Is Evgeni Malkin Now The Penguins' Best Player?

[Luigi Lemieux]

Pretty funny quote from Malkin after last night's game.

"When Phil plays good, I am playing good. When he is feeling it, I feel it too. When he is lazy, I am like 'I can't do it myself,' " Malkin said. "We try to play together right now and you see he's flying."

 

[daver]

And it was Malkin who was playing at first line even when Sid came back so I don't know what's your point.
Especially on such a short sample of games (22)

So 22 out of 75 games (30%) is not a big enough sample but 53 games (plus his 25 or so games in 07/08) out of 793 games is???

He has had plenty of opportunity to show he is as good as you as think and did so in the 08/09 playoffs with Crosby. It is not a surprise that he was lights out in 11/12 after missing a lot of time and playing well below his best.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Malkin has been absolutely incredible all year this year. Crosby has been absolutely incredible for the last couple of games. Malkin has been better than Sid has this year and was better last year, but I think it's still the most fair to say that they're 1A and 1B. They're the 2nd and 3rd best players in the NHL, if Malkin continues his dominance, he'll have a very strong case for #2.

 

[NoMessi]

Crosbys period in 11-14 is overrated. He was a perimeter player that wasnt that effective against good defensive teams. His play in 06-11 and 16-18 is getting underrated (or not being talked about at least) though so maybe it evens out.

Malkin is better atm, but its still close - as it always been throughout their careers.

 

[Turin]

Crosbys period in 11-14 is overrated. He was a perimeter player that wasnt that effective against good defensive teams. His play in 06-11 and 16-18 is getting underrated (or not being talked about at least) though so maybe it evens out.

Malkin is better atm, but its still close - as it always been throughout their careers.

Why do you feel the need to lie? Crosby wasn’t even close to a perimeter player.

 

[daver]

Crosbys period in 11-14 is overrated. He was a perimeter player that wasnt that effective against good defensive teams. His play in 06-11 and 16-18 is getting underrated (or not being talked about at least) though so maybe it evens out.

Malkin is better atm, but its still close - as it always been throughout their careers.

Do have any stats to back up this claim.

 

[PensandCaps]

Yes.


Malkin has been the past two seasons.

Crosby had a ridiculous playoffs though.

Aside from Faceoffs, Crosby doesn't really do anything better than Malkin defensively. Id say Malkin is better. Malkin is a beast defensively when he wants to be(aka when the games matter)

 

[orby]

I think Sid and Geno are roughly equal in skill level and effectiveness at this point. Crosby excels more at precision shots/passing and puck protection while Malkin is more of a dominating physical force, but i don't think one is clearly better than the other. At one point (2009-10) Crosby was clearly the better of the two - basically, everything Geno could do, Sid could do a little better - but in the years since his concussion/neck recovery, Sid has lost a bit of speed and power (in his shots) whereas Malkin sort of hasn't changed at all.

 

[Gurglesons]

Crosbys period in 11-14 is overrated. He was a perimeter player that wasnt that effective against good defensive teams. His play in 06-11 and 16-18 is getting underrated (or not being talked about at least) though so maybe it evens out.

Malkin is better atm, but its still close - as it always been throughout their careers.

Perimeter player that lit the league up multiple times.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

I think Sid and Geno are roughly equal in skill level and effectiveness at this point. Crosby excels more at precision shots/passing and puck protection while Malkin is more of a dominating physical force, but i don't think one is clearly better than the other. At one point (2009-10) Crosby was clearly the better of the two - basically, everything Geno could do, Sid could do a little better - but in the years since his concussion/neck recovery, Sid has lost a bit of speed and power (in his shots) whereas Malkin sort of hasn't changed at all.

I do agree that between Crosby, Ovechkin, and Malkin, Malkin is still the closest to his peak. He hasn't declined much if at all. He looks like he's 25 out there.

 

[Varan]

I do agree that between Crosby, Ovechkin, and Malkin, Malkin is still the closest to his peak. He hasn't declined much if at all. He looks like he's 25 out there.

That’s exactly what I said in another thread. He is not aging at all

 

[GlitchMarner]

this is a joke right?

over all he is not the best all time player on his team--let alone when you talk about a guy like Mario

You do realize I meant currently, right?

 

[Novak Djokovic]

For three straight playoffs (2016, 2017, 2018), Crosby has been the better player than Malkin. So... But I agree, at this exact moment, Malkin is playing better.

In fact, looking at their entire career, the only two playoffs where Malkin was better than Crosby was 2009 and 2014.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Great player but no.

 

[North Cole]

Here's what you miss, while McDavid is focused on trying to light up Crosby (and it's what, 9pts vs 3pts? omg, brutalizing!), what are the numbers of Malkin and Kessel in that same amount of time?

Oh and have the Pens lost to the Oilers in the McDavid era?

It's a team sport, if you are going to focus your skills on one guy, you better hope the other talent is focused on scoring.

Didnt miss anything. That has absolutely nothing to do with my response to the guy I quoted. He claimed Crosby shut McDavid down, which is factually incorrect. How Malkin and Kessel are doing against other lines is totally irrelevant to what he was saying.

