front office as he is obviously hoping to end his career not only in Pittsburgh, but alongside his close friends Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang.

Crosby signed a contract extension that will technically keep him in Pittsburgh until 2027, while Letang has three years remaining on his deal with a no-movement clause. Clearly, as Elliotte Friedman put it in his latest 32 Thoughts column on Sportsnet, that makes the 37-year-old defenseman a gamble for other teams, even if he wanted to be traded.

The only thing Malkin can do is play better, be a leader and changing force for the Penguins, who they can rack up some wins and get back on track. I however had to say that it’s hard to see a terrific player like Geno begging for things to stay the same when it is obvious times have changed and turned towards a rebuild in Pittsburgh…