The Pittsburgh Penguins theoretically could speed up a needed roster rebuild by asking three-time Stanley Cup champion Sidney Crosby to accept a trade this summer, but Josh Yohe of The Athletic poured cold water over the idea for a mailbag published Wednesday.
“He wants to be around, impending disaster or not,” Yohe said about Crosby. “He’s the captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins, he has been since 2007, and I believe that position gives him an enormous feeling of pride and responsibility…I’ve known him for 15 years, and my sense has always been that he has no interest in playing for any other franchise and that he’s not one to chase championships.”
What had been the longest active playoff streak in North American professional sports ended last spring when Pittsburgh failed to qualify for the postseason, and the Penguins more recently became sellers ahead of this season’s trade deadline. While Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan seemingly has been on the hot seat for over a year, club president of hockey operations/general manager Kyle Dubas firmly backed Sullivan while speaking with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic recently.
Crosby has one season remaining on his contract but is expected to ink an extension as soon as this July even though he turns 37 years old the following month and features for a club that isn’t close to competing. He has, of course, played only for the Penguins since he made his regular-season NHL debut in October 2005.
“The Penguins want to build something around young players and, a few years from now, I believe Crosby would love nothing more than to lead a young group of Penguins on a special run, to show them the way before he walks away,” Yohe added. “There would be something poetic about ‘Sid the Kid’ finishing in that manner…The longer he sticks around, the better it will be for the younger generation of Penguins. He’ll show them the way.”
Per ESPN stats, Crosby entered Wednesday tied for 16th in the NHL with 33 goals and tied for 23rd with 69 points on the season. The living legend undeniably could still offer plenty to a championship contender, but it appears he’s having no second thoughts about how he’ll end his career despite the Penguins’ numerous deficiencies.
