Sidney Crosby: a structured contract to facilitate a trade in 2026

Naturally, Sidney Crosby has signed a contract extension with Pittsburgh. He’s under contract until 2027. He’ll be 40 by then.

Obviously, we have to expect Crosby to play until 2027. I’ve never really believed in the possibility of him leaving, and his new contract extension reinforces that feeling.

But never say never.

Because Sid the Kid wants to win, it’s possible that at some point he’ll ask Kyle Dubas to explore his options for adding a fourth ring to his collection.

Do I believe it? No. But can things change between now and 2027 for Mario Lemieux’s colt? Yes.

And if things ever do change, it’s clear that the contract the best player of his generation just signed would allow the Penguins to work relatively freely.

After all, $8.7 million for a guy like him is a bargain. Journalist Rob Rossi, who works for The Athletic, put in a good word for us recently.

Whether he drags@penguins… back into a position of prominence or becomes the only reason to care about a proud-turned-fledgling franchise could determine if Sidney Crosby does what Mario did in Pittsburgh: stay until the end of his career. https://t.co/RoSgDek2qd

– Rob Rossi (@Real_RobRossi) September 17, 2024

But there’s more to it than that.

When you look at the way the contract is structured, you see that he’s mostly paid in signing bonuses between 2025 and 2027. He’ll get bonuses of $9M and $6.53M on July 1, 2025 and 2026. After that, he’ll make $780,000 and $1,090,000 in 2025-2026 and 2026-2027.

Sidney Crosby extension breakdown:
Year 1
$780,000 salary
$9M signing bonus
Year 2
$1,090,000 salary
$6,530,000 sb https://t.co/ocA7eNjJrw

– Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) September 16, 2024

What this means is that if he is traded on July 2, 2026 or later, in a hypothetical scenario, he would have a very respectable impact of $8.7M and in real money, he would only get $1.09M.

And if Kyle Dubas retains 50% of his salary, it’s even more affordable.

I really think Sidney Crosby signed such a contract to help his team sign other guys. But if one day he wants to leave, he hasn’t handcuffed his GM, quite the contrary.

Keep that in mind.

Overtime

– Here’s how the Blue Jackets want to honor Gaudreau.

#CBJ share preliminary plans on how the team will honor Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau this season. pic.twitter.com/LPMklm12BK

– Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) September 18, 2024

– Mitch Marner doesn’t want to talk about his contract.

Mitch Marner shuts down any questions on his expiring contract status before the floor was opened to reporters. “I’m not here to talk about that. I’m here to talk about the season.” pic.twitter.com/xpGOXhasA8

– Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) September 18, 2024

– The Habs need to take a step.

Kaiden Guhle joined @seanrcampbell & @MitchyGallo at the Golf Tournament and had some interesting things to say.

Wants to be a leader on the team, thinks the #habs need to take the next step and much more, all packed into a 5 minute conversation. https://t.co/ZKlV65o8nA

– Dave Trentadue (@davetrentadue) September 18, 2024