Dallas Stars Deny Report of Tampering With Evgeni Malkin, Offering Him Bigger Contract Than Penguins

Evgeni Malkin has played his entire career with the Pittsburgh Penguins and has never experienced free agency. But that didn’t stop his father from claiming that his son received an offer from the Dallas Stars while still under contract with the Pens.

In an interview with Russian media outlet Sovetsky Sport, Malkin’s father, Vladimir, said that the Stars offered Malkin an even bigger contract than the eight-year, $76 million extension he signed with the Penguins in June.

Attempting to negotiate with a player who is still under contract with a team would violate the NHL’s strict tampering rules.

The Dallas Stars responded to the claim Tuesday afternoon and denied the report.

“We have seen the reports that have surfaced out of Russia claiming that we have tampered and they are completely untrue,” Stars general manager Jim Nill said in a statement, according to Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News. “The Dallas Stars organization respects and adheres to all rules and regulations set forth by the National Hockey League and any report that claims otherwise is false.”

According to Heika, the NHL would investigate the claim only if the Penguins believed the Stars were in violation of tampering, but he reported that the NHL does not appear to be investigating this case any further.