Pittsburgh Penguins: All-time team of the Sidney Crosby and Malkin era

The Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin era has been very kind to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Let’s take a look at the best players from the era.

After making significant changes to their roster this off-season, the Pittsburgh Penguins report to training camp today with the 2019-20 season quickly approaching. The Penguins core consisting of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang is back in town.

They have been the most successful trio in hockey over the last decade. Pittsburgh has won the most playoff games (97) and championships (3) of any team in the salary cap era. There have been a lot of really good players here over the years, and that got me thinking.

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I have followed this team for 11 years and wanted to construct the best possible lineup of the past and current Penguins players dating back to 2008. Here is a look at my full lineup.

Forwards

First line: Chris Kunitz – Sidney Crosby – Marian Hossa

Combined numbers as Penguins: 618 goals, 996 assists, 1,614 points

Analysis: Crosby is undeniably the best player of his generation and will go down as a top-five player in NHL history. From the Stanley Cup three times to an Emmy, he has won just about every award possible.

The soon to be Hall of Fame forward Marian Hossa was only a Penguin for a brief time back in 2008, but he was a tremendous fit alongside Crosby. The acquisition of Hossa was the Penguins’ first true “in it to win it” roster move of this era. It paid off, as Hossa produced a career-high 26 playoff points in the Penguins making a run to the 2008 Stanley Cup Final.

Aside from not shooting the puck into a wide-open net in Game 6 of the 2016 Stanley Cup Final, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone with a bad word to say about Chris Kunitz. Kunitz was just born to be a winner.

Between Anaheim and Pittsburgh, Kunitz is a 4-time Stanley Cup champion. His skill set was a perfect fit in the Penguins’ top-six. Both Crosby and Malkin won a league MVP and scoring title with Chris Kunitz stapled to their left hip. Kunitz may not have been an elite player, but he was a damn good one that played a key role in the Penguins’ success over the years.

Second line: Jake Guentzel – Evgeni Malkin – James Neal

Combined numbers as Penguins: 558 goals,785 assists, 1,333 points

Malkin is the third-best player of this generation and a future Hall of Fame player. Combining the 2008-09 regular and postseason, Malkin tallied an absurd 149 points. His dominance in the spring of 2009 was incredible to watch and is amongst the best individual post-seasons in NHL history. Malkin has been a generational talent from the get-go, as the Penguins are remarkably fortunate to have had two superstars down the middle of the ice over the last 13 years.

James Neal’s ability to find open ice and his blistering wrist shot made for great chemistry alongside Evgeni Malkin. Neal’s most productive seasons came as a member of the Penguins. The line of Kunitz – Malkin – Neal often carried the Penguins to victories during the 2011-12 season.

As time went on, he became quite the enigma, as he was often taking offensive zone penalties and chasing wreckless body checks. Trading Neal for Patric Hornqvist was a great trade for the Penguins and one that changed the culture of the team in quick fashion.

Guentzel is a 24-year-old that just keeps getting better. He burst onto the scene in the spring of 2017 by having a historic postseason as a rookie. Guentzel will be a crucial piece to the Penguins’ success moving forward. Fresh off a 40 goal campaign, Guentzel figures to be a staple on Crosby’s left wing for at least the next five years.

Third line: Pascal Dupuis – Jordan Staal – Phil Kessel

Combined numbers as Penguins: 339 goals, 496 assists, 835 points

Kessel is an elite offensive force that played a major role in propelling the Penguins to winning back-to-back championships in 2016 and 2017. They do not win those titles without him. The Kessel acquisition was Jim Rutherford’s best move as General Manager.

His success in Pittsburgh played a huge role in cementing the legacies of Crosby, Malkin, and Letang. Kessel’s presence and performance changed everything about this era of the Penguins for the better.

Staal has been a great two-way center throughout the course of his career and was a difference-maker in the 2009 Stanley Cup run over a powerhouse Detroit team. It took the Penguins four years to effectively replace Staal by trading for Nick Bonino.

Dupuis was a quality middle-six forward that could complement high-end talent, have a positive impact at both ends of the rink, and play up in the lineup in the event of injuries.

Fourth line: Carl Hagelin – Nick Bonino – Patric Hornqvist

Combined numbers as Penguins: 169 goals, 212 assists, 381 points

The acquisition of Carl Hagelin was the first domino in a series of acquisitions that shaped the Penguins into a roster built on speed and skill. Hagelin’s blazing speed, ability to play anywhere in the lineup, and puck retrieval skills made the Penguins a nightmare in terms of matchups for opponents. Pittsburgh really misses Hagelin’s skillset and probably should not have traded him last season.

In the summer of 2015, the Penguins committed highway robbery of the Vancouver Canucks in a trade package that sent Brandon Sutter to Vancouver and Bonino to Pittsburgh. Bonino was an astronomical upgrade over Sutter as the third-line center, and he helped provide that vitally important depth scoring when Crosby and Malkin were not on the ice. Obviously, Bonino scored some a couple of memorable game-winning goals in the spring of 2016.

Hornqvist has spent the large majority of his time here as a staple in the Penguins top-six. He has been above or around the 20 goal mark in each of his 5 seasons here. Aside from his rookie season in Nashville, he has been a positive possession player in every season of his career. While he has his flaws, the good outweighs the bad. Hornqvist always seems to be in the middle of things and is often great theatre on the ice.

Honorable Mentions: Bill Guerin, Jarome Iginla, David Perron, Gary Roberts, and Petr Sykora.

