Only Two Penguins Players Highlighted in New EA Sports NHL Game

For years now, the Pittsburgh Penguins have been led by Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but around them the team have had stars, winning three Stanley Cups since 2009 with this group.

However, there's now just the two remaining, and while the team have solid players in Erik Karlsson, Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust and others, they simply aren't big enough stars to carry this team into the post-season.

One indicator of star power is how many players on a team are featured in early video game rating reveals, and for the latest NHL 26 video game from EA, it was just the Penguins two biggest stars that were featured.

Unsurprisingly, both players were respected well, with Malkin coming in as an 88 overall, while the captain remains one of the elite players in the game as he was rated a 94 overall, ranking him 8th overall in the league behind McDavid, MacKinnon, Draisaitl, Makar, Quinn Hughes, Kucherov and Barkov.

This just shows how respected Crosby is around the league, and even as he passes 38-years of age, he remains one of the most productive players in the National Hockey League after putting up 91 points on a struggling team a year ago.

Ultimately, this is how things will go for a few years as the Penguins continue their rebuild, and while Crosby will be a star until he retires, there's questions over how long he can remain at the elite level he still plays at.