During the postgame interview window after the final game of the season April 17, Malkin declined to speak to reporters, saying he would speak “tomorrow.” That was locker clean-out day. But when the next day arrived and reporters gathered at the team’s practice facility in Cranberry and talked to most of the players before they scattered for the offseason, Malkin was nowhere to be found.
So we don’t know what his plans are, given that 2025-26 is the final year of his contract. He will be 39 next season. Will he retire at the end of that season? Seek another contract? Wait and see?
We don’t know because he hasn’t said and hasn’t made himself available to ask.
There has been a fair amount of speculation that next season will be Malkin’s last in the NHL. There has been no word of possibly extending his contract, something that could be done this summer. He has said he wants to play his full NHL career with the Penguins, who drafted him second overall in 2004.
Perhaps he will clear things up or at least offer a glimpse of what he is thinking when training camp opens in September. Let’s hope so, especially if he has made a decision on when he will retire.
Not because the Penguins need to know his thoughts for planning purposes. That will play out regardless of what he says. And not because some fans are down on him because he has lost a step and hasn’t been as incredibly productive recently as in past years.
Some advance notice on Malkin’s retirement plans would be nice simply because he deserves a farewell tour — a full-blown celebration of every “final” moment and his last appearance in every NHL city. Ovations. Stick taps. Video tributes. The works.
He might not be keen on that. He appreciates the fans’ support over the years, but he’s not overly fond of receiving attention from reporters or being singled out.
But Malkin deserves it.
Don’t let the regression in his game the past couple seasons cloud this thought (he did average more than a point a game as recently as 2022-23). You’re entitled to your opinion about whether the Penguins should have signed him to his most recent deal, a four-year contract signed in July 2022 with an average annual value of $6.1 million.
But you are not giving Malkin his due if you think he is not worthy of a ballyhooed sendoff such as we have recently seen with former Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. Perhaps some have somehow forgotten how dominant Malkin was for much of his career, bulldozing his way through opponents and racking up points.
He is a sure Hall of Famer who has helped the Penguins win three Stanley Cups, won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year, the Art Ross Trophy as the league scoring leader twice, a Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award, and won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2009 as playoff MVP.
He has topped 1,200 games and 1,300 points.
The Conn Smythe (36 points in 24 games) came in the first of the three Penguins Stanley Cups during what has come to be known as the Sidney Crosby era of Penguins hockey.
And that’s another reason Malkin deserves a farewell tour with lots of pomp and reminisces.
Malkin has always played something akin to second fiddle to Crosby, although not in any way orchestrated by Crosby. Malkin joined the Penguins a year after Crosby, thanks to difficulty getting out of his native Russia. Early on, he was reluctant to do interviews – and particularly, was camera shy – and used an interpreter.
Meanwhile, Crosby was the face of the NHL. Malkin had confidence in his game, but given his personalty, he was more than happy to let Crosby be the one who got all the attention off the ice, did all the promotions and handled so many interviews.
Malkin never warmed to speaking publicly, although in recent years he could be counted on to give an honest, even brutally honest, account of the team’s performance when he did grant interviews.
So a lot of fans have not been privy to Malkin’s personality – his drive to win, his sense of humor – but that situation should have nothing to do with Malkin’s status as a generational talent.
Yet Malkin has been outright overlooked for much of his career in relation to his talent. The biggest diss came when he was not included in the NHL’s top 100 of all time as part of the league’s centennial celebration in 2017. How utterly embarrassing.
At least and at last, Malkin was recently included in the NHL’s quarter-century team, a list of the top players of the 2000s.
That’s a good start. For the finish – should he be willing to share his retirement plans in advance – there should be a warm and long farewell tour.
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