Daily Faceoff: Frank Seravalli and Jason Gregor on Sidney Crosby not having a contract extension done with the Pittsburgh Penguins by now, what type of deal might be considered, and could he be traded?
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Tyler Yaremchuk: “All right, last one I got for you guys, you know, one storyline I’m surprised we didn’t see, or one thing we didn’t see come to fruition was a extension for Sidney Crosby out in Pittsburgh. We’d heard some talk earlier in the summer that maybe it was close, but hasn’t come down yet. So I want to ask you guys if there’s anything to do there. Sidney Crosby not having a new extension by now is blank, Frank?”
Seravalli: “Mildly surprising. I think there was some initial talk that the bulk of this deal was done last November and December. I think everyone seems to be aligned, at least from a speculation perspective, that three years, $30 million, $10 million a year, would make a lot of sense.
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I think understanding as much as I can the situation, I think the Penguins would like him to go even longer. They want potentially four years or beyond, to try and help push that AAV down.
And I, if I’m Sidney Crosby, watching this team and where they’re trending, again, missing the playoffs, how long do you want to play? I think is a really valid question. And signing a four-year deal or a three-year deal, I don’t, how much does that make sense. I mean, this is going to be, what is this Sid’s, 20th season, 21st? Like it’s, it’s a lot. This is his 20th season.”
Gregor: “He’s in great shape, but look, he’s 36 years of age. He just finished 12th in scoring. He had his third-highest goal total. To me, Frank, the bigger question is, how long does he want to play in a team that has no chance of winning? And and I wrote this ….”
Seravalli: “He not, he’s never leaving Pittsburgh, dude.”
Gregor: “And that’s fair, but honestly, I think the best thing for both sides would be a mid-season trade at the deadline. You’d get a lot for Sidney Crosby. He goes to a team that competes and Pittsburgh starts to rebuild. I agree with you. It probably might not happen, but it would be the best decision.”
Yaremchuk: “Be the best for everybody. Can you imagine getting to cover a Sidney Crosby trade on deadline day? It’d be electric.”
Gregor: “Well, imagine the city that gets Sidney Crosby in a deal. You kidding me?
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Yaremchuk: “It would be wild. It would, yeah.”
…
Gregor: “I know you say there’s no chance, Frank, but I’m telling you, it would, that would be one of the, well I think it probably the biggest trade deadline acquisition in NHL history, I would argue now grants got trading one so maybe that would be it but it would be pretty good.”
