Heading into the offseason the Pittsburgh Penguins and Evgeni Malkin had yet to reach on a deal for the Russian forward to return for a 21st NHL season.
Evgeni Malkin put together a very strong 2025-26 campaign and finished the year with a point per game average of 1.09 (61 points in 56 games).
Understandably, Evgeni Malkin did not want to retire. He wants to keep playing. Kyle Dubas clearly did not predict Malkin having the season he did. Dubas never thought an extension was going to be on the table. Thus, the Malkin contract situation had dragged out, until now.
Dubas and Malkin came together on a contract agreement that will keep him in Pittsburgh for another season. This extension is deserved for his on-ice production and in my opinion when coupled with his legendary status with the team, necessary.
I am relieved and very happy about this result. I had no appetite watching Malkin play for another team and definitely did not want to see him retire when he still wants to play in the league. Now we get to see him keep playing where he wants to play for the only team he knows and loves.
The contract
Any potential Evgeni Malkin extension was never going to be held up by the financials. Malkin wasn’t looking to break the bank and the Penguins have ~45M in cap space heading into the offseason. Given that it was always going to be a one-year deal this contract could have been 10M and wouldn’t have made a difference either way.
Malkin’s base compensation is a pay cut from 6.1M to 5.5M. He does have potential for a raise if he hits certain performance bonuses.
Two of the bonuses are individually based. If he hits 42 games played (half of the year) and 63 games played (his career average) he will get 250k for each of those.
The other bonuses that can get him to 9M are if the Penguins win playoff rounds. Penguins fans should absolutely want Malkin to make 9M this season because it would imply the Penguins won the Stanley Cup.
Given the Penguins salary cap flexibility it is very likely that any performance bonuses are applied to the 2026-27 salary cap. A lot of times teams don’t have the cap space and the bonuses are rolled over into the following season. I don’t predict that to be an issue for the Penguins.
On-ice impact
As I mentioned above, Evgeni Malkin earned this extension. He is still a very good hockey player. He may not be as good as he used to be, but that is holding a player to the standard of being one of the game’s all-time greats. Current Malkin can still help a team offensively, even entering his year 40 season.
Another important dynamic of having Malkin return is for him to continue mentoring Egor Chinakhov. There was immediate chemistry and Chinakhov has never had the sustained success in the NHL that he had with Malkin. Having that Russian comradery is an added bonus for CHinakhov to feel more comfortable coming to the rink. Much like there are a generation of Canadian players who look up to Sidney Crosby, there are tons of Russian players who grew up idolizing Evgeni Malkin. This is one of those examples.
Having Malkin also allows Dan Muse to spread the offensive talent throughout the lineup. It isn’t a complicated concept, the more quality players you have the more players of quality you can push down the lineup, thus making you a harder to defend against team. With Malkin shifting to wing it gives him six winger slots in the top nine to play on. This is flexibility for the coach.
Expectations moving forward
I’m willing to bet one of the holdups Kyle Dubas had about bringing Malkin back was setting expectations moving forward. Here is Dubas’ quote on signing Malkin
Dubas referencing how Malkin’s role will evolve and setting expectations speaks to Malkin needing to be flexible about being moved off of the #1 power play and potentially the top six. Clearly all the parties involved are on the same page moving forward whatever the plan is. Regardless if Malkin is on the top power play or in the top six he is going to have an offensive role on the team.
It is a role that was never going to be filled cheaper or better given the free agent market. Signing Malkin also doesn’t cost the team assets on the trade market. You are getting a quality player at a reasonable cap hit. Quite frankly, a no brainer decision.
All in all, this is a great conclusion for both Evgeni Malkin and the Pittsburgh Penguins. It is the correct decision. It was the only decision to make. Everybody involved can exhale now and the focus will now shift to other roster moves in the coming weeks.
