CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Evgeni Malkin has no interest in leaving the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The 37-year-old center signed a four-year, $24.4 million contract ($6.1 million average annual value) with the Penguins on July 12, 2022, after qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of his first 16 NHL seasons and winning the Cup three times (2009, 2016, 2017).
But Pittsburgh missed the postseason one year ago and are 28-25-8 this season, eight points behind the Detroit Red Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning, who are tied for the first wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The Penguins visit the Boston Bruins on Saturday (3 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, TVAS).
Malkin, in his 18th season since being drafted with the No. 2 pick at the 2004 NHL Draft, said he still wants to finish his career in Pittsburgh.
“Of course. I signed (a) four-year contract. After this year, I have two more years,” Malkin said Friday. “I want to stay here, you know? If I wanted to change teams, I probably would have changed two years ago. Again, this is my home, second home, you know? Any situation, I'm most happy here. I've had injuries. Now, it's a tough situation. I want to be here."
Malkin is second on the Penguins with 48 points (18 goals, 30 assists) this season, behind longtime teammate Sidney Crosby (63 points; 32 goals, 31 assists).
Before Thursday, he was third; then first-line left wing Jake Guentzel (52 points; 22 goals, 30 assists) was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes. Pittsburgh acquired forward Michael Bunting, forward prospects Ville Koivunen, Vasily Ponomarev and Cruz Lucius, and conditional first- and fifth-round draft picks in 2024.
With Guentzel gone, only Malkin, Crosby, defenseman Kris Letang and forward Bryan Rust remain from the group that won a championship in 2017.
“We need a better mood, for sure, right now. It's not easy, just play every game,” Malkin said. “Again, we have great players here, but not a great team right now, you know? We need to help each other and play to support each other. Again, hockey changes quick. We see it.
"Maybe a couple new guys give us energy, who knows, you know? Maybe now after the Trade Deadline, (we will) not feel pressure anymore and maybe (be) a little bit more relaxed and play better, everybody play better. Who knows? We still believe we have, not (a) big chance, but we still believe we have a chance to make the playoffs."
Crosby, at 36 years old in his 19th season, said he too would like to believe in this season.
"I hope. I mean, that would be great,” Crosby said after a 6-0 loss at home to the Washington Capitals on Thursday. “Obviously tonight is not going to be the kind of game that is going to do that, but yeah, I hope so."
The Penguins began a practice at 12 p.m. ET Friday. A few minutes later, defenseman Chad Ruhwedel was traded to the New York Rangers for a fourth-round pick in the NHL 2027 Draft.
“They’re human,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “It’s an uneasy time for players, regardless of the circumstance, these guys, they’ve built relationships off the ice, and they’re family. So, these guys are close friends, so that’s hard in and of itself. ... We’ve got to do our best here to collect ourselves and put our best foot forward.
“I thought we had a spirited practice today. We’ll continue to try to get better each and every day.”
The Penguins have lost three of four. They’ve been outscored 16-4 in the three losses, including 12-1 in the past two.
“I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I have to look at it again,” Letang said after the loss to Washington on Thursday. “We didn’t have anything going on. No energy. No passion. Nothing. As a group, we didn’t show up.”
To Malkin, that can’t become the norm. Not if the Penguins want to get back to where they’ve become accustomed.
“We just play hard and, like, play for (the) fans,” Malkin said. “Last night, we all understand it's not great, like, for us. I want to say sorry to the fans because they paid for tickets. They come to the rink. They see this game. It's not great.
“We can lose, but we need to play harder for sure. Again, it's a tough situation right now, but just forget everything, forget last night. But just play every game, we see what's going to happen."
