Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the top 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists and consistently look to update them when necessary and based on necessity. As such, we are delighted to present our post-2023-24 revision of our top 50 Pittsburgh Penguins.

As for all of our top 50 players in hockey, we look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Hockey League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles that are not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, the Penguins looked to have thrown in the towel but rallied to make the playoffs, helped by a push by their veteran core.  We have several elevations and one new entrant.

As always, we present our top five, which saw no changes, though there is still news regarding the top group:

1. Mario Lemieux
2. Sidney Crosby
3. Evgeni Malkin
4. Jaromir Jagr
5. Kris Letang

You can find the entire list here.

Crosby remains #2 but is closing in on the Hall of Famer, Mario Lemieux. 

Evgeni Malkin has a more arduous task. He was #3 last year, but overtaking Crosby and Lemieux seems like a tall order.

Like Malkin, Defenseman Kris Letang is in the same spot (#5) as last year and is unlikely to get past Jagr anytime soon.

Jake Guentzel, now with Tampa Bay, moved up two spots to #14.

Bryan Rust advanced three spots to #24.

Goalie Tristan Jarry moved up to #32 from #38.

Defenseman Marcus Pettersson makes his debut at #49

We thank you for your continued support of our lists on Notinhalloffame.com.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our post 2022/23 revision of our top 50 Pittsburgh Penguins.

As for all of our top 50 players in hockey we look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Hockey League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, Pittsburgh missed out on the playoffs, but there were still a pair of new entrants and some elevations. 

As always, we present our top five, which saw some changes:

1. Mario Lemieux

2. Sidney Crosby

3. Evgeni Malkin

4. Jaromir Jagr

5. Kris Letang

You can find the entire list here.

In the top five, Malkin overtook Jagr for the #3 spot in a reversal of the former Hart Trophy winners.  Letang remains at #5.

Center, Jake Guentzel, climbed to #16 from #23 and Right Wing, Bryan Rust, moved to #27 from #31.

The new entries were Defenseman, Brian Dumoulin and Goalie, Tristan Jarry at #37 and #38 respectively.

We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.

Tenacious and quick, Bryan Rust sounds about right when you think of man from Pontiac, Michigan.

Rust played collegiately at Notre Dame, where the Right Wing was good enough to gain a Third Round selection by the Penguins, though it was four years later until he debuted for the parent club.  Playing sparingly until his third year, Rust aided the Pens in their 2016 and 2017 Stanley Cup Championships, even winning the nickname of “Mr. Eliminator” for his penchant to score Series closing Goals.

In all of his last five seasons, Rust scored at least 42 Points, which may be the high-water mark for him, but he is currently on a five-year streak of 20 Goals, and the Penguins have been fortunate to have him for the last ten years.