Season | Age | GP | Points | Art Ross | Art Ross Margin |
13-14 | 26 | 80 | 104 | 104 | +17 |
14-15 | 27 | 77 | 84 | 87 | -5 |
15-16 | 28 | 80 | 85 | 106 | -22 |
16-17 | 29 | 75 | 89 | 100 | -11 |
17-18 | 30 | 82 | 89 | 108 | -20 |
In 09 he also played 77 games like in 14 and lost the Art Ross with an 11 point margin but that was to peak OV and Malkin which is more understandable.
Season | Age | GP | Points | Art Ross | Art Ross Margin |
08-09 | 21 | 77 | 103 | 113 | -11 |
Even if Crosby was close to winning the Art Ross in 2015 that is only because literally no one had a good season that year, which makes it even weirder that 77 games wasn't enough for Crosby to win it. Same goes for OV btw, I understand he had turned into a goalscorer by this point but he played 81 games and should've taken this one.
It would be understandable if the change in Crosbys results were because of the rise of new talents, but they only really started to show up in 2018 and especially 2019. By 2018 I'm not sure I expect Crosby to win the Art Ross, but I don't think it's unfair to expect him to be within 20 points when he is healthy. 2017 was his best season in the period because he was on pace to put up a Art Ross, but even then Patrick Kane was more impressive the season before.
He was off to a great start in 14/15, a 1.50 PPG after 22 games:
NHL Stats
Then he dealt with a viral infection that clearly affected his level of play. At this point, the randomness and/or timing of his injuries had reached almost comedic level complimented this time by a visual:
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/sidney-crosby-diagnosed-with-mumps-1.2872807.
The Pens also saw their team's offense, and fortunes, flounder as their new coach Mike Johnston instituted a defense first system that clearly did not work. It was similar to Boudreau's reigning in the Caps offense in 10//11 that saw OV's production take a significant dip. That continued until he was replaced by Sullivan in December of 2015. Crosby was at a 0.71 PPG through 34 games in 15/16 then was at a 1.33 PPG the rest of the way.
So a combination of an injury and a dramatic, and ill-advised, strategic change saw Crosby with a 0.87 PPG over an 89 game period. From late December 2015 to April 2017, he is the leading scorer and the leading goalscorer, leads the World Cup in scoring and wins the MVP and wins Two Conn Smythes. Almost unbelievably, he has two more concussions during this stretch.
In 17/18, it's all about winning a 3rd Cup in a row. Crosby has one of the era's best playoff runs through 2 rounds.
In 18/19, at age 31, Crosby has morphed into the league's best 2-way player and finishes 2nd in Hart voting.
It is reasonable to say he went from his peak to post-peak from 14/15 to 18/19. He "fell off a cliff" for a 90 game stretch then has a stretch until the end the 18/19 season that only a handful of players in NHL history would see as underperforming:
Two Cups
Two Conn Smythes
1 Rocket
Two 2nd places in Hart voting
Three Top 5s in Art Ross scoring
1 World Cup MVP
Leading playoff scorer
His "fell off the cliff season" sees him lead the league in PPG and finish four points out of the Art Ross.