With a new contract in his pocket, many milestones are within reach for Evgeni Malkin

Did re-signing franchise cornerstone Evgeni Malkin, as the Penguins did Tuesday night, guarantee the team will host a championship parade down Grant Street in the next four years?

Of course not. The team’s superstars aren’t getting any younger, and besides, that’s not how the NHL works.

But it did greatly enhance the chances of a few parties being thrown at PPG Paints Arena over the next few seasons.

There are some significant milestones Malkin and his longtime Penguins teammates can reach if they stay reasonably healthy and play out their contracts in black and gold.

• The first milestone on the horizon is probably Malkin’s 1,000th career game. Malkin will enter the season with 981 career games played, second on the franchise’s all-time list to Sidney Crosby (1,108). If he stays healthy, he will hit four digits on Sunday, Nov. 20 in Chicago.

• Kris Letang is third on the team’s all-time games played list with 941. If he stays healthy and reaches the 1,000-game mark, it will put the Penguins trio on a very exclusive list. Only twice before in NHL history have three teammates taken the ice having played 1,000 games for one franchise and only one franchise in their careers. Henri Richard, Jean Beliveau and Claude Provost of the Montreal Canadiens were the first three to do it, completing the trifecta when Provost played his 1,000th game in blue, blanc et rouge on March 25, 1970. Then on Jan. 27 last season, Drew Doughty played his 1,000th game for the Los Angeles Kings, joining Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar in the club.

Related:

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• Tim Benz: Evgeni Malkin's decision to stay in Pittsburgh softens focus on Rickard Rakell's contract

• It’s possible Malkin hits another franchise milestone before playing in his 1,000th game, however. And it’s a somewhat dubious one. Malkin is second in Penguins history in penalty minutes with 1,008. It wouldn’t be hard for him to move past Kevin Stevens (1,048) into the top spot.

• The biggest milestone Malkin could reach while playing on his new contract is probably the 500-goal mark. He enters the season with 444. At his current rate of 0.45 goals per game, he would hit 500 in 124 more games.

• Malkin will enter the season with 1,146 career points, good for 57th on the NHL’s all-time scoring list. A 55-point season would likely move Malkin into the top 50. Right now, Dino Ciccarelli is 49th in NHL history with 1,200 points. Malkin is likely to be beaten to the 1,200-point mark by Chicago’s Patrick Kane (1,180), however.

• It will be hard, if not impossible, for Malkin to climb any higher in the Penguins record books in several key statistical categories. He’s third in all-time points (1,146), having already passed Jaromir Jagr (1,079), but he’s behind Crosby (1,409) and Mario Lemieux (1,723). He’s also third in goals (444), ahead of Jagr (439) but behind Crosby (517) and Lemieux (690).

• Here’s a race that figures to continue as long as Crosby and Malkin remain teammates. They’re tied with Jagr for the franchise’s all-time record for game-winning goals with 78.

• There’s one leaderboard Malkin will climb whether he stays healthy and productive into his late 30s or not. According to Capfriendly.com, Malkin is fifth all-time in total salary with about $118.7 million earned. By the time his newly signed deal is done, he will move up into the top three, past Shea Weber ($126.0 million) and Jagr ($128.1 million). He doesn’t have much of a chance to catch the top two, though – Crosby ($138.3 million) and Washington’s Alex Ovechkin ($137.7 million).