Penguins Rumors: Evgeni Malkin 'Devastated' by Slow Pace of New Contract Talks

Bryan Rust, Kris Letang and Casey DeSmith all received contract extensions from the Pittsburgh Penguins this summer, but star center Evgeni Malkin has yet to work out a deal with the team.

According to close friends and teammates of the veteran, he is devastated by the lack of progress on an extension to return to the Pens.

One of his friends said that he wanted to play in Pittsburgh. He doesn't know how it's at this point. He asked why they did not think he was a good player.

"How this is happening is bothering me," said a current teammate. It isn't a good look. Geno deserves better from what I'm aware of.

Crosby visited Malkin at his home in South Florida.

According to a source, Sid didn't try to get Malkin to sign. He wanted to make sure he was ok. He was concerned about how hard this is on Geno.

In May of this year, he told reporters that he loved the city and the fans and wanted to stay.

We will see if they want new blood and young guys. I have faith in my agent. I would like to stay here. I would love to play in the NHL. I would like to stay here. I hope to retire here.

It is possible that the team wants to keep the player as a Pittsburgh Penguin for the rest of his career.

He is hoping to make a trade to free up some cap space to re-sign Malkin. The team is projected to have $15.3 million in cap space, but it needs some of that to re-sign other players.

The freeing up of more cap space will allow the Pens to retain some of their best players.

The most recent offer from Pittsburgh was three years, $18 million. Negotiations have stopped over the length of the contract.

He has been with the Pens for 16 years and was selected second overall in the 2004 draft. After making his debut during the 2005-06 season, he has gone on to score over a thousand points in over 1000 games.

In the playoffs, the 35-year-old has 67 goals and 113 assists for 180 points for the Pens.

The Ted Lindsay Award, Art Ross Trophy, and Hart Memorial Trophy have all been won by the same player.

One of the NHL's other 31 teams is going to land the best center on the market if he can't agree to terms to return to Pittsburgh.