The Pittsburgh Penguins 2008 Most Valuable Player

This is the last in a series of posts looking back at 2008 through the results of our Best of 2008 Survey. Thanks to everyone who voted.

When Sidney Crosby went down with an injury last season, Penguins fans thought the worst. But Evgeni Malkin stepped up his game and recorded his best NHL season, finishing second in scoring to Alexander Ovechkin and being nominated for the Hart Trophy.

Evgeni Malkin was definitely the Penguins top player in 2008.

Malkin's impressive play continued into the next season. This season he recorded 59 points the 57 games played in 2008 and is on pace to hit 126 points overall. He has scored many memorable goals, but perhaps none more memorable than his slap shot goal against Philadelphia in the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals.

Whether lined up with Sidney Crosby or Petr Sykora, his most frequent winger, Malkin delivers. In 2008 Malkin truly emerged as one of hockey's best. His combination of speed, size and skill is very rare and because of that he has even been compared to Penguins legend Mario Lemieux.

Unfortunately his lack of goal scoring during the Stanley Cup Finals were one of the main reasons the Penguins struggled against the Detroit Red Wings.

While the Pittsburgh Penguins are no doubt Sidney Crosby's team, Malkin is a true superstar and leader in his own right.

Thankfully he signed a contract extension over the summer that will keep him in Pittsburgh for quite a while.