Penguins' Crosby, Malkin, And Letang Set Record For Being Teammates Longer Than Any Trio In North American Pro Sports

The Pittsburgh Penguins' core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang has been around for a long time. So, long that they've now broken the record for players who have been teammates the longest.

The three opened their season against the Chicago Blackhawks. The fact that the Pens gave up 3 unanswered goals and an empty-netter to lose 4-2 isn't important.

What is important is that the team's core, which has had a hand in three Stanley Cup wins, has now been teammates for 18 seasons.

That breaks a North American sports record previously held by New York Yankees Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera.

Very impressive, and even more so that none of these three are just hanging on for the ride at this point. They're all still major parts of the team, especially Crosby, who clearly has a lot of gas left in the tank.

Pittsburgh Penguins Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, and Kris Letang before the 2019 NHL Stadium Series game against the Philadelphia Flyers at Lincoln Financial Field. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images)

Penguins Could Potentially Make Another Run

"It's just special. There's no other way to put it," Crosby said, per Yahoo Sports. "It's not easy. There are so many factors. So much turnover with teams, especially nowadays where you see that it's so uncommon that players can stay with the same team. The fact we were able to do that, it's really special.

"You appreciate that. You're grateful for that, and hopefully, a few more years left here together."

Crosby's current deal ends after the 2024-25 season while Malkin and Letang have deals that last through the 2025-26 and 2027-28 seasons respectively.

You can only fight the aging process for so long, but the fact that these three could conceivably make another Cup run in the next few years is wild.

Adding Erik Karlsson is a major help on the back end and takes some pressure off of Letang. If the team continues to get depth scoring from the likes of Bryan Rust, Jeff Carter, Jake Guentzel, and new addition Reilly Smith plus some solid enough goaltending, they could be a formidable team if they make the playoffs.

If they make the playoffs. Something they failed to do last season.

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