Is Penguins' Sidney Crosby A Top-Five NHL Player Ever?

Pittsburgh Penguins superstar center Sidney Crosby set the franchise record for career points with 1,724 on Sunday.

He beat out Penguins icon Mario Lemieux’s old mark and moved into eighth place in all-time NHL scoring.

You can still debate whether Crosby is better than Lemieux – we'd say that Lemieux is still better than Crosby – but is or can Crosby be a top-five NHL player of all-time? Let's go through the order. 

Edmonton Oilers legend Wayne Gretzky is clearly No. 1. He dominated the game in a way no other player did or maybe ever will.

After that, we’d go with former Boston Bruins superstar defenseman Bobby Orr as the No. 2 player of all-time. Orr revolutionized the defense position, and although his career was cut short due to injury, he did enough in a shorter period of time to put him on the Mt. Rushmore of hockey players.

At third overall, we'd have to pick Lemieux – another superstar who imposed his will on opponents more or less every time he played the game. Lemieux's career points-per-game average of 1.88 ranks second only to Gretzky (1.92). And while a combination of factors limited Lemieux to 915 regular-season games in 17 seasons, his dominance makes him stand out as the third-best NHLer of all-time.

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Here's where things get more interesting.

Hockey watchers of a certain age would tell you that the great Detroit Red Wings superstar Gordie Howe deserves to be in the top five in the history of the sport. And we have a tough time arguing otherwise.

Howe played in 1,767 regular-season games over an incredible 26 seasons, posting 801 goals and 1,850 points. And Howe's all-around game and career longevity make him our choice for the No. 4 spot.

So if you accept that Gretzky, Orr, Lemieux and Howe are Nos. 1-through-4, there's plenty of debate as to who's next.

Would you pick another Penguins icon, superstar winger Jaromir Jagr, as the fifth-best player ever? Jagr appeared in 1,733 career regular-season NHL games, generating 766 goals and 1,921 points. So he has merit.

Or, would you put a goaltender in the top-five in hockey history? Whether it's New Jersey Devils leviathan Martin Brodeur or Colorado Avalanche icon Patrick Roy, you can make a case that a superstar netminder should be part of the debate because of their positional value.

That said, if we had to choose our top five hockey players of all-time, we'd slot in Crosby as the fifth-best player in hockey history. And it isn't just because Crosby has passed Lemieux in the points department, or because Crosby has won three Stanley Cup championships in an era where it was next to impossible for any star NHLer to win two Cups, let alone three.

No, the reason why we'd have Crosby in our top five is that, in addition to putting up a ton of points, he has been one of his generation's best all-around players over 21 seasons. Even now, at age 38, his game hasn't fallen off at either end of the ice. Crosby has been a superb faceoff man, and while he's never been a penalty-killer or won the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL's best defensive forward, he's received votes in 13 seasons.

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You can argue that Jagr was a flashier NHL star, but that shouldn't take away from Crosby's efficiency with the puck. And you can make the case that someone like Brodeur or Roy was the best at their position, but that shouldn't take away from Crosby's stunning achievements.

Whether it's his two Conn Smythe Trophies as playoff MVP, two Hart Trophies as regular-season MVP, three Ted Lindsay Awards as most outstanding player, two Art Ross Trophies as the NHL's top point-getter or his two Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophies as the league's top goal-scorer, Crosby has done it all. With 37 points in 35 games this season, he's still an elite competitor as his 40th birthday appears on the horizon.

Thus, Crosby is a worthy pick as a top-five player in the history of the sport. Despite the night-in, night-out grind of the modern game, he's as relevant as ever.

He will also likely climb the all-time points rankings even more. He's 31 points away from Steve Yzerman, 47 away from Marcel Dionne, 74 away from Ron Francis and 126 away from Howe.

By the time he's finished playing, Crosby could be a top-five scorer of all-time. If he plays well into his 40s and continues to stay healthy and produce at a point-per-game rate, he may even get past Jagr's 1,921-point plateau – something only Gretzky has ever done.

He'll need some more good fortune to get there, but even if he never played another game, Crosby would be the right choice to be regarded as among the very best of the very best.

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