Evgeni Malkin is leading the league in scoring at 38

[Felidae]

Every player goes on heaters.. so i wanna hear from pens fans how does he actually look? I heard he lost a step last season, so just wondering.

 

[Drake1588]

His start has been awesome, but the take would be (1) small sample size, and (2) massive early season disparity in GP. The league's teams have played from 2-6 games so far. The Pens are at the upper end, with 5. So in some cases, a team has played three times as many games as another.

The rejoinder is that it's too early for takes, but his start is encouraging, to be sure. Malkin can blow hot and cold; when he gathers up steam, he's impossible to contain and he's started on fire.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Geno has had a lot of injuries the last few years and it looks like this is the first time he's finally healed from them all properly and just looks healthy again. He's definitely not getting much help from Bunting or Rakell at all either, it's just Geno being Geno right now and he's still an elite beast.

Every player goes on heaters.. so i wanna hear from pens fans how does he actually look? I heard he lost a step last season, so just wondering.

He looks like he's fully recovered from his knee surgery, as in gaining his full strength back, skating wise he looks perfectly fine, he's also his usual physical self and hard to contain in all 3 zones.

Also, are you lot seriously acting like Malkin, an elite talent in his career in this league, is somehow just some player that has heaters? Lol. I get blokes here want to keep disrespecting Geno but seriously, that's a dumb take.

Bunting has 1 assist and Rakell has 3 goals and 0 assists in the season so far, so Malkin is quite literally a one man army right now. 7 of his 11 points are at ES.

 

[HockeyVirus]

We are already at the hot take based on small sample size part of the season eh? My favorite.

 

[Ignatius]

 

[Felidae]

Geno has had a lot of injuries the last few years and it looks like this is the first time he's finally healed from them all properly and just looks healthy again. He's definitely not getting much help from Bunting or Rakell at all either, it's just Geno being Geno right now and he's still an elite beast.


He looks like he's fully recovered from his knee surgery, as in gaining his full strength back, skating wise he looks perfectly fine, he's also his usual physical self and hard to contain in all 3 zones.

Also, are you lot seriously acting like Malkin, an elite talent in his career in this league, is somehow just some player that has heaters? Lol. I get blokes here want to keep disrespecting Geno but seriously, that's a dumb take.

Bunting has 1 assist and Rakell has 3 goals and 0 assists in the season so far, so Malkin is quite literally a one man army right now. 7 of his 11 points are at ES.

Obviously not. That's why I asked how he actually looks..

Players can look good on the stat sheet when their on ice play tells a different story (the opposite also happens a lot..)

Given how last season ended and his current age, it's really not an outrageous question to ask.

 

[GeeoffBrown]

I wish Prime Crosby and Malkin would have entered in 2024 version of NHL. They have lost over season worth of games due dirty plays that isn't present in todays league.

Perhaps it would help their individual stats but they HAVE won 3 Stanley Cups. No guarantee of that kind of success.

 

[The Panther]

We are already at the hot take based on small sample size part of the season eh? My favorite.

5 games is all we need to see the rest of the season. The next 77 games and the playoffs are just padding.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Every player goes on heaters.. so i wanna hear from pens fans how does he actually look? I heard he lost a step last season, so just wondering.

He looks awesome. Doesn’t look 25 again or anything but he’s buzzing. I don’t think he’s going to push for the Ross though haha.

His falloff was a tad overstated IMO. First, he still had 67 points as a 37 year old. Second, the Pens PP was ridiculously bad. His PP points were cut in half from the year prior.

 

[britdevil]

f***ing Penguins, just go away already. You've had your time in the sun.

Good for Geno though. I'm similar age and my back hurts when I pick my kid up.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

He’s still got it

 

[Gordon Lightfoot]

The folks posting about "let me know later in the season" seem to miss the point that it's still pretty damn noteworthy that a player his age is leading the NHL after a handful of games. It's not like the first game of the season and he had a 4 point game to lead.

It's not about predicting he'll win the Ross or that he'll keep up the pace or that he'll be leading even a week from now. But the fact that a 38 year old who a lot of folks like to write off as washed up is leading *right now* is pretty cool.

I am as big a Malkin fan as a Bruins supporter can possibly be, but there is nothing noteworthy about this at all. He's one of the best players of all time, top 50 I think.

 

[Hockey4Lyfe]

How do people get so butt hurt over someone posting a topic on a forum? It’s not like the original poster claimed he was going to keep the pace up or win an Art Ross.

It’s simply 38 year old Malkin is leading the league in points. Is it misleading? Yes. Is it factually incorrect? No.

Grown men complaining about what others put on a chat forum is more worrying than this topic at hand.

 

[Tender Rip]

I am as big a Malkin fan as a Bruins supporter can possibly be, but there is nothing noteworthy about this at all. He's one of the best players of all time, top 50 I think.

Appreciate the sentiment, but for those of us ticked off that Malkin is written off before every season, it is funny to see him with 11 points and a crowd with 8.

Is it note or newsworthy, maybe not. But gratifying as f*** for those of us who like him like I assume Boston fans liked Bergeron. Ie. quite passionately and with a constant sensation your boy wasn’t really getting due credit.

