There was never a clearer difference between the approaches of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin than this week. The Pittsburgh Penguins will have at least Crosby next season, but Malkin remains a mystery.

It has now been a few weeks since Malkin laid his hockey future at general manager Kyle Dubas’s feet, telling the public he wanted to come back and he hoped Dubas offered him a contract.

By his own words, Dubas did, or is trying to do so, yet Malkin remains unsigned.

So, what is going on? It surely is not salary cap space, as the Penguins have about $42 million available for next season, though no one should expect Dubas to spend all of it. It is surely not the penguins saying no.

There has been talk of Malkin wanting a two-year deal, which would justifiably be a non-starter for Dubas, especially after he essentially told the assembled media in his season-ending press conference that Malkin was better with rest as was not in the same bucket physically as Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang.

**If indeed Malkin is demanding two years, that becomes an extraordinary difference between him and fellow core member Crosby, who told The Athletic this week that he would one year at a time because “that’s what is best for the team.”

Regardless if Malkin is demanding two years or one, it looks like the ball is in his court. While Crosby has done what’s best for the team for over a decade with a well below-market contract, if Malkin wants to play for the Penguins next season, it would seem it’s open to him … if he’s also willing to do what’s best for the team.

**We are now close to one year since the Hoffmann Family of Companies emerged as a potential buyer. Last August they became the only bidder, though it took until December before a deal was announced.

Unless a deal is completed within the next week, June will mark seven months. I was told specifically that the holdup was not about money, but instead the deal is complicated.

However, everything is about money, in one way or another. It took Fenway Sports Group less than two weeks to complete the deal when they bought the team from the Lemieux Group. Of course, FSG may or may not have coldly discarded other minority owners, but they had the money to do so and make it stick.

One has to wonder how the ownership transfer, if not uncertainty, will affect Dubas’s plans.

The questions about the budget and plans and even Malkin intersect. In each of the last two summers, Dubas has accepted well paid cast-offs from cap-strapped teams (Kevin Hayes, Matt Dumba) and received a pair of second-round picks and one third-rounder in exchange.

One overlooked response by Dubas on March 6 following the trade deadline, dealt with money and the Penguins’ budget.

“Because the cap is starting to creep up and go up, there just wasn’t the same degree of of need and opportunity (for salary dumps or salary retention deals). So, honestly, I think we had one team call that asked if we would be interested, and that was–I mean, there’s cap space and there’s budget space, and they’re two different things as well,” Dubas said. “But that’s where we have to choose where to spend. We like to spend it here on players.”

The Penguins didn’t want any more dead money on the books, even in exchange for more draft picks or assets. It’s a real and significant factor when looking ahead to offseason decisions.

**The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins season will come down to a deciding game Saturday against an inferior team that plays a tight defensive game.

Murashov has been spectacular, he made a glove save while doing the splits in Game 3 that fooled the goal judge, who assumed the wide open chance would be a goal.

A lot of work can be done in the summer, but I still see some rough spots that might lead to Murashov having a rough go in the NHL.

While Dubas mulls his decision to stick with Murashov, Joel Blomqvist and Taylor Gauthier or bring in a veteran third-goalie as insurance against Murashov and Blomqvist not being ready, the path would seem to raise a question.

If Dubas is willing to keep a space open for Murashov or Blomqvist, potentially a weak spot on the roster with a player who isn’t quite ready, why aren’t the Penguins willing to do that for other lineup spots?

It’s a big game Saturday as the prospects need every game–every lesson–they can get.

Tags: Evgeni Malkin Hoffmann Family kyle dubas Sidney Crosby

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