A contract extension was thought to be a foregone conclusion for Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. While Sid is no longer a kid, he has remained one of the NHL's best and most popular players despite entering his late 30s. But there's now a greater possibility than ever that Crosby will not finish his career in Pittsburgh.
Although Crosby has kept up his end of the bargain on the ice, having totaled 75 goals and 187 points over the past two seasons, there is some nervousness among Pittsburgh media that Crosby and the Penguins will not come to a contract extension as expected.
Back in 2012, Crosby signed a 12-year, $104.4 million contract — not-so-coincidentally carrying an $8.7 million cap hit — that would take him through the 2024-25 season, when he would be 37 years old. Well, Crosby celebrated his 37th birthday a little over two weeks ago, and the 2024-25 NHL season is set to begin in just a few months, and yet the two sides have not agreed to a new deal.
Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said that while it would make sense for both parties to move on from each other, Crosby entering the final year of his contract is nerve-racking.
“The Crosby situation is far more worrisome,” Mackey wrote. “Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas was busy this past week flipping nondescript draft picks with the Blues. Have to think there was available time to extend one of the most important athletes in our city’s history.
“Furthermore, if Dubas or Crosby wanted this done, it’s hard to imagine how that doesn’t happen. Imagine Crosby calling Dubas and saying he wanted to stay and them not figuring out a way to make that happen. Or Dubas saying the inverse — we want you here, you’re Sid, we’ll give you fair market value, you can’t possibly play anywhere else.
“The longer this goes, the more it worries me that one side doesn’t want to dance. It’s just hard to decipher which one that would be.”
Sidney Crosby entering final year of contract and possibly final season with Penguins
After being selected first overall in the 2005 NHL Draft, Sidney Crosby lived up to the impossibly high expectations; in his nearly 20 years with the team, he has led the Pittsburgh Penguins to three Stanley Cup titles and picked up a pair of Harts, Conn Smythes, Maurice Richards, and three Ted Lindsays. From 2007 to 2022, Crosby and the Penguins did not miss the playoffs, a streak that ranks ninth all-time in NHL history.
The streak was snapped in 2023, though, when the team fell just shy of snagging a Wild Card spot. More of the same happened this year, with Pittsburgh only able to secure five of a possible 10 points to close the season, leading to another early offseason.
Although the team has struggled to contend for years — the Penguins have not advanced past the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2018 — Crosby has continued to prove why he is one of the greatest players in NHL history. At age 36, Crosby scored 42 goals and 94 points. The goal mark is his highest single-season total since 2016-17, while the points were his most since 2018-19.
Despite the seemingly impossible high level of play at 37 years old, Crosby very well could be about to play his final season with the Penguins. He will make $3 million this year (but will still count as an $8.7 million cap hit), and if a new deal isn't signed, he will become an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career next summer.
If Crosby were to sign a deal with a cap hit of $8.7 million, as he has done with each of his last two contracts, that would keep him around the same level of financial commitment as Dylan Larkin, Patrik Laine, Bo Horvat, and Sam Reinhart.
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