Evgeni Malkin with message to fans while Pens will only protect Sidney Crosby on trade market

On Tuesday evening, the Pittsburgh Penguins traded forward Lars Eller to the Washington Capitals in return for a third-round pick in 2025 and a fifth-round pick in 2027. The move is likely to be of several for Pittsburgh, which began Wednesday just two points clear of the bottom of the Eastern Conference after a 7-1 blowout loss to the Dallas Stars on Monday night.

General manager Kyle Dubas is reportedly looking to make some player-in, player-out moves to fix the roster in the near future and has told teams everyone is available except Crosby.

Per Taylor Haase: “A league source told me earlier this week that Kyle Dubas has made it known to other teams that “everyone is available, except 87.”

On Tuesday after team practice, Evgeni Malkin had a message for the fans as he felt ashamed of the Penguins’ performance, per NHL.com.

“Last night, I want to say sorry to the fans,” Malkin said. “They [watched] a really bad game. I hope we, together, find a good way, win tomorrow and start building the team better.”

His comments were made before the Penguins’ trade, though the feeling is that more moves will be made in the near future.

“Again, tomorrow is a new day. Today is a new day. And tomorrow is a new game,” Malkin said. “It’s time to play better at home, for sure, and show our best. We can play better, for sure, because our group is, like, I love it.

“There are good guys here. We’re tight. We’re together. But we need to stop looking to each other, probably. We have to play (with) each other.”

The Penguins are 13th in the Eastern Conference and are tied with the Montreal Canadiens for 31st in the NHL with a goal differential of minus-21.

Pittsburgh faces the Detroit Red Wings later tonight and Malkin is hoping for he and his teammates to get back on track.

“You can’t win if you’re not optimistic,” Malkin said. “It’s a long season. How many games left, 65? It’s still a long way. It’s hard to say if you’re not optimistic.

“You can’t be mad every day. It’s a new day. Life is good. Everybody is healthy. Why not? Just do what we can. We have a good practice today and we see what happens tomorrow. One win can change everything.”