Why Penguins losing Evgeni Malkin could be especially painful for Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Penguins may bring Evgeni Malkin back for another season.

Or, in a move that would be tough for most involved, they could decide to move on. Malkin doesn't want to retire. He's expressed that he'd sign with a new NHL team if needed.

One of those outcomes will feel a whole lot better to Pittsburgh than the other.

The reality, though, is that Malkin is heading for free agency, and the Penguins have played a little tough to get here. They haven't rushed to give the aging Malkin a new contract before he turns 40 this summer.

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It's not obvious yet which way this will go in the end. What's clear is that it'll hurt if Malkin is gone.

First, on the individual level, for the captain Sidney Crosby.

"Crosby, who has one year left on his contract, has publicly said he’d like Malkin to return next season," The Athletic's Josh Yohe wrote in a new article on Tuesday.

But really, this is about so much more than Crosby. Yohe did a great job of capturing why this is a negotiation that will matter so deeply to the entire city.

"It’s worth emphasizing that this isn’t a normal case," Yohe writes. "Malkin isn’t another Hall of Famer. Very few, if any, Pittsburgh athletes have made such a strong connection with local fans. Crosby is beloved, sure, but he’s not as emotional on the ice as Malkin... Malkin is an artist in the most traditional of ways: He makes you feel. Whether you’re in awe, frustrated or right there with him when he cross-checks someone, he conjures strong emotions. So, if this is the end, it will hurt a little bit more. The guy from Russia who speaks limited English is one of us. He’s a Pittsburgher to the core."

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When you consider that description, you understand how crucial it is for the Penguins to get this right.

If they let Malkin go, the team they put on the ice without him better be a good one, and he better not flourish too much somewhere else.

Everyone would be a bit happier to see 'Geno' stick around.

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