When you think of elite Russian NHL players, names like Pavel Bure, Sergei Federov, Alexander Ovechkin are the first to come to mind.

Evgeni Malkin has been one of the most prolific scorers in the league since joining the NHL, but for some reason he’s not as commonly spoken about as one of the all-time greats. The best example of this is that he was excluded from the NHL’s top 100 players this season.

Russian Magazine Sport-Express has taken note of this while curating their rendition of the top 50 Russian NHLers with his name leading the pack. That’s right, number 1.

It may seem shocking initially to those who haven’t seen his stats but looking at his numbers in comparison to other top Russian talent it’s pretty night and day.

Evgeni Malkin:

3X Stanley Cup Winner (Tied for most of all-time by a Russian)
2X Art Ross Winner (Most all-time by a Russian)
Conn Smythe Winner
Calder Memorial Winner
Ted Lindsay Winner
3X NHL First-Team All-star
1.179 Career PPG (Most all-time by a Russian, 14th all-time)

Sergei Fedorov:

3X Stanley Cup Winner
1X Hart Memorial Winner
2X Selke Winner
1X Lester B. Pearson Winner
1X NHL First-Team All-Star
NHL All Rookie Team
0.945 Career PPG

Alexander Ovechkin:

7X NHL First-Team All-Star
4X NHL Second-Team All-Star
6X Rocket Richard Winner
3X Hart Memorial Winner
1X Art Ross Winner
NHL All Rookie Team
Calder Memorial Winner
1.124 Career PPG

 

Pavel Datsyuk:

2X Stanley Cup Winner
1X NHL Second-Team All-Star
3X Selke Winner
4X Lady Byng Memorial Winner
0.96 Career PPG

Pavel Bure:

2X Rocket Richard Winner (Led league in goals in ‘94 before trophys introduction)
Calder Memorial Winner
1X NHL First-Team All-Star
2X NHL Second-Team All-Star
1.109 Career PPG

Now if you really look at what Malkin has accomplished in just over a decade of actually playing in the league, it is hard to argue another Russian born has had a better career. Players like Ovechkin and Bure definitely know how to put the puck in the net and Datsyuk is one of the greatest defensive forwards ever, but Malkin’s combination of team success and scoring rate put him on top.