Early career Malkin is a product of the
Metallurg Magnitogorsk hockey program. Prior to being drafted, he made his
Russian Superleague debut in the
2003–04 season as a 17-year-old. However, a transfer dispute between the NHL and the
International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) delayed his Pittsburgh debut; Desiring to play in the NHL, he left Metallurg Magnitogorsk's training camp in
Helsinki before it began on 12 August. Having untied himself of obligations in Russia, he was able to sign an entry-level contract with the Penguins on 5 September 2006. Following his first NHL game with Pittsburgh, on 19 October 2006, Malkin's former Russian hockey club filed an
antitrust lawsuit against the NHL and the Penguins in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The lawsuit claimed Malkin should not be permitted to play in the NHL because he is still under contract in Russia. The claim also sought unspecified
damages as well. The motion for an
injunction was denied on 15 November 2006, ensuring Malkin would continue to play in the NHL that season. The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed on its
merits by the District Court on 1 February 2007.
Pittsburgh Penguins (2006–present) Early success, first Stanley Cup title and Conn Smythe Trophy (2006–2009) . In his first pre-season game with the Penguins, on 20 September 2006, Malkin collided with teammate
John LeClair and dislocated his own shoulder, which forced him to miss the start of the season. Subsequently, his NHL debut would be delayed until 18 October, against the
New Jersey Devils, in which he scored his first goal against
Martin Brodeur. Malkin set a modern NHL record when he scored a goal in each of his first six games. No player had achieved this feat since the NHL's inaugural
1917–18 season, when
Montreal Canadiens forward
Joe Malone scored at least one goal in 14 consecutive games to start his NHL career (Malone, however, had played in the
National Hockey Association, the predecessor league to the NHL). Malkin's streak was eventually stopped on 4 November in his seventh game by the
San Jose Sharks. Playing on a team with another highly touted prospect, sophomore forward and generational talent
Sidney Crosby, Malkin finished his rookie season with 33 goals, 52 assists and 85 points in 78 games played, leading all first-year players and capturing the
Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL's top rookie, the second Penguin to win the award after
Mario Lemieux in 1985. Malkin was named alternate captain for the Penguins shortly after. When Malkin arrived in the United States, he spoke little English, but with the help of fellow Russian teammate
Sergei Gonchar, he eventually started to give short, simple interviews in the language. Halfway into the 2007–08 season, his sophomore season in the NHL, Malkin recorded his first NHL
hat-trick, against the
Toronto Maple Leafs, on 3 January 2008. He earned another three-goal performance several games later, on 14 January, against the
New York Rangers. Midway through the season, when more heralded teammate and captain Sidney Crosby went down with an ankle injury, Malkin seized the opportunity to lead the Penguins, scoring 44 points in the 28 games Crosby was absent. In total, Malkin completed the season second in NHL scoring with 106 points, six points behind
Alexander Ovechkin of the
Washington Capitals for the
Art Ross Trophy. Malkin continued to dominate into the
Stanley Cup playoffs as the Penguins made it to the
2008 Stanley Cup Finals. He scored three points against the
Presidents' Trophy-winning
Detroit Red Wings in the finals, totalling 22 points overall (10 goals, 12 assists) in all 20 games, but the Penguins were defeated by Detroit in six games. Malkin's sophomore season culminated in a
Hart Memorial Trophy nomination as NHL MVP—the award was given to Ovechkin—and
First team All-Star honours. On 2 July 2008, with one year left in his entry-level contract, he signed a five-year, $43.5 million contract extension with Pittsburgh. Malkin began the
2008–09 season by scoring his 200th NHL point with an assist to Sidney Crosby on 18 October 2008, in just the sixth game of the season against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The goal was also Crosby's 100th career goal and 300th career point. Crosby had a team trainer cut the puck in half so both players could commemorate the moment. Voted as a starter to the
2009 NHL All-Star Game later in the season, Malkin won the shooting accuracy segment of the Skills Competition, initially shooting four-for-four before beating
Dany Heatley three-for-four in a tie-breaker. After having finished runner-up to Alexander Ovechkin the previous season for the Art Ross Trophy, Malkin captured the scoring championship with 113 points. He became the second Russian-born player to win it, after Ovechkin, and the fourth Penguin, after Mario Lemieux,
Jaromír Jágr and Crosby. However, he would once again be runner-up to Ovechkin for the Hart Trophy, although this time garnering a few more first-place votes. In 2008, he had just one first-place vote (out of 134 votes) and 659 points to Ovechkin's 128 first-place votes and 1,313 points. In 2009, Malkin had 12 first-place votes (out of 133 votes) and 787 points to Ovechkin's 115 first-place votes and 1,264 points. On 12 June 2009, the Penguins won the
Stanley Cup after defeating the Detroit Red Wings 2–1 in Game 7 of the
Finals. Malkin tallied 36 points (14 goals and 22 assists) to become the first player to lead both the regular season and playoffs in scoring since Mario Lemieux accomplished the feat in 1992. His 36 points were the highest playoff total of any player since
Wayne Gretzky amassed 40 points in 1993. Malkin received the
Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, becoming the first Russian-born player to do so. He is also just the second player in franchise history to win both the Art Ross and Conn Smythe trophies in the same year. The other Penguin to accomplish this feat was
Hockey Hall of Famer and team co-owner/president Mario Lemieux (1992).
