Pittsburgh Penguins

The San Jose Sharks traded veteran forward Patrick Marleau to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a conditional 2020 third-round draft pick on Monday.

Pittsburgh announced the deal after TSN's Bob McKenzie first reported the agreement.

Marleau appeared in 58 games for San Jose this season, scoring 10 goals and assisting on 10 more.

According to The Athletic's Josh Yohe, Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford approached Monday's 3 p.m. ET trade deadline with a list "of about 10 forwards" he had targeted. Marleau was the first name on the list:

"Rutherford's primary interest is to make his bottom-six better before today's deadline is complete. Ideally, he would prefer to add to the bottom six with a skilled player who can produce offense. In Marleau, the Penguins would be adding a player who theoretically could play with Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin from time to time, if needed, and who could aid the second power-play unit."

The 40-year-old is obviously no longer the player he was in his prime, but he remains effective in a limited role.

A move to Pittsburgh also gives him an opportunity to lift the Stanley Cup for the first time in his career. The Sharks are tied for the second-lowest point total (56) in the Western Conference, while the Penguins are fourth in the Eastern Conference with 80 points. Ironically, Marleau's best chance of winning a Cup was lost to the Pens in the 2016 Cup final.

With Marleau out the door, the question now becomes whether the Sharks trade Joe Thornton as well since the 40-year-old is in as similar situation to his now-former teammate.

TSN's Frank Seravalli reported San Jose had received calls about Thornton but added "those close to Thornton believed he's waffled on both sides of the notion of a trade in the last number of weeks."

Adam Gretz of Pro Hockey Talk noted the former San Jose captain has a no-movement clause in his contract, so he has the final say regarding his future. A trade to a contending team would allow Thornton to have at least one more shot at a title, though.

Pittsburgh Penguins star forward Sidney Crosby will return to the lineup on Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild after missing 28 games due to a core injury.

"Excited to be back in the lineup," Crosby said Tuesday. "I just want to come in, bring some energy and make sure that I'm doing my part."

Crosby underwent surgery on Nov. 14.

Coming into the year, Crosby had remained mostly healthy in recent seasons, playing in 75 or more games six straight times. But the 15-year veteran has dealt with injury issues in the past, namely concussions, missing 147 games between the 2010-11 and 2012-13 seasons. 

When healthy, the 2005 No. 1 overall draft pick remains one of the elite players in the NHL. The eight-time All-Star, three-time Stanley Cup champion and two-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner (awarded to the league's MVP) was again excellent in the 2018-19 campaign, scoring 35 goals and adding 65 assists. 

It was his sixth season with 100 or more points. Only Wayne Gretzky (15), former Penguin Mario Lemieux (10), Marcel Dionne (eight), Mike Bossy (seven) and Peter Stastny (seven) have recorded more 100-point seasons in NHL history. All five players are in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The Nova Scotia native will join them once his career comes to a close. While his bouts with injuries this season are a concern, he's been highly effective when on the ice, posting five goals and 12 assists in 17 games. 

If he's unable to stay healthy, however, Pittsburgh's Stanley Cup aspirations likely go out the window. 

Pittsburgh Penguins All-Star forward Jake Guentzel will miss four to six months after undergoing successful shoulder surgery, the team announced Tuesday.  

Guentzel suffered the injury during the third period of Monday's 5-2 win over the Ottawa Senators. After scoring his 20th goal of the season, Guentzel was tripped and went crashing into the boards:

The 25-year-old Guentzel leads the Penguins in goals (20) and points (43) this season, and he was selected as the team's lone All-Star representative.

With Sidney Crosby currently on the shelf and having been limited to 17 games this season due to surgery to repair a core muscle injury, Guentzel has stepped up to become Pittsburgh's top offensive weapon.

Guentzel's first true breakout came during the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs when he posted 21 points in 25 games. He followed that up with just 48 points in 82 regular-season games the following year but recorded 21 points in 12 playoff contests.

The Omaha, Nebraska, native finally came through with a productive regular season in 2018-19 when he scored a career-high 40 goals to go along with 36 assists for 76 points in 82 games.

Guentzel had been on pace to exceed last season's production, but it is unlikely he will play another game until the playoffs at the earliest. The best-case scenario based on the timeline given by the Penguins is that Guentzel will return at the end of April, which would be in the midst of the postseason.

With Guentzel out, Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan will need a number of different players to step up and replace his production.

The most obvious name is Evgeni Malkin, who is second on the team in scoring with 38 points and first in assists with 27 in just 26 games. Bryan Rust must also keep up his hot streak, as he has 16 goals and 16 assists for 32 points in 25 games.

Jared McCann, Dominik Kahun and Brandon Tanev are other forwards who will be tasked with taking on greater roles.

Alex Galchenyuk has arguably been the Penguins' most disappointing player this season with 13 points in 30 games, but he has three points in his past three games and must play significantly better to help offset Guentzel's loss.

Also, Crosby returned to practice Tuesday, and the eventual return of one of the greatest players in NHL history would undoubtedly give the Penguins a huge boost.

