Sidney Crosby: Pittsburgh Penguins Captain's Return Will Lead to MVP Year

It’s been 11 months since Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has played in a regular season game, and tonight will be the first game in his return as the NHL’s most valuable player.  

Now, with Crosby back in full-time action with the Penguins, after missing the team’s first 20 games, can he win the Hart Trophy as the league’s Most Valuable Player? 

Before Crosby’s injury last year, he was on an amazing pace as the best player in the NHL. Through 41 games, he had 32 goals and 34 assists for a league-high 66 points. That’s an astonishing 1.6 points per game over the first half of the season.  

That points per game pace Crosby was on last year had him on pace for a season of 64 goals, 68 assists and what would have been a league-high 136 points for the season. That would have easily won him the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s scoring champion, plus the Hart Trophy for the ’09-10 season.  

As amazing as Crosby was last year, it wasn’t that far from what he’s been doing for his career. Over Crosby’s first six years in the NHL, he’s had a 1.4 point per game average.  

That means after missing the first quarter of the season, Crosby has a great shot at not only winning the Hart, but also the Art Ross Trophy. In fact, last year’s scoring champion, Daniel Sedin, finished the year with 104 points.  

Let’s say he plays in the Penguins’ remaining 62 games this year. With his average of 1.4 to 1.6 points per game, that means he should end up with 86 to 99 points this year. That should put Crosby ahead of the Penguins’ leader this year in scoring, James Neal. And it should put Crosby among the leaders of the NHL in scoring for the year. 

Crosby’s return and his ability to put up 86 to 99 points in three quarters of a season will give a boost to a team that is already playing at a high level. Through their first 20 games, they are tied atop the Atlantic Division and sit at fourth in the Eastern Conference.  

If Crosby can lead this Penguins team to a first-place finish in the Atlantic and home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs, it will lead to Crosby winning his second Hart Trophy. He is the best player on this Penguins team and makes them almost a lock to win the Eastern Conference.  

Sidney Crosby is a lot of things to the NHL and to his Pittsburgh Penguins team. This year he will do what is almost impossible, in winning the Hart Trophy after missing the first quarter of the season. 

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