Report: Malkin and Letang may not return to Penguins, Crosby not happy with GM Ron Hextall

The Pittsburgh Penguins' 2021-22 season came to a dramatic close this past weekend when Artemi Panarin and the New York Rangers managed to complete their three game comeback with a Game 7 OT goal to take the opening round series.

With the Penguins' season now over the post-mortem begins and the offseason planning also begins. And there are some SERIOUS things for GM Ron Hextall to address this offseason. Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell, Evan Rodrigues and Casey DeSmith are all slated to hit the open market as free agents unless locked up to a new deal before the opening of free agency. But... certainly the Penguins aren't going to walk away from Malkin and Letang, right? They're franchise legends... they'll do whatever it takes to ensure that they retire with the organization, right? Think again.

According to Penguins insider Rob Rossi, the Penguins offered matching three year deals to both Malkin and Letang worth just $5 million per season. Understandably so, both players see those as lowball offers and Rossi reports that captain Sidney Crosby was not happy with his teammates being lowballed by management.

Check it out:

For the record, Malkin is coming off a deal that paid him $9.5 million annually and Letang is coming off a deal that paid him $7.25 million annually. Now... both Malkin and Letang are 35 years old. They won't be around for much longer, but to cut their salaries nearly in half (in Malkin's case, at least) is insulting. These are players who have been around for three Stanley Cup championships and have been the backbone of this organization for a decade and a half. Obviously Crosby isn't going anywhere anytime soon, but with the way that the team has lowballed Malkin and Letang, you have to think that change could be coming in Pittsburgh this offseason.