Sidney Crosby’s Future

When Wednesday, August 7 came and went this week, it sent much of Pittsburgh and the hockey world into a frenzy. Charles LeClaire – USA TODAY Sports

In case you haven’t heard by now, Penguins’ captain and future Hall-of-Famer Sidney Crosby is entering the final season on his 12-year contract that kicked in back in 2012-13. He is also notoriously superstitious about his number, 87, which pays homage to his date of birth (8/7/87).

So when 8/7 passed without a contract extension, mass panic ensued. Evergreen tweets wondering about Crosby’s future began to resurface and dominate hockey threads and discussion boards. Some Penguins’ fans, despite being reassured over and over again by various reports out of Pittsburgh media, started second, er, seventh-guessing again. National media – and, in particular, Canadian media – was back at it again, too:

In case you need to hear it again, there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that Crosby is going to play anywhere but Pittsburgh. He’s said as much, time and time again. GM and POHO Kyle Dubas has said as much. By all indications, both parties are on the same page about his future. And Crosby has reiterated his desire to stay many times over.

Sidney Crosby said Friday he wants to play the remainder of his NHL career with the Penguins.

“This is where I’d love to play for the rest of my career.”

Full story: https://t.co/khANO9EJSj

— NHL.com (@NHLdotcom) February 19, 2021

The question is this: How many times does it need to be said? And, also, when are folks going to let it go and give Crosby and the Penguins the time, space, and privacy to negotiate without regurgitating engagement-farming takes?

The reality is that no one other than Crosby himself, and the Penguins, truly know what’s going on. And you know what? That’s okay. It’s media’s job to report and talk shop. It’s a fan’s right to speculate. And with the ease of access and communication on social media, “talk” spreads like wildfire.

But if that “talk” was based in reality – and based on the evidence of what has been said publicly over and over again – this would barely be a discussion.

It would be nice for the extension to happen as quickly as it can. But there are, likely, a lot of things for Crosby and Dubas to consider: How long does he want to keep playing? What dollar figure makes sense for the juncture both he and the team are at? What juncture are the Penguins at? Will signing long-term be too high-risk? Is Crosby even interested in signing shorter-term?

The negotiation process is tricky and long. For a player like Crosby – who is still playing hockey at an extraordinarily high level, who just turned 37, and who has played for one organization his entire career – it is, presumably, even trickier and longer. It has been reported that term is the main hang-up on finalizing an extension and that Crosby doesn’t want to compromise the Penguins’ future if he decides to retire early.

For an older player as elite as Crosby, that’s a huge decision to make. For someone as dedicated to the sport of hockey as Crosby is, contemplating retirement probably isn’t easy. So the least fans – and national media – can do is give him the space to make that decision without trying to make it for him.

Crosby has earned the right to avoid discussing every detail of his thought process and the negotiations, and he has earned the right to control his own destiny.

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