Evgeni Malkin made some interesting comments to rg.org. “No (which we saw via SI for full but rare internet disclosure). Sidney Crosby could have signed his next contract over four weeks ago, but Malkin isn’t worried about it.

“Pittsburgh is Crosby. Crosby is Pittsburgh. No one in Pittsburgh would understand if he changed teams,” Malkin said in an exclusive interview with RG.org. “Although anything can happen, sometimes things happen that have a one percent chance of happening. But before signing my current contract, we talked. And he told me that the Penguins are us: me, him, [Kris] Letang. I signed my contract. He will probably make the same decision.”

“Now I can’t imagine myself on another team, although two years ago when I signed my current contract, I had different thoughts,” Malkin admitted. “We had tough negotiations. Many players changed teams—even Wayne Gretzky. Steven Stamkos recently did it. There aren’t many players who’ve spent their entire careers with one team. Now, I can’t imagine going anywhere, but there was such a chance two years ago.”

It had been reported that two summers ago Crosby was involved with talking to Malkin and working to get his longtime friend and teammate to extend his contract in what became a contentious negotiation. That line, “he told me that the Penguins are us: me, him, [Kris] Letang” stands out to tell you how Crosby sees himself and fellow core members bonded to the team. Malkin is now under contract for two more seasons, Letang for four.

For his part, Malkin is preparing for the season in hopes he can continue his recent run of health.

“I played 82 games twice, and both times, we missed the playoffs at the last minute. I thought about it a lot, to be honest. I guess the secret is that I prepared for the seasons correctly. It’s important to extend my career as long as possible. I still have the desire to play. I still enjoy going out on the ice in every game. It gets harder every year, of course. But I enjoy hockey a lot. I hope to play all 82 games again next season and make the playoffs. I hope there won’t be any injuries. Small injuries happen anyway, but I hope there won’t be any serious ones.

Crosby’s birthday is August 7th. For sentimentality it sure would be nice to hear the details and announcement that the Pens’ captain has a new contract which was reportedly close weeks ago. Neither the Pens nor Sid have obviously been in any kind of hurry to put pen to paper and settle the issue, but with only a few more weeks to go until training camp, one would think he would get signed up before having to answer questions every single day about the status of his next contract.

How the timing on that works out is still to be seen, but it doesn’t sound like Malkin is too concerned about his long-time teammate doing anything but eventually signing a new contract to remain with the club that he is so identified with.