Sidney Crosby’s 37th birthday came and went without a contract extension, which was always the plan according to Rob Rossi of The Athletic. Many believed Crosby would be extended on August 7th due to his superstitious nature, however, the 19-year veteran remains without a contract past next season.
Rossi’s league sources have informed him that the Penguins and Crosby remain on the same page when it comes to his new deal and the team is confident that they will reach a new agreement. Rossi also notes that Crosby has reportedly told those close to him that he plans to re-sign with Pittsburgh and that his priority this summer has been on his training for next season.
In other Penguins notes:
- Rossi also squashed a rumor from earlier in the week that Penguins center Evgeni Malkin intended to retire from the NHL after next season and forgo the last year of his four-year contract. Malkin told Rossi that he hasn’t given any thought to retiring a year early and intends to play out the final two years of his contract. The 38-year-old is coming off the worst offensive season of his 18-year career but spent most of last year saddled with replacement-level wingers. Malkin managed to dress in all 82 regular season games for the second consecutive season and posted 27 goals and 40 assists while averaging 18:35 of ice time per game.
- Teddy Werner will move into Dave Beeston’s role with the Penguins as alternate governor after Beeston’s departure from the Fenway Sports Group (as per Rossi). Beeston’s exit left the Penguins without a liaison to their ownership group and the senior vice president for Fenway Sports Management will fill in the role that had been occupied by Beeston for the past two years. Werner is the son of FSG chairman Tom Werner and has previously worked in Major League Baseball with the Milwaukee Brewers.