Even with all the injuries to key players this season, the Penguins have persevered and are currently second in the Eastern Conference's Metropolitan Division with 52 points.

The Pittsburgh Penguins announced Thursday that superstar center Sidney Crosby underwent successful surgery on a core muscle injury and is expected to miss a minimum of six weeks.  

Crosby's injury is the latest to affect the Penguins, who are also without Kris Letang and Patric Hornqvist. Letang is week-to-week with a lower-body injury, and Hornquist will miss more time with a lower-body injury of his own, per Mike Morreale of NHL.com.

Injuries were a major problem for the 32-year-old earlier in his career, but he has improved his durability as he has gotten older. The center has appeared in at least 75 games in each of the past six years after averaging just 33 games per season in the three years from 2010 to 2013.

Crosby was already an elite player before this recent stretch, but he has taken his game to another level since 2013, winning the Art Ross Trophy, the Hart Trophy, the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy and two Conn Smythe Trophies and leading the Penguins to a pair of Stanley Cups.

Coming into the year, he had eight total All-Star selections and three titles in his career.

Crosby remains an elite offensive weapon for Pittsburgh, totaling five goals and 12 assists in 17 games this year. However, the latest injury means others on the team need to step up in his absence.

While Crosby leads the team this season with 17 points, several other forwards on the team have been productive, including Jake Guentzel (14 points), Jared McCann (11 points), Hornqvist (10 points) and Dominik Simon (10 points).

Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust have both missed time because of injury this season, but they are healthy now and have each posted seven points in seven games.

The Penguins are tied for the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 22 points through 18 games, but keeping pace won't be easy without the services of an elite point producer like Crosby.

Two games into the 2019-20 NHL season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have run into injury concerns. 

Head coach Mike Sullivan confirmed Monday that centers Evgeni Malkin and Nick Bjugstad "will be out longer-term with lower-body injuries," according to the team. 

Sullivan added Malkin is expected to miss "a little bit longer" than Bjugstad, but Malkin's injury is not season-threatening. 

Bjugstad and Malkin had exited prematurely from the Penguins' 7-2 win, their first victory of the young season, over Columbus on Saturday and did not return. 

Malkin was injured in the second period when crashing into the boards with Columbus' Vladislav Gavrikov.

Following the game, Sullivan told reporters the two players were being evaluated but didn't disclose anything more.

Neither player practiced Monday. 

Malkin ranked fourth on the Penguins last season with 72 points. The 2011-12 NHL MVP scored 21 goals and provided 51 assists across 68 games. Malkin has been a mainstay in Pittsburgh since the franchise drafted him second overall in 2004.

Bjugstad, meanwhile, arrived in Pittsburgh through a trade from the Florida Panthers in February that also brought the team Jared McCann. Once joining the Penguins, the 27-year-old appeared in 32 games and scored 9 goals while assisting five. 

In Bjugstad's absence, Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette pegged McCann as the man to watch. McCann scored two goals and recorded an assist in Saturday's game. 

"Nobody can replace [Malkin]," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby told DeFabo after the game. "But when guys go down, other guys have to step up. [McCann] did a good job of that tonight."

McCann appeared in 32 games for Pittsburgh last season, scoring 11 goals and assisting six. 

The 1-1 Penguins' first challenge without Bjugstad and Malkin will be at home Tuesday night against the Winnipeg Jets.

The Pittsburgh Penguins reached agreement on a contract extension with head coach Mike Sullivan. 

The team announced on Friday that Sullivan's new deal is for four years and will run through the 2022-23 season.

"Mike has done a great job delivering four, 100-plus point seasons with our team," Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford said. "To win back-to-back Stanley Cups in this era speaks volumes of him as a coach. His instincts in managing the inter-workings of our team both on and off the ice has been impressive."

Pittsburgh made no secret about its desire to work out a new deal with Sullivan, who was entering the final year of his previous contract. 

Rutherford told Jonathan Bombulie of TribLive.com he started the offseason wanting to "change some of the players" through trades and free agency, but that he "would like to see [Sullivan] stay long term."

Sullivan was hired by the Penguins in December 2015 after Mike Johnston was fired after the team got off to a slow start. 

Pittsburgh won back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in Sullivan's first two seasons as head coach. The team has a 174-92 record and has made the playoffs in each of the past four seasons with the 51-year-old at the helm. 

The Pittsburgh Penguins traded forward Phil Kessel to the Arizona Coyotes, TSN's Darren Dreger reported Saturday.

According to Dreger, Pittsburgh will acquire Alex Galchenyuk, Pierre-Olivier Joseph and a fourth-round pick.

Kessel spent four seasons with the Penguins, helping them lift the Stanley Cup in 2016 and 2017. He compiled 110 goals and 193 assists in 328 games. The 13-year veteran was also a key offensive presence during Pittsburgh's back-to-back title runs. His 22 playoff points were first on the team in 2016, and he was third in playoff points (23) a year later.

