MOSCOW, July 13. /TASS/. Russian ice hockey star Evgeni Malkin has signed a new contract with NHL club Pittsburgh Penguins for another term of four years, the club’s press service announced in a statement on Wednesday.

"The Pittsburgh Penguins have agreed to terms with forward Evgeni Malkin on a four-year, $24.4 million contract extension, it was announced today by general manager Ron Hextall," the statement from the club reads.

"Evgeni is a generational talent who will be remembered as one of the greatest players in NHL history," the statement quoted Hextall as saying. "His hockey resume and individual accomplishments speak volumes about him as a player, and we are thrilled to watch him continue his remarkable legacy in Pittsburgh."

Russia’s 35-year-old central forward Malkin is the three-time Stanley Cup winner grabbing the prestigious trophy with Pittsburg Penguins in 2009, 2016 and 2017. Malkin was originally drafted by the US ice hockey club in the first round (2nd overall) in the 2004 NHL Draft.

According to the club’s official statistics, Malkin played all of his 16 NHL seasons for Pittsburgh Penguins appearing in 981 matches, in which he booked 444 goals and 702 assists. "Only Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby have played more seasons in a Penguins sweater," the club stated.

In August 2017, Malkin received the Kharlamov Trophy in Moscow, which is awarded annually to the best Russian ice hockey player for the previous season. Malkin was awarded with this trophy previously in 2012.

Since its introduction in 2002, in addition to Malkin, the trophy was also awarded to Hockey Hall of Fame member Sergei Fedorov (in 2003), Ilya Kovalchuk (in 2004), Alexander Ovechkin (in 2006-2010, 2014-2015, 2018), Pavel Datsyuk (in 2011, 2013), Artemi Panarin (in 2016) and Nikita Kucherov (2019). The trophy was unclaimed in 2005 due to NHL’s lockout in 2005.

The press office of NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins added in its statistics that: "The seven-time NHL All-Star has won a plethora of individual awards as well, including two Art Ross Trophies (2009, '12) awarded to the NHL's regular-season scoring leader, one Hart Trophy (2012) awarded to the league MVP, one Ted Lindsay Award (2012) given to the "most outstanding player", one Calder Trophy (2007) awarded to the league's rookie of the year as well as one Conn Smythe Trophy (2009) given to the NHL's playoff MVP".