Brad Marchand may have had a dream first season with the Florida Panthers, but let’s not forget that he had wanted to be a Bruin for life. And had a contract impasse not sent him to Miami on deadline day, that perhaps would have been possible. We’ll never know. But a similar trade appears to be in the pipeline again. This time, the potential trade rumors involve the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the main character of the story is, unfortunately, the 37-year-old superstar of the team, Sidney Crosby.
Of course, the Penguins have made it clear that they do not plan on letting Crosby go. “There’s no change at all to anything from our perspective. Everything that we’re doing is about bringing the team back to being a contending team and our hope is to sure do that while Sid is a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins,” clarified Penguins GM Kyle Dubas, as reported by Wes Crosby of NHL.com. Sportsnet‘s Elliotte Friedman, however, reported that it may actually be the people around the veteran player who want him to move on—to possibly make that one final push for the Stanley Cup before calling it a day.
“I know everyone asks about Sidney Crosby; I’ve said people in Crosby’s orbit want him to go; Crosby hates it when this stuff starts; someone said to me if you really want Crosby to leave, don’t talk about it,” said Friedman on the 32 Thoughts Podcast, as reported by NHL Rumor Report.
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The Penguins haven’t even managed to make it to the playoffs in the last three years, let alone win the Stanley Cup, despite Crosby practically giving it his all. In the 2022-23 season, the team couldn’t cross the 50% mark in regular-season game wins and finished 5th in the Metropolitan Division. Then in the next season, they won only 38. And now, in the latest season, the tally was even worse. They could only win 34 games and were second-last in the division, just above the Philadelphia Flyers. The graph? Only a declining trend. In these three years, Crosby did a great job while scoring 278 points. In fact, his 33-goal and 58-assist season this past year saw him record his 20th point-per-game season, beating none other than Wayne Gretzky himself.
Elliotte Friedman: I know everyone asks about Sidney Crosby; I’ve said people in Crosby’s orbit want him to go; Crosby hates it when this stuff starts; someone said to me if you really want Crosby to leave, don’t talk about it – 32 Thoughts Podcast
— NHL Rumour Report (@NHLRumourReport) July 10, 2025
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However, according to NHL insider Greg Wyshynski, all hope may not be lost. “We all pretty much figure that Crosby’s out after Malkin’s out, which is after next season,” Wyshynski said on The Sheet. But he also speculated, “What if you have [2026 prospect] Gavin McKenna there? Would that increase the chances of Sid sticking around and retiring as a Penguin?” McKenna is a projected 2026 No.1 pick who currently plays at the forward position for the Penn State Nittany Lions. But in case Crosby does end up leaving, where could he possibly end up?
Possible trade destinations for Sidney Crosby
While Crosby may hate hearing speculations surrounding his trade, the rumor mill can hardly stop spinning. On Monday’s episode of The Sheet, Greg Wyshynski sounded convinced that “Sidney Crosby will end his career in Montreal.” And guess what? He is not the only one who is sold on the possibility.
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During a recent episode of Sportsnet 590 The Fan, NHL insider Nick Kypreos, in discussion with analysts Justin Bourne and Sam MacKee, also sounded pretty sure that Crosby would end up with the Canadiens. In fact, he even went so far as to give a timeline. “Wait till they [Montreal Canadiens] get Sid Crosby after the [2026 Milan Cortina] Olympics,” Kypreos said. “I’m liking the odds a little better than I did maybe a few weeks ago.” Then again, the Canadiens might not be the only team in the conversation.
Thanks to Crosby’s relationship with Nathan MacKinnon, he has also been speculated to join the Colorado Avalanche. After all, the two stars are close friends, train together, and both hail from the same region in Nova Scotia, Canada. That being said, MacKinnon himself has labeled the speculation as “Fake news” with even Crosby’s agent, Pat Brisson, dismissing them as “baseless”. Where do you think Crosby will retire? Let us know in the comments.