The Penguins have the core pieces for a championship team and it all starts with their two stars down the middle.

Both of whom reaffirmed their commitment to being Pittsburgh Penguins for their entire careers.

“I like this city. I want to stay here,” Evgeni Malkin said. “I have a house here. My parents love to stay here. We won the Stanley Cup one time, me and Sid (Sidney Crosby) and Flower (Marc-Andre Fleury), and I believe we can do it again.”

Crosby actually laughed at the absurdity of rumors that he and Malkin want to play anywhere else.

“This is where I want to be,” Crosby said. “The expectations are high and they haven’t changed. It’s the same. This is where I want to be. It’s tough, obviously, when you lose and you don’t like it, but that’s the process sometimes. You need to go through those types of things and it’s not always easy. So more than happy to be here and find ways to win.”

Crosby, 27, and Malkin, 28, have both signed long-term extensions with the Penguins. Crosby is signed through the 2024-25 season ($8.7 million average annual value), while Malkin’s contract runs through the 2021-22 campaign ($9.5 AAV).

Malkin believes that the pieces to winning another championship are already in the locker room.

“I like (this team),” Malkin said. “It’s a good group. We stayed together all playoffs. We have cool guys. I like all of them. It’s just bad luck we lost.”