Babcock, Sullivan agree: Sidney Crosby remains NHL's best

TORONTO — If you go by what the coaches tell you, the clear and definitive best player in the world will indeed be on the ice in Toronto on Thursday night.

Suiting up for the visitors, that is.

Yes, as fanbases continue to trade barbs in the fallout since Auston Matthews was entered into the best player in the world conversation with Connor McDavid among others, two of the top coaches in the NHL in Mike Babcock and Mike Sullivan still agree:

Sidney Crosby’s reign remains.

“To me, it’s not even close,” Babcock said, reminding the media that Crosby has three Stanley Cups and two Olympic gold medals.

“He’s such a privilege to coach because of his commitment to trying to be the best player. But also his want and his passion for helping the Penguins win championships,” Sullivan said, agreeing indirectly with his counterpart.

But for all he does for others, Crosby hasn’t been as productive as McDavid or Matthews in the early going this season — not even close.

McDavid set an NHL record with a point on Edmonton’s first nine goals on the year. Matthews could become just the third player in history with multi-point efforts in his first eight games to begin a season with another offensive burst versus the Penguins.

And yet, even if Crosby wasn’t stuck on zero goals with four assists like he has been through five games, his stance on the best-player debate probably wouldn’t deviate from what he told NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger on Wednesday.

“I think McDavid has set himself apart just based on the awards and the accolades he’s gotten and the consistency he’s had. I think it’s fair to say it’s an easy pick just because of that.”

Between Crosby and Matthews, well, we’ll just have to see how it plays out on the ice, won’t we?

More NHL coverage on Yahoo Sports: