Hockey Insider shares the latest on Sidney Crosby's future in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Penguins captain and future Hall of Fame forward Sidney Crosby has one season remaining on his current contract, and there has been plenty of speculation regarding the kind of numbers he can expect on his next deal.

It's no secret that Crosby, along with fellow Pittsburgh franchise cornerstones Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, are all over 35 and not getting any younger. Additionally, Crosby has one year left on his 12-year, $104.4 million deal (with an AAV of $8.7 million, a nod to his jersey number) and can become a free agent in the summer of 2025.

However, for Penguins fans wondering why a new contract hasn't yet materialized, Penguins Insider Rob Rossi of The Athletic is here to put your minds at ease. As he puts it, both Crosby and Penguins management are comfortable enough with the state of negotiations to let both sides take "downtime" for the summer.

"I made a few calls to follow up, and the only real news — perhaps another subjective term — is that all parties (Crosby and his agent, Pat Brisson, and Penguins president of hockey operations/general manager Kyle Dubas) were comfortable enough with where the contract negotiations stood that everybody felt comfortable going about summer plans such as taking holidays and enjoying a bit of downtime," Rossi explained. "Nobody from the Penguins' hockey side is worried about Crosby eventually putting ink to paper. This is not to suggest some folks who deal with season-ticket holders/corporate partners aren’t sweating until he does."

Despite his age, Crosby is showing no signs of slowing down, having scored 42 goals and 52 assists while playing in all 82 regular season games in 2023-24. Naturally, he'll go down as one of the greatest players not only in Penguins history but in NHL history whenever it is that he ultimate decides to call it a career.

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