Evgeni Malkin to the Canadiens would be chaos and insiders say it's possible
Insider David Pagnotta dropped a line on Evgeni Malkin's future Thursday morning, and the name Montreal showed up in the same sentence as the Pittsburgh Penguins centre.
Pagnotta said on The Sheet he still expects Malkin to stay in Pittsburgh. But he added a wrinkle. If Malkin does leave, Montreal would be the curious fit for one last ride.
His reasoning was simple. The Canadiens already have a couple of Russians in the room. That, in his view, makes Montreal a soft landing spot for a 39-year-old icon if the door ever opens.
- David Pagnotta
This isn't a report. It's a speculation drop from a connected voice. And that's what makes it noisy in May.
Malkin is coming off a season that does not scream done. He posted 19 goals and 42 assists in 56 games. He finished plus-13.
His last 10 told the same story. Six goals, five assists, 11 points. He still drove a power play, with 18 power-play helpers on the year.
Why the Penguins still hold the leverage on the No. 71 question
Pittsburgh sits on a $3.8M cap hit for him. That's a bargain for a top-six pivot who put up 61 points and finished a plus player on a team that ran a minus heat-map down the stretch.
Kyle Dubas didn't move him in-season. Dan Muse leaned on him through a 41-25-16 finish. The Penguins ranked 10th overall, second in the Metropolitan, and Malkin was a load-bearing wall.
That's the part that makes Pagnotta's own caveat the real story. Even the guy floating the Montreal angle is telling you he expects the Russian to stay.
The Canadiens piece is the dangle. Two Russian teammates already in the room, a young core hungry for a veteran centre, and a market that knows how to throw a parade for a Hall of Famer.
Would Malkin actually walk away from a city that retired the script for him? That's the question every Penguins fan wakes up to today.
Pittsburgh dropped its final three before the schedule closed, finishing a -3 stretch that left some bruises. Malkin went minus-2 over his last five.
The cap number is the tell. At $3.8M, Pittsburgh has every incentive to bring him back. A bidding war on the open market would price him higher than that, fast.
So treat this for what it is. A insider planting a flag in May. Not a goodbye. Not a deal. Just the first whisper of a summer that might get loud.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 6, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Josh Doan | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Ryan McLeod | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Zach Benson | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Bowen Byram | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Kirby Dach | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Greenway | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jansen Harkins | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Beckett Sennecke | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mark Stone | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nick Suzuki | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivan Demidov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Chris Kreider | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ryan Poehling | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mattias Samuelsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Juraj Slafkovsky | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Troy Terry | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Shea Theodore | - | 1 | 1 | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||