Which of Crosby, Malkin and Ovechkin have declined the most since their peak?

895

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All 3 of them have looked so good this season. Yet none of them really can claim to be the best player in the world anymore.

Most likely, they will never win an Art Ross, Hart or Lindsay ever again. Ovechkin looks like he has a few Rockets left in him still though.
 

Cats2TheCup

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I can't recall seeing any Malkin highlights this year so based on that alone I'll say it's him. No I haven't researched.
 

Filthy Dangles

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All 3 are still great and top-10 players in the league. I mean I guess they've had to decline from how good they were at their peaks but they're all still elite players.
 

Pancakes

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I think the answer to this is easily Ovechkin. He's still really good, but his peak play was incredible.

Crosby/Malkin are closer to what they were at their peaks than Ovechkin is now imo. Ovechkin is like a completely different player now. Still very effective, but at his peak he was a physical beast that could takeover games.
 

Midnight Judges

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d) all of the above?

None have really declined so much as others have just gotten better. The kids in the league are sensational.

They've definitely all declined to some degree. Crosby has been an 80 something point player for 5 years now.

Instead of upper 50s or 60 goals, Ovechkin is a 50 goal scorer.

Malkin is a 90 point player instead of a 110 point player.
 

Thordic

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I think the answer to this is easily Ovechkin. He's still really good, but his peak play was incredible.

Hard to argue with this objectively. It's tough because he's still so good but when you think back to his peak seasons, he was unstoppable. He can still bring it but he was in beast mode 24/7 back then.
 

Trocity

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Probably all evenly. Ovechkin has had a few down years but he was great last year, especially in the playoffs, and this year he's playing great again. Crosby has always been consistent. Malkin is pretty much the same as ever.

I don't think there really is an answer right now, but if I had to pick one, Ovechkin from his absolute peak has probably declined the most, I guess?
 

Mulletman

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It's Crosby. Crosby has had 31 regular season games were he's scored 4 Points or more during his career. But 23 of those games came between 2005-06 and 2011-12. Crosby has only had 8 games were he's scored 4 Points or more since 2012-13.

And it gets even worse if you take a closer look. Crosby had 29 of those games with 4 Points or more in his first 678 career regular season games. But he's only had 2 games were he's scored 4 Points or more in his last 211 regular season games.
 

tom leafers

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I think the answer to this is easily Ovechkin. He's still really good, but his peak play was incredible.

Crosby/Malkin are closer to what they were at their peaks than Ovechkin is now imo. Ovechkin is like a completely different player now. Still very effective, but at his peak he was a physical beast that could takeover games.

I would agree, it has to be Ovechkin.

Thats no knock on Ovechkin though, he is still amazing, but he was a physical beast back in they day.
 
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Pancakes

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It's Crosby. Crosby has had 31 regular season games were he's scored 4 Points or more during his career. But 23 of those games came between 2005-06 and 2011-12. Crosby has only had 8 games were he's scored 4 Points or more since 2012-13.

And it gets even worse if you take a closer look. Crosby had 29 of those games with 4 Points or more in his first 678 career regular season games. But he's only had 2 games were he's scored 4 Points or more in his last 211 regular season games.

Not sure what multi point games have to do with anything. If you go strictly by PPG then from 2014 to now Crosby has declined from a 1.39 PPG to a 1.11 PPG. The 1.39 PPG was what Crosby averaged from 05-6 to 2014, or what many consider Crosby's prime.

If you want to do the same for Ovechkin let's take a look at his peak PPG he put up 1.33 PPG from 05-6 to 09-10. Ovechkin declined in PPG after that so we'll take 05-6 to 09-10 as his peak. Since that point Ovechkin has put up a .98 PPG.

However, what is notable is Ovechkin and Crosby are both having their best seasons in years. Overall though it looks pretty obvious that Ovechkin is the one who declined more from his peak so far, at least in terms of point production. He remains an amazing goalscorer obviously.
 
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Devil Dancer

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It's Ovechkin, his speed in particular has dropped off a lot, and he doesn't have the nasty hands he had at 24.

But it's interesting watching other parts of his game improve over time. His defense is better, but he's also a much better slot player than he used to be. He has become elite at deflections and positioning for rebounds.
 

Mickey Marner

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I think the answer to this is easily Ovechkin. He's still really good, but his peak play was incredible.

Crosby/Malkin are closer to what they were at their peaks than Ovechkin is now imo. Ovechkin is like a completely different player now. Still very effective, but at his peak he was a physical beast that could takeover games.

