Sidney Crosby angry with Penguins’ trade deadline plans!

The Pittsburgh Penguins are reported hoping to have a trade in place for forward Jake Guentzel by this evening with less than 48 hours to go until the deadline. General manager Kyle Dubas is said to be seeking a first-round pick, young NHL player, and prospects back in the deal, and teams like the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights have shown interest in the winger.

While this may be the best way to go for the long-term future in Pittsburgh, captain Sidney Crosby was hoping to focus on the window of the next few seasons in order to get a quality roster to push for another championship over the start of a rebuild.

According to Kevin Paul Dupont, Crosby has been vocal about not liking the ongoing trade chatter linked to his teammate Guentzel and would prefer Dubas would hold on to him and keep him in Pittsburgh.

"Sid's not gonna like it if Guentz is gone."

Last month, Josh Yohe of the Athletic had reported that Dubas was not going to step down from a great trade offer for Guentzel, even if it meant upsetting Crosby and head coach Mike Sullivan.

“From what I’ve been told, Dubas isn’t afraid to trade Guentzel, even if Crosby and Sullivan would prefer to keep him employed in Pittsburgh,” Yohe wrote then. “If Dubas believes a new contract simply isn’t in the cards, I believe he’ll trade Guentzel before letting him walk for nothing.”

The Penguins made it clear that they are attempting to give it one last go with the famed trio of Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang in their lineup despite having missed the playoffs last season for the first time since Crosby’s rookie campaign of 2005-06. However, it sounds like Dubas will not pass up the opportunity for a significant return in a Guentzel trade.

It remains to be seen if Guentzel will be dealt as rental. The pending unrestricted free agent carries a cap hit of $6 million on his expiring deal.

It has been reported that Crosby could take a significant pay cut and discount on his next contract in order to accommodate top players to stay with the Penguins for another push at a Stanley Cup run.

However, Guentzel may not be around for that, despite Crosby’s hopes to keep his teammate around, since Dubas could pull the trigger on a trade as soon as tonight.

Sorry Sid…

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