BREAKING: Evgeni Malkin is officially hitting the UFA market!

They say that all good things must come to an end, and there has been plenty of speculation regarding the future of Evgeni Malkin in Pittsburgh, the only NHL city that he's ever known. He'll forever be a Steel City sports legend, having played key roles in three Penguins Stanley Cup championships that also included winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as Playoff MVP in 2009. 

And while contract negotiations between the two sides have been ongoing, there hasn't been any significant progress, leading to the previously unthinkable notion of Malkin possibly wearing a different NHL sweater for the first time in his career.

And now, it appears as though Malkin's time in Pittsburgh is all but officially over. According to Darren Dreger, Malkin will be hitting the open market for the first time in his career, and wants to see his options:

"Breaking: Sources say Evgeni Malkin has decided to go to the open market on Wednesday," he wrote on Twitter.M"alkin has never been a free agent before and wants to see what his options are."

Malkin has made it no secret that his preference is to remain with the only NHL team that he's ever played for.

“Pittsburgh is my second hometown,” Malkin said at the conclusion of Pittsburgh's appearance in the 2022 Stanley Cup postseason. “I’m here 16 years, it’s amazing. It’s hard to like understand what’s going on right now. I mean, we just (had a season-ending loss) a couple days ago. It’s still (fresh).”

In 981 career games, Malkin has tallied 444 goals with 702 assists for 1,146 points. Additionally, he's scored 67 goals and 113 assists in 177 career postseason games.

It will certainly be strange to see Malkin wear another team's colors next season, but it looks as though that's where we're headed with this latest update. Despite getting up there in age in NHL standards, there will be no shortage of suitors for Malkin, who has proven that he can still be an effective player.