Ryan Wilson: Evgeni Malkin's time to shine in 2011-12 Evgeni Malkin's time to shine in 2011-12

Vintage Malkin! Those were the days!

Malkin: the 101st best player in the history of the NHL..

Ps. I'm a big fan of #71 and put him as the 3rd-4th best player in franchise history.

Malkin: the 101st best player in the history of the NHL..

Ps. I'm a big fan of #71 and put him as the 3rd-4th best player in franchise history.
- Barnaby36

Must be nice to have one of the best offensive players of a generation be only a "top-5" player in team history.

Dude hasn't won a Vezina or Norris. Total fraud.

Must be nice to have one of the best offensive players of a generation be only a "top-5" player in team history.
- AdamFrench

LOL we are spoiled I admit.

LOL we are spoiled I admit.
- Barnaby36

Mario, Jagr, Sid and Geno. Two sets of generational talents in back to back generations. We're very spoiled.

Malkin: the 101st best player in the history of the NHL..

Ps. I'm a big fan of #71 and put him as the 3rd-4th best player in franchise history.
- Barnaby36

I'd go:
1 - Lemieuix
2 - Jagr
3 - Crosby
4/5 - Malkin/Francis

I think Ron Francis' time in Pittsburgh is ridiculously underrated.

Also, Paul Coffey would be in the mix for top-4/5 if he'd spent maybe 2-3 more season there.

The proven success of that line makes Bylsma's decisions in the playoffs the following year all the more unforgivable.

Jokinen/Dupuis - Crosby - Iginla
Kunitz - Malkin - Neal
Cooke - Sutter - Kennedy
Jokinen/Dupuis - Vitale/Adams - Morrow

What could/should have been...

(Honestly don't remember who was injured when so maybe this was never actually and option, but the point stands)

Great point that the negative of Crosby being out, turned out to give Malkin the attention that he deserved individually.

I'd go:
1 - Lemieuix
2 - Jagr
3 - Crosby
4/5 - Malkin/Francis

I think Ron Francis' time in Pittsburgh is ridiculously underrated.

Also, Paul Coffey would be in the mix for top-4/5 if he'd spent maybe 2-3 more season there.
- jmatchett383

I don't think anyone here underrated Francis. But my list is a tad different due to Jagr not spending his whole career here. Geno may pass him on my list as well.
1)Lemieux
2)Crosby
3)Jagr
4)Malkin
5)Francis
Edit: Keep in mind this list isn't an NHL list it's a Penguins list so Geno could definitely pass Jagr.

Malkin: the 101st best player in the history of the NHL..

Ps. I'm a big fan of #71 and put him as the 3rd-4th best player in franchise history.
- Barnaby36

He got to be The Man that season

sure it's nice to have combos like Lemieux/Jagr, and Crosby/Malkin, but what's not nice is all the losing leading up to those seasons to draft those players

and then there's teams like Buffalo, who do all that losing with not much to show for it

sure it's nice to have combos like Lemieux/Jagr, and Crosby/Malkin, but what's not nice is all the losing leading up to those seasons to draft those players

and then there's teams like Buffalo, who do all that losing with not much to show for it
- Coburns_Nose

Its nice if you get the right players after all the losing. Buffalo could have gotten Mcdavid and been a whole different animal. If your in a position to suck when a generational talent is ready to be drafted you could get lucky.

Its nice if you get the right players after all the losing. Buffalo could have gotten Mcdavid and been a whole different animal. If your in a position to suck when a generational talent is ready to be drafted you could get lucky.
- 668710

It's also nice that even when you lose out on OV, you get Malkin instead of...ugg...Cam Barker Better to be lucky than to be good sometimes.

sure it's nice to have combos like Lemieux/Jagr, and Crosby/Malkin, but what's not nice is all the losing leading up to those seasons to draft those players

and then there's teams like Buffalo, who do all that losing with not much to show for it
- Coburns_Nose

One thing I will say is that the situations were rather different. In the case of Crosby/Malkin they did have a competitive team throughout the 90's until 2001. Most were not championship caliber but they were at least competitive. The tear down of the team began in 2001, long before Crosby was much in the NHL picture. The tear down was forced by the salary situation in the league at the time. Without the cap none of the owners of the Pens could keep the team solvent in Pittsburgh (it is a small city). In the case of Lemieux it was an opportunistic and deliberate tank to get him.

I don't think anyone here underrated Francis. But my list is a tad different due to Jagr not spending his whole career here. Geno may pass him on my list as well.
1)Lemieux
2)Crosby
3)Jagr
4)Malkin
5)Francis
Edit: Keep in mind this list isn't and NHL list it's a Penguins list so Geno could definitely pass Jagr.
- 668710

Agreed. Jagr did have some attributes that might rank a bit above those of Crosby's but ultimately Crosby's great leadership will always place him above Jagr in my opinion. Still, Jagr was an incredible player to watch.

It's also nice that even when you lose out on OV, you get Malkin instead of...ugg...Cam Barker Better to be lucky than to be good sometimes.
- AdamFrench

Yea lol

Agreed. Jagr did have some attributes that might rank a bit above those of Crosby's but ultimately Crosby's great leadership will always place him above Jagr in my opinion. Still, Jagr was an incredible player to watch.
- PghPens668771

Love Jagr, he's an absolute amazing talent but when it comes down to the Pens list, Sid and Geno are past Jagr in points with the Penguins already and neither have left for another NHL team, yet..

sure it's nice to have combos like Lemieux/Jagr, and Crosby/Malkin, but what's not nice is all the losing leading up to those seasons to draft those players

and then there's teams like Buffalo, who do all that losing with not much to show for it
- Coburns_Nose

What sucks is Buffalo all of the difficult pieces to acquire -- Eichel who's a god damn amazing center, and Dahlin who should become a very solid 1D. Those are the absolute hardest pieces to acquire but they failed at making the rest of the team competitive so now a top 10 C want's to bounce.

What sucks is Buffalo all of the difficult pieces to acquire -- Eichel who's a god damn amazing center, and Dahlin who should become a very solid 1D. Those are the absolute hardest pieces to acquire but they failed at making the rest of the team competitive so now a top 10 C want's to bounce.
- j.boyd919

Yea thats true I forgot about Dahlin haha.

sure it's nice to have combos like Lemieux/Jagr, and Crosby/Malkin, but what's not nice is all the losing leading up to those seasons to draft those players

and then there's teams like Buffalo, who do all that losing with not much to show for it
- Coburns_Nose

I was having this exact conversation with a buddy tonight. When the Pens drafted Jagr, they were coming off a pretty bad year despite having Mario and Coffey, but they had the young pieces in place to build on (Recchi, Stevens, Cullen who became Francis).

Teams like Buffalo, they can hit the lottery, and it doesn't even matter because they can't seem to develop a team around them.

That's why I say the Pens will need to do a lot more then just win another lottery to rebuild. They will need to build up a group of prospects.

I saw I missed Simon talk yesterday. Appropriate it was on a Sheary blog because they had one thing in common. They both had a big year alongside Sid and failed to repeat it.

Simon played about 60% of the time with Sid, but Sid's actual and expected goals for were both about 4% lower with Simon.

I saw I missed Simon talk yesterday. Appropriate it was on a Sheary blog because they had one thing in common. They both had a big year alongside Sid and failed to repeat it.

Simon played about 60% of the time with Sid, but Sid's actual and expected goals for were both about 4% lower with Simon.
- Tojo.

I think the likelihood of him playing with Sid again are very low unless they are decimated by injuries.

I think the likelihood of him playing with Sid again are very low unless they are decimated by injuries.
- Rinosaur

I'm honestly down with him starting off this season as the 4c. But we'll see how camp and the preseason pan out.