TSN: Darren Dreger on TSN 1050 on Sidney Crosby’s future, if the Pittsburgh Penguins could trade Crosby.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
“Well, it’s going to be an interesting six-plus months for the Pittsburgh Penguins. And by the way, I don’t often look at my mentions or replies, it depends, the people I follow of course I’m going to acknowledge, but I get an alert from Frank Seravalli probably early last evening saying ‘man, you’re just getting roasted by Penguins fans.’
I didn’t really have any idea what he was talking about, so I kind of jumped into the rabbit hole and looked at probably a dozen or so, and holy smokes. It kind of comes from a comment I made on Wednesday on ‘Overdrive.’ Where, in pure speculation, I just, I talked about what it would take, to even consider, trading Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh. Well did that enrage the Pittsburgh Penguins fanbase and a few of their biggest media fans apparently. That’s fine, whatever. So here is what I would say to all of it.
Is it a long-shot that Sidney Crosby gets traded? Yes, of course it is, but here’s what collectively we all know. Sidney Crosby is a fierce competitor. Has been since the moment he stepped onto the ice. He is one at the highest level, both in the National Hockey League and in Internationally, but that’s what fuels the fire of Sidney Crosby.
He wants to win another Stanley Cup. And wouldn’t it be great for his legacy, and he’s not thinking about this, I’m just projecting it, if his legacy after the organization realizes that they are going to have to go through a rebuild. And maybe they do. Maybe they realize that as soon as the end of this season. They don’t make the playoffs, are they getting better next year without significant change? And the answer to that is, ‘no, they’re not.’
So what if the organization went to Sidney, being Hextall and Brian Burke, and said, ‘Look, it’s your option. We’d love for you to retire as a Pittsburgh Penguin. You’re a legacy player. But we’re going to have to move Evgeni Malkin, and we’re going to have to move Kris Letang because otherwise we’re not going to be able to acquire the pieces we need to spark a rebuild. Are you in? But know this is going to take the traditional three to five years to get it done. Or because we have the outmost respect for you and how you rebuilt the Pittsburgh Penguins organiztion, we’ll move you to a place where you can win another Stanley Cup, and part of your legacy is going to be the return that the Penguins are going to fetch for an unbelievable trade.’
And I think that that’s plausible. I do. That discussion is going to happen. It’s going to happen. Apologizes Penguins fans but it is going to happen. I mean the greatest players of all time have been traded. Wayne Gretzky. Mark Messier. Go down the list.
So look, I’m not trying to rip the bandaid off the wound here, but if people don’t think that those conversations aren’t happening behind scenes, or won’t happen moving forward within management and ownership of the Penguins, they’re kinding themselves because it will.”
Host says why wouldn’t he want to go play with his best friend Nathan MacKinnon in Colorado.
“Yeah, for sure. I think that is what pissed everybody off was that I threw out teams, like Colorado makes so much sense obviously Carlo. The New York Rangers, the Rangers are always in on players like this dating back to 1999 and Wayne Gretzky were he retired.
So I don’t know if any of this is going to happen but I do know there are going to multiple conversations about the potential of it happening.”
Dreger adds that in the end it’s all up to Crosby and what he wants to do, retire with the Penguins or go play somewhere else.