Evgeni Malkin is leading the league in scoring at 38

[Dipsy Doodle]

Well the claim is based on the rumor/report that this was his last year in the NHL (which I assumed most reading the thread had heard so I didn't cite it):

Possible Malkin retirement?

Mark Madden(I know, I know) claimed on his radio show that he has sources saying this will be Malkin's last season in the NHL and he'll go back to Russia to play. I know people hate on double M but he's fairly connected in Pittsburgh. Are we going to see more take the Kuzy route and end their...

forums.hfboards.com

which he apparently denied fwiw:

Evgeni Malkin comes clean on rumors surrounding his Penguins future

NHL insider Mark Madden of 105.9 The X and TribLive reported that this would be Evgeni Malkin's final season in the NHL.

www.sportskeeda.com

The contract is certainly structured in such a way that he could void his deal at minimal financial penalty if he does it after getting his 3.8m signing bonus, cause he then forfeits only a 1m salary:

Evgeni Malkin | 4yrs x 6.100M (PIT)

Evgeni Malkin signed a 4 year, $24,400,000 contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Jul. 12, 2022. The contract has a cap hit of $6,100,000.

capwages.com

Yes it's true Malkin never explicitly said this is the plan but the dots connect given he wants to return to Russia and the structure of the deal.

Penguins' Evgeni Malkin Reveals Post-NHL Plans

So that's the evidence at least the evidence I'm aware of, to be determined if it was all just baseless rumor mongering.

I wouldn't put much stock in what Madden says.

A much better bet is that Malkin loves the Penguins and wants to stay as long as they want him and he feels he can contribute, because that's what he's done for the better part of 2 decades.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

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.

His skating is a lot better than last year's. I don't expect him to finish with 100+ points or anything at age 38, but I can see a return to ppg+ for him.

 

[WickedWrister]

His skating is a lot better than last year's. I don't expect him to finish with 100+ points or anything at age 38, but I can see a return to ppg+ for him.

If the Pens can have even a league average power play this year, I think ppg is a real possibility.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

If the Pens can have even a league average power play this year, I think ppg is a real possibility.

Well... assuming the brainiac coach keeps him on the top unit all year this time unlike last season where he spent like 1/3 of the season on the second unit for reasons that still haven't been made clear.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Is it just me or does he look a bit slimmer and faster? Anyone know if he hit the gym hard in the offseason? Certainly looks to have some jump thus far, early going and all.

He looks faster and slimmer to me.

As to the slimmer part in particular, NHL.com has upped his current weight to 210 lbs this season. I’d take that with a grain of salt though, last time they updated Malkin’s weight was in 2007, when he weighed in at 195 lbs.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Is it just me or does he look a bit slimmer and faster? Anyone know if he hit the gym hard in the offseason? Certainly looks to have some jump thus far, early going and all.

Maybe but he’s honestly always been a pretty skinny dude, just doesn’t look like it in a jersey for whatever reason

 

[Zalos]

Good for Malkin. Now, kindly slow down, Geno.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Well the claim is based on the rumor/report that this was his last year in the NHL (which I assumed most reading the thread had heard so I didn't cite it):

Possible Malkin retirement?

Mark Madden(I know, I know) claimed on his radio show that he has sources saying this will be Malkin's last season in the NHL and he'll go back to Russia to play. I know people hate on double M but he's fairly connected in Pittsburgh. Are we going to see more take the Kuzy route and end their...

forums.hfboards.com

which he apparently denied fwiw:

Evgeni Malkin comes clean on rumors surrounding his Penguins future

NHL insider Mark Madden of 105.9 The X and TribLive reported that this would be Evgeni Malkin's final season in the NHL.

www.sportskeeda.com

The contract is certainly structured in such a way that he could void his deal at minimal financial penalty if he does it after getting his 3.8m signing bonus, cause he then forfeits only a 1m salary:

Evgeni Malkin | 4yrs x 6.100M (PIT)

Evgeni Malkin signed a 4 year, $24,400,000 contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Jul. 12, 2022. The contract has a cap hit of $6,100,000.

capwages.com

Yes it's true Malkin never explicitly said this is the plan but the dots connect given he wants to return to Russia and the structure of the deal.

Penguins' Evgeni Malkin Reveals Post-NHL Plans

So that's the evidence at least the evidence I'm aware of, to be determined if it was all just baseless rumor mongering.

So you based that statement that I called you out on, from a rumour that you later also found that had Malkin quite literally refute that and also if you went through that other thread, you'd see how literally all of us Penguins fans called Mark Madden a lying piece of shit, or something to that extent.

Baseless, indeed.

Come now mate.

Is it just me or does he look a bit slimmer and faster? Anyone know if he hit the gym hard in the offseason? Certainly looks to have some jump thus far, early going and all.

He's trying to get enough buzz going to have his own milkshake at shake shack, it's the final piece to his massive list of accomplishments.

 

[behemolari]

I thought he has scored 38 and was like.. okay

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I thought he has scored 38 and was like.. okay

Why do people make this kind of mistake when it's pretty common in hockey terms that the "scoring title" is the leading point getter and not the leading goal scorer?

If someone says Kucherov lead the league in scoring last year, how many people are going to be confused because it says Auston Matthews won the Rocket?

 

[CBJx614]

Wow a generational player with another generational player on his roster is leading the league in points after a whole week of play. This isn't newsworthy let alone thread worthy for at least a few more weeks if not months.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

Wow a generational player with another generational player on his roster is leading the league in points after a whole week of play. This isn't newsworthy let alone thread worthy for at least a few more weeks if not months.

Starting off so hot at age 38 is noteworthy. There's only been one ppg 38 year old season in history.

 

[authentic]

Starting off so hot at age 38 is noteworthy. There's only been one ppg 38 year old season in history.

Crazy though how Jagr at age 43/44 came like 20th in points, which is better than some point per game seasons in the past few years.

 

[CBJx614]

Starting off so hot at age 38 is noteworthy. There's only been one ppg 38 year old season in history.

Yes, a whole season. That's why I said in a few weeks or months it'll be newsworthy. Not after a few games. Anyone whose watched hockey for more than a year or two knows players have hot streaks and can go long periods of time without scoring.


I'm not saying that if he goes the full season it's not an impressive feat, I'm just saying when he still has 70+ games to play before it's legitimately newsworthy.