NHL Rumors: Update On Evgeni Malkin's NHL Future

Tuesday, March 31, 2026
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin lines up for a faceoff during 2026 game.

At the start of this season nobody was sure Evgeni Malkin even wanted to come back. 

He was a pending unrestricted free agent and the Pittsburgh Penguins were expected to be near the bottom of the standings, chasing a shot at Gavin McKenna. 

Zoom ahead to late March and the picture is just the opposite. 

Malkin amazingly is over a point per game this season with 15 goals and 52 points in 50 games. Pittsburgh is right in the thick of the playoff race in the Metropolitan Division, and Taylor Haase of DK Pittsburgh Sports said on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio this weekend that Malkin is coming back. 

"Geno wants to be back. He's been very clear that he does not want to go anywhere else," Haase said. "There are just so many reasons why it makes sense to bring him back."

What Happened Between Malkin and Kyle Dubas During the Olympic Break

There was a moment of public friction after the Olympic break when Malkin came out and said contract discussions wouldn't happen until the summer, and he sounded genuinely worried about where things stood. 

Dubas and him talked, however, and that seemed to settle things down a bit.

Malkin told reporters after a shootout loss in New York that his agent and the team are aligned on waiting until the season ends. "Nothing I can say right now," Malkin said. "I just wait." 

According to reports, when Dubas directly asked Malkin whether he wants to play in 2026-27, the answer was a firm yes.

Why Returning to Pittsburgh Makes Complete Sense for Malkin

He's in his 20th season as a Penguin and his contract numbers still hold up. 

He's making $6.1 million annually, and Haase said Malkin would likely be willing to take less to get a deal done. 

The free agent center market isn't deep this summer, Pittsburgh doesn't have a top-six center ready to push him out of the lineup, and a player who has spent his entire career alongside Sidney Crosby is not walking away from that in search of something else. 

Malkin has 1,393 career points with the Penguins, he sits third in franchise history behind Crosby and Mario Lemieux, and has a whopping three Stanley Cup rings. 

The only thing missing from recent years is a playoff appearance (they've missed three straight), and this season's push to stay in the race makes both sides want to see it through together. 

He turns 40 in July, but he's not done.

Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

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