Evgeni Malkin is the Penguins' nominee for the Masterton Trophy.
It is awarded annually to the NHL player "who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey."
Malkin was chosen in voting by members of the local chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
Malkin rebounded from a disappointing performance in 2018-19 to finish the 2019-20 regular season as the Penguins' leading scorer, with 25 goals and 49 assists in 55 games.
His points-per-game average of 1.35 tied Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon for fifth place among NHL players who appeared in more than two games.
"I think (Malkin) was dominant," Mike Sullivan said. "He's had as good a year in my tenure here -- the five years that I've been coaching with the Penguins -- through some difficult circumstances. We've had some real key injuries -- injuries to key people, I should say -- and I think (Malkin) elevated his game at the most critical time to help our team continue to find success and win games.
"(Malkin) is a proud guy. I think he expects a lot of himself and I think he self-assesses extremely well. When he feels as though he can be better, he takes it personally, and that's what I witnessed this year. He came back, from Day 1 of training camp, he was in terrific shape. He's made concerted effort to play the game the right way, to play on both sides of the puck.
"He's as dominant as he's ever been on the offensive side -- his offensive game has always spoken for itself -- but what's impressed this coaching staff is his commitment to play away from the puck and to play within the team concept. (Malkin) has done a great job. He deserves a lot of credit."
To continue reading, log into your account:
