Are the Pittsburgh Penguins ‘Big Three’ Holding Them Back from Being Contenders in 26-27?
The 2025-2026 Pittsburgh Penguins showed a return to good hockey in Pittsburgh, as the five-time Stanley Cup Champions recorded 98 points, good for second in the Metropolitan Division, earning them a playoff spot for the first time in three seasons. A team that had struggled and continuously gotten worse the past few seasons had a resurgence under new head coach Dan Muse, who has been nominated for the 2026 Jack Adams Award. The Penguins ‘Big Three’ of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang returned for their 20th season together, which marked the longest-tenured trio of teammates in North American professional sports history. Crosby played incredibly again, showing why he still wears the captain's patch. ‘The Kid’ recorded his 21st straight point-per-game season as he had 29 goals and 45 assists for 74 points in 68 games. Malkin had a resurgence under Muse as well, recording 61 points in 56 games, 42 of which were assists, good for third on the team. Letang has had a steady decline over the past four or five seasons. His scoring has slowed down; he had 34 points this season, which is four more than last season but still lower than any other season since 2016. His defense has been subpar as well, as he often turns the puck over or skates slowly and can’t make a play in time. With the expectation that all three will return to Pittsburgh in 2026, a concern arises about how smart that may be.
Despite good play by Crosby and Malkin, all of the ‘Big Three’ are older now, getting to an age where most would have retired. One of the biggest questions this offseason is whether Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin will retire. He’s 40 years old, just a little older than Malkin, who has a year on Crosby and Letang, and he played incredibly slowly this season. Granted, ‘Ovi’ still recorded 64 points, with 32 goals and 32 assists, jokes were often made that one of his shifts consisted of him just hovering along the boards, waiting for the puck. While it seems as if the NHL’s all-time leading goal-scorer is done, Mark Madden from Triblive doesn’t believe so. Rather, Madden thinks that ‘Ovi’ wants to play another season, but Washington really doesn’t want that, but can’t really tell him no. He believes that Pittsburgh is in the same position with its long-time trio. The writer from Triblive acknowledges that the ‘Big Three’ are still great hockey players. As I had mentioned, both Crosby and Malkin had point-per-game seasons, and Letang played a huge role in Pittsburgh’s Game Four and Game Five victory against Philadelphia in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, recording a goal in both games. It’s also reached a point where it’s all three, or nothing. After 20 seasons together, and even though Malkin is a free agent this offseason, if Crosby returns, so do the other two.
The Penguins cannot continue this trend indefinitely; however, they are waiting on the retirements of Crosby, Malkin, and Letang, all while slowing down come playoff time due to age. Madden says, “You can’t win with old. You can’t build on old.” Pittsburgh is trending into complacency by keeping the ‘Big Three’ around this long, practically letting them steer the ship. Even though the Pens had an 18-point increase from last season and made the playoffs again, much of this was due to Muse coming in and completely changing the mindset in the Penguins' locker room and practice facility. Combined with the president of hockey operations, Kyle Dubas, bringing in a multitude of young, talented players for Pittsburgh, a new form of hockey emerged. The Penguins have the capability to build on this talent and raise the level of hockey, but relying on veterans may cost them opportunities, players, and aggression. Something that Madden mentions is that he “advised that the Penguins trade Malkin after their second round playoff loss to Washington in 2018. If the Penguins had done so, they might have Aleksander Barkov and Jake Guentzel. They would have traded Malkin to Florida for Barkov, then could have afforded to keep Guentzel.” Pittsburgh has missed opportunities, and the age of its roster was evident in its playoff matchup against the Flyers. One more season from the ‘Big Three’ is likely to happen, but it may be a mistake.
