Malkin hiring lawyer to investigate Russian report of lost investment

Pittsburgh Penguins star Evgeni Malkin is hiring a lawyer to investigate how his name became associated with a company called Mark.Space and its financial losses, the player's agent, J.P. Barry, said, according to TSN's Rick Westhead.

Russian website Sports.ru reported on Oct. 29 that Malkin invested $4 million in Mark.Space, a virtual reality startup. After delays in development, the company reportedly used an initial coin offering (ICO) - which uses cryptocurrency to crowdfund projects - to raise an additional $10 million by attaching Malkin's name to the project.

That money has since been lost, according to Sports.ru.

Malkin is discussing with lawyers why his name was included in the report by Sports.ru and plans to hire someone to investigate its claims.

Barry said Malkin invested around $2 million in a clothing company that was run by his long-time friend. That company sold clothing online but Malkin wasn't aware it was in the cryptocurrency industry, his agent said.

"This is about two (business) partners going at each other and (Malkin) now has to figure out what happened," Barry said. "A lawyer will have to go in and get all the documents and figure out what happened with the company."

Barry said neither he nor Malkin was contacted at any point by Sports.ru to comment on its findings prior to the report being published.

"No, the internet - it's garbage," Malkin told Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now. "I don't like the internet. ... Right now, it's garbage for me. I know I'm a good guy. I don't know what to say about that, because it's a little bit crazy for me, but I know it's nothing bad."

Malkin, who has been out with a lower-body injury since Oct. 5, returned to practice Monday and is hopeful to play Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers.