Sidney Crosby’s Still in the NHL’s Top Tier as Penguins Reemerge in 2025-26

Sidney Crosby, even at 38, is still producing at a level that separates him from the pack. The Hockey News listed Crosby at No. 12 on its Top 100 NHL players ranking for the 2025-26 season, underscoring that the Pittsburgh Penguins captain’s age has not changed his role as the league’s most reliable high-end performer. The decision matters because this isn’t a “name recognition” ranking. The Hockey News framed its list around how players performed during the season, and it highlighted Crosby’s continued ability to drive results despite the natural wear that comes with a long career. The larger storyline is that Pittsburgh’s major leap back into playoff relevance is happening with Crosby still carrying the offensive weight.

Crosby’s resume from the regular season makes that case straightforward. In 2025-26, he posted 29 goals and 45 assists for 74 points in 68 games, keeping his scoring pace steady enough to reach a milestone described by The Hockey News as extending an NHL record for consecutive point-per-game seasons to 21. The points total is the headline, but the consistency is the point. In a league where a decline can appear quickly, Crosby remained a focal driver of Pittsburgh’s attack throughout the year.

There was also context around the season’s rhythm. The Hockey News noted Crosby missed time with an injury after the Olympics, but returned well enough to keep his production in stride. That matters for how the Penguins could believe they were capable of competing late in games and late in the season. Even with the disruption, Crosby’s ability to keep creating points helped stabilize Pittsburgh’s identity as a team that could keep playing in the right places.

The Penguins’ standings finish is where Crosby’s personal output connected to the team’s collective outcome. Pittsburgh finished second in the NHL’s Metropolitan Division with 98 points, improving far beyond what many expected at the start of the season. That jump pulled the Penguins back into playoff positioning and turned a year that could have been a rebuilding placeholder into a meaningful one. Crosby’s production did not exist in a vacuum, because a top-end center still matters most when the team around him is playing for something.

The way The Hockey News approached its rankings also adds a degree of objectivity. Its criteria, as described in its Top 100 coverage, put the emphasis on this season’s play rather than prior seasons, and it aimed to reflect a realistic mix of roles across a lineup. In that structure, Crosby’s No. 12 placement indicates that the Penguins captain was not viewed as merely valuable for leadership or history. He was viewed as one of the league’s best players at the time the list was compiled, based on his on-ice impact during the 2025-26 regular season.

For Pittsburgh, the next test is how long the formula can last and what the Penguins learn from it. A season like this raises the internal standard, especially if the team’s playoff experience becomes part of the off-season planning and roster decisions. Crosby’s continued high-end output creates stability at the top, but it also raises expectations for everyone else to close the gap between “competitive year” and “contender year.” The Penguins now have a recent proof point, and the league has a reminder that one elite performer can change an organization’s direction when the timing is right.