Whatever Penguins fans had been feeling over the past 24 hours since news broke that Evgeni Malkin was testing the free-agent market and potentially leaving Pittsburgh was immediately washed away late Tuesday night.
Around midnight in Pittsburgh, the Penguins announced they had reached an agreement on a new four-year contract with the Russian superstar that will likely keep him in Pittsburgh for the remainder of his playing career. The deal will include an AAV of $6.1 million, matching Kris Letang’s new deal.
This marks the end of a tense period of negotiations that began in May when the Penguins were eliminated from the playoffs. What seemed like a wide-open window to strike a new deal was slowly beginning to close, and reports surfaced Monday that Malkin was headed free.
As late as Tuesday afternoon, Malkin’s time in Pittsburgh appeared to be over, but by the eleventh hour the two sides put all issues aside and struck a deal, making the franchise icon a penguin for life.
There will be a lot to discuss about this deal and all the drama surrounding it on both sides, but for now Penguins fans can rest easy knowing that No. 71 will stay in Pittsburgh, right where it belongs .