RUMOR.  Per a source, “The Rangers and Penguins have had discussions surrounding Malkin.”

When you ask around the NHL right now, “What teams are definite sellers? “ you really only come up with the Pittsburgh Penguins .  This is odd on many levels, as the big four contracts on this team are locked up for a little bit longer here, among four players who are definitely getting up there in years….

Erik Karlsson

35

$10–11 M

Through 2026–27

Sidney Crosby

37

$8.70 M

Through 2026–27

Kris Letang

38

$6.10 M

Through 2027–28

Evgeni Malkin

39

$6.1 M

Through 2025–26

With the exception of Karlsson,  those numbers aren’t too extreme for the quality of a player you’re getting, but you do have to realize that these guys are not just in their 30s, but their late 30s.

Only one player on this list is entering their final year of their contract, and that would be Malkin….

How are these four trending?

Crosby: consistent around 90 points per season and still a point‑per‑game player

Karlsson: very consistent 56, 56, 53 points over the last three seasons, playing all 82 games in each season

Letang: after bouncing back with a strong season in 2023‑24, he fell off a lot in 2024‑25 fighting some injuries and not getting as much power play time

Malkin: his last three seasons have seen him trending downwards in points, and him showing his age as he’s missed more games due to injuries…83 points in 23-23 to 67 to 50 last season….

The Rangers Center Needs…

The Rangers top three “Centers” are Trocheck, Zibanejad, and JT Miller.  However, only Trocheck purely plays center.  Miller was moved to the wing the second half of his 32 games in NY, and Zibanejad has played a lot of wing as well in his career…

Trocheck(59 points)  and Z (62) left the Rangers center scoring extremely low…

Miller put up 35 points in 32 games in NY, and was outstanding…but he was more effective on the wing…

Despite his age and decline, Malkin still puts up more points per game than any center on the Rangers and would immediately become their top line center, which is something that Malkin has always wanted to be.  Playing with Panarin could very much revitalize Geno.  

It’s important to know that Russian players see “first line C” in a way that baseball pitchers view being the ace of the staff.   Malkin hasn’t had that opportunity in Pittsburgh, with the exception of the one year Crosby missed a lot of time, and Geno ended up winning the MVP.