CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Evgeni Malkin is back on the ice in the Pittsburgh area. And so are a decent chunk of his Penguins teammates.
Late Tuesday morning, I stopped by the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex and caught Malkin, Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell, Jeff Carter, Kasperi Kapanen, Teddy Blueger, Brock McGinn, Brian Dumoulin and Chad Ruhwedel taking part in an informal skate.
The prize of the offseason, Jeff Petry, was out there, too, getting acclimated with his new facility and teammates.
The skate wasn’t run by any of the coaches, and there weren’t any goalies out there. They spent a fair share of their time working a 3-on-3 drill in which they focused on getting off the wall with the puck, utilizing off-puck movement to poke holes in coverage and making plays through traffic. The intensity of the skate wasn't exactly high, but each player brought some competitive spirit with them.
Out of everything, nothing could beat the pure joy radiating from Malkin each and every second he was out there. A smile did not leave his face as he playfully jabbed and barked at his teammates every chance he got. His laugh was unmistakable echoing throughout the rink. Rakell and Petry, especially, seemed to get a good kick out of Malkin's antics.
As players exited the ice at the conclusion of the skate, Malkin jokingly shouted at Ruhwedel -- from what I could tell -- that he either wasn't doing a good enough job putting the shooter tutor away, or that he wasn't doing it quick enough. I suppose that's Ruhwedel's appreciation for showing up to seemingly every possible skate the entire time he's been with the Penguins.
And somehow, after 16 seasons, it was refreshing as ever to see Malkin right where he belongs — in Penguins getup — following an offseason that began with such uncertainty around his future with the team.
Josh Archibald, Drake Caggiula, Mark Friedman and Casey DeSmith joined the group on the ice in the following days.
MORE PENGUINS
2. I've caught a number of these informal summer skates, and I've noticed Carter staying out on the ice well after most other players have left to get in some extra solo conditioning work. Carter acknowledged that last season felt "a lot different," especially in the second half, having played a few games shy of a full season again after two shortened seasons in the years before. He's not getting any younger -- he turns 38 in January -- but is making an effort to avoid slowing down this season the way he did last year. -- Taylor Haase in Cranberry, Pa.
3. Most of the local Pittsburgh-based professional players who skated together in the summer have returned to the cities in which they play, but one player I've been seeing around the rink still is Mt. Lebanon native Matt Bartkowski. Bartkowski, a 34-year-old defenseman, attended the Penguins' training camp last year on a professional tryout contract. He didn't ultimately sign with his hometown team, but he did sign an AHL deal with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He was more than a serviceable defenseman at that level, and players and coaches alike spoke throughout the year of Bartkowski's influence in the locker room and on the team's young defensemen. I was told Thursday that Bartkowski still wants to play next season and is looking to land a PTO with an NHL club, but nothing has materialized yet. He'd be open to a return to Wilkes-Barre if he doesn't receive any NHL offers before camps start. -- Haase
4. The Fanatics online store recently had a "leak" of T-shirt listings temporarily go live before being removed, and some of the shirts included some vintage logos. The Penguins' leaked shirt was the old robo-pigeon logo, which led to some speculation that the logo will make a return as the reverse retro alternate, a concept that is back for all teams this year. When I asked president of business operations Kevin Acklin about the logo in July, he said that there weren't currently any plans to bring it back, but he didn't rule it out in the future.
"We still have the trademark, intellectual property portfolio to the Pigeon. Never say never. But that was a unique time in history, the 90s and design. That fit for the era, I'm not sure that it's on our radar for the future. But you know, you still see fans sporting the Pigeon. And obviously, as a kid, I had a Jagr poster on my wall with the Pigeon on it. So we'll see what the future holds. But we do still have the rights to it. I think you might see a resurgence here in the future, but I don't think anything's on the agenda right now."
