A lot of people are doing their best to apply logic to this point in Sidney Crosby’s career. It’s understandable. But there’s a chink in that thinking. The Pittsburgh Penguins megastar center and captain doesn’t always stick to conventional logic.
Examples of that have been right in front of your eyes for a couple decades now. Since when does Crosby do the conventional thing on the ice? Doesn’t he regularly defy accepted logic when he’s got his skates on? And hasn’t that led to a career that marks him as one of the best NHL players in history?
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Not that Crosby is nearly that intense off the ice. Take it from someone who has interviewed him, had the occasional casual conversation with him, and observed his interactions with hundreds of people since the day he literally first stepped foot in Pittsburgh – he’s an awfully nice person when there’s not a puck to be pounced on, passed, or threaded past a goaltender.
He’s also sharp, thoughtful, honest and articulate. And set in his ways and superstitious to a nearly annoying degree. While he’s 38 years old – as of today, in fact; you know, the whole 8/7 thing – he’s been set in his ways like a wise and weathered grandpa at least since he got to the NHL, and probably since before that.
Given all that, let’s take a look at the constant reports, speculation and rumors that have dogged Crosby all offseason. They have come from NHL insiders, even former teammates, and all involve Crosby finishing his career with another NHL team, some complete with projected trade proposals and landing spots.
The aforementioned logic behind all that noise seems to be that Crosby surely wants to spend his golden years with something closer to a contender, that he wants to chase at least one more Stanley Cup after winning three with the Penguins, who have fallen on hard times, have missed the playoffs the past three springs and, by some estimations, will sit out the postseason again next spring and perhaps even should tank in advance of a loaded 2026 NHL draft.
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There also seems to be a swell of interest in Crosby playing for an NHL team in his native Canada because, well, apparently just because some think that would be cool.
Please, stop projecting what you might do in his situation onto Crosby. It’s highly unlikely he will ever play an NHL game in anything other than a Penguins jersey.
Crosby has two seasons on a contract that kicks in for 2025-26, and only he will decide whether he plays beyond that (he probably will). He has a full no-movement clause in that contract. There is way too much respect within the Penguins organization for anyone to approach him and ask him to agree to be traded, as if anyone would want to do that.
So Crosby, and only Crosby, has total control, and rightfully so.
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For most of his Penguins career, through the Cups and so many other trophies, Crosby was immune to trade speculation. The first whiffs of those came during the pandemic season after a couple first-round washouts.
Reporters were limited to virtual interviews then because of COVID-19, and this writer asked Crosby directly about the previously foreign concept of him wanting to move on. He was clear that, as he had stated throughout his career, he had no designs on playing elsewhere.
That ended the speculation. For a while. As the Penguins have drifted further from Cup contention since then, the speculation has crept back in, and it has hit a crescendo this summer.
With confidence, we can say that if anything has changed in his intentions, he would already be gone. He has not addressed the topic this summer, and the couple of reports (and buddy Nathan MacKinnon’s Instagram post) that he’s fed up with the speculation seem believable.
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That’s not to say that he couldn’t change his mind at some point. He is human. But don’t bet on that happening any more than you would wager on the Monongahela River turning Flyers orange.
In addition to all the attributes ascribed to Crosby several paragraphs above, he is incredibly loyal. So walking away to join a team that might be more of a contender would go against just about everything many of us have learned about him over the years.
He’s no less competitive, and no less driven by the idea of winning at least one more Cup, but the guess here is that he would not turn his back on the only NHL team he’s known, and he would not at this stage venture away from his comfort zone and routines. He would be much more likely to have a fire in his belly to do everything he can to help make the Penguins better for as long as he can play.
If that’s not the way you would think about things in his situation, well, that’s one type of logic.
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Sidney Crosby has his own form of logic. He has stubbornly stuck to it, and it has served him well for 38 years and counting.
The post Anderson: It’s Sidney Crosby Day; He Deserves to Get His Wish appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now.