Chris Johnston said on his show Friday that if Sidney Crosby ever moves on from the Penguins, he's been told to expect it in the offseason.
It's a read on timing, not a report that a move is coming. But any comment about Crosby and the word "ever" in the same breath gets attention around the league.
A Penguins account relayed what Johnston said about Crosby on Friday's show:
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Crosby is 39 and has been a Penguin since Pittsburgh took him first overall in 2005. His contract runs through 2026-27, he's set to be an unrestricted free agent at expiry, and no extension has been signed.
That puts the calendar on one side. If Johnston's read is right, nothing happens in the middle of a season, whatever the noise.
Johnston has been busy this week. He also voiced concern over Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon ahead of the Avalanche game in Montreal tonight.
On the ice, Crosby has 6 goals and 7 assists in 19 games this season, with a -5 rating. The production is there. The team results around him are what make a question like this feel real.
Would a Sidney Crosby decision wait until the summer?
Based on what Johnston was told, yes. The comment points to the offseason as the only window, which means the next few months are about hockey and the summer is about everything else.
That suits the player. Crosby has 1,774 points over his NHL career, 660 of them goals, and the 1,439 games he has played all came with Pittsburgh's name on the front of his sweater, per the numbers on the sheet. A player with that résumé doesn't owe anyone a midseason answer.
It doesn't suit the Penguins. They head into a season with their franchise player's contract winding down and no extension in place, and every quiet week without one will feed the same conversation.
Our view is simple: this is Crosby's call, and the way Johnston describes it, he'll make it on his own schedule. The Penguins can only wait and see what he does when this season ends and his contract does with it.
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence, based on public reports and official sources.
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