How many elite years does Crosby have left

[KaseMeOutside]

He has played 15 NHL Seasons and has hit PPG+ in all of them. He turned 33 in August and the last full season we had he scored 100 points. How will his game age?

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[Regal]

Depends what you mean by elite. Depending on injuries, he could probably still be a top 10ish player for another 2 or 3 years assuming he can fully recover over the offseason. Somewhere in the mid 30s tends to be the start of the fall-off for hall of fame type forwards. I could see him still being a top 15/top 20 center until close to 40 if he wanted to keep playing though.

 

[Mulletman]

Probably a gradual drop off as times go by. Crosby's elite days are behind him but he can most likely still be point per game a few times as it's getting easier to hit point per game in the new NHL. Worst case scenario for Crosby he retires with a little bit more than 1600 points, Best case scenario he retires with a little over 2000 points.

 

[SaltNPeca]

Hard to say, but I can see his style working well into his 40's. Consider Messier's 67 point season as a 40 year-old in 2000-01.

"elite" maybe 3 year window

 

[Alex Jones]

I still think Crosby can still have another 100 point season. Maybe more than one.

I think he'll be a PPG+ center for ~4 more years, then a top six center for a few more years after that. I've always thought his game would age exceptionally well.

Hell, it wouldn't really surprise me that much if he's still a PPG player at 40+. Others players have recently had incredible seasons very late in their careers. Lidstrom won multiple Norris trophies, Selanne scored 30 goals, Sakic scored 100 points.

 

[AD1066]

Vision isn't going anywhere, and I don't doubt his commitment to staying in shape. Question is whether years of playing like an ultra-skilled grinder has left a lot of extra mileage on his body.

 

[Midnight Judges]

He'll be elite for pretty much as long as he wants to play.

I don't think he's got a lot of seasons left as a top 10 player though. He was only top 10 in only 1 of the past 3 seasons. Anywhere from 0-3 or so.

 

[Paperbagofglory]

2 more seasons of being a top ten player and one more cup in him. Probably as a final season rental to go for it on a contender where he becomes a big contributor and has a brilliant last flurry of elite play in the playoffs as a third line shut down guy and still a number one option on the PP to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a surprise Stanley cup victory as a 6th seed in the conference.

 

[Empoleon8771]

He'll stay elite as long as he's in the NHL, the same way that guys like Sakic and Yzerman did.

But if you want me to give you an exact age, Yzerman really fell off at about age 40, so I'll use that age. I don't think Crosby will play in the NHL until he's 40, though.

 

[P10p]

Wild fans are hoping for a big drop next season lol.

 

[The Shadow]

I’d like to see him Captain the Canadian Olympic team one more time as well

2022

 

[Varan]

He'll be elite for pretty much as long as he wants to play.

I don't think he's got a lot of seasons left as a top 10 player though. He was only top 10 in only 1 of the past 3 seasons. Anywhere from 0-3 or so.

As a OV fan, I disagree with this. The man was 10th in points, 7th in assists, and 9th in the Selke voting. He came into the year noted by many as the Best or second best in the world (back-to-back Smythes and titles). He also had 21 in 12 games in the playoffs.

To say that he wasn't even top-10, is just ludicrous tbh. At worst, he was top-5.

 

[Midnight Judges]

As a OV fan, I disagree with this. The man was 10th in points, 7th in assists, and 9th in the Selke voting. He came into the year noted by many as the Best or second best in the world (back-to-back Smythes and titles). He also had 21 in 12 games in the playoffs.

To say that he wasn't even top-10, is just ludicrous tbh. At worst, he was top-5.

I don't recall anyone being outraged that the Hart voters placed Crosby in a tie for 17th. There are 170 Hart voters and only one of them agrees with you. I don't know how you could frame that as at worst ....unless you are rating things people are saying about him (which has practically no bounds) whereas I am speaking about actual performance.

Eight forwards had more points and more goals. Strictly in terms of who had the better season, I do not know how you could put Crosby ahead of any of them. (or Ovie, who had 20 more goals and 2 fewer points). But go ahead, make the case that Crosby's 29 goals and 89 points were better than McKinnon's 39 goals and 97 points.

 

[Canovin]

He will have PPG seasons until he's 40

 

[Gurglesons]

Crosby and Malkin will be above PPG for the remainders of their career IMO. Crosby will follow the Sakic path and Malkin the Forsberg.

 

[Varan]

I don't recall anyone being outraged that the Hart voters placed Crosby in a tie for 17th. He got one 5th place vote - which was really unsupportable.

Eight forwards had more points and more goals. Strictly in terms of who had the better season, I do not know how you could put Crosby ahead of any of them. (or Ovie, who had 20 more goals and 2 fewer points). But go ahead, make the case that Crosby's 29 goals and 89 points were better than McKinnon's 39 goals and 97 points.

It's not about Hart votes or scoring. Realistically, how many players would you take over Crosby for that year including the playoffs? Not many.

 

[Midnight Judges]

It's not about Hart votes or scoring. Realistically, how many players would you take over Crosby for that year including the playoffs? Not many.

You are talking about reputation. I am talking about actual results (which I think is what this thread was asking). Crosby's results in 17-18 were not top 10.

I agree that his reputation was.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Malkin will age better imo.

But I think both will age reasonably well.

 

[filinski77]

Probably a gradual drop off as times go by. Crosby's elite days are behind him but he can most likely still be point per game a few times as it's getting easier to hit point per game in the new NHL. Worst case scenario for Crosby he retires with a little bit more than 1600 points, Best case scenario he retires with a little over 2000 points.

There is almost no case where he retires with over 2,000 points.

Here are his point finishes relative to NHL history of 'x' aged seasons:

30 year old	27th
31 year old	11th
32 year old	19th (points/gp)

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

I believe Crosby will definitely age great, but here are projections if he finishes every single one of his next seasons as the most, 3rd most, 5th most, or 10th most points for each 'x' aged season from 33 onwards

	Best 'x' aged	3rd best	5th best	10th best
Current	1,263	1,263	1,263	1,263
33	126	103	96	90
34	102	96	94	87
35	116	99	90	82
36	94	90	83	79
37	100	91	82	70
38	82	76	72	63
39	82	78	76	65
40	103	80	62	42
Total after 40 year old season	2,068	1,976	1,918	1,841
41	71	66	43	32
42	52	47	43	17
43	66	11	6	-
	2,257	2,100	2,010	1,890

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

This assumes he stay healthy and plays more or less max games every year going forward (most likely not happening). There's just no reasonable expectation to justify 2,000 points.

 

[theicebox]

10 more years. Through at least 2030.

 

[SlapshotTheMovie]

If we are considering PPG seasons as elite with everything else he brings to the team? I think 3 is a safe guess with a chance of 5.

 

[JD1]

Depends whether he plays beer league when he retires

 

[Volica]

He will likely be an elite centre until 36/37, then a decent top line guy for a couple years after, then a decent top 6 for a few years after.

it really depends on how much he wants to continue playing. Don’t really think there’s much else to prove for him anymore. Multiple cups, multiple clear MVPs, widely known as one the 5 GOATs in NHL history already.

 

[KrisLetAngry]

If we are considering PPG seasons as elite with everything else he brings to the team? I think 3 is a safe guess with a chance of 5.

3 to 5 same for me.

His regular season return the play wasn't good but he was the best Penguins player and one of the few that showed up against Montreal.

 

[Kranix]

Depends whether he plays beer league when he retires

That would be cool if he did like Pominville and light up some beer league for 400 points 20 games.