Evgeni Malkin
Malkin is a second-line right wing and second power-play unit piece who has already been scratched once this season, with a day-to-day note on him now that I could not tie to a specific injury or date.
Role
Pittsburgh Hockey Now's lines page (fetched, updated Nov. 1) projects Chinakhov, Kindel and Malkin as line 2, with Malkin at right wing. The projection is PuckPedia's. Crosby, Novak and Rakell are line 1. An Inside the Rink preview for Oct. 31 at Montreal listed the same second line and put Malkin on the second power-play unit with Kuzmenko, Kindel, Chinakhov and Letang. Ice time: that preview cites 16:23 in his last game. I found no season average. He sat as a healthy scratch on Oct. 24 and returned to the lineup on Oct. 27. Competition for the work comes from Koivunen, Kuzmenko and Lapierre on the third line. Bryan Rust is on injured reserve and Rutger McGroarty was sent to the minors on Nov. 1. I found no reporting on the day-to-day note, so I can't say what it is or when he returns.
Inside the Rink's Oct. 31 preview cites Box Score Junkie numbers: 57.8% Corsi-for through 204 minutes, with six goals on 3.0 expected, and two assists in his last game on four shots. He still has a top-six slot and second-unit power-play time. Last season he had 15 goals and 52 points in 50 games before an upper-body injury in March, and he re-signed for one year at $5.5 million.
The team has used him inconsistently: he was a healthy scratch on Oct. 24 and has since been moved from center to right wing. The Chinakhov, Kindel and Malkin trio posted a 38% Corsi and 32% expected goals-for in under 24 minutes last season, per FanRecap. Inside the Rink flags his six goals against 3.0 expected as a finishing run. Pittsburgh Hockey Now said in the offseason that Koivunen could displace him for good. At 40, he has a day-to-day note and a history of short injury absences.
Where analysts split
The open question is whether he keeps a top-six wing spot once the roster is healthy, or whether Koivunen or a younger forward takes it. Pittsburgh Hockey Now framed that as a risk in the offseason. The analytics preview reads his current results as strong but possibly inflated by shooting luck. I found no source arguing either side directly this week, so this is my reading of the coverage, not an argument any analyst has made.
Research confidence: thin. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
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