Kingerski: OK, Let’s Be Honest About Sidney Crosby

Canadians have a way of ending phone calls that is much different than Americans. Instead of goodbye or bye, many Canadians opt for the far more optimistic “Bye for now.”

Which brings us to Sidney Crosby.

Three Stanley Cups. A chance at a late-career gold medal in 2026. Sidney Crosby’s hockey career is lining up to mirror that of his rookie-year landlord and mentor, Mario Lemieux, right down to the last detail of spending his entire career with the Penguins.

But should it?

OK, Mario won only two Stanley Cups, and Crosby already has one momentous gold medal from the Vancouver Games, during which his “Golden Goal” permanently made him a Canadian hero and icon. Lemieux had the 1987 Canada Cup winner instead.

Read More: The Men Who Built the Penguins, Mario Lemieux

But Wednesday is the day. It’s the day so many fans assume Crosby will sign a contract extension carrying him through the end of his career. Most assume that several years from now, he will raise his stick in the air and wave to a sellout crowd that is roaring its thank yous for two decades of brilliance, winning, and being one of the most respectable, down-to-earth sports stars to walk the planet.

That’s the way it’s supposed to happen in movies, storybooks, and TV.

That’s the way everyone wants it to happen, including the principles involved.

But sometimes, life grabs you by the wrist and directs you where to go. Pittsburgh Hockey Now’s most recent update from sources regarding the Crosby contract situation was simple enough, “no update.”

That followed our report in earlier July that Crosby was to review the situation in mid-July. If the Penguins superstar has said it once, he’s said it hundreds of times: that he indeed wants to retire as a Pittsburgh Penguin. One career. One jersey. It was just the way Lemieux did it, the same way Steve Yzerman did it.

From 2002-2005, Lemieux suffered through some horrendous teams and unqualified linemates at the end of his career. Do Alexei Morozov, Tomas Surovy, or Toby Peterson ring a bell?

It was the equivalent of putting Jansen Harkins or Filip Hallander beside Crosby.

Keeping Sidney Crosby

Fortunately for all currently involved, the Penguins will not go through such a scorched-earth financial crisis and rebuild this time. And that’s probably the best scenario for keeping Crosby: hope.

The Penguins have just enough hope with prospects like Brayden Yager, Owen Pickering, Joel Blomqvist, and Tanner Howe to sell others on the idea of a future on the right track or, more importantly, an upswing that is closer than you might think.

The Penguins will also have plenty of salary cap money lying around and a few linemates worthy of playing beside a bona fide star.

There’s also the matter of promises made. According to multiple reports, Crosby was instrumental in keeping the team together in 2022. In the last days leading to the NHL free agency period, Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin re-signed. Somewhat surprisingly, too.

The trio decided it was ride or die, not ride or leave if we miss the playoffs.

And so the best chance to keep Crosby, and perhaps his best reason to stay, is to be part of the next wave that returns to competitiveness, just like Yzerman did, like Lemieux almost did before a heart ailment ended his playing career just one year shy of the turnaround; it was like Moses only seeing the promised land.

Stark Reality

No matter this outcome, in 20 years, Crosby will be remembered fondly as a Pittsburgh Penguin, just like Wayne Gretzky is remembered as an Edmonton Oiler, LA King, or New York Ranger (we’ll just skip over the short time in St. Louis).

Despite leaving in his prime near the age of 30, there are statues and remembrances of Gretzky in Edmonton. Mark Messier also left Edmonton and is remembered well for his tenures in New York without losing his Edmonton roots.

Leaving doesn’t need to sever the relationship. It just means bye for now.

Comparatively, the Chicago Blackhawks also won three Stanley Cups with heralded captain Jonathan Toews and backbone Patrick Kane, and Chicago also said goodbye to both. Kane continued playing, but Toews ended his career to deal with his chronic immune response syndrome. However, Chicago GM Kyle Davidson had already confirmed Chicago would not offer Toews a new contract, essentially cutting ties before Toews made his decision.

Honest question: If Lemieux didn’t own the Penguins, would he have spent the final years of his career toiling in a rebuild?

Another honest question that might just be the crux of the matter: In four years, will the Penguins be closer to contention than they are today?

Unfortunately, some of that answer will be a heavy burden on Yager’s shoulders. If he develops to only a bottom-six center, the Penguins will be without enough talent to be competitive. There’s not another possible top-six center currently in the organization, and the team missed the train when they didn’t snag one on July 1.

The 2024 crop of pivots was substantially better than the locust-ravaged crop that awaits the Penguins next summer. After Crosby, Leon Draisaitl, and Brock Nelson, the projected crop includes Jonathan Tavares, Yanni Gourde, and a 37-year-old Claude Giroux.

Not that a Crosby-less Penguins would be in the market for big-name free agents, anyway.

Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas has not so subtly indicated that the Penguins are looking forward. However, the problem with building for the future is that you must sacrifice the short-term gains of the present. Perhaps Crosby also realizes that his on-ice brilliance will make the rebuild harder because the Penguins will have lower draft picks, while Crosby will have little to show for his dominance.

That’s a lose-lose.

And in a couple of years, Crosby will also be without Malkin, too.

Just like in 2022, emotion will again be a big part of the process. Whether Crosby signs on Aug. 7, 2024 or never signs, he has fulfilled any and every promise ever made to the organization and done a few favors, too. He has given Penguins fans more than they could have asked for after everyone erupted when that ping-pong ball in the league-wide 2005 Draft Lottery with just a 6.7% chance rolled out of the bubble.

If Crosby and the Penguins decide this is the end, fans should line the streets as they did in 2009, 2016, and 2017. They should fill the streets with thank yous.

It’s all coming to an end, one way or another. But parting now wouldn’t be a forever parting, just bye for now.