Crosby signs 2-year, $17.4 million contract with Penguins

Sidney Crosby signed a two-year, $17.4 million contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday. The contract, which has an average annual value of $8.7 million, begins in the 2025-26 season.

The center is entering the final season of a 12-year, $104.4 million contract he signed July 1, 2012. Crosby turned 37 on Aug. 7. That contract also had an AAV of $8.7 million. In fact, other than his entry level contact, Crosby, who wears No. 87, has made $8.7 million annually since the 2008-09 season.

“Just glad that it’s done and I’m really happy to know that I’ll be here for a few more years,” Crosby said. “My last contract, I don’t think I thought about the possibility of still playing beyond that, so I’m just really happy that it’s worked out this way.”

Crosby said the biggest reason the contract took so long to sign was him determining how many years he still wanted to play.

"I think just the years, just not knowing, trying to project how you're going to feel," he said. "And the number of years, it's hard. And just making sure that it's something that made sense for both myself and the team. Just trying to figure out in my mind kind of what that looked like. It was a pretty smooth process, so like I said, I'm glad it's done and I can focus on playing and I'm really grateful that I can keep playing here for a number of years."

Crosby had 94 points (42 goals, 52 assists) in 82 games last season to lead the Penguins and finish in a tie for 12th in the NHL scoring race. It was his highest goal total since he had 44 in 2016-17 when he led the Penguins to their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship.

"There are no words to properly describe what Sidney Crosby means to the game of hockey, the city of Pittsburgh and the Penguins organization," Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas said. "Sidney is the greatest player of his generation and one of the greatest players in the history of the game. His actions today show why he is one of hockey's greatest winners and leaders. Sid is making a tremendous personal sacrifice in an effort to help the Penguins win, both now and in the future, as he has done for his entire career."

Crosby's goal remains to help the Penguins regularly make the Stanley Cup Playoffs again after a two-season absence. Offseason changes and talks with Dubas give him a certain level of confidence.

"I had some conversations with Kyle throughout the process," said Crosby, who is entering his 18th season as Pittsburgh captain. "I think that was reassuring, just based on what we discussed as far as there's still hunger from the organization and ownership to win and a commitment there. I think that's something that I think for the time that I've been there, that's been the case, and that's been there. I think that's really important. I feel like as players, for all the different guys that have played here over the course of the time that I've been here, it's something that you build as a culture. That's something that's, I think, ingrained. And missing the playoffs for a couple of years, not being in it, is difficult. You want to try to find every way possible to get back in there and make sure that we compete for the Stanley Cup. So I think that was reassuring to hear and that helped."

Selected No. 1 by the Penguins in the 2005 NHL Draft, Crosby ranks 10th in NHL history with 1,596 points (592 goals, 1004 assists). Despite the team missing the postseason the past two seasons and winning just one round since winning the Cup seven years ago, it appears Crosby is intent on finishing his career with the Penguins, however long that might be. He'll be 39 years old when his new contract ends in 2026-27.

"I don't ever think I've really looked too far ahead," he said. "I know we talked about it at the end of last season when I was leaving. Whether it's a good year, bad year, I don't ever try to look too far ahead. I didn't really do that when I was 25, and I'm not going to do it now. I think it's a little more difficult now just because everyone wants to know, 'How do you feel? What do you think? How long are you going to play for?' And it makes it a little bit easier when you don't really have the answer. That's the truth. I don't think anybody knows. ... But going through the process, mentally, I feel good. I still love the game and want to compete. I'm not going to project too far ahead. But I'm going to try to play as long as I can."

NHL.com staff writer Mike Zeisberger contributed to this report