Crosby has all the talent in the world, undoubtedly. He makes the Pens markedly better. But Malkin has been playing arguably the best hockey of his career this year. He's doing everything. Giving Nystrom the business and sticking up for Letang, to embarrassing Garon (not that hard, admittedly) for pushing him, to scoring goals at impossible angles, to making unbelievable plays and passes almost routinely all year. The guy has been so far above his peers, in a very Crosby-esque way. So maybe when Crosby is back for a whole year, they're comparable.
On the playoffs, Malkin won the Conn Smythe the year they won it all. That year, if you'll remember, there was talk at the end about Malkin being the better player. I think it was the usual hype backlash on Crosby. But Malkin did beat him in points in the playoffs and seemed to show up more consistently. Though Crosby was getting smothered by every team. They both had 58 points in 44 games in that back-to-back stretch where them and the Wings traded Stanley Cups. And that was before Malkin rededicated himself and will win the Art Ross and Hart trophies this year. I think he's definitely the 1B to Crosby's 1A. Maybe even switch those with a playoffs where he out-shines the Kid, like 09. If only for a short time.
EDIT: Also wanna give some love to Brooks Orpik. One of the underrated D-men in the game. I've always wanted him in St. Louis. He's a very gritty big man, and seems to plays his responsibilities well from the games I've seen. Him and Hal Gill were fun to watch. A very scary D group.