Hart Trophy, playoff shortcomings (2009–2015) On 28 October 2009, Malkin suffered a strained shoulder in a 6–1 win over the
Montreal Canadiens, resulting in him missing the next seven games. On 21 March 2010, Malkin would suffer a bruised foot as a result of a fall he took near the boards in a 3–2 overtime loss to the
Carolina Hurricanes, sidelining him for seven more games. Malkin played 67 games in the
2009–10 season and recorded 28 goals, 49 assists and 77 points. Malkin and the Penguins came into the
2010 playoffs as the defending Stanley Cup champions and fourth seed in the Eastern Conference and defeated the fifth-seeded
Ottawa Senators in six games in the first round but then were upset by the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens in seven games in the second round, squandering a 3–2 series lead along the way. participating in a ceremonial puck drop with
Mario Lemieux before an October 2011 game, to honour the victims of the
2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash. On 4 February 2011, after missing five games due to a left knee injury and sinus infection, Malkin returned to play against the
Buffalo Sabres. At the start of the second period, Sabres defenceman
Tyler Myers collided with Malkin against the end boards, injuring his right knee. He was helped off the ice and went straight to the dressing room, unable to return to the game as he suffered both a torn
anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and
medial collateral ligament (MCL). On 9 February, it was announced that Malkin would undergo knee surgery. The Penguins estimated his recovery period as six months, sidelining him for the remainder of the
2010–11 season and playoffs, but stated he should be ready for training camp in mid-September. According to then Penguins' general manager
Ray Shero, Malkin sent him a text message after the incident occurred stating, "I'm sorry." In Shero's words, "I told him he had nothing to apologize for." In Malkin's absence, the Penguins as a team would end the season as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference for the third straight season but their fortunes would change in the opening round of the
2011 playoffs against the
Tampa Bay Lightning as the Penguins would lose in seven games to the fifth-seeded Lightning, despite initially having a 3–1 series lead earlier in the series. of the
Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) during the
2012–13 NHL lockout. Malkin had a bounce-back season in
2011–12. With
post-concussion syndrome limiting team captain
Sidney Crosby to 22 games, Malkin led the Penguins on a line with newly acquired winger
James Neal. Despite missing seven games due to lingering effects of his knee surgery the previous season, Malkin scored 50 goals for the first time in his career, including three hat-tricks, 59 assists and won his second scoring title with 109 points in the 75 games he did play to collect his second career
Art Ross Trophy. He was the only player in the NHL during the 2011–12 season to score at least 100 points. Malkin would go on to win the Hart Trophy as the NHL's MVP for his performance in the season beating out Tampa Bay Lightning forward
Steven Stamkos and
New York Rangers goaltender
Henrik Lundqvist, respectively. He also went on to win the
Ted Lindsay Award for the most outstanding player judged by the
NHL Players' Association, beating out finalists Stamkos and Lundqvist for this award as well. He also became the first player in the past ten NHL seasons to win two scoring titles, putting an end to a streak of nine different players over nine seasons leading the NHL in points. Malkin's 50 goals also resulted in him being the runner-up to the
Rocket Richard Trophy, only behind the 60 goals scored by Steven Stamkos. Despite Malkin's impressive season and the Penguins clinching the fourth-seed in the East for the fourth straight season, the Penguins were eliminated in the first round of the
2012 playoffs by the in-state rival and fifth-seeded
Philadelphia Flyers in six games. Malkin scored eight points (three goals, five assists) in all six games. Following the Penguins' early playoff exit, it was announced Malkin would again represent Russia at the
2012 World Championships. With the start of the
2012–13 NHL season delayed due to the
lockout, Malkin went to Russia and played for Magnitogorsk, his former team, who had joined the
Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) since he last played there. By the time the lockout ended in early-January 2013, Malkin was second in KHL scoring with 23 goals and 42 assists for 65 points in 37 games. Though he missed the final part of the
KHL season, he still finished third overall in scoring. A concussion suffered on 22 February 2013, in a 3–1 win over the
Florida Panthers after getting hit by Panthers defenceman
Erik Gudbranson and a shoulder injury on 10 March in a 5–4 shootout win over the
Toronto Maple Leafs caused by a hit by opposing forward
James van Riemsdyk limited Malkin to 31 games during the season, rather than the 48 scheduled, in which he scored 33 points (nine goals, 24 assists). In the
2013 playoffs, Malkin and the Penguins faced the eighth-seeded
New York Islanders in the first round, eliminating them in six games. Malkin had an excellent series, recording two goals, nine assists and 11 points in the six games. In the next round, the Penguins defeated the seventh-seeded Ottawa Senators in five games, with Malkin scoring two more goals and five points to clinch a third round appearance for the first time since the Penguins
2009 Stanley Cup run. The Penguins were then swept in the Eastern Conference Finals against the fourth-seeded
Boston Bruins. The entire Penguins team was kept to two goals in the four-game series against the Bruins, with Malkin held off the scoresheet and posting a −5
plus-minus rating. In the
2013–14 season, Malkin was held out of 22 games, missing two games with a lower body injury against the
San Jose Sharks on 5 December 2013, nine games with another lower-body injury against the
Detroit Red Wings on 14 December, and then 11 games with a foot injury against the
Phoenix Coyotes on 25 March 2014. In the 60 games he was healthy, Malkin scored 23 goals, 49 assists and 72 points, second on the Penguins behind only Sidney Crosby. In his second-to-last game of the season three days earlier, against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Malkin had two goals and two assists for four points. In the
2014 playoffs, the Penguins met the
Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round, eliminating them in six games. Malkin was unable to score for Pittsburgh in the first five games and only managed four assists in that time, causing Penguins fans to worry, especially since Crosby was being held off the scoresheet as well. But Malkin broke through with a hat-trick in Game 6, propelling his team to Round 2. In Round 2 against the fifth-seeded New York Rangers, Malkin and the Penguins were eliminated in seven games, despite initially holding a 3–1 lead in the series. The Penguins only managed three goals in the last three games. Malkin had a solid series, scoring three goals and seven points in seven games, leading the Penguins. On 30 October 2014, Malkin recorded his 400th assist on a
Chris Kunitz goal in a 3–0 victory over the
Los Angeles Kings to become the fifth player in franchise history to reach the mark. On 22 April 2015, in the fourth game in the first round of the
2015 playoffs against the
Presidents' Trophy-winning New York Rangers, Malkin played his 100th career playoff game becoming the fifth player in Penguins history to do so. The Penguins would eventually fall to the Rangers in five games.
Back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, continued success (2015–2024) Malkin had an injury-depleted
2015–16 campaign. On 4 February 2016, Malkin sustained an undisclosed lower-body injury in a 6–5 win against the
Ottawa Senators, resulting in him missing the next 10 games. On 11 March, in a 3–2 win over the
Columbus Blue Jackets, Malkin suffered what was believed to be an undisclosed upper-body injury after colliding with Columbus’ defenceman
Dalton Prout. This injury resulted in Malkin missing the remainder of the season and the first game in the first round of the
2016 playoffs against the
New York Rangers. He finished the season playing in 57 games with 27 goals and 31 assists for 58 points. After playing against the Rangers in the opening round for a second consecutive year and third consecutive year altogether and this time defeating them in five games, the Penguins would defeat the
Presidents' Trophy-winning
Washington Capitals in six games in the second round and the
Tampa Bay Lightning in the third round in seven games before defeating the
San Jose Sharks in six games in the
2016 Stanley Cup Finals, as the Penguins clinched the Stanley Cup for the first time since
2009. He ended the run with six goals and 12 assists for 18 points in 23 games. following Game 6 of the
2017 Stanley Cup Finals in
Nashville. It was the second consecutive championship and third overall of Malkin's career. On 29 October 2016, Malkin recorded his 300th career NHL goal in a 5–4 win over the
Philadelphia Flyers. On 17 February 2017, Malkin recorded his 500th career assist on a goal by
Ian Cole in a 2–1 overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. He ended the
2016–17 season with 33 goals and 39 assists for 72 points in 62 games. He became the 29th player in the history of the NHL to record 150 points in the playoffs after recording three assists in a 7–0 win in game five of the Eastern Conference Finals against the
Ottawa Senators on goals by
Sidney Crosby,
Phil Kessel and
Trevor Daley, respectively. After eventually defeating the Flyers in six games, the Penguins would face the Washington Capitals in the second round for the third consecutive year where Malkin and the Penguins would fall in six games to the eventual Stanley Cup champion and second-seeded Capitals. On 30 January 2019, Malkin suffered a suspected hand injury in a 4–2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning after he was hit by Lightning’ defenceman
Daniel Girardi. Despite this, he was able to finish the game recording two assists on goals by Phil Kessel and
Kris Letang while also getting into a
