(Las Vegas) Sidney Crosby is hopeful he will have a new contract in place before the start of the next National Hockey League season.
Attending the NHL Players’ Association media tour Monday, the Pittsburgh Penguins captain said he was “pretty optimistic” a contract extension would be signed before the Penguins’ first game, Oct. 9, against the New York Rangers.
“I’m pretty optimistic that we’re going to get to an agreement,” he said. “I don’t know exactly when, but it’s been really positive so far. It’s not been a difficult process at all.”
Crosby will be in the final year of a 12-year, $104.4 million deal signed in June 2012. He has averaged $8.7 million per campaign.
The Cole Harbour, N.S. native led the Penguins to 16 consecutive playoff appearances but hasn’t been able to do so the last two seasons with an aging core led by Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kristopher Letang and Erik Karlsson.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Sidney Crosby
The team, however, was just one point away from the 2022-23 playoffs and three points away last April.
“We were really close,” Crosby said. “We finished really strong. We felt like we accomplished our mission after battling like we did until the very end. We just hope we can be a little more consistent in certain aspects of the game.”
Crosby, a three-time Stanley Cup winner and two-time Olympic gold medalist, has 94 points, including 42 goals, in 2023-24.
The 37-year-old, who was eligible for a contract extension starting on May 1,er last July, will begin the 2024-2025 season just four points shy of the 1,600 career mark.
Crosby has also been selected to represent Canada at the Four Nations Showdown next February.
“We don’t really know what the trajectory of this is going to be and how we’re going to feel mentally and physically,” the center said when asked how long he plans to continue playing.
“All you can do is evaluate each year and go from there… I feel really good. I’m as excited to go to training camp as I was the first year. The passion and that kind of stuff is there.”
The Penguins, however, don’t appear ready to compete for the top honours. General manager and president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas is trying to stay competitive with an aging core while looking to a not-so-distant future that doesn’t include Crosby and his crew.
PHOTO NATHAN DENETTE, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Kyle Dubas, Penguins general manager and president of hockey operations
Dubas traded winger and unrestricted free agent Jake Guentzel before the trade deadline last season even though he was in the playoff hunt.
” [Dubas] “He has to do what’s best for the club, that’s his job,” Crosby said. “I’ve been around long enough to understand that there are always challenges that come with that position, probably even more so with our team. That’s something I’m well aware of.”
“When he looks at what he has to do, he has to approach it a certain way. As a player, I have to do the same thing. It’s just hockey.”
The Penguins added forwards Kevin Hayes, Anthony Beauvillier, Cody Glass and Rutger McGroarty this summer, but the group that failed five months ago remains largely intact.
Crosby said he believes a quick and successful roster overhaul is possible.
“Some teams have been able to go through that transition a little bit quicker or a little bit differently than others,” he said. “It’s certainly possible… as a player, though, you always want to win.”
“That’s why you play hockey.”