Agreed. Ovechkin had to reform his offensive game once he lost the desire/ability to rifle wristshots from the left-circle off the rush all game long. He went from Bobby Hull to Brett Hull with a two year hiatus in between.
 
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Mulletman

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Not sure what multi point games have to do with anything. If you go strictly by PPG then from 2014 to now Crosby has declined from a 1.39 PPG to a 1.11 PPG. The 1.39 PPG was what Crosby averaged from 05-6 to 2014, or what many consider Crosby's prime.

If you want to do the same for Ovechkin let's take a look at his peak PPG he put up 1.33 PPG from 05-6 to 09-10. Ovechkin declined in PPG after that so we'll take 05-6 to 09-10 as his peak. Since that point Ovechkin has put up a .98 PPG.

However, what is notable is Ovechkin and Crosby are both having their best seasons in years. Overall though it looks pretty obvious that Ovechkin is the one who declined more from his peak so far, at least in terms of point production. He remains an amazing goalscorer obviously.
4 Point games is when you really dominate your opponent. Both Malkin and especially Ovechkin still put up 4 Point games on a regular basis. But Crosby has seen a steady decline.

Ovechkin's drop off is more in assists and that's partly on how the modern Capitals team is built as well. They don't have a guy like prime Semin anymore, or a manly guy like Mike Knuble that could put in those Ovechkin rebounds better than any other.
 

Brucelenok

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Ovechkin big time. Even though he is still one of the best players in the league and having an amazing season, it just really shows how truly he was dominant between 2005-2010. However, now thinking about it, if 2005-2010 Ovechkin would be playing in todays p***y league, he would be suspended more than Tom Wilson, so I don't blame him
 

Sam Spade

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I would agree, it has to be Ovechkin.

Thats no knock on Ovechkin though, he is still amazing, but he was a physical beast back in they day.

Yeah I can agree with this.

While Ovechkin is still a pretty damn good player, his peak was so much better than Malkin's or Crosby's he was always gonna have a hard/impossible time maintaining that level.
 
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PensandCaps

Beddy Tlueger
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Malkin is coming off a 100 point year. (98 in 78 games)

Can't say he's in much "Decline"


Crosby has 108 points in his last 82 games. Playing the best hockey ive seen him play.

Last playoffs was the best Crosby I've seen, so can't say he has declined. He's at his best.
 

Lomez

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I think they've all declined about what you'd expect for guys their age, which is not much. None of them are at mere mortal levels.
 
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PensandCaps

Beddy Tlueger
May 22, 2015
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Yeah I can agree with this.

While Ovechkin is still a pretty damn good player, his peak was so much better than Malkin's or Crosby's he was always gonna have a hard/impossible time maintaining that level.

His peak really wasn't so much better.

Only problem was Crosby staying healthy from 11-13.


Malkin's 2011 year was as good as any Crosby or Ovy year.

Crosby from 2011-14 is the best peak ive seen

Ovy though actually stayed healthy and was the best player in PPG and GPG for 3 straight years from 07-10.




Their peaks are all pretty even, Malkin probably being just a hair below.
 

The Nuge

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Sidney Crosby over a 4 year period has not had a 90 point season but he leads the NHL in points over those same 4 years, he's not the answer to this question and anyone who argues that is clearly wrong

Umm. Not to nitpick, but actually, he doesn’t. Despite missing half a season in his rookie year, McDavid is still 2 points ahead of Sid over the last 4 years. Unless you’re not counting this year, and instead counting a year that McDavid wasn’t even in the NHL yet. But that’s a pretty massively flawed argument
 
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pabst blue ribbon

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Umm. Not to nitpick, but actually, he doesn’t. Despite missing half a season in his rookie year, McDavid is still 2 points ahead of Sid over the last 4 years. Unless you’re not counting this year, and instead counting a year that McDavid wasn’t even in the NHL yet. But that’s a pretty massively flawed argument
I'm going by 14/15-17/18, also how is the leading the NHL in points over 4 full seasons a flawed argument?
 
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Luigi Lemieux

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Imo Malkin has declined the least. He had 98 points in 78 games last year and watching him earlier in the season it looked like he was still 25 years old. Can't really say the same for Ovy/Crosby - they visibly look slower. Despite that they are both still top 10 players without a doubt. It's actually really impressive how dominant they still are at age 31/32/33.
 

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