21 Years After Being Drafted By Pittsburgh, Crosby Is A Top-5 NHL Player Of All Time - With Room To Climb

21 Years After Being Drafted By Pittsburgh, Crosby Is A Top-5 NHL Player Of All Time - With Room To ClimbIn some ways, it's hard to believe that Pittsburgh Penguins' captain Sidney Crosby has 21 NHL seasons under his belt. And it all started 21 years ago to the day.The Penguins' fortunes forever changed on Jul. 30, 2005, when they selected the phenom Crosby with the first overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft. Labeled "The Next One," it was quite fitting that he'd land in Pittsburgh. He may not have been able to succeed The Great One directly, but he did succeed Pittsburgh's Great One, and it was the perfect passing of the torch since Mario Lemieux played with Crosby for a portion of his rookie season.From that fateful day in 2005 forward, these were Crosby's Penguins, and Crosby's Penguins have accomplished quite a bit in the two-plus decades since - as has Crosby himself. In addition to Stanley Cup championships in 2009, 2016, and 2017, there were also three Olympic medals (two of them gold), World Championship, World Cup, and 4 Nations Face-off wins, two Hart trophies, two Art Ross Trophies, two Conn Smythe trophies, two Maurice "Rocket" Richard trophies, and three Ted Lindsay Awards.Most recently, he clinched his 21st consecutive season above point-per-game, breaking an NHL record of his own that he overtook Wayne Gretzky for the season prior.In other words, Sidney Crosby is and always has been one of hockey's best players. At this point, he is a consensus top-10 all-time NHL player, and most agree that he is top-five. He is already sitting seventh all-time in scoring - he passed up Lemieux to take the all-time franchise lead in points during the 2025-26 season - and he figures to, at least, pass Ron Francis at 1,798 by next season's end to put himself in the top-five.From there, top-three is well within reach as long as Crosby keeps playing. Even 2,000 points is in reach, which would make him only the second NHL player ever to hit that mark. If all of that happens, it would be hard to dispute that the list of players better than him in NHL history will have just one or two names on it.From The Archive: Getting To Know SID The KID From The Archive: Getting To Know SID The KID In honor of it being 21 years since the Pittsburgh Penguins drafted Sidney Crosby, here's this great story about him from the THN archive. But where is he right now? Even if he's already a top-five player in history with room to keep climbing, where does he rank beside his much, much younger peers?- Elite Prospects ranks him No. 12 among active players, and the next-oldest player in the top-25 is goaltender Connor Hellebuyck at age 33.- THN also ranked Crosby No. 12.- EA gave Crosby the eighth-highest player ranking in NHL 26 with a 94 - three points behind the NHL's best in Connor McDavid.- Crosby finished in the NHL's top-25 (No. 22) in points-per-game last season with 1.088. The only player older to rank higher was teammate Evgeni Malkin right in front of him at 21 (1.089), and there were only seven players aged 30 or higher in the top-25.Top 100 NHL Players In 2026: 1 To 10 Top 100 NHL Players In 2026: 1 To 10 The best of the best made our top 100 NHL players list. The top 10 are on yet another level. So, even if he isn't top-of-the-list in all of those categories anymore, what he's doing heading into his age 39 season is nothing short of spectacular, especially with no one else his age anywhere near him other than Malkin's point-per-game mark last season. Questioning what Crosby has left in the tank is one thing - he did suffer a knee injury while captaining Team Canada at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan last season, which caused him to miss 14 games - but questioning whether he's still an elite top-of-the-lineup player is another.As he slipped on that Vegas gold Penguins' jersey 21 years ago, the 18-year-old kid from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia could not have possibly seen what was to come after more than two decades playing the game he loves.But, rest assured, the story is still being written - and Crosby will end up going down in history as a consensus top-three player the game as ever seen by the time he decides to call it a career.2026-27 Pittsburgh Penguins Player Projections: Sidney Crosby 2026-27 Pittsburgh Penguins Player Projections: Sidney Crosby Sidney Crosby had another great season last year and looks poised to repeat it this year. Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!