WEST VIEW, Pa. -- This season will be the 17th season that Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang have played together.
It's the longest such streak for a trio in NHL history by a margin of two seasons.
It was only a few months ago that there was a lot of uncertainty over whether that streak would continue, with both Letang and Malkin's new contract negotiations continuing close to the start date of free agency on July 13.
Letang signed first, putting pen to paper on a six-year contract extension through 2027-28 worth $36.6 million -- giving the deal an average annual value of $6.1 million -- on July 7.
Malkin's negotiations came down to the wire. After initially informing the Penguins that he would be testing free agency, he signed a four-year deal that runs through the 2025-26 season and has a cap hit of $6.1 million on the night of July 12 -- the eve of free agency.
The core is remaining intact.
Crosby spoke with a small group of reporters on Monday following his first stop on his season ticket delivery route in West View, and he was asked about the excitement level heading into this season knowing that Malkin and Letang will be staying with him in Pittsburgh.
After 16 seasons together, though, there isn't any added excitement from the new contracts. It's status quo, the way things have always been, and the way things should be.
"It's just been that way for a long time," he said. "You never know with situations like that when it comes to contracts and negotiations, but the fact that it's over with and we can move by it, that's great. It's been a big storyline, but it's really not, I mean, we've played together for a long time. So it kind of just feels normal, to be honest with you, It doesn't feel like any different than it has any other year."
For a 24-hour period on the day before free agency, it really seemed like a strong possibility that Malkin would be wearing a new team's jersey in 2022-23. When Ron Hextall was asked on the first day of free agency what happened in that short amount of time between Malkin informing the Penguins he would be testing free agency and signing the contract.
"I don't really know, to be honest," Hextall said. "That's more of a question for for Geno."
I asked Crosby on Monday if he had reached out and had any involvement in Malkin changing his mind as time was starting to run out.
"No," he said. "I mean, I tried to stay up to date with everything. You know, I don't want to bug guys. They've obviously got a lot on their mind trying to work through all that stuff. I'm sure there's a lot of people asking them what's going on. But yeah, I didn't. I was more just kind of waiting to see what was going to happen. I was trying to stay in touch with them relatively often, but I just didn't want to bug them either. I was hoping that everything worked itself out."
With the uncertainty of those contract negotiations behind him, he was able to focus on important matters: Celebrating Nathan MacKinnon's Stanley Cup victory with him back in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia.
When MacKinnon and the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup back in June, MacKinnon said in his postgame interview that he was expecting big things from Crosby at his party over the summer.
“I’ve been the drunkest guy at two of his, so he better be the drunkest guy at mine.” said MacKinnon.
MacKinnon said at the NHL's media day last week that he wouldn't say Crosby was the drunkest guy at the party, but he would rank him in the top 10. Crosby told of MacKinnon's comments on the 32 Thoughts podcast over the weekend, and he took some exception to MacKinnon's assessment. He said he would rank himself "at least top five. He left two hours before I did. I think I shut down the ale house that night. What else can I do?"
I asked Crosby if he'd say he's fully recovered from MacKinnon's Cup party, and he broke into a big grin.
"Yeah, it was good," he said. "I mean, it was a great turnout. People were so excited and obviously proud of what he accomplished and you want to enjoy it. You want to take it in, but you also want to be the one hosting it. It was a good couple of days, and I'm happy for him. I think it was a good time had by all, I think that's the best way to describe it."
Crosby added that being around MacKinnon's Stanley Cup celebrations brought back memories of the parties and celebrations he's had three times before himself.
It makes him want to host next summer's party in Cole Harbour that much more.
"I think it's a good reminder of just how much it brings people together," he said. "You see his family and friends. I think the people that are a part of it feel like they've won it too, and you see that up close when you're on the other side of the party like that. That was cool to see. That's something that makes you more motivated to want to do it again."
The group of Penguins players preparing for Thursday's opening day of training camp is largely unchanged from last season. John Marino and Mike Matheson are out, and Ty Smith, Jeff Petry and Ryan Poehling are in. Jan Rutta was added on defense. Brian Boyle and Evan Rodrigues are replaced by a number of depth forwards competing for spots. Third goaltender Louis Domingue is replaced by Dustin Tokarski.
The core and other key players will return. This team looks a lot like the one that lost in the first round to the Rangers last season, but Crosby believes that this is a team that can still compete. That team from last season took the Rangers to seven games with its top two goaltenders, Crosby, Rickard Rakell and Brian Dumoulin missing most of the series.
Crosby thinks that this is a team that has the ability to make a run.
"You look at last year, you know, we played a pretty good team and did some good things," he said. "We didn't close out the series, but we did enough good things probably without doing that that we were definitely right there and could have had it. So I think there's optimism because of that. We played good hockey, we've had instances where we've had guys out and found ways to win. You need to do that consistently. There's no guarantees. I think that's the reality. But that being said, I think we've proven that we can be a good team. It doesn't get any easier. But I think we're motivated and we definitely have a good group that's proven we can be a good hockey team. We've got to find a way to get over the hump."
