The Penguins signed two forwards yesterday, but not Evgeni Malkin, and after 16 seasons in Pittsburgh, Malkin will reportedly enter unrestricted free agency tomorrow.
Multiple sources say the Penguins offered Malkin only a two-year contract worth $6 million per season. The 36-year-old center is a former winner of the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP and the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. He has scored 444 goals as a Penguin, 20 of them last season, when he played only 41 games after his return from major knee surgery.
General Manager Ron Hextall had a busy Monday. The Penguins re-signed forward Rickard Rakell to a six-year, $30 million contract. He was acquired at the trade deadline last season and scored four goals for the Pens before suffering a head injury in the first game of the playoffs.
Hextall also re-signed forward Alex Nylander to a two-way contract. Nylander was acquired in a trade with Chicago in January. The 2016 number one Buffalo draft choice scored 14 goals at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and did not appear in a Penguins uniform.
The Pens made qualifying offers to retain forward Kasperi Kapanen, forward Kasper Bjorkvist and defenseman P.O. Joseph, but declined to offer forward Danton Heinen, who will become an unrestricted free agent after scoring 18 goals last season. Seven minor leaguers also did not get offers.
Comments