Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby turned 39 on Friday and, as he enters his 22nd season in the NHL, he remains one of the best players in the game.
The 5-foot-11 centre led the Penguins in scoring for the sixth consecutive season with 29 goals and 74 points in 68 games and led his team back to the playoffs for the first time in three seasons.
Crosby has accomplished everything there is to accomplish in the NHL, highlighted by three Stanley Cups, in 2009, 2016, and 2017. He has won two Hart Trophies (2007, 2014), three Ted Lindsay Awards (2007, 2013, 2014), two Art Ross Trophies (2007, 2014), two Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophies (2010, 2017), and his leadership was recognized by taking home the Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2010.
The four-time first-team all-star also won back-to-back Conn Smythe Trophies as playoff MVP, in 2016 and 2017, joining fellow Penguins legend Mario Lemieux as the only players in NHL history to do so.
Crosby surpassed Lemieux as the Penguins’ all-time scoring leader in December and now sits seventh all-time in NHL history with 1,761. He is 10 points behind Marcel Dionne for sixth and 37 points behind Ron Francis for fifth all-time.
“It’s really special,” Crosby told reporters after breaking the record on Dec. 21. “You’re trying to stay in the game, but also just trying to enjoy the moment, too. It’s hard to balance that sometimes, especially as you get older. You tend to look at things a little bit differently.
“Seeing the crowd go quiet when Mario’s message came on, that was pretty special. If you don’t understand the impact he’s had here, and you were here tonight, I think you understand a little bit better now given just how quiet it got. And I think if there was any example of respect, I think it was that there. It was really cool to see that.”
Along with leading the Penguins in scoring all-time, Crosby leads the team in games played (1,420), assists (1,107), game-winning goals (104), and overtime winners (25).
Heading into the 2026-27 campaign, Crosby has one more Penguins’ record in sight: Lemieux’s 690 goals. Crosby sits 36 goals back of Lemieux with 654 and another strong season could see him surpass it.
One of the aspects of Crosby’s career that separates him from other hockey legends is his international success.
Crosby has competed in three Winter Olympics, taking home two gold medals and a silver medal. He has one of the most iconic goals in Canadian hockey history, scoring the “Golden Goal” to defeat the United States in overtime at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Last year, Crosby captained Canada for the second time at the Olympics, recording two goals and six points in four games before he sustained an lower-body injury after taking a hit from Czechia defenceman Radko Gudas in the quarter-finals.
The Cole Harbour, N.S., native is a member of the Triple Gold Club, also taking home gold at the World Hockey Championship in 2015 to go along with his Olympic gold medals and Stanley Cups. He also helped Canada to victories at the World Juniors in 2004, 2016 World Cup of Hockey and the 4 Nations Face-Off in 2025.
Crosby participated in his fourth World Hockey Championship this summer, registering a goal and 10 points in 10 games in a fourth-place finish.
Crosby’s future beyond the 2026-27 season remains unclear as he enters the final season of his two-year, $17.4 million deal. However, he’s far from done playing.
He told Josh Yohe of The Athletic in May that he isn’t expecting to retire at the end of next season but is playing it year-by-year when it comes to his next contract in order to give himself and the team flexibility.
“It’s pretty obvious why I would just go year-to-year with the contracts,” Crosby told Yohe. “At the end of the day, I’m just going to do what’s best for the team. It’s got nothing to do with how long I want to play. It’s not like that at all.
“I definitely want to keep playing for as many years as possible.”
