Penguins' Evgeni Malkin is aging, changing and not done yet

Two days before his 19th NHL season, Evgeni Malkin sits in the Pittsburgh Penguins practice facility locker room watching Drew O’Connor and Jack St. Ivany, two of his youngest teammates. They were just children when Malkin had already become a Pittsburgh icon. Now they share a locker room.

“Time flies,” Malkin said, shaking his head.

Malkin, of course, does not fly quite like he once did.

Now 38, Malkin knows only so much time remains in his decorated career. His legacy is safe and will someday be cemented at Toronto’s Hockey Hall of Fame. But his considerable physical skills have begun their inevitable erosion, and he knows it.

“Frustrating,” he says, acknowledging that he can’t always take over games as he could in his youth, when Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin were his only peers and his physical dominance sometimes exceeded theirs. “But, you know, I am not done yet.”

Malkin, a precocious star from the moment he arrived in Pittsburgh at age 20 in 2006, doesn’t intend on fading away with a whimper.

‘Me and Sully talked’

Malkin is still a good NHL player, scoring 27 goals in each of the past two seasons. He had 83 points in 82 games in 2022-23 but his point total declined to 67 last season, largely because of a historically bad Penguins power play.

“I hope people still realize how great he is,” said Michael Bunting, Malkin’s feisty left wing. “I still view him as one of the great players in the world, and I’m not the only one who feels that way.”

Malkin knows better than anyone that he’s not in the conversation for best player in the world any longer, of course. He’s still feared and revered, but he is very much on the back nine of his career, which prompted a conversation between Malkin and Penguins coach Mike Sullivan during training camp.

“Me and Sully talked,” Malkin said. “We talked about some changes in my game.”

Malkin is delightfully impulsive on and off the ice. When the Penguins are struggling, he will attempt to dance through all five opposing skaters. When he gets mad, he can turn up the physicality. When the PPG Paints Arena crowd erupts in one of its patented “Ge-No” chants, his energy level doubles.

That impulsivity needed to be addressed.

“I have a lot of experience and I need to show that, if you’re a good player, you learn to change your game over the years. I have to do that,” Malkin said. “We talked about maybe not trying to beat people one-on-one every shift. Sometimes when you’re fresh on a shift, yes, go for it. But I want to learn to be more patient, use my wingers more, see what’s going on instead of trying to beat people all the time. If I’m 30 or 40 seconds into a shift, I need to play smart hockey.”

Malkin, in this way, can’t emulate Crosby or use him as a guide — “Sid amazing. He’s still the same.”

So instead, Malkin has watched tape of his other longtime contemporary.

Ovechkin remains productive, but the eye test hasn’t been kind to him in recent years as his skating diminishes. Malkin can relate on some level.

“I watch Ovechkin’s game a lot now,” he said. “He doesn’t play one-on-one as much anymore. But he’s going to the net more, getting rebounds. Look at where goals are scored now in the league. All around the net. I want to play around there more, score some of the dirty goals.”

To change his game as he nears the end of his career, Evgeni Malkin has looked to longtime competitor Alex Ovechkin, left. (Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)

Sullivan and the Penguins coaches want that, too. Malkin is playing down low far more often on the Penguins’ much-maligned power play. His lack of foot speed has made him a liability, at times, when he’s located near the blue line, but around the cage, few can match him.

“I don’t know if people realize how strong he is,” Bunting said. “Good luck moving him.”

Malkin will always be Malkin, which is to say he will sometimes dazzle and sometimes confound with a bad penalty or a risk gone awry. It’s in his DNA. For the better of his team and his own game, though, he says changes are coming.

“Will still try some stuff,” he said with a grin. “But I am the oldest guy on this team and I need to play smarter hockey.”

To a man, Malkin’s teammates still show a great deal of appreciation for him.

“I remember when he didn’t make that all-100 NHL team,” defenseman Marcus Pettersson said. “It was a joke then, and it’s a joke now. But the guys in here, we know how great he still is. I hope everyone else does, too.”

‘No one wants to retire’

Malkin has two years remaining on his contract and will be a couple of months shy of 40 when that deal expires.

It has long been assumed in Penguins circles that Malkin will call it a career at that point. He will have played 20 seasons and eclipsed every reachable milestone and, given his skating trajectory, it may simply be time.

“If I’m not playing right, if I’m not real happy with how I’m playing, then yes, these probably are my last two years,” Malkin said. “But I can’t say for sure that I’ll be done in two years. If I play well this year and next year, if I’m happy with how I’m playing, then maybe I’ll play a little more after that. That would be nice.”

The grind of an NHL career has not been kind to Malkin’s body. He twice has undergone reconstructive ACL surgery.

Some days, his body hurts more than others.

“My body doesn’t feel perfect,” he said. “But my mind? It feels great. My mind and my head are good. I can say that I still am excited for this season just like I was when I first come to Pittsburgh. I still like working. I’ve changed my mental (approach) a little bit. I stay more positive than I used to. I’m the oldest guy on the team, so I’m trying different things, positive things.”

If these are his final two seasons, Malkin wants them to be special. He’s absorbing everything these days, from spending time with longtime friends Crosby and Kris Letang to enjoying his favorite road trips and helping the Penguins’ push to return to the postseason.

His explanation is simple.

“No one wants to retire,” he said. “Everyone wants to play as long as possible, but I know I can’t play much longer. It’s my last two or three years, probably. When it’s your last two or three years, you want to play even more. I want to play at a high level in my last seasons, help my team.”

Malkin wants to make a last impression before the time comes.

“I really do,” he said. “And I still have some things. My skill. My stick-handling. My passing.”

Evgeni Malkin desperately wants one more chance to celebrate winning the Stanley Cup with close friend Sidney Crosby. (Dave Sandford / Getty Images)

‘Not until then’

Malkin has retirement on his mind, yes, but only on his terms.

And his terms include a trip to the playoffs.

Could Malkin retire if the Penguins miss the postseason again in each of the next two seasons?

“One hundred percent no,” Malkin said.

He wasn’t joking or smiling.

“I love the playoffs so much and I love our fans so much,” Malkin said. “I need to feel it again. I couldn’t leave if I never play in the playoffs again. Not until then.”

The Penguins last played in the postseason in 2022 against the New York Rangers. While the series is largely remembered for Crosby’s dominance and subsequent series-altering injury at the hands of Jacob Trouba, Malkin had his share of memorable moments. He won the classic Game 1, triple-overtime game at Madison Square Garden on a deflection that beat countryman Igor Shesterkin. With Crosby out of Game 6 and the Penguins trailing 3-2, Malkin stole a Trouba pass and scored on a breakaway, igniting the PPG Paints Arena playoff crowd one last time.

More than anything, dreaming of another rush like that keeps Malkin going.

Two nights later, the Rangers claimed the series in overtime at Madison Square Garden. Then came the following two seasons and the Penguins’ inability to return to the postseason stage Malkin still craves.

“I was so mad the last two years,” he said. “Missing the playoffs by one or two points. Terrible. It’s not like we missed by 10 points, you know? I’m still mad. I want back.”

As fate would have it, Malkin came face to face this summer with the piece of hardware that drives him to this day.

Max Ivanov, a longtime Malkin friend, is the Florida Panthers’ skill coach. He invited Malkin to his Stanley Cup party this summer.

“The Cup was there, and I touched it,” Malkin said. “Didn’t celebrate like crazy. I’m a Penguin. But it felt good to touch it. I was happy for Florida and the friends I have there. But I want it back before I retire.”

(Top photo: Justin Berl / Getty Images)