Connor McDavid gets flack for playing 22 minutes a night. Are you suggesting he play an extra 10 to go and match up against Malkin?

We dont have the depth to compete against Malkin, that's why you guys have 3 cups in the last decade and we have sweet f*** all. Feel better that I pumped your teams tires now? My point is that people need to stop perpetuating this myth that Crosby is owning McDavid, because individually, he ain't. He didnt shut him down. No one in the league shutdown McDavid, the idea doesnt even make sense.

Charles Barkley actually said it best in an episode where they talked about Draymond Green not giving him his due. Charles was asked if he could shut him down.

At 1:33. Hes right, it doesnt matter if you are a good defender, the guys who are/will be all-time greats, get too many chances... same applies in hockey, the guys on D (including forwards) will win some battles, but eventually McDavid will score. Same with Crosby and OV, this isnt new. Pavel Datsyuk was a great defender, so was Zetterberg, but it doesnt matter, eventually these guys will find a way to score goals and win the war. They are to good to be shutdown.

Shhh you're going to ruffle some feathers. Some people don't like hearing that.

Truth usually does.

 

[Phil68]

For three straight playoffs (2016, 2017, 2018), Crosby has been the better player than Malkin. So... But I agree, at this exact moment, Malkin is playing better.

In fact, looking at their entire career, the only two playoffs where Malkin was better than Crosby was 2009 and 2014.

Sorry the year Crosby won his first Conn Smythe, Malkin out scored Crosby. Smh yall need to check your facts. Fake news isn't good.

 

[OilCanada92]

Crosbys period in 11-14 is overrated. He was a perimeter player that wasnt that effective against good defensive teams. His play in 06-11 and 16-18 is getting underrated (or not being talked about at least) though so maybe it evens out.

Malkin is better atm, but its still close - as it always been throughout their careers.

Huh? Crosby is probably the greatest grinder of all time. Calling him a perimeter player contradicts his whole style of play. The dude is freakishly strong for his size.

 

[deepelemblues]

It's Sidgeni Malkby the way both are playing right now

 

[daver]

Sorry the year Crosby won his first Conn Smythe, Malkin out scored Crosby. Smh yall need to check your facts. Fake news isn't good.

Have you checked those facts yourself.....

 

[Novak Djokovic]

Sorry the year Crosby won his first Conn Smythe, Malkin out scored Crosby. Smh yall need to check your facts. Fake news isn't good.

I have no idea what you're talking about.

 

[RiskyBryzness21]

I'm not sure if Crosby's defensive game gets overrated, or Malkin's underrated, but individually they're about on the same level. With slight favor to Crosby over the years, exept for some seasons, like the last one, for example
Both not Bergeron's, obviously

Different story is their lines and linemates. Crosby's never had floaters on his line for any significant period of time, while Malkin's had quite a few. So their lines looked different defensively

 

[RiskyBryzness21]

For three straight playoffs (2016, 2017, 2018), Crosby has been the better player than Malkin. So... But I agree, at this exact moment, Malkin is playing better.

In fact, looking at their entire career, the only two playoffs where Malkin was better than Crosby was 2009 and 2014.

Malkin played through serious injuries in 2016 and 2018 playoffs. That's the thing with him, he gets hurt often, unfortunately. But when he is healthy, he's bringing it every time, doesn't matter who his linemates

 

[dm1371]

Right now Malkin is the most dominant offensive player of the two.

 

[AJRAYMOND]

By the way just because Crosby was awarded the Conn Smythe in 2017 doesn't mean he played better. Awards are always suspect because of media bias. Just like last year Kuznetsov was the Caps best player in the playoffs and it was awarded to Ovechkin. Neither was a crime (like 2016) but to say that Crosby absolutely played better in the playoffs in 2017 and Ovechkin absolutely played better than Kuznetsov in 2018 would be a crime. Geno has also changed his game this year. No more ramming and playing recklessly. He's playing a little softer to avoid getting hurt and working on his faceoffs. If he can keep it up he should be able to challenge McDavid and McKinnon for the Art Ross.

 

[Turin]

By the way just because Crosby was awarded the Conn Smythe in 2017 doesn't mean he played better. Awards are always suspect because of media bias. Just like last year Kuznetsov was the Caps best player in the playoffs and it was awarded to Ovechkin. Neither was a crime (like 2016) but to say that Crosby absolutely played better in the playoffs in 2017 and Ovechkin absolutely played better than Kuznetsov in 2018 would be a crime. Geno has also changed his game this year. No more ramming and playing recklessly. He's playing a little softer to avoid getting hurt and working on his faceoffs. If he can keep it up he should be able to challenge McDavid and McKinnon for the Art Ross.

Crosby was the best player in the 2017 playoffs. He gets the harder matchups and produces the same, provides a better defensive game while dealing with a concussion in the middle of it. Malkin was great too, just not quite as good especially in the finals. Kuznetsov was the best in the 2018 playoffs, that’s unrelated.