Can Sidney Crosby hit 2,000 points?
There’s no doubt that Sidney Crosby ranks among the best to ever play the game, but just how far is the Pittsburgh Penguins legend willing to go?
On Monday, the 38-year-old became just the ninth player in NHL history to score 1,700 points, when he posted two assists in a win against the St. Louis Blues. It marked his 498th multipoint game, passing Penguins legend Mario Lemieux’s franchise record in that category.
But with one year remaining on his contract, could the Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia native be enticed to stick it out and chase the 2,000 point mark? If so, he’d be the second player to ever do it, trailing only Wayne Gretzky’s 2,897 –– even though Gretzky still has more assists (1,963) than Crosby has points.
On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff Live, Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton dove into the potential of Crosby’s chase for 2,000.
Yaremchuk: A year ago we had the great chase for Alex Ovechkin, hunting down the all time goals record from Wayne Gretzky. And we were thinking, what’s the next milestone that someone’s going to try to hit, the next milestone race that could fascinate us? Sidney Crosby potentially pushing for 2,000 points I think is a timely conversation.
He’s 38 right now, let’s say he’s a 90-point player again this year, which he was last year, that’ll put him at around 1,780 by the end of this season. How many more seasons would he need to realistically push for 2000? Is there eventually a bit of a fall off in production? Is Sid gonna be someone who wants to play until he’s 42 or 43 years old, to potentially chase a number like this?
Hutton: It’s an interesting argument. I think for him on that international stage, you’ve got to view the Olympics as his last kick at the can on that big international stage, but knowing these guys…they love the game.
My only concern is where are the Penguins at the end of the year, and what pieces get moved? Does that start to hurt his production as they start to drop off there, or struggle to score goals as much as they have.
One thing I will tell you is, he is an absolute freak when he’s in the gym, and in the way he takes care of his body. So as you start to look at technology and the way that he’s taken care of himself his whole career, what team wouldn’t want to add him as a second, third liner. If the Pens do drop off, maybe he does go to a team that is better, where he can be in a better slotted role, so maybe that point production stays up for a few more years. I think 2,000 isn’t totally out of the question for me.
You can catch the rest of the segment and the full episode here….