Sidney Crosby was doing what he always does this time of year, hand delivering seasons tickets to a lucky family. This time around people were more interested than usual in what he had to say. This was his first public appearance since his agent broadcast his feelings about the Penguins losing and Crosby’s future with the team.
So like Sid does, he approached the rumors head on, but not before an unexpected guest randomly drove by.
Quite the memorable ticket delivery for that family, eh?
After delivery Sidney Crosby addressed the elephant in the room
“That’s a lot of things to cover in one answer,” he said when asked about his overall satisfaction with the direction of the organization and the rumors that he could be traded.
“There’s a lot of narratives out there, and I don’t think a lot of those have come from me. This is where I want to be. I love it here. I can’t keep having to answer the same questions over and over again. People want to write about that or say that, that’s fine. I can’t really control that. When you lose, and certain things happen, it’s normal for that stuff to come up. But that’s how I feel.”
He also said that he wasn’t aware that Brisson was going to make such comments.
In fact, he said he was surprised by the comments.
“I was,” he said. “And I think Pat knows how much I put into this, how much I love it. How much I want to be in the playoffs. Whether those quotes were taken for what they were, or if there was a different question put into those quotes, I don’t know the backstory. Pat and I didn’t have a conversation prior to him talking. I know that he knows it’s difficult when you lose. There’s probably a part of him that knows having to answer questions like this, time and time again … I was asked the same thing last training camp, the same thing after last season.
“My stance hasn’t changed. But circumstances have, so I get I have to answer those questions. I think he knows it’s tough having to go through that and having to handle losing on top of that. I think the uncertainty and the unknown on top of losing, he probably feels for me a little bit. But I’m not sitting here looking for anyone to feel sorry for me; I’m more than happy to address it.
“I think there’s a ton of narratives out there that didn’t come from me. It’s kind of hard to keep answering questions about all of these hypothetical questions that didn’t come from me. That’s the best way I can answer it.”
So again, either Kyle Dubas blatantly lied to Sidney Crosby before he signed his extension or Sidney Crosby is dense. I believe neither is true and thus here we are. Crosby could not have answered the rumors more directly than he did.
Crosby and the Evgeni Malkin factor
Even if we opened up the possibility of Crosby being open to moving on it surely isn’t happening this season. There’s just no way he leaves Evgeni Malkin behind during what is likely his last year in the league. Those two are forever teammates and that isn’t changing.
“It’s not something that’s really come up,” he said. “I didn’t see him all summer. It’s nice to catch up a little, but we didn’t get into contract talk. His last contract, that was mounting and was decided at the last minute. It wasn’t something we talked about a lot that year. Same with Tanger (Kris Letang).
Especially at this point, there’s so many things that can happen. As a teammate and a friend, you’re there to support him. We’ll kind of let things play out and see what happens.”
Sid has never been known to meddle with the roster or coaching situations in Pittsburgh, if he does it has been on the super down low and unbeknownst to me. The lone exception was when he played middle man with Penguins management and Evgeni Malkin to restart their delicate contract talks.
If Malkin retires? What if Pens don’t make an offer? Well, we’ll have to see what that does to Crosby’s situation. I do think that changes the dynamic to where Sid might at least entertain leaving the Penguins. I also think it ultimately depends on what this rebuild looks like at the end of the year. What is Dubas going to get if he trades Erik Karlsson, Bryan Rust, and Rickard Rakell? Is it going to be a bunch of draft picks or will the Penguins get young NHL talent who can actually play NHL minutes now? These are all variables yet to play out.
For now, Sidney Crosby is going to be a Pittsburgh Penguin for the 2025-26 season. There’s no way he let’s his situation linger over an entire season. There will be no trade deadline deal for his services. So these rumors can be put to bed until after the season. It’s your call if you entertain them before then.
