Sidney Crosby’s next contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins remains a work in progress, but the club’s longtime, legendary captain doesn’t appear to be in any hurry to get a deal done.
Crosby spoke about his contract situation at the NHL Player Media Tour in Vegas on Tuesday and acknowledged that negotiating at this stage of his career is a little different. For now, Crosby is leaving all of the talking to his agent, Pat Brisson.
“Pat’s talking to Kyle,” Crosby told Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin. “It’s just a little bit more difficult, I think, at my age, as far as trying to project where you’re going to be. It’s different. You don’t know where you’re going to be at, kind of year to year, how you feel, and things like that.”
Crosby, 39, made it clear that he still wants to play for several more years. The uncertainty is exactly how many.
“I’d like to continue playing for a number of years,” Crosby said. “I just don’t know what that number is. I guess your mind and body tell you that eventually. Right now, I feel pretty good, though.”
Those comments also leave the structure of his next contract up in the air. Crosby’s most recent contract with the Penguins was a two-year, $17.4 million deal that he signed ahead of the 2024-25 campaign. After the upcoming 2026-27 season, Crosby is set to become an unrestricted free agent.
When asked whether he would now prefer to sign contracts on a year-to-year basis or ink another multi-year deal, Crosby said he isn’t committed to either option. His longtime rival, Alex Ovechkin, signed a one-year contract with the Washington Capitals this summer to extend his NHL career.
“That’s something Pat’s going to talk to Kyle about,” Crosby said. “But that’s not something that I’m set on either way, to be honest with you.”
Crosby is also in no rush to find common ground, and doesn’t care if he hasn’t signed his next deal by the time the season begins.
“Two summers ago, ended up getting done,” Crosby said. “So we’ll see. I don’t think there’s a timeline on it. They’re just gonna talk.”
Crosby was a point-per-game player again this past year, notching 74 points (29g, 45a) in 68 games for an upstart Penguins team that made the playoffs after a second-place finish in the Metropolitan Division. He has now racked up 21 point-per-game seasons in his career, the only player in NHL history to do so.
