Sidney Crosby's retirement comments just stunned NHL fans
Sidney Crosby isn't going anywhere. The Pittsburgh Penguins captain told The Athletic's Josh Yohe on Thursday he's nowhere near the end.
Asked point blank if he'd consider playing five more seasons, taking him to age 45, the 38-year-old didn't laugh it off. He didn't dismiss it either.
"Ha," Crosby responded. "That would be nice."
His current deal runs through the summer of 2027. Speculation had pegged that as the finish line. Crosby isn't buying it.
He told Yohe he plans to keep going "for as long as possible," but he's committed to a year-to-year approach tied to the team's situation.
"I'm year to year because of where the team is at," he said. "It just makes sense, whether it's our cap, who we have coming in and out, just to have that flexibility."
Why Kyle Dubas holds the key to Crosby's next deal
The captain made it clear the structure of any extension runs through GM Kyle Dubas and agent Pat Brisson later this summer.
"It's pretty obvious why I would just go year to year with the contracts," Crosby said. "At the end of the day, I'm just going to do what's best for the team."
That's a loaded statement when you look at the roster math. Crosby carries an $8.7 million cap hit. Pittsburgh finished 41-25-16 for 98 points and 10th overall.
The Penguins were bounced from the playoffs in six games. Crosby still led the way with 5 points in that series, including a power play goal.
Across the regular season, he poured in 29 goals and 45 assists for 74 points in 68 games. He went a +0 on a team that allowed 268 goals against.
His final stretch was telling. Over his last 10 games, Crosby produced 12 points and a +1 rating. The legs aren't slowing. The hands aren't either.
The bigger question? Whether Dubas can build a contender fast enough to make Crosby commit beyond one-year flips. The clock is ticking on both sides.
Five more years would put him at 1,500 career games. It would also put a 45-year-old centerman on the top line in 2031.
Imagine that. A guy still winning faceoffs and stickhandling through traffic at an age when most of his draft class is coaching peewee.
The Penguins have decisions to make. So does the captain. And neither side seems interested in rushing the answer.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 20, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Dylan Coghlan | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Pavel Dorofeyev | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nic Dowd | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Gabriel Landeskog | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Valeri Nichushkin | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ross Colton | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Tomas Hertl | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ben Hutton | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nathan MacKinnon | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mitch Marner | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brandon Saad | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Colton Sissons | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Devon Toews | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Ahcan | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | - | - | |
| Brent Burns | - | - | - | |
| Jack Drury | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||