Photo: NHL.com
Pittsburgh Penguins GM Ron Hextall announced on Thursday, the first day of training camp for the 2021-22 NHL season, that center Evgeni Malkin will miss at least the first two months of it after undergoing knee surgery over the offseason.
Malkin sustained the injury on March 16 last season but returned on May 3. He played in just four of the Penguins’ six-game first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series to the New York Islanders.
Hextall: Malkin will miss at least the first two months. #Pens
— Wes Crosby (@OtherNHLCrosby) September 23, 2021
Malkin finished last season with eight goals and 28 points in 33 regular-season games and one goal and five points in the first round.
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby underwent wrist surgery on September 8 and will miss at least six weeks.
With both Crosby, who skated prior to the team’s first training camp session on Thursday, and Malkin out for the foreseeable future, Jeff Carter will start the season as the Penguins’ top-line center. Radim Zohorna took Malkin’s spot.
Malkin is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent after this season.
The Penguins open the season at the defending back-to-back Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning on October 12 and play the Washington Capitals for the first time on November 14.
By Harrison Brown
