It really depends on what you consider an elite season.
If you measure between top 5 Hart finishes.
Ovechkin - 2008-2015 - 8 seasons
Richard - 1945-1955 - 11 seasons
Hull - 1960-1971 - 12 seasons
Jagr - 1995-2006 - 12 seasons
Beliveau- 1955-1969 - 15 seasons
Crosby- 2007 - 2021 - 15 seasons
Lemieux- 1986-2001 - 16 seasons
Gretzky - 1980 - 1998 - 19 seasons
Howe - 1951 - 1969 - 20 seasons
Top 5 in Hart is a very high bar, but Crosby does look fantastic in this metric. It's also very arbitrary. Like a 6th place finish isn't inherently worth less than a 5th place.
Finishing in the Top 3/5 in scoring or in Hart voting in the O6 era is, statistically speaking, not the same as doing it in the current era.
Over Crosby's 19 years of elite play, he has finished, on average,
7% behind the average #1/#2 PPGs per season. His average PPG finish (among players who played 50% of the season) was
7th.
In Howe's legendary 20 years of Top 5 finishes, he finished
6% behind the average #1/#2 PPGs per season. His average PPG finish (among players who played 50% of the season) was
3rd.
There is no doubt that Crosby had more competition vying for Top 3/5 Art Ross and Hart finishes.
Obviously not arguing for Crosby over Howe
in any context or metric, merely pointing out the among Crosby's current contemporaries, his track record stands out more than raw finishes would indicate.
As much as Crosby loses out on raw trophies and raw number comparisons, he should get full credit for being elite, if not quite as his peak, in an impressive number of seasons that quality-wise, is only bettered by Wayne and Howe.