How The Pittsburgh Penguins Have Maximized Sidney Crosby's Offensive Impact

Even at 39 years old, Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has been one of the most dominant 200-foot players in the NHL. However, some adjustments to his deployment in his later years suggest the Penguins are wanting him to prioritize his offensive game.Throughout his illustrious NHL career, Sidney Crosby has been praised as one of the league's best two-way players.The Pittsburgh Penguins won three Stanley Cups due to his ability to dominate offensively while remaining potent on the defensive side of the puck. But as he approaches his 40s, Crosby has put far less emphasis on his defensive game in order to remain the Penguins’ biggest offensive threat. The decision has worked and has been necessary, as Crosby has led the Penguins in scoring every year since the 2022-23 season. Crosby or the Penguins have never truly formally stated that it’s an intentional move, but his style of play and usage show this is true. The Penguins’ usage of Crosby has changed drastically. During some of his peak years, Crosby started a lot of his shifts in the defensive zone due to his ability to win faceoffs, but also because he was reliable enough to defend his zone. In the 2015-16 season, Crosby started 213 of his shifts in the defensive zone at 5-on-5, according to NaturalStatTrick.com. The next three seasons saw Crosby start 131, 151, and 161 shifts in the defensive zone. Crosby averaged around 10 percent of his shifts in the defensive zone before 2019, but those numbers dipped to 7.6 percent, 8.0 percent, 6.9 percent, 7.6 percent, 8.0 percent, 7.8 percent, and most recently to 7.6 percent, according to MoneyPuck.com. Coincidentally, Crosby’s shift percentage in the offensive zone has increased. He has been above 22 percent in every season since 2019-20, except for last year, when it was 21.1 percent. NHL SeasonPercentage Of Shift Starts In Defensive ZonePercentage Of Shift Starts In Offensive Zone2008-1912% (Average)21.5% (Average)2019-207.6%23.8%2020-218%22.9%2021-226.9%23%2022-237.6%22.9%2023-248%22%2024-257.8%22.5%2025-267.6%21.1%The switch in mindset hasn’t negatively affected the Penguins. GM Kyle Dubas has made strategic moves to bring in defensive-minded forwards who can match up against opponents' top lines. In 2025-26, Nole Acciari, Connor Dewar, and Blake Lizotte led the Penguins in defensive zone starts. With Crosby on the ice, the Penguins own an expected goals-for percentage well above 50 percent, and on numerous occasions, that number was well above 60 percent. Without him, that number has never been above 50 percent. So, clearly, despite the change in usage and play style, it has not affected Crosby’s impact. But why has he decided to change his game?Simply put, at 39 years old, Crosby doesn’t have the legs to exert 100-percent effort in offense and defense. And the decision to emphasize his offense was an easy one. There are few players in the NHL more impactful offensively. Hence, it’s much easier for Dubas to find several players to replace his defensive impact, compared to what he brings offensively.Crosby now enters the final season of his contract, but has stated that he intends to continue his NHL career. His underlying numbers show he is capable of continuing; his skating speed, according to NHL EDGE, remains stellar, ranking in the 81st percentile for max skating speed and the 87th percentile for skating bursts greater than 22 miles per hour. In all, Crosby has made a calculated change to his defensive game to prolong his career and make the Penguins competitive. It’s not that Crosby gives no effort defensively or cherry-picks, but he and the Penguins have made a conscious effort to use his talents offensively.For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free.