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Evgeni Malkin has played an instrumental role in helping the Pittsburgh Penguins secure three Stanley Cups while playing his entire NHL career alongside Sidney Crosby. However, he only got the chance to play in the league in the first place after hatching a pretty wild ploy to help him escape Europe for the United States due to a dispute with a team back in Russia.
Malkin made a name for himself in his home country before the Penguins scooped him up with the second pick in the 2004 NHL Draft (he probably would’ve gone first if not for fellow countryman Alexander Ovechkin). The center was under contract with Russian pro team Metallurg Magnitogorsk at the time, and that squad was not particularly eager to see him take his talents overseas.
However, Malkin was intent on doing exactly that. His potential debut was delayed after the lockout resulted in the cancelation of the 2005-06 season, and while most people assumed he’d be suiting up for Pittsburgh the following year, things took a turn when he signed a one-year contract with his hometown team in Magnitogorsk in the summer of 2006.
That deal was initially positioned as a compromise that would permit Malkin to head to the United States to kick off his rookie season in 2007, but that didn’t up being the case courtesy of the crazy saga that soon unfolded.
Evgeni Malkin had to sneak out of Europe to make his NHL debut with the Penguins
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Malkin arrived in Helsinki, Finland around a week after renewing his deal with Magnitogorsk to join the rest of the club for training camp. However, the 20-year-old never intended to stick around for long, as he’d teamed up with his agents to figure out a way to escape the city and make his way to America after arriving.
The plan stemmed from his fractured relationship with the Russian team he asserted had pressured him into signing the aforementioned one-year deal, as he claims members of the front office essentially subjected him to an onslaught of psychological warfare while asserting he essentially had an obligation to remain with the squad that had put him on the map.
The team had also confiscated his passport as an insurance measure, but Malkin and his co-conspirators realized he’d need to have it in his possession to clear customs once he arrived in Finland.
He was subsequently instructed to meet one of his reps (and a Russian woman who’d been recruited as an accomplice) in a car outside the airport once he was officially permitted to enter the country, and the trio (who all adopted fake names for the occasion) quickly raced to an apartment in the city that was surrounded by security guards who’d been hired to protect them on the off chance things when south.
It didn’t take long for Malkin’s Russian team to inform the media he’d suddenly gone missing, and the “fugitive” spent five days laying low while waiting for the United States consulate to approve the visa he’d applied for. When the paperwork was finalized, he was whisked back to the airport to board a flight to Los Angeles—although the journey wasn’t officially over.
Malkin spent a few weeks in L.A. as his agents finalized his split with his former team. Under Russian law, any worker (including hockey players) can legally terminate their contract by giving their employer two weeks’ notice, which Malkin did via fax after arriving in the United States.
He finally arrived in Pittsburgh on September 4th and signed his entry-level contract with the Penguins the day after he was the guest of honor at a welcome dinner organized at the home of Pittsburgh owner Mario Lemieux. He made his debut with the team on October 18th and scored a goal in his first six NHL games to kick off a career that will undoubtedly end with him being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.