Crosby cements Penguins legacy with team-friendly contract

Sidney Crosby didn’t have to do this.

He could have waited to become an unrestricted free agent after the season. He could have sought more money. He could have gone to a team with a better chance to win the Stanley Cup.

At least eventually, he would have been not only forgiven but celebrated. Look at the way the Pittsburgh Penguins welcomed back Jaromir Jagr, who played 11 seasons for them from 1990-2001 before becoming a hockey vagabond.

The Penguins retired his No. 68 on Feb. 11. The players wore his number for warmup, and many, including Crosby, wore mullet wigs in homage to his signature hairstyle. The crowd chanted his name.

But Crosby still has faith in the only NHL team he has ever known, and so he is taking a discount to stay with the Penguins when they aren’t certain to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs, let alone compete for another championship.

The 37-year-old center signed a two-year, $17.4 million contract Monday that will take him through the 2026-27 season. The average annual value will remain the same as it was during the 12-year, $104.4 million contract he signed July 1, 2012: $8.7 million.

That’s a special number in terms of superstition and the NHL salary cap. He was born Aug. 7 and wears No. 87, and he has given the Penguins, again, more salary cap space to surround him with a strong supporting cast.

“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,” general manager Kyle Dubas said.

Look, $8.7 million per season ain’t bad. But how much money has Crosby left on the table to play in Pittsburgh? Who would have blamed him if he wanted to make the most of the rest of his career somewhere else?

Crosby had 94 points (42 goals, 52 assists) in 82 games last season, tying Florida Panthers forward Sam Reinhart (57 goals, 37 assists) and Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg (48 goals, 46 points) for 12th in NHL scoring.

Pittsburgh didn’t qualify for the playoffs the past two seasons and has won one postseason series since 2017, when Crosby won the Stanley Cup for the third time and was voted the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the playoff MVP for the second straight year.

Even if maximizing his money doesn’t seem to motivate Crosby, winning does.

“I think winning is the most important thing to me, and I think [taking a discount is] understanding the dynamic and how it works and trying to give the team the best possible chance to be successful,” Crosby said Monday. “Ultimately, you’ve got to go out there and do your best and do your job. I think I’m more focused on that than the number, I guess.”

Why not take a discount to play for, say, the Colorado Avalanche? They won the Cup in 2022 and have multiple stars, starting with center Nathan MacKinnon, his close friend and a fellow native of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia.

Crosby said in speaking to Dubas he was reassured the Penguins still have a hunger and commitment to win.

“I think that’s really important,” Crosby said. “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.

“Missing the playoffs for a couple years, not being in it, is difficult, and you want to try to find every way possible to get back in there and make sure that we compete for the Stanley Cup.”

Why is he confident in the Penguins?

“I think it’s just trust and belief and knowing the organization, knowing the group of guys we have,” he said. “Just being in so many different situations over the course of my career, I think there’s always been an expectation here, and I love that.

“I love that the expectation’s to win. I think it gets the best out of everybody. I think it pushes us to be better. I think it’s an important element, so I think all those things combined just make me think that way.”

We’ll see what happens over the next season or two or three. Things can change in that timeframe. It also would be no surprise if Crosby plays past 40 and must make at least one more contract decision.

“I feel good,” Crosby said. “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.”

If he leaves Pittsburgh at some point, no one will be able to say he didn’t go over and above -- actually, under and below, in terms of market value and the cap -- to give the Penguins a chance to be competitive with him on the payroll.

If he retires in Pittsburgh, he will retire like Mario Lemieux did -- a champion, a legend and a member of the Penguins, and only the Penguins, forever.

Either way, when No. 87 rises to the rafters in Pittsburgh for all the things he did for the Penguins, no one will forget this.

NHL.com independent correspondent Wes Crosby contributed to this story