Sidney Crosby this season is entering the last year of his contract, a 12-year extension he agreed to way back in 2012.
Crosby became eligible to sign an extension that would begin in the 2025-26 season on July 1 of this summer, though he of course doesn't have to -- he could play out the remainder of the contract, then re-sign at the end of this coming season.
Crosby was asked on Day 1 of the NHL Media Tour in Las Vegas on Monday if he sees a scenario where he does wait out the season to sign that new deal with the Penguins, and he didn't hesitate before saying, "No, no."
"I think I'm pretty optimistic it's going to get done," Crosby added. "I mean, I don't know what day specifically, but it's been really positive. It hasn't been a difficult process at all. So I'm pretty optimistic that something will get done."
Crosby said it's "hard" to put a number on how many years he has left to play at this point.
"You don't really know the trajectory of everything and how you're going to feel mentally, physically," he said. "All you can do is really just each year, evaluate it and kind of go from there. But I think that when you get to this point, you understand that's more of a reality with every year you play, and you understand that, but I think you just kind of check in with that through the year every year and evaluate it. So that's how I look at it. But I feel really good. I'm just as excited about going to training camp as I was my first year. So I think the passion and that sort of thing is all there. So as long as that's there, then you want to put in the work and do everything that it takes to be successful."
In negotiating his next contract, Crosby doesn't have to determine how long exactly he wants to play if he wants to avoid leaving the Penguins with dead cap space in the event he retires before that next deal expires. While cap hits don't go away for players on 35+ contracts, Crosby's next deal doesn't have to be a 35+ contract. Here's my primer from earlier in the summer on how that all works.