fight with Lightning forward and captain
Steven Stamkos, which was later believed to have aggravated the injury. After missing the next four games and returning to the lineup on 11 February, in a 4–1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers, Malkin was the subject of a high-sticking call after swinging his stick into the face of Flyers’ forward
Michael Raffl, resulting in a one game suspension. On 12 March, Malkin recorded his 1,000th NHL point on a Phil Kessel goal against the Washington Capitals, becoming the
88th player in league history to reach the mark. Malkin would finish the
2018–19 season with 21 goals and 51 assists for 72 points in 68 games as the Penguins as a team finished as the fifth seed in the East. In the
2019 playoffs, Malkin recorded a goal and two assists for three points in all four games against the
New York Islanders as the Penguins would get swept in the first round by the fourth-seeded Islanders. On 16 March 2021, Malkin suffered a minor knee injury in a 2–1 loss over the
Boston Bruins after he collided with Bruins' defenceman
Jarred Tinordi, resulting in him missing the next 23 games until recovering to play the final four games of the season. He would end the
pandemic-shortened
2020–21 season with eight goals and 20 assists for 28 points in 33 games. He re-aggravated the injury in the season finale on 8 May in the Penguins 1–0 win over the
Buffalo Sabres, causing him to miss the first two games in the opening round of the
2021 playoffs against the New York Islanders. Malkin returned to the lineup for game three but the Penguins would eventually get defeated by the Islanders in six games, marking the second time in three seasons where the Islanders defeated Malkin and the Penguins in the first round of the playoffs. Malkin finished the playoffs with a goal and four assists for five points in four games. Malkin underwent knee surgery in the 2021 off-season, resulting in him missing the first 32 games of the
2021–22 season before making his season debut on 11 January 2022, in a 4–1 win against the
Anaheim Ducks and recording two goals along with an assist on a
Jeff Carter goal. On 11 April, Malkin was handed a four game suspension after he cross-checked
Nashville Predators defenceman
Mark Borowiecki the previous day and bloodying him. He would go on to finish the season with 20 goals and 22 assists for 42 points in 41 games played while the Penguins as a team finished as the sixth seed in the East. Malkin followed up in the
2022 playoffs with three goals and three assists for six points in all seven games as the Penguins would lose in round one once more as they were defeated in seven games by the New York Rangers and surrendering a 3–1 series lead in the series against the third-seeded Rangers in the process. On 12 July 2022, after initial reports that he would be heading to free agency, Malkin signed a four-year, $24.4 million contract extension to stay with the Penguins. He played his
1,000th NHL game on 23 November against the
Chicago Blackhawks, joining Sidney Crosby as the only players to play all 1,000 games with the Penguins. Malkin finished the
2022–23 season playing in all 82 games with 83 points recorded (27 goals, 56 assists) and the Penguins missed the
playoffs for the first time since 2006 and it would be the first time in Malkin's career that he missed the playoffs. Malkin recorded 27 goals, 40 assists and 67 points in all 82 contests played in the
2023–24 season as the Penguins missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
Recent years (2024–present) The beginning of the
2024–25 season was filled with milestones for Malkin. On 10 October 2024, Malkin recorded his 800th career assist on a goal by
Erik Karlsson in a 6–3 win over the
Detroit Red Wings, becoming the 34th player in league history to reach the mark. Two days later, in a 4–2 loss to the
Toronto Maple Leafs, Malkin recorded his 1,300th NHL point with an assist on a goal by
Rickard Rakell, becoming the 37th player in league history to reach the mark. On 16 October, Malkin scored his 500th career goal in a 6–5 overtime win over the
Buffalo Sabres, scoring the goal on Sabres' goaltender
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to become the 48th player in league history to reach the mark and 24th player to do so with one franchise. He ended the season with 16 goals and 34 assists for 50 points in 68 games as the Penguins missed the playoffs once more. The
2025-26 season saw the end of his four-year contract along with the Penguins pitted against the Philadelphia Flyers during the
playoffs. Malkin expressed his desire to continue playing with the Penguins, with his agent and team general manager
Kyle Dubas agreeing to put off contract talks until after the playoffs. During the season, Malkin had 61 points with 19 goals and 42 assists in 56 regular-season games, averaging about a point a game, with Malkin scoring two goals and one assist in the first three games of the playoffs. During game 5 of the playoffs, Malkin appeared to purposefully fire a puck into Philadelphia's bench, leading to no penalties after the puck almost struck assistant coach
Jay Varady in the head. ==International play==