{"id":539768,"date":"2026-04-04T04:46:53","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T04:46:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/539768\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T04:46:53","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T04:46:53","slug":"two-decades-of-the-big-three-winding-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/539768\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Decades of the “Big Three” Winding Down"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are less than ten regular-season games left this season, which means there may only be a few more chances to see the \u201cbig three\u201d of Sidney Crosby<\/a>, Evgeni Malkin<\/a>, and Kris Letang<\/a> suit up together again. This marks the 20th season of the trio of teammates. They have been rostered together for over 1,400 games and played together in more than 850. The Penguins\u2019 winning percentage in those games is over .600.<\/p>\n

With only three home games remaining and Malkin\u2019s contract set to expire, Penguins fans might only have a few more chances to see Crosby, Malkin, and Letang skate together in person. GM Kyle Dubas and Malkin\u2019s team have said they will talk about a new contract this summer, but nothing is guaranteed.<\/p>\n

Crosby,\u00a0Malkin,\u00a0and Letang are three of just 35 players in the history of the NHL, NFL, NBA, and MLB to play 20 seasons with a single team; and the only three to do so concurrently. Further, they are the highest-scoring trio of teammates with a single team in NHL history, recording a combined 3,956 regular-season points. Oh, and they have won three Stanley Cup Championships.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They are, by far, the longest tenured triad of teammates in any of the four major sports. The next closest would be the\u00a0New York Yankees\u2019\u00a0group of\u00a0Mariano\u00a0Rivera,\u00a0Derek\u00a0Jeter, and\u00a0Jorge\u00a0Posada. That Yankees trio played together for\u00a017 seasons before Posada retired. Overall, Jeter spent 20 seasons with the Yankees, Rivera 19, and Posada 17.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Amazingly, Jeter\u2019s 20 years with the Yankees is not an MLB record. That distinction goes to Brooks Robinson and Carl Yastrzemski who spent 23 seasons with the Orioles and Red Sox, respectively.\u00a0In case\u00a0you are\u00a0wondering, the player that holds the record for the most seasons with a single NHL franchise is\u00a0Alex Delvecchio, who spent his entire 24-year and 1,550 career games with the Red Wings (1950-1974).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Penguins\u2019 trio is still building upon its legacy this season. However, even if all three were to abruptly retire at season\u2019s end, they have certainly already etched their place in\u00a0NHL history. Consider the following points per game statistics:<\/p>\n

Crosby: 653 G -1,101 A -1,754 P \u2014 (1.24 points per game)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Malkin: 529 G -870 A -1,399 P \u2014 (1.11 points per game)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Letang: 178 G \u2013 625 A \u2013 803 P \u2014 (0.653 points per game)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Totals: 1,360 G \u2013 2,596 A \u2013 3,956 P<\/p>\n

On five\u00a0different occasions, the trio\u00a0has combined for 10 points in a single game. Additionally, the three also rank first, second, and third in regular-season games played in franchise history, each with over 1,200. Oh, for those keeping track, Malkin is also the franchise\u2019s all-time penalty minutes leader with 1,259 in 1,264 games played. To be fair, Kevin Stevens, the former franchise leader in penalty minutes, accumulated nearly that many penalty minutes, 1,048, in only 522 games played for the Penguins.<\/p>\n

All three\u00a0players also all rank\u00a0in the\u00a0franchise\u2019s\u00a0top-five\u00a0in\u00a0points. Crosby passed Mario Lemieux <\/a>earlier this season to become the franchise\u2019s all-time points leader.\u00a0Malkin sits third, trying to catch Lemieux\u2019s 1,723 points and Letang is fifth trying to catch Jaromir Jagr\u2019s<\/a> 1,079 points. Consider that Evgeni Malkin\u2019s 1,399 career points would be the franchise best for 25 of the NHL\u2019s other 31 teams. However, he plays for the Penguins and that point total is only good enough for third behind Crosby and Lemieux. Even Jagr\u2019s 1,079 points with the Penguins would rank first for 14 of the NHL\u2019s other 31 teams. For the Penguins, as mentioned, he ranks fourth behind Crosby, Lemieux, and Malkin.<\/p>\n

While the\u00a0regular-season\u00a0numbers are certainly impressive, the trio has also delivered in the playoffs. The three have been rostered together for 185 playoff games\u00a0and dressed together in 134 of those games. In those games, the Penguins\u2019 record is 74-60\u00a0(.552 winning %).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The individual playoff statistics\u00a0jump off the page as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Crosby:\u00a0180 Career Playoff Games, 71 Goals, 130 Assists, 201 Points (1.17 points per\u00a0game)\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Conn Smythe Award as Playoff MVP in both 2016 and 2017\u00a0<\/p>\n

His 201 Career Playoff Points rank sixth all-time\u00a0<\/p>\n

Malkin: 177 Career Playoff Games, 67 Goals, 113 Assists,\u00a0180 Points (1.02 points per game)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Conn Smythe Award as Playoff MVP in 2009\u00a0<\/p>\n

His 180 Career Playoff Points rank 14th\u00a0all-time\u00a0<\/p>\n

Letang: 149 Career Playoff Games, 23 Goals, 67 Assists, 90 Points (.604 points per game)\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the past three seasons have not resulted in a trip to the playoffs, the trio of Crosby, Malkin, and Letang are hoping that, in what could be their final season together, they can\u00a0use the\u00a0comradery\u00a0that they have built over the past two decades to will the team into the playoffs one more time. With a crowded Eastern Conference playoff picture, a possibility of a fourth-consecutive non-playoff season exists. Playoffs or not, Penguins fans should enjoy this one last ride\u00a0of \u201cthe big three\u201d together because it is not likely that we will ever see anything like it again.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTags: Evgeni Malkin<\/a> Jaromir Jagr<\/a> Kris Letang<\/a> Mario Lemeuix<\/a> Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> Sidney Crosby<\/a> Vince Comunale<\/a> <\/p>\n

Categorized:Penguins<\/a> Penguins History<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are less than ten regular-season games left this season, which means there may only be a few…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539769,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5113],"tags":[1495,5,3355,1499,61824,4,118,1469,100,5216,768,55599],"class_list":{"0":"post-539768","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-penguins","8":"tag-evgeni-malkin","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-jaromir-jagr","11":"tag-kris-letang","12":"tag-mario-lemeuix","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-penguins","15":"tag-pittsburgh","16":"tag-pittsburgh-penguins","17":"tag-pittsburghpenguins","18":"tag-sidney-crosby","19":"tag-vince-comunale"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116344628391250144","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=539768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}