Who is Evgeni Malkin?

The Penguins bye week, mercifully, comes to an end tomorrow. But until then things are still pretty weird up in Penguins-land. While the players enjoyed (or didn’t probably in Marc-Andre Fleury’s case as he seems to have spent the entire time off sick with whatever Maatta and Rust previously had) time away things got a little weird. Nowhere is that more evident than in this lovely chestnut from Reddit user who goes by the name HotCommodity63:

The theory continues if you’d like to read the whole thing here: https://redd.it/5lho7s

I mean but really… how much have we seen Nikita and Anna Malkin? Are we sure the blurry baby photos and the back of the child’s head we saw on Instagram are real? As for Geno, how else do you explain his better-than-ever recovery from a major injury most athletes in a sport like hockey can have, knee reconstruction? To win the 2012 NHL scoring race? Maybe they are just a family of cyborgs.

Why else has no one mentioned him this season despite his consistently amazing play? Why else aren’t we celebrating his milestones with league-wide fervor like Crosby or Ovechkin?

Okay, okay I know. I know he is real but this theory does point out something important about Evgeni Malkin. The author does have some factual basis here especially with this line, “Look at his stats, he has only gone under a PPG once in his career, yet we never hear about him. We know this can’t be because the media stays away from Pittsburgh, because Crosby and Kessel and sorta Murray are everywhere.”

So what gives? When did we enter a world where Evgeni Malkin – who is one of maybe five players with the accolades to rival Sidney Crosby’s in the NHL right now – can climb the scoring race in relative anonymity?

This is the top 10 scorers in the NHL as of January 7, 2017. Remember, the Penguins have been off nearly a week and McDavid and Malkin were tied at 43 points when last week ended. We have heard plenty about McDavid the sophomore sensation in Edmonton and Sidney Crosby who is playing like…well Sidney Crosby. But the numbers Malkin is putting up right now are enough to rival those of the year 2012. On January 7, 2012, Evgeni Malkin had played 32 games and registered 43 points. Sound Familiar? So why aren’t we talking about it more?

The answer is simple. Because while Malkin’s point per game production is remarkably consistent over the course of his NHL career his games played remains the portion of that equation not getting him the recognition he deserves. It’s not impressive to put up over a point per game when you’re only playing 50-60 games in an 82 season while the guy next to you on the power play is playing 75 and keeping the same pace. This has too often been Malkin’s problem lately. It’s not really his fault that he’s been injured because none of the injuries are from reckless play or anything he’d done but, it still makes people talk about you less.

I’m pretty sure Evgeni Malkin, who often proclaimed during Sidney Crosby’s long absences in 2011 and 2012 that this is “Sid’s team” doesn’t mind too much, but it is getting a little ridiculous when he’s the second star of the month of December and people aren’t even realizing that he, not Crosby is leading the scoring race at the end of it.

This, however, is just an example of a simple truth. Evgeni Malkin is the next Pavel Datsyuk. Not in his style of play, obviously, but in how he’s perceived by the league and the fans of the game. Pavel Datsyuk is one of the most talented Russian hockey players to play in the NHL but he was never a meteoric star like a Crosby or a McDavid. This is what Evgeni Malkin has become and is becoming. Every player and person who knows the game knows how he plays and how vital he is to the teams he is on from the Penguins to the Russian National team, but he’s not going to be the headline of stories as often as his teammate’s Crosby or Ovechkin. Malkin’s star right now doesn’t shine as bright as theirs but he’s still a first ballot hall of famer and slam dunk to have his 71 lifted to the rafters of the Penguins home rink when he does hang his skates up (It’ll look nice right between that 68 and 87, won’t it?)