The Penguins’ franchise center has been hard to notice the past few days at training camp.

To be frank, he’s been a non-factor.

Completely inert.

You could say he’s been missing.

Sidney Crosby’s unexplained absence from the team’s practices and scrimmages since Saturday has left a considerable void. And the NHL’s “Ask/Won’t Tell” policy with regards to players’ medical statuses during the coronavirus pandemic puts coach Mike Sullivan in an awkward position of not explaining why the sport’s leading ambassador isn’t preparing, on the ice at least, for an NHL postseason unlike any other.

But thankfully for the Penguins, they always have a surplus franchise center ready to pick up the slack.

Evgeni Malkin has been a dominant force throughout the course of this camp, or as dominant as one can be within the context of cycling drills and scrimmages against your fourth-line center. His enthusiasm for this camp and the league’s upcoming postseason tournament in August has been palpable to the naked eye.

He verified his upbeat body language Monday with his words while speaking with local reporters for the first time since the league went into stasis back in mid-March.

“We missed so many days, like (four) months,’ Malkin said. “But every day is better. We play a (scrimmage Monday), and I feel so much better. The team looked good. We played hard. We tried to play like a real game. A couple hits, blocking shots. Practice is not a real game but we try to be close. But I like what I see, in myself and the team too.”

His coach appears to be sated with the visuals as well.

“His work ethic is terrific,” Sullivan said. “He’s leading through his example. The level of intensity that he’s playing the game with and practicing with right now, it’s contagious throughout our team.”

Part of that excitement could be tied to his new left winger. With first liner Jake Guentzel apparently healthy enough to return to the lineup after a serious shoulder injury he suffered in December, his replacement, Jason Zucker, has been “demoted” to the second line with Malkin, a two-time scoring champion.

“We scored a couple of goals, for sure,” Malkin said. “We (did) not play (together) much this (season). But it’s coming, I hope. We connect with each other. We play with (Rust) too. He’s my (regular linemate) this (season), a long time. We try (to) talk a little bit. I think we’ll be fine. If we play right, we have a good system. If we play right, we’ll be dangerous for sure.”

“It’s a work in progress for sure,” Zucker said a week prior. “He’s an amazing player, as everyone knows. It’s a little bit different style than playing with Sid for sure. But it’s definitely a positive thing.”

By his own account, Malkin maintained a pretty hard regimen while taking up refuge in South Florida during the pandemic.

“I stay in Miami and I stay (on an) island,” Malkin said. “We have a gym in our building. I work a little bit with (strength and conditioning coach) Alex Trinca. We work on FaceTime in (the) gym. I have a treadmill on my balcony, and I run every day. A couple of times, I go to (the) beach in (the) morning when its not super hot and just do stuff on the beach. I do pretty much everything I did during (a normal) summertime. Except ice. We can’t skate. It’s a little bit hard.

“I roller skate too, like two times a week. I skated around the island on my own.”

Malkin even added wood splitting to his workout routine after returning to the Pittsburgh region in advance of the team’s informal workouts in June.

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A post shared by Evgeni Malkin (@e.malkin71geno) on Jun 9, 2020 at 11:25am PDT

“We tried something new,” Malkin said. “I have so many (trees) around my house. Why not do this? It’s a good workout, good cardio. It’s not easy.”

Those workouts have manifested the past week with Malkin’s efforts at the team’s Cranberry facility.

“It’s fun to watch him when he’s in this type of mindset, and I think that he’s only going to get better here with every day that he plays and he gets in more game condition,” Sullivan said. “But you could see how dominant he can be when he’s in these (scrimmages).”

“It’s my job,” Malkin said. “It’s what I love to do all my life. It’s a new reality right now. It’s not easy for everyone. We understand how important this is for each player. We try to do everything to get back and play playoffs. It doesn’t matter (if there is) no fans. It’s hard but we still love the game. I’m focused right now to my game. Everything. I sleep well. I work out every day.

“It’s all about winning.”

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