Does Sidney Crosby end his career with more points than Mario Lemieux?

[bobholly39]

I don’t think 85pts next year and 75pts each of the 2 yrs following that are conservative as all….id suggest it’s an aggressive projection

Maybe. He's the only player in history (aside from Mike Bossy but only ~10 seasons) to never be below ppg in a season. I think he's going to try and keep that streak alive until retirement, which is why I could see him still potting 80+ points for a few more years, and why 75 could be conservative.

But even if you think 75 points is agressive for age 38-39, and take it down to 65 points instead, he'd still finish in same spot, #5 behind Francis.

As for 85 points - there's also such a big gap between #8 (Lemieux) and #9 (Sakic), that he again almost for sure will be in 9th place in between those 2 by the end of his contract next year.

The thing with Crosby is his conditioning still seems to be incredible at age 36 - and he's obviously an extremely high IQ player on top of that. If he wanted to - he could play competitive hockey in the NHL until ages 42, 43 most likely. So 2000+ points is definitely possible. The key question is - how long will he want to play. That's always a guessing game.

 

[DomBarr]

too bad it will take him an extra 500 games to do it though

 

[blundluntman]

The ball's definitely in his court. Depends on how mcuh longer he wants to play

 

[Midnight Judges]

The raw stats are pretty arbitrary here. Lemieux played in some of the highest scoring seasons in history whereas Crosby played in some of the lowest.

In terms of the actual value of their respective points contributions, Crosby blew past Lemieux a few years ago.

 

[PaulD]

After seeing him use his All Star "down time" to play ODR, I'm convinced that we'll see him play beyond 38.

agree hundred per cent

 

[waitin425]

I think he will catch Mario, the real question for me is Jagr. It is a little early for Jagr watch....but I think he has an outside shot at it.

Let's for arguments sake say he plays until 41, retires the summer he turns 42. If he keeps this year's pace up he will end up with ~90 points

Meaning, he needs 430 points over the last 5 years to catch Jagr. If he stays healthy for all 5 years and plays every game, he will need around 85 points per year to catch Jagr.

He would need seasons like the following.....

2024/25...a jump to 100 points
25/26.....90
26/27.....85
27/28.....82
28/29....73

If he somehow plays until he is 42 and retires in 2030...he most definitely can catch Jagr. Jagr played until he was 45 for reference sake (with the Europe stint mixed in)

 

[Toby91ca]

The raw stats are pretty arbitrary here. Lemieux played in some of the highest scoring seasons in history whereas Crosby played in some of the lowest.

In terms of the actual value of their respective points contributions, Crosby blew past Lemieux a few years ago.

For PIT....I do think the question might start to be a realistic one....who has been the greatest player in the history of the organization? There is zero question about who the better player is/was, that's Lemieux....no offense to Crosby, but for me, there are only 1 or 2 players in history above Lemieux and I'm a big non-fan of Lemieux. That said, is it reasonable to suggest Crosby is the greatest for the org?

 

[ole ole]

Good guy humble Sid. He will smash Mario's record.

He should. Even though it will take him 400 +more game just to tie him

 

[Dessloch]

I think he will catch Mario, the real question for me is Jagr. It is a little early for Jagr watch....but I think he has an outside shot at it.

Let's for arguments sake say he plays until 41, retires the summer he turns 42. If he keeps this year's pace up he will end up with ~90 points

Meaning, he needs 430 points over the last 5 years to catch Jagr. If he stays healthy for all 5 years and plays every game, he will need around 85 points per year to catch Jagr.

He would need seasons like the following.....

2024/25...a jump to 100 points
25/26.....90
26/27.....85
27/28.....82
28/29....73

If he somehow plays until he is 42 and retires in 2030...he most definitely can catch Jagr. Jagr played until he was 45 for reference sake (with the Europe stint mixed in)

Kris Letang is contracted over 2027-28, so it could be reasonable for Crosby to bow out with him if Sid can keep going for that long.

I think its more likely he gets another concussion and retires to preserve his health. That could be 4 weeks from now, 4 months or 4 years.

Crosby playing 4 more years injury free seems like a stretch!

 

[Zbynek]

He should. Even though it will take him 400 +more game just to tie him

Are you thinking of Jagr? Crosby's 170 points behind Mario right now.

Edit - oh, you mean total games played. Yea it will be around that. Well, yea. As incredible as Sid is, he's no Mario.