Evgeni Malkin has managed to somehow be in the shadows of the two best forwards of the salary cap era at the same time. There’s the team aspect with Sidney Crosby and the country/draft year area with Evgeni Malkin.
But Malkin remains one of the best to ever do it. Only Crosby and Malkin have scored more points since 2005-06.
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Malkin and Crosby are also the only two players in the last 20 years to score at least 500 goals and tally 800 assists, though Patrick Kane could join that club soon.
(Speaking
of which, there was a minor stir created on social media earlier this month questioning who was better between Malkin and Joe Pavelski. With all due respect to Pavelski, who was a wonderful player, that is ridiculous and highlights Malkin’s general status not being where it truly belongs).
Through his brilliant play, it’s a wonder Malkin could be considered in any shadows, but such has been the fate of one of the more unassuming stars in league history.
Top 10 Evgeni Malkin Edits of All Time pic.twitter.com/oZDlBEqEqD
— jo (@genosbest) July 23, 2025
This summer, of course, marks a special moment of reflection on this day, Malkin’s 39th birthday. It is Geno’s last season under contract with the Penguins. There have been disputed reports that this will be the final year Malkin plays in Pittsburgh. It doesn’t look like he’s going to have a formal, official retirement tour that lasts a full season, which is fitting - but realistically it looks like this could be the end of the road.
Malkin and Ovechkin were the only two players from the 2004 draft class to play in the NHL in 2024-25. Now that Marc-Andre Fleury is retired, Malkin is the fifth oldest active NHL player behind Ovechkin, Brent Burns, Corey Perry and Ryan Suter. The end is much closer than the beginning, no matter when it may arrive.
But what a journey it’s been. Malkin, Crosby and Kris Letang are all primed to come back for their record-setting 20th season together as teammates, long surpassing Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter’s previous record of 18. It’ll be a long time, if ever, before anyone ever sees two of the very, very best players of their era together for 20 straight years the way that Crosby and Malkin have torn up the NHL together.
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