Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas praised Evgeni Malkin as one of the most underrated players ever. He spoke about Malkin on The Cam & Strick Podcast on Tuesday. Dubas said Malkin is more aware than people think and has deep thoughts about hockey."He (Malkin) is an interesting character, much more aware than I think people give him credit for," Dubas said. "Especially at the end of last season, just a lot of very deep thoughts about the game in general that he doesn't really talk about too much publicly."Dubas considers it an interesting aspect that he got to know about Malkin in his two seasons with the team. Dubas joined the Penguins in 2023 after leaving the Maple Leafs' GM position.At 39, Evgeni Malkin still plays at a high level. Last season, he scored 16 goals and made 34 assists in 68 games. Despite his strong play, the Penguins missed the playoffs for the third straight year."I think everyone focuses on the fact that he's probably the most underrated player, maybe to ever play, just because he has always kind of been a little bit in the shadow of Sid," Dubas said. "At his best, one of, if not the best players in the league. And he's won everything you can win. Way more competitive, even at his age, than most people would ever give him credit for.""He gets talked about the least and probably prefers it that way, but he's been special to be around," Dubas added.Evgeni Malkin signed a four-year, $24.4 million contract with the Penguins in July 2022. Now, he is in his last year of that deal and is awaiting an extension from the Peanguins.Justin Cuthbert thinks Penguins' captain will not finish his career with Evgeni MalkinEarlier in the third week of July, NHL analyst Justin Cuthbert spoke about Sidney Crosby on "The FAN Pregame" podcast. He said Crosby might not finish his career with Evgeni Malkin."I know, sentimentally, he's going to want to be that right to the end of Malkin's career, but I don't know that that's going to be a reality," Cuthbert said.Though Crosby may want to stay until Malkin retires, Cuthbert thinks that might not happen. The future of the Penguins looks uncertain amid a rebuild. So far, Malkin has played over 1,200 games and has 1,346 points in his NHL career.