Sure. But that's the exception of having a bad roster and bad pipeline. Guentzel is, in part, a Crosby creation. To the victor go the spoils, so to speak. Rust, to a degree too, who is more of a second line talent anyhow. But yeah, to concede, if we only have three wingers on the team worth a damn...and Crosby established himself with the best one quite clearly. Yeah, Malkin gets Kasperi Kapanen and Danton Heinen. Fair enough.
But I mean, even look at this discussion...it's all "McGroarty with Crosby" - the guy who has zero pro games goes right to Crosby. That's not a positive. That's a challenge that Malkin generally isn't equipped to handle.
I don't agree with that, at all. Guentzel showed consistently high levels of play and goal scoring during college, the AHL, and early in the NHL and throughout his career with multiple teammates. The fact that he got to play with Crosby because of the happenstance of who drafted him is not a knock on his ability. It's not his fault that the team that he was drafted by had two generational centers. Sure, it helps to have a playmaking talent like Sid by your side, but Guentzel also showed a high level of play with Aho and Carolina. Playing with elite talents is not a skill that all players have. Several guys get put on Sid's wing that have failed over the years. As good as Sid's is, I wouldn't call him a miracle-maker. The successful players MUST have the talent and, more importantly, the IQ to be successful with Sid. To have Guentzel's success is a testament to his skill AND hockey IQ and it's extremely short-sided to suggest he's merely a "creation of Crosby". That's so incredibly unfair to Guentzel as a player and person that I'm shocked anyone had the sack to suggest it.
If Sid could turn anyone into a 40g scorer, we would have A LOT of 40g scorers over the last 19 years but we don't.
Rust made his name in the bottom 6 and with Malkin and Kunitz in 2016. By the time he was getting regular time with Sid, he was already an established top 6 capable wing. Calling him 2nd line wing is probably fair but again, he often displays the speed and IQ that tend to work well with Sid, just like we say with Dupuis. He's benefited from being able to play with Malkin and Sid but again, that's not a knock on him as player. He still has to score the goals, he still has to make the play to get the assist, he still has to forecheck and backcheck, etc. This isn't Mario with Brown and Errey, per say. Brown potted 115pts with Mario and is regularly PPG with the Penguins, gets traded and he goes to .75 then to roughly .5. Rust has been largely consisted with his production which got a bump once he saw regular top 6 and PP time.
Looking forward, we are running short on the guys that can work well with Sid. All potential candidates should get the chance. If they are successful though, it will be because they showed the skill and chemistry with Sid and NOT because Sid just carried them as you suggested with Guentzel.
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Then again, they've still got Sully behind the bench, they still have Jarry who is gonna be a shitshow from like January onward, they dunno which Ned they'll be getting. 
