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Malkin puts team first with knee injury will miss start of training camp |
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At the start of the weekend news starting coming out about the severity of Evgeni Malkin’s knee injury which prevented him from playing in 23 consecutive games during the regular season. It was an injury which could have easily shutdown the Penguins star center for the season if not for his desire to work back and risk things further to help the Penguins make a run at another Stanley Cup.
Malkin pushed off surgery in order to return to the lineup for the playoffs. Ultimately, he had to get things fixed and did so on Friday.
The Penguins announced Friday night that Malkin had undergone successful surgery on his right knee. Unspecified procedures were performed by two surgeons at UPMC Montefiore Hospital in Oakland
Sources told The Athletic that Malkin aggravated his right knee that had been significantly damaged when the Penguins played the Bruins at PPG Paints Arena on March 16. A worst-case scenario was feared in the first few days after that initial injury, but Malkin and the Penguins were ultimately relieved that multiple torn ligaments in his right knee would not require season-ending surgery.
When the Penguins were eliminated Mike Sullivan spoke about how Evgeni Malkin was playing through a severe injury. Malkin produced five points in the four games he played against the Islanders on that one leg. It reminds me of another Penguins legend who put his personal health on the line to help the team in the playoffs 22 years ago in Jaromir Jagr. The Penguins current owner has also famously done the same throughout his career. Sidney Crosby is no stranger to playing through ailments, either. I can’t help but notice that Malkin (and perhaps Jagr) don’t get the same respect for doing so as maybe Lemieux and Crosby. Whatever the reason (hint: it is xenophobia) it doesn’t take anything away from what Malkin is and has been willing to do as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He cares as much as anybody about putting the team first and trying to help drive them to success any way he possibly can.
Malkin did all this knowing things weren’t great with his knee.
In the moment, he feared the worst. In the extended time between that game and the Penguins’ postseason opener, Malkin sensed what he — along with the few people in the Penguins organization with knowledge of the severity of his injuries — dared not say aloud.
This. Was. Bad.
And it was because the procedure Malkin had to have will be causing him to miss time.
Malkin is not expected for training camp in September, the Penguins said in their statement Friday night. A more definitive return date could be known by training camp.
How long he misses is unknown presently. What isn’t unknown is how Malkin will handle the adversity. He will work his way back despite being 35 years old. The last time he had a major knee injury he wore a huge brace on his leg and won the Hart Trophy in 2011-12. He’s not going to win the Hart Trophy in 2021-22, but he can certainly come back and give the Penguins quality play as a second line center. Aging curves don’t work the same with all-time greats and make no mistake Malkin is an all-time great. The situation isn’t ideal, but I’m not willing to slam the door on Malkin’s ability to be a high quality player in the league. It doesn’t sound like the Penguins are willing to slam the door, either.
“Sid isn’t playing GM,” one of the sources said. “Mario (Lemieux) knows how strongly Sid feels about this. Mario feels pretty damn strong about it, from what I know.
“The stuff about Malkin and Letang being traded — I don’t know where it came from, but it’s not something ownership ever said needs to happen. It’s not something Mario wants.”
Details are not known, but an NHL source not affiliated with Malkin or the Penguins said Friday night it would be “shocking if Mario and Ron didn’t take care of Malkin, knowing what everybody knows now.”
“They love Malkin, always have,” the source said. “He went out and played on one leg in the playoffs? It’s clearly a big-time injury. He risked everything for that team to give (the Penguins) a chance to win. He might have been their best player from what I saw — on one fucking leg!”
This isn’t an ideal situation, but at least the team has Jeff Carter to lessen the blow to start the year. Bringing in a quality third line center provides the depth needed to absorb an unfortunate situation like the Penguins have with the Malkin injury. It should allow the team to focus on areas of need and not be desperate to “replace” Malkin. There are unknowns with the expansion draft coming up and Teddy Blueger could be a candidate of being taken, but if the team can run Crosby, Carter, Blueger to start the year it isn’t the worst thing in the world.
We’ll see how long the recovery takes, but I hope Malkin takes all the time needed because he is still a huge part of the Penguins puzzle and should be treated as such.
Thanks for reading!
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