"With the status that they have, the meaning they have to our team, the quality of players that they are, when things don't go well, you get criticism," Bylsma said.

"Evgeni Malkin was roughly 40 points less than last year. There's going to be some questions and some criticisms. I think [Malkin] feels those. We think [Malkin] is a 114-point guy. He wasn't that this year for us.

"Marc-Andre Fleury didn't have a strong season, and he didn't have a strong playoffs. He's well aware of that situation and the criticism that comes with those things like being the guy who stopped the pucks for us when we won the Stanley Cup and being the No. 1 goalie for a great team."