Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and the great unknown

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. – Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang have been members of the Pittsburgh Penguins for more than half their lives, an extraordinary thing. They are the biggest winners in franchise history and the foundation of the Penguins’ greatest hockey generation.

They are the Big Three, larger than life figures.

They did everything brilliantly and their legacies are more than secure.

Of course, this doesn’t guarantee the Big Three will win. Chances are, their end result isn’t what anyone wants.

“It’s obviously something new,” Letang said quietly after the Penguins’ practice on Monday.

He talked about losing. The Penguins do that a lot these days, losing game after game, with the next loss almost always being direr than the last. You can’t score. You can’t defend yourself. They are not hard. They’re not fast. They’re not good on special teams. Their goalkeeping is poor. They are old. They are at the bottom of the table.

It’s a bleak picture.

Crosby, Malkin and Letang are in an interesting position. Even though they were getting older, they wanted to stay together until the end of their careers. Their wish came true when Malkin and Letang received new contracts from Ron Hextall in the summer of 2022. As expected, Crosby signed a new contract in September.

They all have full no-trade clauses. They can all retire in Pittsburgh if they wish. But a big factor in her final signing with the Penguins was the expectation that it wouldn’t happen. That winning – or at least competitiveness – would always continue.

And yet a few years later the penguins collapsed. Many in the organization are under pressure, and rightly so. Kyle Dubas has a pretty monumental road ahead of him, and he didn’t help himself in the summer of 2023 when he made three decisions that looked potentially disastrous. Mike Sullivan is also feeling the pressure, as most NHL coaches would be long gone by the time such a season begins.

However, the greatest pressure will likely be on Crosby, Malkin and Letang. They staged this. They wanted to stay. And while that kind of loyalty is rare and undeniably admirable in professional sports, the onus falls on these three to prevent the Penguins from completely falling apart.

And in that regard, things aren’t going so well.

Malkin’s play has clearly declined after an excellent start. Letang is playing the worst hockey of his career. And while Crosby is still a great player, he wasn’t at his best through the first two months of the season.

Losses are increasing. The number of visitors is declining.

What will the Big Three do about it?

“We’re getting back to work,” Letang said. “The last thing we can do is feel sorry for ourselves.”

The NHL will have no pity on the Penguins, who have been one of the league’s dominant teams over the past few decades. Now they’re wounded and the NHL’s best teams are rejoicing over them with no end in sight.

The post-game scenes were eerie and, frankly, depressing.

Malkin, always the most emotional of the three, looks particularly unhappy and angry.

And Crosby looked as miserable as I’ve ever seen him as he stood with the puck on Saturday night, commemorating his 600th career NHL goal.

Then there is Letang, whose physical abilities seem to be declining. He proceeds thoughtfully, even if he’s not sure what the answers are.

“We try to support each other,” Letang said of his two close friends, Crosby and Malkin. “It’s hard at the moment because it was always the same, the same mistakes. And then it’s the third period and you’re down 5-1. That would be difficult for anyone to manage.”

Crosby, Malkin and Letang are not just anyone. They are future Hall of Famers, the guys who wear the letters on their chest.

It’s completely inaccurate to suggest that they’re delaying a much-needed revamp because, frankly, they all play at perfectly reasonable prices. There are many, many contracts on this team that are worse than the three she signed.

Still, the idea of ​​keeping the band together was her own.

“We always want to be the guys that right the ship,” Letang said. “And we have to be the guys who right the ship. It’s just very difficult for everyone at the moment.”

Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang are set for an epic climb. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Although I don’t sense any personality conflicts, it can’t be a group in which the Big Three feel particularly comfortable. There are veterans on this team who are rounding out their careers and cashing paychecks. I’m not sure they’re all as invested as Crosby, Malkin and Letang.

Young players are also trying to establish themselves. Although Crosby and Letang in particular are excellent at dealing with young players, they have not signed up as coaches. They could use players willing to help them now.

For every Owen Pickering who appears to be a building block of the future, there have been five Valtteri Puustinens in recent years, players who have a modest level of talent but are unlikely to play on a championship-caliber team.

Crosby, Malkin and Letang are certainly feeling a little stuck. They’re still capable of great things, but at their age they won’t be able to lead a bad team anywhere. This is the darkest time of their time in Pittsburgh, and while all athletes and franchises experience difficult times, it is somewhat unusual that the difficult period comes at the very end, after everything was fine and champagne was drunk from the Stanley Cup for many Male.

It usually doesn’t end badly because the players in their role now tend to retire or move elsewhere.

What makes matters worse is the fact that Dubas knows this team isn’t good and is doing a lot of building for the future, starting with the Jake Guentzel trade last season.

“It’s hard to see,” Letang said. “But I know he has to look to the future.”

The Big Three want to shape the future well and would like to play a significant role in it. They will get their chance.

But what is the plan?

“We will go back to what we do well,” Letang said. “Keep working hard. It’s no secret: whoever plays the hardest and executes the plan will win.”

The penguins do neither these days.

It takes something away from their founding players every day.

I’m not sure they have the ability to improve things. They will get their chance. It would be a shame to see this brilliance end with a whimper.

However, Father Time doesn’t care. Neither does the rest of the NHL.

“We have to find a way,” Letang said.

It would be her greatest achievement.

(Top photo of Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin: Jeanine Leech / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)