 

[Lomez]

Geno plays with a lot of pride and watching interviews prior to the season start he noted a few times that he wants to prove to people he is still "good player." His body has taken a beating, so of course he'll slow down, but it is a joy to watch him galloping around trying to do crazy shit and occasionally pulling it off.

 

[Foppberg]

Geno in his prime was lights out. Better than Sid at his absolute peak. He's still got some juice left.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Sure, here’s my take:

1. He’s third in points per game
2. No team has played more than six games

Call me in a few months if he’s still in the lead

3. Points against the Sabres don’t count as much.

It’s still fun you grumpy Gus!

 

[Empoleon8771]

There are 2 aspects that makes me really interested in what Malkin can do this year:

1. The Penguins PP finally looks functionable again after bumping Karlsson to the left half wall and putting Letang back on the top PP unit. Their PP is at 26.7% this year after going 15.3% last year, Malkin should get a nice jump in PP production (as should Crosby).
2. Malkin probably has the best linemates he has had in the last 5 years with Bunting and Rakell. Bunting has been horrid to start the year, so when he gets into his groove, I think the 2nd line should be very good.

I could easily see Malkin finishing the year at over a PPG, probably 35 goals and 85 points or something like that. To do that at 38 would be wildly impressive.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

There are 2 aspects that makes me really interested in what Malkin can do this year:

1. The Penguins PP finally looks functionable again after bumping Karlsson to the left half wall and putting Letang back on the top PP unit. Their PP is at 26.7% this year after going 15.3% last year, Malkin should get a nice jump in PP production (as should Crosby).
2. Malkin probably has the best linemates he has had in the last 5 years with Bunting and Rakell. Bunting has been horrid to start the year, so when he gets into his groove, I think the 2nd line should be very good.

I could easily see Malkin finishing the year at over a PPG, probably 35 goals and 85 points or something like that. To do that at 38 would be wildly impressive.

Yeah I don't think ANYONE... not even his biggest fans... think he's gonna actually keep this up. But considering his age and injury history a PPG year would be pretty wild.

He definitely looks stronger on his skates this year. Almost like he's not afraid to really dig in, again. They say knee injuries can take a couple of years to fully recover from so who knows. And like you said he and Raks especially seem to have something going at least to start the season and if Bunt starts producing there might even be another level with that line.

I think everyone (even non Penguins fan) can't help but like the guy because as stated above... dude will just TRY things nearly every shift. Even at 38. You can't help but love watching that.

 

[Gordon Lightfoot]

Appreciate the sentiment, but for those of us ticked off that Malkin is written off before every season, it is funny to see him with 11 points and a crowd with 8.

Is it note or newsworthy, maybe not. But gratifying as f*** for those of us who like him like I assume Boston fans liked Bergeron. Ie. quite passionately and with a constant sensation your boy wasn’t really getting due credit.

Cheers to that. IMO he gets written off largely under the guise of wishful thinking. He's still a dominant player.

 

[authentic]

There are 2 aspects that makes me really interested in what Malkin can do this year:

1. The Penguins PP finally looks functionable again after bumping Karlsson to the left half wall and putting Letang back on the top PP unit. Their PP is at 26.7% this year after going 15.3% last year, Malkin should get a nice jump in PP production (as should Crosby).
2. Malkin probably has the best linemates he has had in the last 5 years with Bunting and Rakell. Bunting has been horrid to start the year, so when he gets into his groove, I think the 2nd line should be very good.

I could easily see Malkin finishing the year at over a PPG, probably 35 goals and 85 points or something like that. To do that at 38 would be wildly impressive.

I could see him coming close to top 10 in points still in a full season. Who are Crosby’s wingers this season? And do you believe he is better than Crosby at this point.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I could see him coming close to top 10 in points still in a full season. Who are Crosby’s wingers this season? And do you believe he is better than Crosby at this point.

Nah I don't see any way Malkin produces that much. Top-10 in points would have him at 100 points and I think there is no chance he finishes that high.

I don't even particularly think Crosby is very likely to hit 100 points ever again, there is almost no chance Malkin does if Crosby can't even do that.

 

[Tender Rip]

Cheers to that. IMO he gets written off largely under the guise of wishful thinking. He's still a dominant player.

Without in any way wanting to discredit Sid, Malkin gets written off because there’s only that much bandwidth.
In a game where he dominated, again, gets 4 points, assumes the top of the scoring charts and scores goal number 500, Sid gets his point #1600 AND pots the OT GWG. That’s the headline on NHL.com. Nothing wrong with that, really, but if one wanted a great example of why Geno can fly under the radar to something like top20 in all time scoring in the league eventually (he’ll end up around Coffey/Recchi I think), that’s it.

 

[authentic]

Nah I don't see any way Malkin produces that much. Top-10 in points would have him at 100 points and I think there is no chance he finishes that high.

I don't even particularly think Crosby is very likely to hit 100 points ever again, there is almost no chance Malkin does if Crosby can't even do that.

Yeah I could see him on the outskirts of that which is why I said close to top 10, in a full healthy season where everything goes right, but maybe I’m wrong.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

This season is likely his last hurrah before he goes back to Russia, the contract is seemingly designed with a dummy year on the end to be voided after he gets paid his bonus. One of the greats of his generation, overshadowed by Crosby.