- Sidney Crosby opens his 20th season wearing the Penguins’ “C” tonight in Philadelphia
- That moves him past Steve Yzerman’s long-standing mark of 19 seasons
- Read below for how the record stacks up and where Alex Ovechkin sits
Sidney Crosby owns another NHL record, and this one is all about staying power.
Crosby is now the longest-tenured captain in NHL history. His 20th season with the “C” starts Wednesday night when Pittsburgh visits the Flyers, and Penguins PR marked the occasion that morning:
Steve Yzerman held the record before him. The Red Wings legend captained Detroit from 1986-87 through 2005-06, a run that counts as 19 seasons because the 2004-05 lockout wiped out a full year. Crosby matched that mark last season.
Pittsburgh handed him the captaincy on May 31, 2007. He was 19 years, nine months and 24 days old, making him the youngest captain in league history at the time. Gabriel Landeskog and Connor McDavid have both gone younger since.
That anniversary is coming up, and the league made sure to point it out:
Nobody active is close. Alex Ovechkin has worn the “C” in Washington since 2010-11, which puts him in his 17th season as captain. At 41, Ovechkin would need three more years after this one just to reach where Crosby stands today.
With the “C” on his chest, he captained the Penguins to Stanley Cups in 2009, 2016 and 2017 and took home the Conn Smythe Trophy in both of the last two runs.
His trophy case also holds two Hart Trophies, two Art Ross Trophies, two Rocket Richards and two Ted Lindsay Awards.
Age hasn’t slowed the production much, either. Crosby put up 29 goals and 74 points in 68 games last season, and he enters Wednesday with 654 goals and 1,761 points in 1,420 career games.
This is also the last year of his $8.7 million deal. GM Kyle Dubas recently said he feels no pressure to get a Crosby extension done, so the captain’s future beyond 2026-27 is still an open question.
Record No. 1 of the new season is in the books before he’s even taken a shift.
