Evgeni Malkin Wants to Remain with the Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins General Manager Kyle Dubas joined First Shift with EJ Hradek and Dan Rosen on NHL Network on Monday. There, he was asked about the contract status for Evgeni Malkin for the upcoming season.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
EJ Hradek: “Okay, real quick. You’re playing Colorado tonight. You get (Evgeni) Malkin back in the lineup. You’re in a unique position with older players that have been iconic players. His contract is up. Obviously, I don’t think you’re gonna break news one way or the other here, but What’s that process like?
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Kyle Dubas: “So what we’ve tried to do is to be very communicative with them. Geno is Geno, so he’s gonna gonna express himself, and as I’ve said, he’s earned the right to do that, but we’ve said a very specific way that we want to handle it, and it’s not all the same for everybody.
We extended to (Blake) Lizotte during the year, just because you look at the market for centers in the offseason, his importance to our team, and we just felt it was the right thing to do for the Pittsburgh Penguins. So we’re always going to do what’s best for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
But that said, there are guys on the team that deserve to be treated in a very special way and a different way, and that’s how we’ll handle it. And so we’ve continued to have discussions with, with Geno and with JP Barry, and we’ll continue to have that as the season comes to a close.”
NHLRumors.com Note: Following the Olympic Break, Malkin had some choice comments about his contract extension. He didn’t seem happy about not having an extension heading into next season, and that he had to wait until the off-season. However, Malkin, his agent JP Barry, Dubas were going to meet following the March shootout loss to the New York Rangers about Malkin’s future with the Penguins.
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After serving his five-game suspension for high-sticking Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, Malkin felt better about his ongoing contract talks than he did about two weeks ago.
“(Dubas) told me we wait for the summer,” Malkin told reporters following the Penguins 7-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Monday. “I’m OK to that. We have like 15 games left, and I hope playoffs. I want to just play. He asked me if I want to play next year. I say yes. Then he says, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll talk after the season.’ You know, I’m OK. I mean, I feel great. I want to play next year too, maybe two years, who knows. It’s just business.”
Evgeni Malkin doesn’t want to retire; he never said he wanted to at the beginning of the season. He wanted to let the season play out before making a decision. It is clear he wants to finish his career as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
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