When Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby was sidelined in mid-January by a high ankle sprain more than a few observers suggested the Penguins would struggle without him.

After all, Crosby was the Penguins leading scorer, among the top ten in the league and last season's Art Ross trophy winner as the NHL's leading scorer.

The offensive burden fell upon Evgeni Malkin, the 2007 NHL rookie of the year, but some wondered if Malkin, in only his second NHL season, was up to the challenge.

In the six weeks since Crosby was sidelined, Malkin has not only responded to the challenge, he's answered his critics and emerged for the shadow of "Sid the Kid", blossoming into a young superstar in his own right.

In the 19 games since Crosby was sidelined Malkin has 13 goals, 19 assists for 32 points, making him not only the Penguins leading scorer but also vaulting him to the top of the NHL's scoring race, battling with Washington Capitals forward and fellow Russian Alexander Ovechkin.

Should Malkin win the Art Ross as the NHL's leading scorer it'll mark the first time in ten years that two teammates won the award in consecutive years; coincidentally, it was two Penguins teammates  - Jaromir Jagr (1995) and Mario Lemieux (1996)  - who last accomplished that feat.

Malkin's performance will likely merit him consideration for the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player. I still believe Alexander Ovechkin will win it, but Malkin's performance means it's no longer a sure thing.

It also puts pressure upon the Penguins management to lock up Malkin a year before he becomes a restricted free agent as they did with Crosby last summer, but like Crosby it's gonna cost them, probably in the neighborhood of $8.5 million per season.

The Pens would be wise to re-sign him to that rate now, because if not his asking price is likely to rise next season, and there'll be teams eager to send him an offer sheet worth over $10 million per season. Better for the Penguins to set the price themselves now rather than have another team call the tune next summer.