Mark Madden: Evgeni Malkin will always be remembered as a Penguins' all-time great

Some have said Im too hard on Evgeni Malkin.

I dont think thats correct.

Its true I dont see him as Sidney Crosbys equal.

Because hes not.

But Malkin is an all-time great.

Its true I would have traded Malkin in 2018 when he would have fetched big return.

Assembling energy and younger talent around Crosby might have afforded the captain one last run at glory.

It certainly couldnt have worked out much worse than currently.

(Nor would it have offered any guarantees.) I also suggested trading Malkin in 2015.

Good thing the Penguins didnt.

But the Penguins had underachieved since winning the Stanley Cup in 2009 and seemed irrevocably stale.

But then-GM Jim Rutherford made a bunch of other deals that transformed the Penguins into the NHLs fastest team, winning Cups in 16 and 17.

Malkin was a huge part of that.

When Malkin re-upped in 2022, there would have been little point to letting him walk.

Same with Kris Letang.

The Penguins had long since chosen nostalgia.

Which brought us to this past Wednesday: A pre-game ceremony at PPG Paints Arena to celebrate Malkins 500th career goal.

It was awesome.

Malkins 8-year-old son Nikita was delightfully wide-eyed at the moment and clearly adores his dad.

Malkins parents Vladimir and Natalia were beaming.

I saw them for the first time in years before the game and shared a warm embrace with Vladimir.

The language barrier doesnt obstruct.

These are two great people.

Ive always liked them.

(They gave me borscht once.) What a career theyve seen their son construct.

I dont have a relationship with Malkin, good or bad.

Thats laziness on my part, and to my detriment.

Malkin is, by all accounts, a terrific guy.

There was certainly no shortage of testimony to that during Wednesday nights function.

Malkin is one of the best players ever for the franchise I started supporting in 1967, ground zero, when I was 6.

(Younger than Nikita.) Its been a privilege to witness whats he done.

There have been stretches when Malkin was the best hockey player in the world, not least his NHL MVP season in 2011-12 and his playoff MVP campaign in 2009.

Rising above the other greats in his era was no easy feat.

The NHLs omission of Malkin when it released its 100 greatest players list for the leagues 100th anniversary in 2017 invalidated the whole concept.

Mats Sundin? Yikes.

Malkin might be top 50, never mind top 100.

Malkin has his flaws, some exacerbated by age.

His neutral-zone errors and petulant penalties are maddening.

But when Malkin got it going in his prime, he was a sight to behold.

A locomotive.

A human highlight reel.

That still peeks through occasionally.

Wednesdays pre-game was so memorable.

But when that nights game got to overtime, Malkin has a chance to win it and was robbed.

Detroit netted the decider shortly thereafter.

These Penguins have a lot of great old stories.

But theyre out of new ones.

Stories about Malkin will be told forever in Pittsburgh.

Long after No.

71 is raised to the rafters at PPG Paints Arena.

Long after hes enshrined at Yonge Street in Toronto..

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