Kyle Dubas Is Done Going Year to Year With Evgeni Malkin

Asked Monday about Evgeni Malkin's future in Pittsburgh, Kyle Dubas gave one sentence and stopped. "I'm not doing this day-to-day, year-to-year thing with Geno," the Penguins general manager said.

He didn't say what that means. But it reads like a team that wants an answer, and Malkin doesn't have one yet.

The veteran center signed a one-year extension in May to come back for his 21st season, all of them in Pittsburgh. This month he said he'd like to keep going, with a condition. "Right now, I want to say yes. But we'll see how my body feels," Malkin said. "I still love the game."

He earned this season. After two quieter years, Malkin put up 19 goals and 61 points in 56 games last season, and the Penguins finished with the league's third-best offense before losing to Philadelphia in the first round. He ranks third in franchise history with 1,407 points, behind Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby, and won three Stanley Cups with Crosby and Kris Letang.

The problem for Dubas is the direction of the team. Pittsburgh is trying to get younger, and a year-by-year arrangement with a veteran star makes planning hard. That's the tension behind the short answer.

Malkin's 21st season starts Wednesday in Philadelphia, against the team that ended the last one. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT and truTV.