Kris Beech....The Unwanted One
Matt Cooke...The New Ruu
Sidney Crosby....The Chosen One
Pascal Dupuis….The Iceman
Ruslan Fedotenko….The Battletank
Eric Godard....The Goon
Tyler Kennedy....The Sparkplug
Basics
Player Name: Evgeni Malkin
How Acquired: Drafted 2nd overall in 2004
Position: Center
Age: 22
Contact Situation: Signed thru 2013-14 season....Geno will likely make about $3.8 million this season in salary plus bonuses from his original entry level deal. So he still counts $3.8 million against the cap for this coming season. For the five seasons that follow (starting 09-10), his cap number and average salary is the $8,700,000 figure.
History
Last Season Stats: (Pittsburgh) 82 games played, 47 goals, 59 assists = 106 points Playoffs: 20 gp, 10g, 12a, 22 p
Last Season Write-up: No player scored more points in the regular season plus the post season....We all know that when Sidney Crosby went down, Geno stepped up and stepped up big...Finally out of the shadow of his more brash country-mate and fellow '04 draftee Alex Ovechkin and his teammate Crosby, Malkin scored 53 points (24g, 29a) over the final 37 games of the season.
Career Year Stats: Uhh, last season
Outlook
Player progressing, in prime or regressing: Malkin took a huge leap from his first to second season in the NHL....As scary as it is to think, he's just 22 years old and should be even bigger, stronger, faster this season than last
Potential line-mates: Petr Sykora, Ruslan Fedotenko, Miroslav Satan, Janne Pesonen, Sidney Crosby
"Best case scenario" stats: 82 games played 55 goals, 75 assists, 130 points...Is it ambitious? Yes. But if healthy with guys like Crosby, Sykora and Sergei Gonchar it's not unattainable in a perfect world.
Notes: It's often assumed that because Malkin (who's lived in America for about a year and a half) doesn't know much English that he doesn't have the desire to. This is untrue, with he's not as outgoing and gregarious as Ovechkin, he is learning the language and his teammates know his personality. Just ask Sykora who has to regularly retrive his shoes from the trash can. On the ice Malkin has all the potential in the world. He has the size and skating ability that makes him look almost reminscient of a left-handed Mario, he can fire a slap-shot with the best of them and has the guile to take any shot from anywhere (Marty Biron still hasn't seen this one). Malkin also has the vision and passing ability to make the plays happen...Quite simply, with the puck on his stick, he is the showstopper.
Interesting fact: Ovechkin might be thought of as the Russian sniper but it's Malkin who is the only player (since 1917) to score a goal in each of his first six NHL games....Malkin also holds the record for the longest point streak in the NHL by a Russian at 15 games.
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