Ugly reports on Evgeni Malkin get slammed by Penguins insider!

Earlier this week, Mark Madden of 105.9 The X and TribLive reported that Pittsburgh Penguins Evgeni Malkin would allegedly forgo his contract with the franchise that selected second overall back in 2004, and keep playing in back home in Russia. This is what Madden said on the air:

“I’ve been told (Malkin) won’t be back after this year — that he’ll go to Russia and forgo the last year of his deal,” Madden said. “How does that impact Sid? Does Sid know? I bet he does. And I heard there were discussions about trying to get Letang to Montreal at Letang’s request, but nothing came of that. So I don’t know where this is headed.”

Malkin still has two years remaining on his contract with the Penguins, and according to an insider with a lot closer knowledge on what’s happening with the team in Pittsburgh, Rob Rossi of the Athletic, there is no truth to the reports claiming that Geno will not honour the remaining term of his deal.

There were also rumours floating around that number 71 would retire at the end of this season to which Malkin said: “Not true.”

Malkin made it clear he intended to play out the full term of his contract when he signed it in the summer of 2022. There is hope that the Penguins can get one last push to the Stanley Cup before the Core 3 of Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang dismantles or retires. Back in the offseason of 2022, before inking a new contract with the Pens, Malkin had admitted that he was aware of his decline and knew that if he was approached by management to be traded for a rebuild, he would have to accept his fate. Now he is committed and ready to get the Penguins back in the playoff picture, with friends Crosby and Letang in tow.

Despite saying that he’s getting older, he who just turned 38, Malkin suited up in all 82 games for for the second straight season, tallying 27 goals and get 67 total points for the team in 2023-24. He will get going until his deal comes to an end in 2026.