Despite the success Kessel and the Penguins enjoyed during his time in Pittsburgh, the writing was on the wall following the team's first-round sweep at the hands of the New York Islanders last season. That result followed a second-round loss to the eventual Stanley Cup-winning Washington Capitals in 2018.

The need to reshuffle the roster was impossible to ignore.

As long as Sidney Crosby calls Pittsburgh home, the Penguins aren't going to rebuild. But they clearly had to shift gears to avoid continuing to stagnate and slip further away from a sixth title.

Kessel was one of the most obvious veterans to move. At $6.8 million, he was the fourth-highest earner on the Penguins' roster for 2019-20, and his consistent production made him an attractive trade asset. 

The Athletic's Sean Gentille argued in May that trading Kessel was also important for Pittsburgh to improve its general chemistry:

"I'm typically loathe to argue for this, but let's give it a shot: Mike Sullivan, at this point, would rather not coach Kessel. That matters. [Evgeni] Malkin would also benefit from playing with a faster, better defensive winger—especially if that purely theoretical player listened to his coach. Sounds crazy enough to work. The Penguins needed Kessel to maximize the Crosby/Malkin era, and heretofore it worked. Now, years down the line and with the degree of difficulty ramped up, they probably need to move him for a shot at continuing the run."

The relationship between Sullivan and Kessel was a major talking point following the 2017-18 season. Though they coexisted throughout 2018-19 without much incident, the dynamic hadn't changed much.

Perhaps Kessel and Sullivan could've continued to maintain a professional relationship for another year. Now, the Penguins don't have to worry about it.

For the Coyotes, this is unquestionably a win-now move. Kessel will make an immediate impact on the ice and be one of Arizona's best attackers.

As the Penguins learned, though, it will be important for the Coyotes to keep Kessel content to avoid the drama that led to his exit from Pittsburgh.   

The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 in Monday's Metropolitan Division showdown, but the result took a backseat to the ejection of Evgeni Malkin.

Mike Brehm of USA Today noted the Penguins center received a match penalty and was ejected in the third period after he swung his stick at Flyers forward Michael Raffl. Raffl initiated the back-and-forth with a cross-check and a punch to Malkin's head, but the Penguins playmaker escalated things.

Yahoo Sports NHL shared video of the play:

NHL Player Safety announced Malkin will have a hearing Tuesday.

"I know I was not playing smart with five minutes left, but it's only like one point," said Malkin, who notched an assist in the win, per Brehm. "I know it was dirty, but I missed my stick and I touched his, like, shoulder to shoulder, I don't know.

"Everyone was like give me five minutes. It wasn't dangerous. He wasn't bleeding or anything."

This wasn't the first time Malkin was issued a match penalty this season, with his first coming in a November clash with the Washington Capitals. He hit Capitals forward T.J. Oshie in the head but was not further disciplined.

Pittsburgh could struggle again if he's suspended. It was just 1-3-1 in its previous five games when he was sidelined with an upper-body injury. It fell to fourth place in the division during the stretch.

Malkin is one of the best players of his generation and has three Stanley Cups, a Hart Memorial Trophy (league MVP), two Art Ross Trophies (top point scorer), three All-Star Games, a Calder Memorial Trophy (rookie of the year) and a Conn Smythe Trophy (MVP of Stanley Cup playoffs) on his resume.

Pittsburgh's next game is Wednesday against the Edmonton Oilers.

Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin is "day to day" with an upper-body injury, per head coach Mike Sullivan. 

"He will not play [Friday night] or this weekend," Sullivan said. "We are hopeful that this is a short-term thing and he’ll be back in our lineup soon.” 

The 32-year-old has established himself as one of the NHL's most dynamic offensive threats for more than a decade. His 930 points from his 2006-07 debut campaign through last season ranked third in the league over that span behind only the Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin and Pens teammate Sidney Crosby.

Injuries are one of the few things that have held Malkin back at times throughout his career. After missing just four games over his first three seasons, he's reached the 75-game plateau just twice over the past nine years. He did appear in 78 contests last season, though.

All told, the Penguins have adapted to playing without Malkin in the past, and they should have enough high-end scoring talent to make up for any type of short-term absence. An extended stint on injured reserve would be tougher to overcome for the Stanley Cup hopefuls.

While not every athlete enjoys being heckled, Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby can appreciate a good effort. 

As the Penguins took on the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night, Crosby apparently heard an earful from one Rangers fan in particular. Among the barbs from Rangers fan Nick Lipeika, per ESPN's Greg Wyshynski: "Hey Crosby, when Gatorade wanted a tough guy, Justin Bieber turned them down so they settled for you."

Crosby couldn't help but notice Lipeika's heckling and decided to reward him for providing a not-so-warm welcome:

"Not a lot of cool things happen to me, but this is up there, for sure," Lipeika told Wyshynski. "He's probably heard it all. For me, I wanted to tell him things he hasn't heard before. He's won everything. That's why everyone wants to heckle him."

Unfortunately for Lipeika, his trash-talking wasn't enough to throw his opponent off his game. Crosby tallied a goal and an assist in a 7-2 Penguins victory.