Evgeni Malkin: Is the Pens’ Superstar Already a Hall of Famer?

Leading the League

Speaking of MVP awards, Malkin hasn’t fared too badly in that category either – having won the Hart Memorial Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award in 2012 after being voted the league’s MVP by both the Professional Hockey Writers Association and his fellow players.

Nov 21, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71) looks on during a time out against the New York Islanders in the third period at the CONSOL Energy Center. The Islanders won 5-4 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

This again puts Malkin in the company of only a few of the previously mentioned greats – Sakic and Forsberg both received league MVP honours, while Sundin, Modano and Shanahan were never recognized as such.

What about leading the league from a purely statistical standpoint? For that we’ll turn to the Art Ross Trophy awarded to the league’s scoring leader.

Malkin’s already racked up two in 2009 and 2012.

How do our selected legends fare here? Only one has a scoring title to their name – Forsberg (2003). Not Sakic, Modano, Sundin, or Shanahan.

Now, some of that can certainly be attributed to the calibre of players these four had to suit up against (they did play in the era of Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Jaromir Jagr after all).

It isn’t as if Malkin hasn’t had his own competition – most notably from teammate Sidney Crosby, who has two scoring titles of his own – but perhaps a further analysis is needed: