Why Sidney Crosby hasn’t resigned: reason behind his delayed decision exposed!

The 2024-25 is nearing and fans and, especially the Pittsburgh Penguins, have to deal with the elephant in the room: captain Sidney Crosby still pondering a contract extension with the team that selected him first overall back in 2005.

Now on an expiring deal, Crosby could be extended soon, though questions have arisen on what the next contract could look like and if the captain wants to remain on a rebuilding roster for the remainder of his career.

On top of that, Crosby is now 37 years old, and given Pittsburgh’s salary cap constraints in the next few years, it remains to be seen what his next deal could look like.

When speaking about the Penguins’ offseason and looking into the upcoming campaign on the 32 Thoughts podcast, host Elliotte Friedman explained why he believes Pittsburgh and its superstar haven’t agree on a deal yet. And how Crosby is probably not worried as much as fans can be.

“I believe that he thinks it is not the biggest deal that he hasn’t made a decision yet,” Friedman said, though he specified how he doesn’t like to speak for Crosby.

“He’s a guy who puts a lot of effort into his decisions, and he looks at it like ‘I have time to make a call.’ Secondly, I think the Penguins are like ‘This is Sidney Crosby’, he has the right to make the decision he sees fit and they are not pressuring him. I think they’ve made him a bunch of different offers.

“I don’t know if it’s two or three or four or five years, but I think they’ve got multiple term offers. I don’t even think the negotiation is the problem. I just think that they’re saying ‘here is what we’ve got on the table, you let us know what you want to do”.

“The only thing I think about with these offers is that they’ve got an 8-7 in there somewhere. Not $87 million, I don’t thinl they’re offering Crosby $87 million, but I think there is an 87 in there.”

Crosby is set to attend the NHL Player Media Tour in Las Vegas next week and Friedman even wonders if the Penguins’ captain will choose to sign an extension before meeting with too many reporters in attendance that will only asked about negotiations if he remains unsigned by then.

“I kinda wonder if he’ll sign before then, so he doesn’t have to hear it.

“Here’s my theory based on what one player said to me about him, […] he is still a great player, a great elite player and one of the things he’s coming to grips with is what if the team is not that good. “

The Penguins have missed the playoffs for two straight years amidst a semi-rebuild. They are trying to get younger but keep their older core players together as well.

“They have to start building up the pipeline and the youth. One thing I wonder is if Crosby is simply sitting here saying ‘I’ve got no problem with the offers, I’ve got no problem with the Penguins, but if we’re not going to be making the playoffs, am I going to be able to handle that?’ I think that’s one of the things he’s kinda weighing.

“My prediction is he stays, cause I think he’s a Penguin and he wants to be a Penguin, but I’ve tried to ask around why isn’t done, and I think one of the reasons is it’s the summer and he does not need to rush, he’s still got time, and I think the other one is “am I going to be able to deal with [not taking part in the playoffs]?

Earlier this week, Travis Yost of TSN considered the unlikely scenario in which Crosby is being moved at the trade deadline. He offered potential locations that could use a rental player such as Crosby to make a run at the Cup.

Friedman is convinced the ball is in Crosby’s court and if he is right about this, we may have a decision from the star captain prior to the NHL Player Media Tour in Las Vegas next week.