Penguins A to Z: Sidney Crosby remains the game's most complete player (when healthy)

With the Penguins’ 2021-22 season coming to a quick ending in the first round of the playoffs, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 54 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until the 2022-23 season — with the organization, from mid-level prospect Niclas Almari to top-six winger Jason Zucker.

Sidney Crosby

Position: Center

Shoots: Left

Age: 34

Height: 5-foot-11

Weight: 200 pounds

2021-22 NHL statistics: 69 games, 84 points (31 goals, 53 assists)

Contract: In the ninth year of a 12-year contract with a salary cap hit of $8.7 million. Pending unrestricted free agent in the 2025 offseason.

(Note: Crosby’s contract contains a no-movement clause.)

Acquired: First-round draft pick (No. 1 overall), July 30, 2005

Last season: Early September is typically when NHLers put in the final touches on their offseason training in advance of training camp later in the month.

For Sidney Crosby, it was a point of no return.

On Sept. 8, 2021, the Penguins announced their captain would be undergoing surgery on his chronically injured left wrist, an ailment that had bothered him in some regard dating back to 2014.

In previous years, Crosby had rehabilitated the ailment and forged through any discomfort with seemingly little or no detriment to his nonpareil game.

But he reached a juncture during the summer of 2021 where getting surgery in September and missing the first three-plus weeks of the regular season was a far better option than fighting through the injury and potentially requiring surgery during the season.

After sitting the first six games, Crosby made his return to the lineup Oct. 30 for a 4-2 home loss to the New Jersey Devils.

Any hopes Crosby would provide some much-needed stability for the team upon his return dissipated after his first game when he tested positive for covid-19 and missed an additional five games.

Crosby returned to the lineup again in a 6-1 road loss to the Washington Capitals on Nov. 14 and he encountered an impediment he had not encountered since he dealt with concussion-related issues a year earlier.

Rust.

No, not his typical right winger. But sluggishness.

Having played all of one game over the course of the previous five and a half months, Crosby — uncharacteristically but understandably — looked off. Through his first 11 games of the season, Crosby had recorded only eight points (two goals, six assists).

But buoyed by a three-point outburst during a 4-1 road win against the Vancouver Canucks on Dec. 4, Crosby got into a groove and finished the season with 76 points (29 goals, 47 assists) in his final 58 games of the season.

The high point of that surge might have come during a 5-4 overtime home win against the rival Philadelphia Flyers on Feb. 15 when Crosby scored his 500th career goal.

Leading the Penguins to their 16th consecutive playoff appearance, Crosby displayed a dominant form through the first four games of a first-round series against the New York Rangers, racking up nine points (two goals, seven assists) while largely stifling the Rangers’ top line from a defensive standpoint.

A suspected head injury suffered after a high hit by Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba in Game 5 derailed Crosby and the Penguins who lost the final three games of the series.

The future: For all the uncertainty surrounding the Penguins this offseason, particularly Crosby’s longtime teammates, forward Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang, Crosby remains the north star for this franchise.

Provided he is healthy — admittedly a variable that gets more and more uncertain as he approaches his 35th birthday in August — Crosby continues to be what the Penguins are built upon.

While he may no longer be the best player in the game — the likes of Connor McDavid or others might have claimed that distinction — Crosby has taken on something of an emeritus status and is now often designated as the NHL’s most complete player.

However you label him, he is still the focus of the Penguins, and they will go as he goes, no matter who is around him.

Follow the Penguins all season long.