Mark Madden's Hot Take: Penguins have few options with aging Evgeni Malkin

Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang, both 36, have prepared to play when they’re 40 since they were 10. Crosby is thusly still one of the NHL’s five best players, and Letang is very good. Their conditioning is insane.

Evgeni Malkin didn’t do that. Malkin is 37. He’s aged like a normal hockey player.

That’s a dilemma for the Penguins, whose nostalgia act has that trio inextricably linked. All for one, one for all.

Going into Saturday night’s game at Calgary, Malkin hadn’t scored in 12 games. He had one goal in 18 games, two in 23.

This slump hasn’t occurred through bad fortune. Malkin isn’t on edge and ready to explode.

Are Malkin’s linemates at fault? Could be. He’s lately been skating with wingers Drew O’Connor and Valtteri Puustinen, who provide energy but are legit top-six forwards only in the American Hockey League.

But Malkin’s doing nothing on the power play, either. He’s been a big part of that unit’s root problems.

Malkin looks like he’s hit a wall. Like he’s washed up. He skates like he’s got a refrigerator on his back and refuses to simplify his game to account for his growing shortcomings. Witness his familiar but disintegrating play through the neutral zone.

Can Malkin regroup and relaunch? Perhaps.

Can Malkin put in a Crosby-like summer of work, refocusing physically and mentally in preparation for next season? He can try, but it’s difficult to start doing that at 37.

Here’s where the problem deepens: Malkin will be the No. 2 center no matter what. He will be on the power play no matter what. The protocol doesn’t allow for embarrassment via lessened duties. That goes for the rest of this season and the remaining two years of Malkin’s contract. (Not that there’s currently anybody better to step into Malkin’s role.)

Malkin’s not going to retire, nor should he. He’s not going to walk away from the $10.4 million he’s owed beyond the current campaign.

Malkin moving to wing doesn’t seem an option, though it’s been suggested. Malkin won’t want to unless it’s on Crosby’s wing, and Malkin isn’t fast enough to skate with Crosby. That’s been tried near the end of games, particularly when Dan Bylsma coached, and it rarely works and never looks right.

The only thing to do is hope that Malkin, at a ripe age, magically reignites. Hope isn’t a strategy, but it’s all the Penguins have in this instance.

The best thing for the Penguins would have been to trade Malkin for huge return in 2018 or ‘19 or let Malkin walk when he was scheduled to hit free agency in ‘22. Either of those moves would have offered no guarantees. But it would have been worth the risk considering the Penguins’ current state.

The Penguins decided long ago, however, that the core three of Crosby, Letang and Malkin would finish their careers here. Nearly 98% of tickets sold can’t be wrong.

The franchise’s single biggest present concern is signing Crosby to a contract extension July 1, the first day that’s possible. That’s a far larger priority than making the playoffs and should be. (Crosby’s current deal expires after next season.)

But if that core three remains intact, nothing significant really changes. All president of hockey ops/GM Kyle Dubas can really do is rearrange.

That’s not being critical. It’s merely pointing out what is.