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Evgeni Malkin, despite being 36 years old, believes in himself and his qualities. "I believe in myself," Malkin said for NHL.com "I'm still a good player. I believe in myself. I believe in my teammates. I'm here to win. I'll do my best.
I'll be ready for the first game."
The Pittsburgh Penguins can be happy with the contract extension. "I'm glad to stay here and enjoy a great organization, great team," Malkin said. "We're focused on making the Final again, try to win.I still focused on my knee, it's like the most important thing right now," Malkin said. "I feel fine. I think I rested a little bit more this summer."
Kris Letang on Evgeni Malkin
Defenseman Kris Letang is happy that Malkin remains part of the team.
"Anything you would have tried to do to replace him, you would lose that trade-off," Letang said. "To have him on our side and be able to witness what he does every night, he's a magician out there. He does things that nobody can.
You want him on your team." Malkin is optimistic considering that the team is of high quality and has a mix of experience and youth. "Age is nothing. We have great experience. This is important," Malkin said. "New guys here, young guys, we try to help them.
Leadership, this group. What we've done the last 16, 17 years, nothing's changed too much. Just be a leader, be strong and stay positive too. We know it's not easy. Every team tries to beat us. We try to focus every game, play right and try to help the team to win." New players have arrived, and this will also mean a fight for bigger goals.
"I think we have a good team and I think most players want to stay here because they understand we have a chance to win," Malkin said. "This is a professional organization. We work here every day. We work to win. New guys sign here, they want to stay here a long time because they have a chance to win. I'm glad we signed [Letang], we signed Rakell. It's amazing."