Defense

First pair: Sergei Gonchar – Kris Letang

Gonchar’s numbers as a Penguin: 54 goals, 255 assists, 259 points

Letang’s numbers as a Penguin: 112 goals, 381 assists, 493 points

In the four seasons prior to signing with the Penguins, Sergei Gonchar’s offensive production was elite and better than Nicklas Lidstrom’s. That made Gonchar the right signing at the right time. Gonchar played a crucial role in mentoring Evgeni Malkin as Malkin made the transition to North America.

On the ice, Gonchar tallied at least 50 points in four of his five seasons as a Penguin. He was a great power play quarterback, as he was elite at feeding pucks into Malkin’s wheelhouse. Gonchar’s 259 career points rank sixth among Penguins defensemen. If he was here for more than 5 years, that number would be much higher. He should be a Hall of Famer, in my opinion.

Letang is the best defenseman in franchise history. He is atop the leaderboard in virtually every statistical category amongst all Penguins defensemen. Letang’s 493 points rank 10th in franchise history. Considering his injury history and all of the star-power the Penguins have had, that is very impressive.

Throughout his career, the Penguins have controlled 53% of the even-strength shot attempts and 54% of the scoring chances with Letang on the ice. He is a huge piece of the puzzle here. In 2017, the Penguins won the Stanley Cup without Letang, as he was sidelined due to neck surgery. Do not let that fool you.

The style that the Penguins played that spring was heavily reliant and dependant upon unsustainable shooting and save percentages. They missed Letang dearly. If the Penguins are to win another championship in this era, they will need Letang to play a massive role in doing so, as we all know he can.

Second pair: Paul Martin – Justin Schultz

Martin’s numbers as a Penguin: 17 goals, 92 assists, 109 points

Schultz’s numbers as a Penguin: 19 goals, 82 assists, 101 points

Martin was a great fit as a two-way defenseman here, spending a large portion of his Penguins tenure alongside Letang on the top pair. Over Martin’s last three seasons in Pittsburgh, Martin and Letang helped control 56% of the shot attempts, 58% of the scoring chances, and scored 63% of the goals. They were one of the best pairings in all of hockey. Martin was a positive possession player and Dan Byslma used and trusted Martin in all situations.

Rescuing Justin Schultz from the Edmonton Oilers was a saving grace for both himself and the Penguins. As he proved in the 2017 championship run, Schultz has given the Penguins insurance in the event of a Kris Letang injury and is quite capable of being the quarterback on the top powerplay unit.

Considering that the Sidney Crosby generally shares the ice with Kris Letang, the Penguins need to re-sign Schultz before next summer so that Evgeni Malkin can continue sharing the ice with a talented offensive defenseman.

Third pair: Brian Dumoulin– Matt Niskanen

Dumoulin’s numbers as a Penguin: 10 goals, 64 assists, 74 points

Niskanen’s numbers as a Penguin: 19 goals, 66 assists, 85 points

Dumoulin is essentially a poor man’s Paul Martin. He is a great complementary piece and can play with elite talent. I’m not sold on him being able to drive a defense pair on his own, but alongside Kris Letang, he does not have too.

In their 2016 championship run, the Penguins controlled 56% of the shot attempts, 58% of the scoring chances, and posted a 59% expected goal rate with Dumoulin and Letang on the ice at even-strength. They have been an elite top defense pair for 3 years and I expect that to be the case again this season.

Niskanen was one helluva “throw-in” when the Penguins acquired him along with James Neal from the Dallas Stars back in 2011. As a rookie, Olli Maatta benefited greatly from playing alongside Niskanen on the third defense pair. Niskanen posted a career-high 46 points as a member of the Penguins back in 2013-14.

Honorable Mentions: Ian Cole, Alex Goligoski, Olli Maatta, and Brooks Orpik.

Goaltenders

Starter: Matt Murray

Murray’s numbers as a Penguin: 97 wins, .542 quality start percentage, .926 even-strength save percentage.

Going with Murray over Fleury here will likely rub a lot of people the wrong way and that’s fine. This is not the sexy or popular pick amongst the fanbase, but it really boils down to him being the starting netminder for two of the three championship teams of this era.

While Murray has struggled with inconsistency a bit, he has always been Mike Sullivan’s preferred number one netminder. When Fleury began to struggle against in East Final against Ottawa, Murray came in and slammed the door.

After returning from injury last December, Murray performed at an elite level until the end of the season. The Penguins absolutely made the right decision in keeping Murray over Fleury, as he figures to become apart of the core of this team moving forward.

Backup: Marc-Andre Fleury

Fleury’s numbers as a Penguin: 375 wins, .537 quality start percentage, .923 even-strength save percentage.

As a person, I love Marc-Andre Fleury. He was a good and fun player here for a long time and contributed to turning this franchise around. He holds a lot of franchise records. You could argue that he played the best hockey of his career in the run to the 2008 Stanley Cup Final.

But the main reason I went with Murray here is that from 2010-13, Fleury’s playoff numbers were abysmal. Current LA Kings employee Rob Vollman developed a goalie stat called really bad starts. This is when goalies finish a game with a save percentage lower than 85%.

Per Hockey-Reference, Fleury had 11 of his 16 career really bad playoff starts in that four-year window, which also happened to be during Crosby and Malkin’s true prime years. I realize that the playoffs are a small sample size, but the bottom line is that Pittsburgh should have won another Stanley Cup in that timeframe. Fleury’s performance was one of the primary reasons they were unable to do so.

He ended his time in Pittsburgh on a high-note, as he was terrific against Columbus and literally stole the second-round series against the Washington Capitals. They do not win that title without him. He has essentially been the most marketable player on the Vegas Golden Knights, as the likely future Hall of Fame goaltender continues his career on the west coast.

Honorable Mention: Tomas Vokoun

As you know, there have been a lot of talented players to wear a Penguins sweater over the last decade. Data from Hockey-Reference and Natural Stat Trick were used in this article.