Player Safety hits Evgeni Malkin with the biggest suspension of the season.

Lost in the chaos of the trade deadline on Friday was the biggest suspension of the 2025-26 National Hockey League season for an on-ice related incident.

The National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety announced a stiff suspension for Pittsburgh Penguins star forward Evgeni Malkin following a vicious slash he delivered to the face of Buffalo Sabres star defenseman Rasmus Dahlin.

You can see a replay of the incident in question just below:

There's no question that Malkin's actions warranted a suspension, and a harsh one at that, as you simply cannot use your stick as a weapon in this fashion and especially not if you're targeting the head of an opponent.

The suspension will come at a significant cost for Malkin as well with NHL insider Chris Johnston reporting that Malkin will lose a whopping $158,854.15 as a result of this suspension.

The timing could not be worse for the Penguins who are already having to play without one of their top forwards. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has been sidelined by an injury he suffered during the 2026 Winter Olympic Games and the Penguins will now also be without arguably their second most important forward for roughly a quarter of the games that remain on the schedule. The Penguins only have 21 games remaining on their calendar before the end of the regular season.

The Penguins are currently in a playoff spot but have teams like the New York Islanders, Columbus Blue Jackets and even Washington Capitals right on their heels for this final stretch of the regular season. Whether or not the Penguins will be able to maintain their lead with two of their most valuable players now out of the lineup remains to be seen.