Without a doubt, Sidney Crosby and Mario Lemieux are the two best players in Pittsburgh Penguins history. They helped the Pens win five Stanley Cups, and each made sure the franchise transformed into one of the NHL's most recognizable.
Overall, the Pens are up there with the Original Six these days in popularity, and that trend's not changing soon despite the lean seasons. Lemieux's responsible for bringing this franchise into the limelight while Crosby took them to another level.
While Lemieux will always be one of the faces of this franchise, Crosby will more than likely end up breaking two of his boss' records by the time he hangs up the skates. Assuming he sticks around in the Steel City, which I'll go on record to say he will.
Sidney Crosby will break one of Mario Lemieux's records in 2025-26, close in on another
Checking out the Penguins major stat lines, those two career records are points and goals scored. Right now, Crosby has 1,687 points, and Lemieux has 1,723 points, meaning Crosby needs just 36 more to claim the record.
Barring a major injury, Crosby's running away with that one in 2025-26, and it wouldn't surprise me if, by the time he retires, he'll have at least 1,900 points.
The second record is career goals, which Lemieux still holds by a substantial margin with 690. Crosby, meanwhile, has found the net 625 times. Not that Crosby couldn't break the record this season, but he's never scored more than 51 goals in a single season, and that occurred in 2009-10.
Instead, I'll give Crosby two seasons, assuming he's still playing at a high-octane level and knocking down 33 goals per year. He may be heading into his age-38 campaign, but he's scored at least 33 times in each of the last three seasons, so I got confidence.
Sidney Crosby will officially own the Penguins three major records by the end of 2026-27
Last season, Crosby passed Lemieux in career assists, and he's entering 2025-26 with 1,062. He'll need just 38 to become the first player in franchise history to reach 1,100, and by the time he's finished, expect Crosby to have 1,200 helpers to his name.
But if I'm Crosby, as long as I'm welcome in a black and gold sweater, I'm going for 2,000 points and becoming the first in Penguins history to reach that mark. I mean, if he plays four more seasons, he's got it locked up.
And if he can still contribute, should he decide to keep playing beyond his current contract, then why not? No, he's had nothing left to prove for a long time. But that doesn't mean he needs to stop chasing down milestones.
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