Penguins’ Crosby, Malkin, Letang: first teammates trio to play 20 NHL seasons together

When the Pittsburgh Penguins take the ice on Tuesday night to kick off their regular season schedule against the New York Rangers, their three franchise cornerstones will be making history.

Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang will become the first trio of teammates to play in 20 seasons together.

Malkin (the No. 2 overall pick in 2004), Crosby (the No. 1 overall selection in 2005) and Letang (a third rounder in 2005) all joined the organization within the span of a year and completely transformed its outlook.

All three were instrumental in the 2009 Stanley Cup championship run before a lull in the team’s success as Crosby battled injuries.

After a successful re-tool in the mid-2010s, Pittsburgh won back-to-back championships in 2015 and 2016.

Along the way, they’ve re-written the organization’s record books. All three are in the franchise’s all-time top five in points, with Crosby at No. 2, Malkin at No. 3 and Letang at No. 5. Letang is the highest-scoring defenseman in team history, and Crosby is just 37 points away from passing Mario Lemieux for the most points all-time for one of the NHL’s most storied franchises.

The Penguins will be looking to improve upon a disappointing effort in 2024-25 that saw them finish with a record of 34-36-12. The team moved on from longtime head coach Mike Sullivan in the offseason, as Kyle Dubas opted to bring in Rangers assistant Dan Muse as the new head coach.

While the feat the team’s three top players are about to achieve is historic, it’s quite possible that this is both the 20th and final season that all three will play together in the black and gold.

While Crosby and Letang are both under contract with the club beyond this season, Malkin is slated to be an unrestricted free agent and will have plenty of options available to him that include retirement, joining another team, sticking with Pittsburgh or perhaps going to play in the KHL in his native Russia.