{"id":243078,"date":"2026-05-12T21:42:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T21:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/12\/penguins-gm-kyle-dubas-speaks-out-on-speculation-surrounding-evgeni-malkins-future\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T21:42:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T21:42:16","slug":"penguins-gm-kyle-dubas-speaks-out-on-speculation-surrounding-evgeni-malkins-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/12\/penguins-gm-kyle-dubas-speaks-out-on-speculation-surrounding-evgeni-malkins-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Penguins GM Kyle Dubas speaks out on speculation surrounding Evgeni Malkin\u2019s future"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5166467\" data-slug-id=\"2781113\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Kyle Dubas tried to calm speculation surrounding Evgeni Malkin after the Pittsburgh Penguins were eliminated from the playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>Malkin\u2019s future has become a talking point in Pittsburgh with the veteran forward set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 after finishing the final season of his four-year contract.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking after the season, Dubas said the Penguins are still in discussions with Malkin and his agent, J.P. Barry, about a possible return.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cWe had a great exit interview with Evgeni directly, and great conversations with him and his agent J.P. Barry,\u201d Dubas said in a statement shared by the Penguins on X. \u201cSo we would love to have him back, and we continue to work with J.P. on it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>Dubas also dismissed the idea that re-signing the 39-year-old would get in the way of younger players earning roster spots.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cWe would love to have him back,\u201d Dubas said, according to a Penguins reporter.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"sportskeeda-embed\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/us\/nhl\/twitter-embed\">\n<div class=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/us\/nhl\/twitter-embed\">\n<div class=\"profile-card\">\n<p><span><span>Kyle Dubas, on Evgeni Malkin: &#8220;We would love to have him back.&#8221; Said he doesn&#8217;t feel like Malkin is blocking any younger players out. He had a great exit interview with Malkin directly, and subsequent discussions with his agent. They&#8217;ll keep talking.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The veteran center recorded 19 goals and 42 assists in 56 games and has already said he plans to continue playing next season.<\/p>\n<p>Malkin has spent his entire <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/tournament\/nhl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">NHL<\/a> career in Pittsburgh and is widely expected to enter the Hockey Hall of Fame after retirement.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>Kyle Dubas says Penguins still have \u201ca long way to go\u201d<\/h2>\n<p>Kyle Dubas also admitted the Pittsburgh Penguins still are not close to where the organization wants to be despite returning to the playoffs this season.<\/p>\n<p>Pittsburgh returned to the playoffs after missing out for three straight years, but the team\u2019s run ended in the first round with a 4-2 series loss to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/us\/nhl\/philadelphia-flyers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Philadelphia Flyers<\/a> after falling behind 3-0 in the series.<\/p>\n<p>Dubas acknowledged the team showed progress at times during the season but said it still was not enough to be considered a true contender.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cGood team. At times, we flirted with becoming very good,\u201d Dubas said. \u201cUltimately, well short of where we aspire to be, and that\u2019s a contender.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Dubas also said it became obvious during the playoffs how much ground Pittsburgh still has to make up compared to the league\u2019s top teams.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cWe have a long way to go,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t kid myself with that.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The season also marked the 20th year that Evgeni Malkin, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/us\/nhl\/sidney-crosby\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Sidney Crosby<\/a> and Kris Letang played together, the longest-tenured trio in North American professional sports history.<\/p>\n<p>Dubas added that the organization still saw progress under first-year head coach Dan Muse despite the early playoff exit.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Sonali Verma<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/us\/nhl\/news-penguins-gm-kyle-dubas-speaks-speculation-surrounding-evgeni-malkin-s-future\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kyle Dubas tried to calm speculation surrounding Evgeni Malkin after the Pittsburgh Penguins were eliminated from the playoffs. Malkin\u2019s future has become a talking point in Pittsburgh with the veteran forward set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 after finishing the final season of his four-year contract. Speaking after the season, Dubas [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":243079,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-243078","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}