PITTSBURGH — Evgeni Malkin was talking about himself. The longtime Pittsburgh Penguins center might as well have been talking about his team.

“I want to show to everyone I’m not done,” Malkin said. “(I want to show) everything — power skating, stickhandling, scoring, play in the D zone, faceoffs. I just want to come back at my top level for sure.”

Something the dynamic Russian wasn’t at a year ago. His 21 goals marked a career-low in a season in which he played at least 50 games. His 51 assists looked great on paper, but his inattentive defensive play at times made him something he’s never been during his long partnership with star Sidney Crosby: a liability.

Malkin certainly looked a step slow during Pittsburgh’s first-round sweep at the hands of the New York Islanders. He was hardly the only one. The Penguins were outclassed, outskated and outworked over the course of four games, leaving Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford hinting at the necessity of a culture change heading into the franchise’s longest offseason since 2006, the year before Malkin arrived.

Ultimately Rutherford opted to make only modest adjustments, the most notable sending productive but mercurial forward Phil Kessel to Arizona for Alex Galchenyuk, trading soft-spoken defenseman Olli Maatta to Chicago for Dominik Kahun and signing winger Brandon Tanev to a six-year deal in free agency.

Pittsburgh hopes the additions help them recapture the identity the club forged while winning consecutive Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017, when the Penguins wore opponents down with their speed and heady play. It would certainly help matters if veterans like Malkin follow suit. The 33-year-old shed some weight in the offseason and understands he’s much closer to the end of his career than the beginning. That realization has brought Malkin a welcome sense of urgency.

“We have a great team,” Malkin said. “We have a couple, maybe two, three, four chances to win again. Maybe not many (more) years that I’ll play in the NHL. I understand that. I want to just have fun and enjoy it every day.”