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Penguins assistant coach Jacques Martin diagrams a drill on the 3rd day of the Penguins training camp at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry.
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Evgeni Malkin is worried he's going to become irrelevant

Bob Donaldson/Post-Gazette

Evgeni Malkin is worried he's going to become irrelevant

Evgeni Malkin led the NHL in goals and had one fewer point than Edmonton’s Connor McDavid from Jan. 1 through the end of the regular season. His season totals – 42 goals, 98 points – represented his best offensive season since 2011-12. The Hart Trophy, at one point, seemed absolutely attainable.

Yet Malkin isn’t anywhere near satisfied.

Not only because the Penguins were bounced in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs but because Malkin senses other centers might be passing him by.

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“The young guys like McDavid, [New Jersey’s Taylor] Hall, and [Colorado’s Nathan] MacKinnon,” Malkin said after Penguins training camp Sunday, “they dominate this league right now.”

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No stranger to being left out of the conversation – looking at you NHL Top 100 – Malkin took steps this summer to ensure he remains among the NHL’s elite pivots, even if it doesn’t seem based on his performance that he needed to do anything of the sort.

“I don’t want to be a guy who wins three Cups, stops playing and is just known as a nice guy,” Malkin said. “I want to be a good player for the next 5-6 years. I try to do my best and dominate every game. … I want to be a top center in this league for the next 5-6 years.”

Malkin wasn’t hinting at a possible end date for his career, although he would be either 36 or 37 by that time.

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More he wants to continue to play at a high level, something that’s getting increasingly tougher as Malkin gets older.

In addition to the three guys Malkin mentioned, you have Toronto’s Auston Matthews, Los Angeles’ Anze Kopitar, Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele, Boston’s Patrice Bergeron, Dallas’ Tyler Seguin … OK, you get the point.

Center, as it should be, includes more talent top to bottom than any other position in the NHL.

Malkin is still considered one of the top three talents — according to the NHL Network’s top 20 rankings — but he also sounds borderline crazy talking about his stock potentially dipping.

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Which is why Malkin said he worked out differently this summer following a knee injury in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

“I skated a little bit more this year,” Malkin said. “I started to skate in the middle of July. Three times a week, four times a week. Last two weeks I skated every day. I feel so much better this year. Have more confidence right now. Feel unbelievable.”

Hard work has never been an issue for Malkin in the summer. But he said it’s a different feeling skating versus lifting or running on a track.

“You feel great when you skate hard,” Malkin said.

The knee certainly feels that way.

Malkin was injured in the first period of the Penguins’ Game 5 loss when he got tangled up with Flyers center Jori Lehtera and fell awkwardly into the boards on his left leg.

The injury lingered throughout the postseason.

“I tried my best,” Malkin said. “I did not play my game because I couldn’t skate hard.”

Competing with some of his countrymen this summer was big for Malkin. Alexander Radulov and Valeri Nichushkin of the Dallas Stars were two he name-checked Sunday. Malkin’s point was that he basically sought out competition everywhere this summer, trying to get better.

“It was more fun, for sure,” Malkin said.

Among other topics Malkin touched on during his first media availability at camp:

• Malkin lost two teeth Saturday when Matt Cullen accidentally clipped him with a high stick.

“It’s easy, one hour,” Malkin said of the repair job. “It’s hockey. He said sorry. We’re good friends. I understand. It’s bad luck.”

• There’s usually never a reason to talk about Malkin’s teeth, but he said he’s around 10 broken “five or 10 years ago.”

• Malkin has been exclusively paired with Phil Kessel thus far. That’s great, he said, but Malkin knows the two offensive talents need to be better defensively to gain coach Mike Sullivan’s trust.

“I like playing with him,” Malkin said of Kessel. “I think we understand each other. We need to change a little bit in the defensive zone. We need to play better. I think coach was a little upset when we played together. He understands we’re great offensive players, but sometimes we need to finish checks and play a little bit harder in the defensive zone.”

• Malkin didn’t watch the Stanley Cup final – “It’s not fun to watch,” he said – but had plenty of praise for the rival Capitals.

“Finally Washington won,” Malkin said. “They have a great team, for sure. Of course I’m upset. I feel like if we would’ve beaten Washington, we would have had a chance to win.”

• Similar to many of his teammates, Malkin is psyched that Cullen is back.

“We need his leadership on the ice and in the locker room,” Malkin said. “It’s great to see he’s back.”

Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.

First Published: September 16, 2018, 7:46 p.m.

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