Would Sidney Crosby be a fit for the Ottawa Senators?
Anything is possible.
The highly respected analysts at Overdrive, the popular afternoon radio show on TSN 1050 in Toronto, believe that Ottawa would be one of the teams that would consider the possibility, with the Senators trying to win a Stanley Cup in the next two to three years
While former National Hockey League goalie Jamie McLennan told host Bryan Hayes in a “hypothetical” conversation regarding Crosby and the Senators that the club shouldn’t pay any price in a trade, former NHLer Jeff O’Neill noted that it would probably require a big piece.
O’Neill made it clear that Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas would demand a talented young player or top prospects in exchange for 38-year-old Crosby, who has two years left on his contract.
Fans of the Montreal Canadiens were upset with O’Neill for suggesting on Tuesday that the Penguins would demand top prospect winger Ivan Demidov or defenceman Lane Hutson in exchange for Crosby, who has spent 20 years with the Penguins.
“Let’s use Ottawa as an example, if we’re going to get into hypotheticals,” Hayes told McLennan and O’Neill. “I don’t even know if they have a Demidov equivalent, necessarily, but would you get crazy if you’re Ottawa and bring in Sid?
“They could win in the next two or three years. They’re pretty strong up the middle of the ice, but …”
“What is crazy in Ottawa?” O’Neill asked.
McLennan noted he didn’t believe a conversation with the Senators would last long if Dubas made unrealistic demands.
“What you’re saying, if you’re talking Hutson (in Montreal), then that’s Jake Sanderson territory and I’d hang up the phone,” McLennan said. “You just say, ‘No, sorry.’ Jake Sanderson is a stud. He’s a superstar.”
McLennan is right that no team should trade a franchise player for an aging star with just a couple of years left.
O’Neill understood the argument, but doesn’t believe any organization should shut the door on a chance to get Crosby.
We don’t believe that Steve Staios, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager, would dismiss any conversation with Dubas.
The speculation regarding the future of the Penguins legendary captain has ramped up this week after he addressed trade talk with reporters at the National Hockey League’s media tour held in Las Vegas on Monday.
Crosby, who will try to help lead Team Canada to a gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Italy in February, noted he gets the talk that he could be a trade deadline rental because the Penguins haven’t made the playoffs in the past three years.
“I understand it. It’s not something that you want to discuss,” Crosby said on Tuesday. “You’d rather be talking about who we’re getting at the deadline or where we’re at.
“That’s the hard part about losing. Everybody thinks that losing is: The buzzer goes, you lose the game and that sucks. But there’s so much more than that. It’s the turnover, it’s the unknown, the uncertainty, the question marks. That’s the stuff that’s tough.”
McLennan is right that you can’t pay any price to get Crosby, but O’Neill noted you can’t “give up your worst prospects, either.”
The reality is that Crosby will have a say — should the day ever come — if the Penguins decide they can use him as a piece to help with the rebuild, or if he can no longer stomach being part of a losing franchise.
Would Crosby even consider the Senators? He skates with winger Drake Batherson in the summer near their off-season home in Halifax and can see that the Senators, led by captain Brady Tkachuk, could be poised to make a push in the Eastern Conference.
Crosby could return to the place where he was drafted No. 1 overall by Pittsburgh in 2005 in a ballroom at The Westin Hotel.
The Canadiens are mentioned as a likely destination because Crosby grew up as a fan of the Habs and has always admired the organization.
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“I get it, trust me,” Crosby said of the Montreal talk. “I understand just how passionate they are. Whether it’s those experiences or guys that I’ve played with that have played there and playing there in the playoffs and 4 Nations, all these different things, I get it.
“I get it as to why that would come up.”
Another team that comes up often is the Colorado Avalanche because of Crosby’s close friendship with Nathan MacKinnon. He’s part of the group that skates with Crosby in the off-season and the duo push each other.
They were both thrilled to share Canada’s win at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, which was held in Montreal and Boston.
The bottom line is: If Crosby becomes available, the Senators should be interested because anybody can use a generational talent and a sure-fire first-ballot Hall of Famer to get to the next level.