Sidney Crosby: a deal with the Penguins should be official soon

Over the past few days, Sidney Crosby’s contractual situation has been the talk of the town. The Penguins forward, who will be 37 at the start of next season, is still playing at a very high level, but the idea of seeing him leave Pittsburgh in a year’s time (at the end of his current pact) to try and win one last Stanley Cup has been circulating.

His agent, Pat Brisson, had even publicly opened the door to this scenario.

The fact that the Penguins had been struggling for a few years meant that his best chance of winning was perhaps far from Pittsburgh, after all…

But clearly, Crosby seems to be on track to continue his journey in Pittsburgh. According to Rob Rossi (The Athletic) this morning, a deal between Crosby and the Penguins should be formalized shortly.

Details remain unclear, but we’re talking about a possible three-year contract with an annual salary of around $10 million per year.

“The team and player are confident a deal will be agreed upon and formalized soon, the sources said.”

An update on Sidney Crosby and Penguins contract situation.

@penguins@TheAthleticNHL https://t.co/968f0u2Mkm

– Rob Rossi (@Real_RobRossi) July 8, 2024

The annual salary gets a reaction considering that Crosby, who is a superstitious guy in connection with #87, was being paid $8.7M per year for this reason in particular. That said, although nothing is official yet, he seems to be on track for a salary increase on a contract that will start when he turns 38.

It just goes to show what a quality player he remains, despite his age… because there aren’t 1,000 players who could see their annual salary increase at that age.

We know that Crosby was upset to see Jake Guentzel leave at the trade deadline, but despite everything, he seems to want to stay with the Penguins. So, like his long-time teammates Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, he should be in town to stay.

We’ll have to wait and see, but all indications are that Crosby has every intention of ending his career in Pittsburgh. It will now be up to Kyle Dubas to try and build a team that will give the captain one last chance to lift the Stanley Cup.

And that’s just as well, because seeing Sidney Crosby in a uniform other than that of the Penguins would have been bizarre.

Overtime

– I love it.

Habs GM Kent Hughes in a few years on the NHL free agent market with tons of cap space pic.twitter.com/Vz7oC9rG17

– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) July 8, 2024