If the pigeon does return, it sounds like it came together rather quickly. -- Haase
5. The Winter Classic jerseys will not have the pigeon logo, though. That's for certain. They won't be blue, either. The Penguins looked to pre-1967 Pittsburgh hockey history for those, and it sounds like they will be inspired by the Pittsburgh Pirates NHL team of the 1920s. The Penguins do own the intellectual property rights to that team's jerseys and logos. -- Haase
6. Sam Poulin was the Penguins' only representative in Arlington, Va. this week for the 2022 NHLPA Rookie Showcase, providing trading card company Upper Deck with photo and video sessions for over 30 of the league's top prospects and rookies. -- Haase
7. The development staff is actively monitoring the Kirill Tankov situation in Russia after the Penguins' forward prospect suffered a brutal injury on Monday -- believed to be a fracture of his C5 vertebrae -- that required neck surgery. The development staff seems especially high on Tankov as a prospect, there's significantly more interest in him than your usual seventh-round pick. He's believed to be out for the season, but here's hoping that he suffers no long-term effects from the injury. Because he's Russian and the NHL has never had a formal transfer agreement with the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia, the Penguins' exclusive signing rights to Tankov don't expire and there's no rush to bring him to North America. As a side note, that lack of transfer agreement is why the Penguins still retain the rights to 32-year-old goaltender Alexander Pechursky, who played a single game for the Penguins in 2010 and last played in the Russian second league in 2020. -- Haase
8. When Jaromir Jagr was a rookie, the Penguins players made all rookies cut their hair short. Jagr got upset over this, so the players told him that he and another rookie could get off the hook if they took the whole team out to dinner. Jagr agreed and the bill came to over $4,000. Tom Barrasso alone ordered a $300 bottle of wine. Afterward some players tried going back on the agreement and told Jagr he still needed to cut his hair. It was Mario Lemieux that came to his rescue and told the rest of the team that Jagr didn't have to cut his hair. -- Haase
PIRATES
9. This was supposed to be a year where Miguel Yajure and Roansy Contreras combine to form two-fifths of the Pirates' rotation. Contreras has lived up to expectations so far, but Yajure has had a rough season in Class AAA. Part of those struggles is due to him working on some new mechanics, especially with his hips. "I wasn't opening up enough," Yajure told me. "I would rotate, but not finish." He said he felt his back injury last offseason and this spring training might have contributed to him unknowingly changing his mechanics, which sapped him of some fastball velocity and created command problems. If he has those few extra ticks, he can be a major-league starter. At 24, he is still young enough to rebound from a disappointing year, because the goal is the same. He's determined to be a major-league starter. He'll get another chance to prove himself. -- Alex Stumpf at PNC Park
10. Robert Stephenson's success with the Pirates is going to come down to his new fastball grip. His four-seamer has a lot of cut to it, which has worked in the past in the majors. But he was a waiver claim for a reason after a rough 2022 season with the Rockies, so he's working on his release to make sure there's more "rise" than cut. If he's successful, he'll be able to pump his fastball up and his breaking ball -- which the pitching team loves -- will tunnel off of it. It's an interesting case that if he's getting less movement with his fastball, he'll probably be better off. -- Stumpf
11. Josh VanMeter's time with the Pirates almost certainly came to an end this week when the team designated him for assignment. He provided some defensive versatility and Derek Shelton has said publicly several times that he is a good clubhouse guy (spotted him giving some hugs on Wednesday, so he was liked), but a big reason why he was acquired this spring training was to push the Pirates' middle infielders, namely Cole Tucker. Tucker's been gone for months, so they kept him around as long as they did for other reasons. -- Stumpf
12. Since the Pirates just played the Mets, I'll just say that Daniel Vogelbach is missed in that clubhouse. That doesn't mean they regret the trade -- they quite like Colin Holderman -- but losing Vogelbach was a huge blow to the offense which is still being felt. -- Stumpf
13. Nick Gonzales has heated up since coming off of the injured list last month. In a recent conversation with Altoona hitting coach Jon Nunnally, he said there were some early season factors that played a role in his early season slump, including playing a cold environment for the first time -- he played in Arizona in high school, New Mexico in college and North Carolina and Florida primarily as a pro -- and adjusting to the pitch clock. As he's gotten his timing down and used to the weather, the results have spiked. -- Stumpf
14. Good on the Pirates for inducting Dave Parker to their Hall of Fame class, and it was good to see him still out and about. He's fighting the good fight against Parkinson's, and it was encouraging to see how excited he was about his charity golf outing later this month. He deserved a moment like Saturday to be celebrated for accomplishments. In this reporter's opinion, hopefully Manny Sanguillen and Dick Groat will get the same honor soon so they can enjoy the ceremony. -- Stumpf
STEELERS
15. Even though I had told him in training camp what I'd heard and reported here -- that people in high places within the team were saying he was the second-best running back in training camp -- Jaylen Warren admitted to me that it was something of a shock to see his name listed as No. 2 on the depth chart behind Najee Harris. "It's all just so surreal," Warren told me. "I was on pins and needles on whether I'd even make the team. I know that it's not always about how good of a camp or preseason you've had. So, really, I'm just kind of still in shock over all of this." -- Dale Lolley on the South Side
16. Mike Tomlin strolled into the Steelers locker room Thursday and basically confirmed what I had suspected after George Pickens' big game in the preseason opener. The Steelers were intent on hiding their young wide receiver the rest of the preseason. Tomlin asked who me and a couple of other reporters might be waiting for. "Pickens," we replied. Tomlin jokingly said we didn't need to speak to George. He hadn't done anything. The Steelers were cognizant of the Pickens hype train after that first game and definitely wanted to slow it so as better to surprise teams with him. -- Lolley
17. Typically, one a veteran is given a stall in the team's locker room, that doesn't change. But Mason Cole made a move this week when a stall opened up among the rest of the team's offensive linemen, moving over to the other side of the room. It's kind of like Battleship Row. "They offered it and I took it," he told me. An added bonus is that the locker Cole now has next to James Daniels used to belong to Alejandro Villanueva. That, in itself, isn't a big deal. But because of COVID-19, the Steelers installed plexiglass in between each locker stall. And the space next to Cole's new locker also has a wall separating him from the locker to his right. "Yeah, it's really like a locker and a half." -- Lolley
18. One locker that didn't get filled was the one Ben Roethlisberger had for nearly 20 years. And that locker, in the back corner of the room, has an added bonus -- a little closet attached to it. Rookie wide receiver Calvin Austin has the locker to the right of that one, but he hasn't quite figured out how to unlock the closet. "I heard Ben used to go in there and hide," Austin said. It was either that or to change into his Superman costume. -- Lolley
19. Malik Reed was brought in to help deepen the the group behind T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith, and he’s a guy who’s racked up a modest 15 sacks over his first three seasons with the Broncos. What makes the outside linebacker a valuable weapon coming off the bench is not only his ability to rush the passer, but do it from both sides. Reed confirmed with me this week that he’s gotten work on both sides, so that could be part of the Steelers’ plan when Watt or Highsmith need plays off. “I’ve (played on both sides) since I came into the league," Reed told me. "I’m ready for whichever side I need to play on.” -- Chris Halicke on the South Side
20. Reed has also now had the privilege of being teammates with two elite pass rushers. He was teammates with Von Miller in Denver, and now he’s in the same room with Watt. While Reed’s main focus has obviously been learning the defense, he isn’t hesitating at picking the brain of a guy who just tied the single-season sack record. “I’m definitely asking him questions. Seeing what he sees in certain situations. In rushing, what is he targeting? What does he look at? What is he targeting with his hands? … I feel like you always can learn and grow. I’m definitely taking advantage of that.” -- Halicke
21. Miles Boykin is now on his second AFC North team after spending three seasons in Baltimore as a third-round pick of the Ravens. Because of his familiarity within the division, I asked him what the Bengals' defense excels at more than any other defense in the AFC North. Quite simply, he said, “They disguise so well.” That really stood out to me since the Steelers used to do that better than anyone else. -- Halicke
