Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby is eligible for another contract extension this offseason. Based on his 74 points in 68 games this season, there’s no reason to believe the Penguins wouldn’t want to give him one.
The question is, though, does he want to sign one?
Given his age and the team’s mid-tier status, one could understand why Crosby might want to avoid doing that, and leave himself options at the end of 2026-27.
At that point, the options would be to sign an extension in Pittsburgh as an unrestricted free agent at age 40, retire, or play elsewhere.
In this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Mark Madden of TribLive and 105.9 The X said that he isn’t sure about an extension this summer for Crosby, but he can’t see the two-time Hart Trophy winner playing in another city.
“I don’t think he’s going anywhere. Period,” Madden said. “I don’t think Sid would leave. I don’t think he’d threaten that. You might get another come to the mountaintop speech by Pat Brisson, his agent, about how Sid deserves to be in the playoffs. But Sid was in the playoffs, and we see how that wound up. So I don’t think there’s going to be any posturing by Sid, but I think they know what he wants.”
It seems like what Crosby wants is to keep playing with Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin. Letang is signed through 2027-28. Malkin is an unrestricted free agent.
“I think that they’re going to bring (Malkin) back,” Madden said. “I’m not sure they should, but that’s what I think they’re going to do. I think Sid wants him back. I think the fans want him back. I don’t think the new owners are going to come in and want to run off Geno or be perceived as these heartless carpetbaggers getting rid of the third-greatest Penguin of all time.”
My bet is that Crosby will extend his contract this offseason, maybe for another two years beyond the 2026-27 campaign. Madden agrees, but he’s not 100% sure.
“I don’t know. I don’t know if he’s going to play past next year. I don’t know what’s inside his head. I don’t know what his parameters are for continuing his career,” Madden said. “My hunch is (he’ll extend). I don’t know if I’d say it to him, but I’d imply it to him, ‘You want Geno to stay? Sign an extension.’ I hear Geno wants two years. In no way would I give him term longer than Sid, unless Sid would extend.”
Also, during the podcast, Madden and I discuss the Penguins’ goaltending future, potential free agent moves, attempts to retain other veterans, the Pirates up-and-down week that was, Steelers quarterback questions and Madden’s Spirit Airline misadventures.