Throughout their history, the Pittsburgh Penguins have been fortunate to feature some of the greatest players in NHL history, from Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr to Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
The franchise has captured the Stanley Cup five times, beginning with its first championship in 1991. That victory marked the start of back-to-back titles, a feat the Penguins would later duplicate by winning consecutive titles in 2016 and 2017.
Lemieux and Jagr led the way during Pittsburgh’s first dynasty, while Crosby and Malkin led the franchise’s second, which also included a Stanley Cup win in 2009. But as the saying goes, all good things eventually come to an end.
Both Crosby and Malkin are in their late 30s, and won’t play forever. Both players are signed through the end of the upcoming 2026-27 campaign, and the prevailing belief is that this could be the last chance for fans of the Penguins to see them play live.
Pittsburgh Penguins Captain Sidney Crosby Will Set A Personal Record Later This Season
Crosby, who was selected by the Penguins with the first overall pick in the 2005 NHL Draft, popularly referred to as the “Crosby Sweepstakes”, has already cemented his status as one of the best players to lace up the skates in League history.
And later in the upcoming season, Crosby will achieve a life milestone – spending literally half of it as a member of the Penguins, to be exact.
“The Penguins have a home game on March 25 against New Jersey,” wrote Penguins Insider Josh Yohe on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I bring this up because, starting on that day, Sidney Crosby will have spent more than half of his life as captain of the Penguins. Not sure any athlete has ever blended precociousness with longevity quite like him.”
Sidney Crosby Plans On Signing Year To Year Contracts
While Malkin could very well be suiting up in his final NHL campaign, Crosby didn’t sound so sure that he’s preparing to ride off into the sunset himself.
“I said year to year because of where the team is at,” Crosby said recently. “It just makes sense, whether it’s our cap, who we have coming in and out, just to have that flexibility. It’s important.”
“Yeah, I’m saying year to year based on contracts,” he explained. “It just seems to make sense. I mean, it could change. We’ll see. Kyle (Dubas) and I haven’t even talked about it. But I’ll talk with Pat (Brisson) and Kyle later this summer. We’ll talk about it and do what makes sense. If it does make sense to sign for a couple of years, then we’ll do that.”
He also said that he plans on doing what is best for the team that gave him his start in the NHL.
“It’s pretty obvious why I would just go year to year with the contracts,” he said. “At the end of the day, I’m just going to do what’s best for the team. It’s got nothing to do with how long I want to play. It’s not like that at all.”
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