While the NHL season after the 2004 draft was
cancelled due to a lockout, Malkin continued to improve as a hockey player in
the Russian Super League. He went from a respectable total of 12 points in 34
games the previous season as a 17-year old-rookie, to scoring 29 points in 48
games in 04-05. He made his way from playing on the 4th line to becoming an
elite player, centering his teams top-line. Evgeni Malkin had truly emerged as
one of the world's top 5 players under 20 years of age.
Alexander Ovechkin
decided to play the 05-06 season in the NHL, while Malkin remained back
in his Native Russia playing another year for Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Many fans
in Pittsburgh were anxious to see one of their future franchise players (along
with
Sidney Crosby, and goalie
Marc-Andre Fleury) take to the ice, but were relegated to waiting another
year. The young Russian hockey phenom said he was committed to bringing a Super League
championship home to Magnitogorsk.
In December '05 and January of '06, Evgeni
participated in the
05-06 World Junior Hockey Championship. Malkin
captained his team all the way to the tournament finals where his Russian team
suffered a heartbreaking loss to heavily-favored Canadian team. Evgeni had to
settle for silver but was honored to take home the award as the tournaments top
forward.
Malkin celebrating after goal at 06 Olympics
(click to enlarge)
(Photo Source: Getty Images - Filippo Monteforte)
When invited to play for his country again only a
month after the competing in the WJHC, the budding superstar couldn't say no.
This was after all the
Olympics, and besides the honor of playing for his country, he couldn't pass
up the opportunity to play with and against the very best hockey players in the
world. One thing is for certain; Evgeni Malkin didn't disappoint. He had the
moves and made the plays that even the most accomplished hockey stars could
appreciate. Malkin played a great tournament, helping his Russian team send the
favored Canadian team home early. Elation quickly turned to dismay however, as
Malkin and the Russians lost their next game in the quarter finals. They
finished the tournament in 4th place, with Evgeni scoring 4 points in 6 games.
It was a modest output for him considering his dominant play. If his linemates had done
a better job of capitalizing on Malkin's quality set-ups, he would have
surely finished as one of the Olympic's scoring leaders.
With a strong start to the 05-06 Russia Super League campaign,19-year-old Malkin garnered talk of being the best hockey player not playing in the NHL. He was without a doubt, the most talented player in the Super League. He ended up leading his team to the 2nd best record during the regular season. He finished second in scoring in the Russian Super
League with an astonishing 47 points in 46 games, 5 points behind league leaders Aleksey Morozov, and Sergey Mozyakin, despite playing in 5 fewer games. He was the only player to average better than a point per game during the regular season.
Evgeni Malkin came up short in his quest for a Russian Super League Championship, despite playing some of the best hockey of his budding career. It looks as though Evgeni's hopes of bringing a Super League Championship to Magnitogorsk will go unfulfilled. Although he finished the Russian Super League with an impressive 15 points in 11 games played (5g 10a), it just wasn't enough to carry his team to the promised land, as they were eliminated in the semi-finals. It's too bad, as he has just completed one of the most impressive seasons in the Russian Super League's history.
After the conclusion of the 05/06 Russian Super League season, Evgeni was once again summoned to play for his country. The 2006 Men's World Ice Hockey championships were about to begin in Riga, Latvia from May 5th to May 21st. Evgeni Malkin would have another chance to play against some of the best players in the world. It's quite common for the best non-playoff or early-playoff-exit NHL players to participate in the championships every year. This year Sidney Crosby would be leading Canada's championship hopes, while Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni would be counted on to carry the Russian team. While Evgeni finished tied for 5th (3g/9pts)in tournament scoring, (while also scoring the most talked about goal of the tournament) his Russian team couldn't escape the disciplined Czech Republic and were knocked out of the tournament in the quarter-final.
Following the 2006 World Championships, talk was
heating up in hockey circles that Russia was about to sign on to the the NHL's
transfer agreement. It seemed as though Malkin's contract signing was assured,
but as the weeks waged on there was still no deal and the deadline for Russia to
sign on to the transfer agreement was on July 31st. The deadline came and
passed with no progress between Russia and the NHL. There were rumors and
innuendo from Russia indicating that Malkin's Russian team wanted somewhere in
the neighborhood of 20 million US dollars before they would relinquish his
rights to the cash-strapped Penguins. Evgeni's agents at the time (Pat Brisson
and J.P. Barry) kept insisting that even though there was nothing in terms of a
transfer agreement, Evgeni was still committed to playing in Pittsburgh for the
06-07 NHL season.
