Evgeni Malkin Fansite - Evgeni Malkin Biography

The six foot three inch, 186 pound center was drafted 2nd overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was the second pick in the draft behind Alexander Ovechkin. Malkin has chosen to remain in Russia for the 2005-06 hockey season with Metallurg Magnitogorsk to hone his skills before signing for the Penguins for the 2006-07 NHL season. Potential frontrunner for Calder Trophy in 2006-2007. He has not yet signed with the Penguins for the 06-07 season.

Evgeni Malkin is a product of the Metallurg Magnitogorsk hockey school. He has consistently been the top scorer on Russia's ‘06 national team. He made his debut on the U18 squad during last season's 2003 U18 World Junior Championships, where he skated on the top line with Alexander Ovechkin. He made his Russian Superleague debut during the 2003-04 season, working his way up from the fourth line.

Malkin has been compared to players such as legendary Montreal Canadien Jean Beliveau, and is currently thought to be the best hockey player outside of the NHL. Malkin is a very smooth skater with great passing ability and many experts agree that in a draft without an Ovechkin- or Crosby-like prospect he could and would be a first overall.

Malkin was named top forward and MVP of the 2006 World Junior Hockey Tournament for the silver medal winning Russian team, which he captained. He earned first star against the American hockey team in the semi-finals, but team Russia eventually lost 5-0 to Team Canada in the finals. Less than two months later, Malkin was given one of the final spots on the senior Russian hockey team for the 2006 Winter Olympics, where he helped the team to a fourth-place finish with 6 points in 7 games. He also played at the IIHF World Hockey Championships in May, making him one of few hockey players to play in all three major tournaments in the same year.

His father, Vladimir, was a defenseman for Metallurg Magnitogorsk, and his brother, Denis, was in Metallurg's hockey system as well. Evgeni, according to his father, used to sleep with a hockey stick in his bed.

In October 2006, Malkin started his career in the NHL alongside other young phenom Sidney Crosby with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Evgeni didn't wait long to make his mark and rank himself as one of the best players in the NHL. In his first season, Malkin scored 33 goals, to which he added 52 assists for a total of 85 points as a rookie in only 78 games. He was named rookie of the year and went home with the Calder trophy.

In his second season in the NHL, Evgeni Malkin proved once more that he was arguably one of the 3 top hockey players in the game today. When Crosby went out injured in the middle of the season, Malkin took the Pens on his back and lead them all the way to the Stanley Cup finals. He finished point leader for Pittsburgh and second to Ovechkin in the whole league with 47 goals, 59 assists and 106 points in 82 games. Malkin was named in the NHL First All-Star Team and also played in the annual All Star game. Unfortunately, this brilliant season was blemished by loosing the Stanley Cup to the powerful Detroit Red Wings who had players like Henrik Zetterberg and Russian-mate Pavel Datsyuk in their hockey line-up.

Evgeni started his third NHL season strong by taking the scoring title lead early on. Malkin proved that last year performance was not a one time thing. Even with a healthy Crosby in the lineup, he continued to be the leader of the Pens, racking up points at an incredible pace. Malkin finished the season top scorer of the NHL with 113 points, including 35 goals and 75 assists. Evgeni Malkin won his first Art Ross trophy for being the NHL top scorer.

Evgeni wasn't done. He continued his scoring streak in 2009 playoffs, scoring another 14 goals and adding 22 assists. The 36 points by Malkin helped the Pens win their third NHL Stanley Cup and not surprisingly, Evegni Malkin was named the playoff's MVP winning the Conn Smythe Trophy.