It’s probably not controversial that we’re ranking Evgeni Malkin third when considering Fleury’s teammates, but when we’ve made it this far and the top two guys on this list are probably really obvious, then maybe there’s a good debate to be had. Then again, we’re talking about two guys that were teammates for over a decade and won championships together and it’s logical, right? Right.
Malkin in comparison to other greats we’ve listed here like Patrick Kane are really close in the all-time scoring list (Malkin is three points ahead of Kane before the season started). Malkin’s scored more goals, but they’ve both won the Hart Trophy and a Conn Smythe Trophy as well as multiple Stanley Cups.
You could call it a tie if you want to, but in this case the tie goes to the guy who spent the most time as Fleury’s teammate rather than trying to score goals against him. Malkin’s brilliance often got overshadowed by Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh, but that didn’t take away from what a beastly player he was. He was the ideal center counterpart to Crosby in Pittsburgh and vital to their success over the years.
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