The Pittsburgh Penguins need to get off to a good start to get back into the playoffs next season. This portion of the NHL off-season drags by every year. The majority of the higher profile free agents have signed their deals and are preparing for the upcoming year. This is a perfect time for random social media-driven debates. Ironically, one of the better free agents still remaining has become the subject of one of those debates in Patrick Kane. An Instagram page called “All Hockey Culture” posted a graphic this past weekend asking who’s had a better career: Kane or Pittsburgh Penguins’ center Evgeni Malkin. Malkin scrolled upon this post and replied simply by saying “88” referring to Kane’s number. Now, for Malkin to say that about his counterpart in Kane would theoretically settle the debate but that doesn’t mean we can’t take a dive into the numbers and attempt to make that determination ourselves. As it stands now, both players have won three Stanley Cups in their illustrious Hall-of-Fame careers. Kane scored his championships in 2010, 2013, and 2015. Malkin’s came in 2009, 2016, and 2017. Malkin won the Conn Smythe in 2009 with a dominant performance. Kane reigned supreme as the playoff MVP in 2013. Both men can also stake claim to winning the Calder Trophy in their respective rookie seasons. As far as league MVP's are concerned, each of 71 and 88 have won the Hart Trophy. With a dead even tie in terms of award trophies, their legacies certainly aren't going to be in question. Considering Malkin and Kane have spent the majority of their careers in separate conferences, there has never been a playoff series between the two teams. However, we've got 17 regular season games of head-to-head statistics. Across those 17 games, Kane actually has Geno beat pretty marginally. Kane's record of 12-2-3 against Malkin's Penguins when both are playing takes the cake. Malkin only has 13 points in those 17 games while Kane racked up 23 in the same time span. Both have 52 shots on goal. Kane's six goals double Malkin's output of three. Kane is the clear winner of the head-to-head category. These numbers would mean a lot more had there been a playoff series or two mixed in but it is a fun metric to look at nonetheless. All of this so far goes without even diving into their respective career stats. Kane has played in 1,180 games in his career amassing 1,237 points across that time span. This equates to 1.05 points per game. Malkin's 1,229 points across 1,063 NHL games gives him a 1.16 points per game. Malkin's average is better and he's played one more season. Kane has operated under a cleaner bill of health than Malkin as he's been fortunate enough to log 117 more games than Geno. Both guys have been featured players on their teams' power plays. Malkin holds the edge with 173 power play goals to Kane's 124. Where the argument really can be won on either side comes based on what part of the players' careers you find the most important. I am going to define both guys' "primes" as their age-24 to age-30 seasons. For Kane, that stretch came from 2012-13' through 2018-19'. In that time period, the now 34-year old winger played 504 games scoring 230 goals and 569 points. Kane's teams won two of their Cups in this time frame. His two career 100-point seasons occurred in this time frame. In Malkin's case, 2010-11' through 2016-17' would represent his prime. Injuries over this time limited Malkin to just 397 games however he scored 451 points during that time. Pittsburgh collected Stanley Cup wins in the final two seasons of those prime years of Malkin. Kane's points per game in his "prime" comes out to 1.13. For Malkin, he sits at 1.14. Theoretically, they averaged nearly the exact same points per game. In Malkin's case, he just played 108-less games in that stretch. Kane's averaging such a high production over his prime years in more games may sway you. However, their early years and later career numbers may entice your line of thinking towards Geno. In terms of early impact, we can look at the first three seasons of each guys career and find that Malkin posted 304 points across his first 242 hockey games. Kane amassed 230 points across his first 244 games. The early numbers lean towards Malkin. With Malkin being two years older, the comparative sample sizes of their "non-prime" seasons won't provide enough context. With Malkin playing on a team that continued to make the playoffs while Chicago went into tank mode, their situations also don't allow for true comparison. Kane's career has been synonymous with the Chicago Blackhawks until the past trade deadline where he forced his way out to the New York Rangers. Kane has 12 points in 19 games for the Rangers in the regular season before adding six more across seven playoff games. He currently is a free agent. Malkin signed a four-year deal with the Penguins just hours before hitting the open market in 2022. Disagreement between Malkin and former General Manager Ron Hextall almost saw the lifetime Penguin playing in a different uniform over the final few seasons of his career. Kane's linemates may have been a tad better over the years simply because he played on the top line for Chicago. Malkin slotted in as the teams' second line center so he wasn't on the Penguins' top offensive line. Both guys are elite NHL players and still provide plenty of offensive acumen to this day. Despite the debate being about who is better, neither's overall career arc and accomplishments should be diminished by the others. Now that the context is laid out for you, who do you believe is the better player between Malkin and Kane? Make sure you bookmark Inside the Penguins [http://insidethepenguins.com/]for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more! 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