LEAKED: Sidney Crosby’s comments to close friends on ongoing negotiations for new deal

There was a strong feeling out there that captain Sidney Crosby, who turned 37 years old on Wednesday, would sign his contract extension with the Pittsburgh Penguins on his special day. People had the feeling the superstitious superstar would sign on 8/7, since he has been carrying an $8.7MM cap hit since the 2008-09 season and wearing number 87 for his entire career. However, nothing happened on Wednesday and since Mark Madden of 105.9 The X and TribLive had claimed that Sid would announce his new deal on Wednesday and since it did not happen, panic started to settle in Pittsburgh.

However, insider Rob Rossi of the Athletic came in with a significant update on Thursday, reporting that a new deal is taking more time seeing Crosby is uncertain about how much longer he wants to continue playing hockey. He doesn’t want to hold back the Penguins if he decides to retire sooner rather than later.

Rossi adds however that Crosby has assured his close friends that he has no plans to leave Pittsburgh.

From Rossi:

“Crosby’s next deal will be designated “35-plus,” limiting the cap relief Crosby can provide the Penguins. A multi-season 35-plus contract cannot contain signing bonuses beyond Year 1 or include a year-to-year salary decrease, and a player’s full cap hit will apply for the remainder of that contract upon early retirement. Assigning a player on a 35-plus contract to the minors would result in only $100,000 in cap savings.

“Crosby has counted only $8.7 million against the cap on his past two contracts, granting the Penguins his services at a perceived below-market level for the past 16 seasons. He is unsure exactly how long he wants to keep playing and “doesn’t want to put (the Penguins) in a bad spot” if he signs a longer deal and doesn’t play it out in full, a source close to Crosby said.”

When getting the inside from Rossi and the comments he leaked from Crosby to his close friends (I say leak because we all know how private Sid is), it is clear that both sides remain confident of agreeing to a new deal and that there are no issues between Crosby and the Penguins.

Crosby remains the classy guy he has always been and wants to avoid putting the Penguins in a difficult spot if he retires early. There is still plenty of time for Crosby to sign his extension in Pittsburgh and it is important to him and the franchise to get this right.

Since entering the league in 2005-06, Crosby has scored 592 goals and 1,596 points in 1,272 games. He is the Penguins all-time leader in games played and trails only Mario Lemieux for the franchise lead in goals, assists, and points. At 1,596 points, Crosby ranks 10th in NHL history and will likely pass Joe Sakic (1,641) for ninth with a full season in 2024-25. He is coming off his best season since 2018-19, scoring 42 goals and 52 assists over 82 games. It marked the second straight season Crosby has tallied 90-plus points while playing a full 82-game season.

Fans in Pittsburgh want more, but Crosby wonders for how much longer?