TURIN, Italy -- Defenseman Darius Kasparaitis, as we all know, is a hockey player you love to have on your team but hate to go against.

During the Olympics, the former Penguins player is a teammate of future Penguins player Evgeni Malkin on the Russian team. That won't be the case in the NHL, where Kasparaitis plays for the New York Rangers.

So, when I asked Kasparaitis this week what Penguins fans can expect to see when Malkin arrives in the NHL, he grinned.

	Al Bello, Getty Images Russia's Evgeni Malkin, bottom, and Canada's Vincent Lacavalier get in a scuffle toward the end of the third period Wednesday. Malkin was given a match penalty and suspended for the semifinals. Click photo for larger image.

"I don't know," Kasparaitis said. "He's going to see me first."

Is that a sign of respect, or what?

Besides a proper Kasparaitis-style welcome, Malkin can expect a lot of things when he joins the Penguins, most likely for the 2006-07 season.

We're getting a pretty good idea during the Winter Games of what we might expect of him, too.

Malkin, 19, the second overall draft pick in the NHL in 2004, made an international splash in the world junior championships this winter. A center, Malkin was named outstanding forward as Russia won the silver medal.

Now he's on an even bigger stage at the Olympics, where Russia has reached the semifinals.

Malkin has been reluctant to do interviews in English -- and often in Russian, too -- but through observation and in talking with reporters who have watched him develop, I can offer an initial report on the next great hockey athlete headed to Pittsburgh. Or Kansas City.

First, the warts, just because that list is shorter.

The most obvious was his boneheaded move Wednesday with about one minute left in a one-goal, single-elimination quarterfinal game against Canada. Malkin tangled with Vincent Lecavalier in the Russian crease. You could call it a mugging. It also was called an attempted leg kick.

Malkin was ejected from the game on a match penalty and, yesterday, was suspended for Russia's semifinal today against Finland.

There also have been a few times when Malkin drove across the Canadian blue line alone and attempted to charge ahead and make a play against three defenders rather than dumping the puck or waiting for a teammate or two to set something up.

Now for the longer list, the pluses.

Listed at 6 feet 3, 192 pounds, Malkin seems bigger. In fact, he seems to stand out like a behemoth on the ice.

With those long legs, he has above-average speed. He's playing on the power play, sometimes with the first unit and others with the second. He's killing penalties.

Here are two biggies: He backchecks and he hits.

In pool play, Malkin flattened Alexey Koledayev of Kazakhstan with a clean check. That kind of play is sure to endear him to Penguins' fans.

It is Malkin's offense that will seal the bond.

He has two goals, four assists in six games at the Olympics, but those numbers don't necessarily convey the depth of his skill.

Malkin is a playmaker with the kind of foresight and vision you find in top athletes.

You know what I mean if you saw winger Alex Ovechkin's third-period goal Tuesday against the United States. Ovechkin might have scored, but Malkin made the play.

Coming from behind his net, he shot a pass backward through his legs, then broke down the ice to catch up to a pass off the boards from Kasparaitis. He crossed the blue line and passed across the ice to Ovechkin, who banged it home.

Note to Penguins: Make darn sure you have enough wingers who can finish flanking Sidney Crosby and Malkin next winter.

Ovechkin and Crosby are the top contenders for NHL rookie of the year this season. Ovechkin has predicted that Malkin will be the NHL rookie of the year for 2006-07.

Ovechkin has drawn more attention here than Malkin, at least for his offense, but that doesn't mean Malkin is a lesser player.

A few reporters who have followed Malkin's career with Metallurg Magnitogorsk -- he leads his team and is second in the Russian Super League with 49 points (21 goals) in 43 games -- told me that while Ovechkin has more flash, Malkin will be the better and more durable player in the NHL over the long run.

"He's a good player," Alexei Yashin of Russia and the NHL's New York Islanders said. "He has all kinds of skills. He can skate, pass, shoot, hit."

If all goes as planned, Malkin will get to use those on the Pittsburgh side of the pond next fall.