Malkin’ mission: Back to greatness
Penguins open training camp
As Penguins center Evgeni Malkin settled into his locker Friday, teammate Patric Hornqvist chided him with some playful ribbing.
“Evgeni goal scorer!” Hornqvist exclaimed. “Welcome back.”
Welcome back.
There are a couple of ways to interpret that phrase. The Penguins returned to UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex Friday for the first official practice of training camp.
So in that sense, Friday was a “welcome-back” moment for Malkin, Hornqvist and the rest of the Penguins.
But Hornqvist meant it in a little bit of a different sense.
In case you didn’t know, last year was, well … not the best for Malkin. He was careless at times with the puck, racking up a career-high 84 giveaways. He was undisciplined, piling up the second-most penalty minutes (89) of his career. And his minus-25 was by far the low water mark for his career.
Malkin acknowledged that he didn’t perform to his own standards as a former Hart Trophy winner and a career 1,000-point scorer.
“Last year, not great year,” Malkin said. “I’m not happy for sure.”
If the Penguins are going to bring home their fourth Stanley Cup in the Malkin-Crosby era, they need Malkin to play at the elite level he showed just two seasons ago when he received votes for the Hart Trophy. They need him to be “back.”
“Now, it’s a new challenge for me,” Malkin said. “I want [to be] back to my highest level. I can still play like a top player. I want to show to everyone I’m not done.”
This offseason, Malkin did more than just talk. He re-dedicated himself to his craft.
In Moscow, he skated with a number of Russian NHL players, worked with Penguins strength and conditioning coach Alex Trinca and went through grueling power skating workouts. Evidently, it worked. He showed off a leaner figure and six-pack abs when he posted a shirtless workout photo on social media this offseason.
His coach noticed the changes on the ice.
“No. 1, he’s in great shape,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “He worked extremely hard over the course of the summer to prepare for this training camp.”
Training camp typically becomes less significant as players progress further into their careers. These next few weeks, however, will be important for Malkin as he begins to develop chemistry with his new linemates.
He spent practice Friday skating with two new Penguins. Alex Galchenyuk, who was acquired in the Phil Kessel trade, played on Malkin’s left wing. Speedy and scrappy Brandon Tanev, who signed a six-year contract this offseason, played on his right wing.
“He’s so creative with the puck,” Galchenyuk said. “He did a good job adjusting to whatever I want to open up on the ice for him.”
In the first scrimmage of camp, Malkin stole the puck at the blue line, walked in and beat Matt Murray high on the glove side. (Evgeni goal scorer!) Later, Tanev tapped in an empty-netter to seal the White team’s 3-1 win in the scrimmage.
“It’s important for him to be a leader,” Sullivan said. “It starts with his example.“I thought he worked extremely hard today in practice and in the inter-squad game.
“That’s encouraging from our standpoint.
“We really like where his mindset is right now.”
If you listen to Malkin, you can hear the same thing his coach does.
Malkin acknowledges that he can begin to see the finish line of his career approaching. Unprompted, he addressed the finite nature of his profession, joking that “33 is old” and expressed his desire to make the most of the years he has left.
“We have a couple, maybe two, three, four chances to win again,” Malkin said. “There’s not many years maybe I’m playing in the NHL.
“I understand that. I want to have fun and enjoy it every day.”