Sidney Crosby's new contract reportedly set to be announced shortly

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Julien Trekker
August 6, 2024 (12:52)

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A new report suggested that Sidney Crosby's new contract could be announced soon despite some concerning developments about the future of the Penguins' core.

Mark Madden, an insider following the Pittsburgh Penguins, revealed that the Penguins could announce Crosby's new deal tomorrow, on his birthday (August 7th).

Here's what he said:

"If he doesn't, I think we can start wondering. If he's not signed, this is something that drags on all year. It's gonna drive him crazy, so he will sign the contract, just to avoid that.

Honestly, if he doesn't sign the contract, they should trade him this year.

If he doesn't sign the contract and they start the season with him being a pending free agent, it just makes the season a mess from the beginning of training camp. I don't want to see 'Madden says trade Crosby.' Because I'm not. I'm just saying that if Sid creates these heightened circumstances we're discussing, well, that would be an extreme time. It might call for an extreme measure. But I do not see it coming to that."

Considering Crosby's contract history and the numerology related to it (signing at $8,700,000 a year for his #87, which also represents his birthday), it wouldn't be surprising to see the signature being announced tomorrow.

However, something could come in the way of the deal happening.

According to Madden, Crosby's decision to play in Pittsburgh for the rest of his career could be challenged by what his longtime teammates and friends Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang plan to do.

In his own words:

"I've been told (Malkin) won't be back after this year - that he'll go to Russia and forgo the last year of his deal,» Madden said. «How does that impact Sid? Does Sid know? I bet he does. And I heard there were discussions about trying to get Letang to Montreal at Letang's request, but nothing came of that. So I don't know where this is headed."

Even if Crosby mentioned many times that he wanted to finish his career in Pittsburgh, he could still change his mind if things don't go the right way with the Penguins.

Following a disappointing 2023-24 season, where the Pens missed out on the playoffs by only a few points, Crosby was the best player in Pittsburgh and ended up tallying 94 points, including 42 goals, in 82 games.

Source: Hockey Feed
Reports that Crosby is set to announce new contract tomorrow!

Source for Sidney Crosby's statistics: Puckpedia
Sidney Crosby