The NHL announced the Pittsburgh Penguins Quarter-Century team on Jan. 9, featuring several memorable names in franchise history.
Today, we want to examine Sidney Crosby’s tenure with the club and his credentials for being honored on the Penguins’ first team.
Crosby joined the Penguins organization through the first-ever NHL Draft Lottery of the salary cap era in 2005. As one of the top players in the QMJHL, he immediately jumped to the NHL after the lockout year of 2004-05.
Living and playing alongside Mario Lemieux helped Crosby finish his rookie campaign with 39 goals, 63 assists, and 102 points. He finished second in Calder Trophy voting to his eventual long-time rival, Alex Ovechkin.
Interestingly, the 18-year-old had a feisty first season, racking up a career-high 110 penalty minutes, the only time in 20 seasons he ever reached triple digits in this statistical category.
During Crosby’s second season, he scored 120 points thanks to 36 goals and 84 assists to clean up at the NHL Awards, winning the Hart, Art Ross, and Lester B. Pearson trophies.
At 20, in 2008, he led the Penguins to their first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 1992, where the club lost to the Detroit Red Wings in six games. However, a year later, he’d become the youngest captain in NHL history to win, as the Penguins defeated the Red Wings in Game 7.
The following season, Crosby scored 50 goals for the only time in his career, finishing with 51 to win the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy. He also won the Mark Messier Leadership Award that year.
During the shortened 2012-13 season, he finished with 56 points in 36 games to win the Lester B. Pearson Trophy for the second time. In a follow-up performance in 2013-14, Crosby reached 104 points with a league-leading 68 helpers to win the Hart, Art Ross, and Lester B again. Pearson trophies.
© Stephen R. Sylvanie
In 2015-16, Crosby helped the Penguins back to the Stanley Cup Final, where his team defeated the San Jose Sharks in six games. Although he was not the leading scorer in the playoffs, Crosby won the first of two Conn Smythe Trophies as postseason MVP.
Pittsburgh repeated as Stanley Cup champions in 2016-17. Crosby paced the regular season with 44 goals, winning the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy a second time and capturing the Conn Smythe Trophy for the second consecutive season.
Interestingly, that season was the last time Crosby won any NHL hardware, despite getting top ten votes for several awards since then.
As the second highest-scoring player to ever skate for the Penguins, it is unsurprising to see him as the top player over the past 25 years:
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Games Played: 1,327 (1st)
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Goals: 609 (1st)
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Assists: 1,045 (1st)
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Points: 1,654 (1st)
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Plus/Minus: Plus-202 (1st)
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Penalty Minutes: 844 (2nd)
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Points Per Game: 1.25 (3rd)
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Power Play Goals: 178 (2nd)
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Power Play Points: 577 (1st)
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Shorthanded Goals: 4 (13th)
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Shorthanded Points: 11 (9th)
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Overtime Goals: 23 (1st)
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Game-Winning Goals: 95 (1st)
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Shots: 4,228 (1st)
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Hat Tricks: 16
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Awards: Art Ross Trophy (2007, 2014), Conn Smythe Trophy (2016, 2017), Hart Memorial Trophy (2007, 2014), Ted Lindsay Award (2007, 2013, 2014), Mark Messier Leadership Award (2010), Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy (2010, 2017)
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All-Star Games: 2007, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023, 2024
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Honors: NHL All-Rookie 1st Team (2006), NHL All-Star 1st Team (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016), NHL All-Star 2nd Team (2010, 2015, 2017, 2019)
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Stanley Cup Wins: 2009, 2016, 2017
In September 2024, Crosby signed a two-year extension with the Penguins. The extension concludes at the end of the 2026-27 season, months ahead of his 40th birthday.
So far in 2024-25, he has scored his 600th goal and picked up his 1,034th assist, surpassing Lemieux’s franchise record for most helpers.
After 19 seasons, Crosby has maintained a point-per-game pace and is tied with Wayne Gretzky for the NHL record. If he can finish this season with more than 82 points, he’ll become the first skater in league history to maintain a point-per-game average for 20 years.
With a few seasons left, it’s not out of the question to see Crosby close in on 700 goals and break Lemieux’s record of 690. He’s also less than 100 points shy of the team’s point record, held by Lemieux with 1,723 points.
If Crosby remains healthy and productive, nothing will stop him from becoming only the fifth player in NHL history to reach 1,800 points, joining Gretzky, Jaromir Jagr, Mark Messier, and Gordie Howe.
