Sidney Crosby may have tainted his legacy by signing with the Pittsburgh Penguins
Today Sidney Crosby signed a contract extension with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but in the process he may have tainted his legacy.
Sidney Crosby became eligible to sign a contract extension with the Pittsburgh Penguins on July 1st. Negotiations began before that, but it took until last night for Crosby and Vice President of Hockey Operations, Kyle Dubas, to come to terms on a new deal. The new contract new contract keeps Crosby in Pittsburgh for three more seasons, and will make him 38 when the deal begins.
The Penguins announced the deal this morning on the team's official website. The deal will see Crosby paid $8,700,000 per season , the same cap hit as his current deal. This deal is widely considered a team friendly contract, after Crosby put up 94 points last season as a 36-years-old.
While this deal obviously makes sense for the Penguins, it's hard to see how it makes sense for Crosby. Sidney Crosby has always been seen as one of the most competitive players in the league, however, this deal means more towards loyalty to the organization than it does too winning. With the Penguins likely headed for a painful rebuild under Dubas, Crosby has essentially agreed to finish his career outside of the playoffs.
In his 19 year career Crosby has only missed the playoffs 3 times, his rookie year and the last two seasons. This summer the Penguins didn't improve dramatically in free agency, while their most notable move remains the addition of Rutger McGroarty via a trade. With Crosby's extension, it's a fair bet that we may have seen the end of Crosby's playoff career and not even known it.
After he signed the contract Kyle Dubas had the following to say:
But as fans have begun to point out, this deal could effectively end Crosby's chance at another Stanley Cup.
For a player like Crosby, you can never take away all of the incredible things he has done over his career. He is a multiple time. Stanley Cup champion, an Olympic gold medalist and a Hart Trophy winner, amongst other things. But it is hard to believe that a man who loves winning so much gave up on an opportunity to win another cup.
You have to wonder if Crosby spends the final 5 years of his career outside of the playoff picture, will he be content? Or will he have regrets? Crosby doesn't owe the Pittsburgh Penguins anything, and the franchise owes him everything. So watching Crosby take a HomeTown discount on what could be his final deal only to waste his final remaining hockey seems like a crime.
Without a doubt number 87 will go down as one of the greatest players to ever play the game. It is just a shame that we will likely never see him play meaningful hockey again.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 16 | 65 ANSWERS Sidney Crosby may have tainted his legacy by signing with the Pittsburgh Penguins Does Sidney Crosby signing in Pittsburgh taint his legacy? | ||
| No, he's already a legend | 60 | 92.3 % |
| Yes, it does for sure | 2 | 3.1 % |
| It depends on the next three years | 2 | 3.1 % |
| Blame Dubas | 1 | 1.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
