Penguins Acquire Forward Hendrix Lapierre From Capitals
If Pittsburgh Penguins' fans are hoping for GM and POHO Kyle Dubas to be active leading up to the 2026 NHL Draft on Friday and Saturday, it appears the first domino may have fallen.
Video Transcript
In terms of messaging, I, I think it just goes to show that, you know, sometimes plans change, Kelsey.
Like you've seen some of the reporting that they were potentially considering moving on from him last year.
Well, comes- it goes out, has a great year, big reason they return to the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Things could change.
And I, I always felt that y- you had to bring him back really no matter what.
And once you saw the season that he had, you're just not letting that guy walk to free agency.
He's a Penguin for life.
I wouldn't want it any other way.
And again, like there's just so many reasons that we could get to for why this happened before we get into nostalgia and, you know, another season with Crosby, another season with Letang, and Penguin for life.
You know, he's not blocking anyone.
People like to talk about some of these young players in Wilkes-Barre.
I'm excited about some of them.
They are not ready for top six ice time next season.
They are more depth players that will start down there, and maybe they move up at some point later on in their careers.
number one, I've talked about the, you know, dy- the dynamic duo with him and Chinukov, the chemistry that he had with Tommy Novak.
The contract is very cheap, 5.5 million.
That's literally a decrease from the 6.1 million AAV that he had on his last deal.
Yeah, he can earn up to 9 million, but a lot of that is bonuses.
An underrated factor of this re-signing is Igor Chinukov and Sergei Murashov, because these are- Yeah two younger Russian players who are adapting to North America.
Obviously, Chinukov's been here for a little while with his time in Columbus, but we know what a disaster that was for him.
That organization, now with the benefit of hindsight, never gave him a chance.
They never gave him the opportunity to succeed.
The leash was short, and they just did not do right by him.
Sergei Murashov, on the other hand, as mature as he is, as talented as he is, he is still a kid.
And he is going to arrive in Pittsburgh this September, October, and if he lasts past that, with a lot of pressure, with a lot of expectation.
Because whether the organization is saying it or not, the fans are, the league is, he is being touted as the next great Russian goaltender, and that is a lot of pressure for a kid even as mature as he is.
So having Evgeni Malkin in his corner to teach him how to be a professional, how to deal with those expectations, how to bounce back from disappointment, that is going to be worth every penny they are paying Evgeni Malkin.
Because as we all know, life in the National Hockey League for younger Russians can often be a challenge.
It is a culture shock.
It is really different than the KHL.
It's really different than wherever else they played.
So they need, they often need some mentorship, whether it's on their own roster or somebody close to them.
So having Evgeni Malkin to help Chinukov and Murashov, to me, is just as valuable if not more valuable than just bringing back Evgeni Malkin the player.
At the end of the day, there's much more to this than the hockey player Evgeni Malkin.
And you know, we talk about leadership all the time.
We talk about And I know that that's kind-- I don't wanna say it's an overrated quality in players, and it's something that's kind of overused, but Malkin leads in a little bit of a different way than a guy like Sid does, than a guy like Brian Rust does.
Kris Letang, Eric Carlson, they all have their own unique styles in there.
Evgeni Malkin is just such a personable player, a personable guy.
And especially for young R- Russians like Murashov and Chinukov walking into these situations, it's paramount for these guys.
And I know Chinukov's 24, his situation's a little bit different.
But focusing on Murashov specifically, it's paramount for their development to feel comfortable in a locker room and just feel comfortable where they are, and that's gonna be the case for a lot of these guys coming up.
and for Murashov, as you said, there's going to be a ton of pressure on him next season.
Joel Blomqvist is also right behind him.
Now you have Taylor Gauthier pushing as well.
Even, you know, Gabriel Daigle is probably gonna be, you know, in Wheeling next season, I would presume.
But there's a lot of or- organizational depth, that the Penguins have in goaltending.
You know, Murashov has kind of an internal target on his back as well.
Guys know that he's kind of the guy in the system and the guy that everybody's talking about.
So to have Malkin around in that mentorship role, as Pat, you, you alluded to beautifully, I think that this is something that goes beyond just his contributions on the ice.
And you can't really take away from the fact that he has been here for 20 years.
I mean, beyond anything else, this is the kind of respect you show a 20-year veteran of a singular franchise
