Crosby headed for All-Star Weekend, Penguins captain remains elite at age 36 

CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Sidney Crosby has been a constant amid an ever-changing NHL. 

For 19 seasons, the center has led the Pittsburgh Penguins. Meanwhile, new stars have emerged, two expansion teams were introduced, the Vegas Golden Knights (2017) and the Seattle Kraken (2021), and the Winnipeg Jets relocated from Atlanta in 2011.  

Crosby won the Stanley Cup for the first of three times in 2009 against the Detroit Red Wings, a matchup that became impossible when the Red Wings joined the Penguins in the Eastern Conference beginning with the 2013-14 season.

The League isn't the same as it was in 2005, when the Penguins selected Crosby with the No. 1 pick in the NHL Draft. He'll see that first-hand during the 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend in Toronto from Feb. 1-3, when he'll represent Pittsburgh for the sixth time.

But Crosby hasn't changed all that much, remaining a force at 36 years old. 

"I think everybody wants to be that as long as they can," Crosby told NHL.com. "There's a lot of factors that go into that. You just have to do your best to perform at your highest level and hope that you can keep having that impact and put in the work to do it, so I think that we all have our, I guess, outlook as far as where we want to be at or what we want our game to look like as the years go on." 

Crosby has suffered little, if any, drop in production.  

Through 46 games, the Penguins captain leads them with 50 points (27 goals, 23 assists). He has averaged 0.59 goals per game, the highest since his 0.78 led the NHL in 2010-11. 

Maintaining that pace, Crosby would reach 50 goals for the first time since scoring 51 in 2009-10. Currently at 577 NHL goals, he would also get to 600.

Regression is natural, though. So far, it hasn't come for Crosby. On Dec. 29, longtime teammate Evgeni Malkin, 37, said he hopes to avoid becoming "normal."  

Crosby couldn't say if he shares that sentiment.

"I don't think you really know until you're at that point," Crosby said, "what you're going to feel or whether you're going to be OK with maybe playing a different role or playing less of a role. Maybe at that point, you will. Maybe you just want to keep playing.  

"When you're used to being in those positions, going out in the last minute of the game or being a big part of the power play or special teams, things like that. That's what you've come to know. It's hard to say. You don't really know until you get to that point." 

That isn't a concern, Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang said. 

"In my mind, I watch him play every single night against different opponents," Letang said. "He's the best player out there, so that's my answer. I don't know. He's still on top of his game. He's still the guy that drives this team." 

Still, the Penguins (22-17-7) are six points behind the Red Wings for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Crosby had 93 points (33 goals, 60 assists) last season, when they finished one point behind the Florida Panthers for the second wild card to end a streak of 16 straight playoff appearances. 

As forward Bryan Rust put it, Pittsburgh is in a "dogfight," but there's nobody he would rather have in it than Crosby. 

"He's been incredible this year," said Rust, who has been off and on first-line right wing next to Crosby. "He's been leading in every sense, off the ice and on the ice. He's been scoring a whole heck of a lot of goals for us, making plays at both ends of the ice.  

"He's the leader of the ship right now. We all just have to follow suit a little bit more." 

That was evident in a 5-2 loss at the Arizona Coyotes on Jan. 22. Crosby scored at 16:30 of the second period, tying it 2-2. He sent a pass from behind the goal line to Erik Karlsson, then casually chipped in a return from Karlsson at a sharp angle to the right of the net. 

It was a goal that would have been as impressive a decade ago.

Since Crosby's 2005-06 rookie season, 15 players have scored at least 400 goals. His 14.6 shooting percentage is second among that group, behind Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos (536 goals, 16.7 percent). 

"I think when people talk about Sid and his game, they don't point to his goal-scoring ability as his strength," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "It's more about his playmaking and how well he protects pucks, things of that nature. I think one of the things that makes Sid's game unique is how well-rounded it is on both sides of the puck. He has a mature game. He has a complete game. 
 
"Maybe goal scoring isn't the first thing they point to, but the numbers certainly suggest that he's elite in that category also. I think it's just another indication of how well-rounded his game is." 

At some point, that game might dip, but there's one thing Crosby could guarantee wouldn't. 

"The effort's always going to be there," Crosby said. "If it's not there, I won't be playing. If the passion and the effort is not there, it's not good personally. It's not good for your team. ... I think it's more to do with where that effort, where that passion, puts you."