2005-06 Upper Deck Young Guns Sidney Crosby #201 RC

The rookie subset that became a brand

Upper Deck's Young Guns cards are short-printed rookie cards seeded into its flagship hockey release, and over the years the subset has become one of the most anticipated annual releases among hockey collectors. In 2005-06, Crosby's card was #201, one of 41 Young Guns in the first series, with roughly one Young Guns card inserted in every four hobby packs.

The card is neither autographed nor serial-numbered. Its appeal is that it is the standard-issue rookie of a generational player, printed in far smaller numbers than the base cards around it. A PSA article called it Crosby's most renowned and widely collected rookie card.

Upper Deck made pricier Crosby rookies that year, led by The Cup autograph patch card limited to 99 copies, a product sold in one four-card pack per box for about $500. The Young Guns card is the one ordinary collectors could pull from a retail-priced pack.

Sid the Kid

Sidney Crosby was born August 7, 1987, in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia. The NHL canceled its entire 2004-05 season in a labor dispute, and when play resumed the league used a weighted lottery to set the 2005 draft order. The draft, held July 30, 2005, became known as the Sidney Crosby Lottery, and Pittsburgh won him with the first pick.

He debuted on October 5, 2005, the opening night of the post-lockout season, and started the year skating alongside Mario Lemieux, who retired after 26 games because of an irregular heartbeat. Crosby finished with 39 goals and 102 points in 81 games, becoming the youngest player to reach 100 points in a season at 18 years and 253 days. Alexander Ovechkin won the Calder Trophy; Crosby was runner-up.

The next season, at 19, he won the scoring title with 120 points, the Hart Trophy and the Lester B. Pearson Award, and on May 31, 2007, he became the youngest captain in NHL history. He has since won three Stanley Cups (2009, 2016 and 2017), back-to-back Conn Smythe Trophies in 2016 and 2017, and scored Canada's overtime winner for Olympic gold in Vancouver in 2010.

Through 2025-26, his 22nd season, all with Pittsburgh, he had 654 goals and 1,762 points in 1,421 games.

A league starting over

The 2005-06 season was a reboot. The NHL returned from the lost season with shootouts to settle tied games, a smaller neutral zone, no more two-line offside pass, goalie equipment cut by 11 percent and a trapezoid limiting where goalies could handle the puck. Scoring jumped: the league recorded 7,443 goals in 1,230 games, the highest total in its history. Carolina beat Edmonton for the Stanley Cup on June 19, 2006.

Outside hockey, 2005 was the year YouTube launched, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on August 29, and NASA's Deep Impact probe hit Comet Tempel 1 on July 4.

From $400 to the thousands

In late 2016, shortly after Crosby's second Stanley Cup, one collector told PSA that PSA 10 copies had been going for about $400 and were then listed at $500 to $600. At the time PSA had graded 407 Gem Mint copies.

A PSA 10 sold at auction in July 2019 after 15 bids; the price is not public. Public offers on that lot reached $1,500 in January and April 2021, at the height of the card boom.

By 2026, with the PSA 10 population above 1,300, price trackers recorded PSA 10 sales between about $3,360 and $4,750, including $4,080 on May 31, 2026, and $4,750 on September 27, 2026. The sources do not say whether those were auctions or fixed-price sales, so they are not listed in the price history here. Ungraded copies were trading at about $900 to $1,400 in September 2026.

How to identify it

Look for the Young Guns logo and the number 201 on a 2005-06 Upper Deck Series 1 card showing Crosby in full stride, looking back over his shoulder. Upper Deck also printed a scarce High Gloss parallel of the card limited to 10 copies, and a Young Guns checklist card shared with Corey Perry; neither is this card.

Crosby has many other 2005-06 rookies, including Upper Deck Victory, Bee Hive, Trilogy, SP Authentic and SPx versions. The Young Guns card is the benchmark because it sits in the flagship set.

The numbers

2005-06 rookie season (card year)

81 GP, 39 G, 63 A, 102 PTS, -1, 110 PIM. 2nd in Calder voting; youngest 100-point player

2006-07 season

79 GP, 36 G, 84 A, 120 PTS. Art Ross, Hart and Pearson awards

2008-09 playoffs

24 GP, 15 G, 16 A, 31 PTS. Stanley Cup

Career through 2025-26 (22 seasons)

1,421 GP, 654 G, 1,108 A, 1,762 PTS, all with Pittsburgh

Draft

2005 NHL Entry Draft, 1st overall, July 30, 2005

Honors

3 Stanley Cups (2009, 2016, 2017), 2 Conn Smythe Trophies, Olympic gold 2010

Timeline

1. Aug 7, 1987

   Sidney Crosby is born in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia.

2. 2005

   The NHL's 2004-05 season is canceled by a lockout.

3. Jul 30, 2005

   Pittsburgh drafts Crosby first overall after winning the weighted draft lottery.

4. Oct 5, 2005

   Crosby makes his NHL debut on the season's opening night.

5. 2005

   Upper Deck issues Series 1 with Crosby's Young Guns rookie, #201.

6. 2006

   Crosby finishes his rookie season with 102 points, the youngest ever to reach 100.

7. May 31, 2007

   Crosby becomes the youngest captain in NHL history.

8. 2009

   Crosby wins his first Stanley Cup.

9. 2010

   Crosby scores the overtime winner for Olympic gold in Vancouver.

10. Nov 2016

    PSA reports 407 PSA 10 copies; Gem Mint examples sell for about $400 to $600.

11. 2017

    Crosby wins his third Stanley Cup and second straight Conn Smythe Trophy.

12. Jul 18, 2019

    A PSA 10 sells at auction after 15 bids; price not public.

13. Sep 27, 2026

    Price trackers record a PSA 10 sale of $4,750.

The world in 2005

• Jan 20, 2005

  George W. Bush begins his second term as president.

• Feb 14, 2005

  YouTube launches.

• May 31, 2005

  W. Mark Felt reveals he was the Watergate source 'Deep Throat.'

• Jul 4, 2005

  NASA's Deep Impact probe strikes Comet Tempel 1.

• Aug 29, 2005

  Hurricane Katrina strikes the Gulf Coast.

• Sep 29, 2005

  John Roberts is sworn in as Chief Justice.

• Oct 5, 2005

  The NHL returns from its lockout with shootouts and new rules.

Price record

A realized private sale is a completed transaction outside an auction room. The amount is what changed hands on the date shown. Private sales are reported less consistently than auction results, so a single comparable carries less weight than a run of them.

By reference price, 2005-06 Upper Deck Young Guns Sidney Crosby #201 RC is number 84 of 100 in the trading cards entries of the FLOAT 100. 97 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (90 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Crosby's draft was known as the Sidney Crosby Lottery because the post-lockout order was set by a weighted lottery.
• Crosby started his rookie season playing alongside Mario Lemieux, who retired after 26 games.
• At 18 years and 253 days, Crosby became the youngest player ever to score 100 points in a season.
• He lost the 2006 Calder Trophy to Alexander Ovechkin.
• Only about one Young Guns card came in every four hobby packs.
• The number of PSA 10 copies more than tripled between 2016 and 2026.