Blackhawks Sign Spencer Knight To Three-Year Extension
When the Blackhawks acquired Spencer Knight from Florida as part of the Seth Jones deal prior to the trade deadline, they picked up who they feel can be their goalie of the future in the swap. They’ve now made sure he’ll be in the fold for a while longer as the team announced that they’ve inked the netminder to a three-year extension worth $17.5MM, or $5.833MM per season. GM Kyle Davidson released the following statement:
After joining the team in March, Spencer quickly cemented himself as a crucial piece of our future. A talented, young goaltender, he brings athleticism, sound positioning and a calm demeanor to his game, and we’re excited to watch Spencer continue to flourish in Chicago over the next four seasons.
Knight was a first-round pick by Florida back in 2019, going 13th overall. He quickly made the jump to the pros in 2020 and was the full-time backup for the Panthers in 2021-22. Soon after, Florida saw fit to give him a fairly significant bridge deal for a netminder with limited experience, signing him to a three-year, $13.5MM pact, the last season of which comes in 2025-26 with the extension running through 2028-29.
Florida didn’t get a great return on that deal at the beginning. Knight stepped away from the team in February 2023 to enter the Player Assistance Program to treat his Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. The following year (the first of the new contract) was spent entirely at the AHL level with the Panthers prioritizing getting Knight as much playing time as possible while Sergei Bobrovsky and Anthony Stolarz comprised Florida’s tandem. He played relatively well with AHL Charlotte, posting a 2.41 GAA along with a .905 SV% in 45 games that season.
Stolarz moved on to Toronto last season, paving the way for Knight (now waiver-eligible) to return to the Panthers. He played in 23 games with Florida in 2024-25, putting up a 2.40 GAA and a .907 SV%, both better than the NHL average. That was good enough to make him the centerpiece of the return for Jones and Chicago gave Knight plenty of playing time down the stretch. The 24-year-old suited up in 15 contests for the Blackhawks following the swap where he had a 3.18 GAA and a .893 SV% on a group that was prioritizing giving some of their prospects plenty of playing time late in the year.
This deal buys Chicago only one extra year of team control as he still had two RFA-eligible years remaining after this one. PuckPedia relays (Twitter link) that the contract is front-loaded, paying $7.25MM in 2026-27, $5.75MM in 2027-28, and $4.5MM in 2028-29; he’ll also have a 15-team no-trade clause that year.
Knight will enter the season at the head of a goaltending trio that has quietly become one of the more expensive groups in the league. Arvid Soderblom begins the first year of his new two-year, $5.5MM pact and will likely be the backup while veteran Laurent Brossoit, who didn’t play last season due to injury, has one year left on his agreement at $3.3MM.
But while this contract cements Knight as the starter for a little while longer, it stops short of handing him the job for the long haul. That should prove appealing for their prospects as Drew Commesso and Adam Gajan were both second-round picks that Chicago hopes can be part of the future plans as well. Commesso had a solid year with AHL Rockford in 2024-25 while making his NHL debut while Gajan struggled in his first taste of college action and is probably a couple of years away from turning pro. If one of them breaks through and seriously pushes for the starting job, Chicago can still pivot and go in that direction while if not, they’ll get the next few years to see if Knight is the right fit for the job for the long haul.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report that Chicago was signing Knight to an extension. Bleacher Report’s Frank Seravalli was the first to report the terms.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.
Kings’ Corey Perry Undergoes Knee Surgery
Saturday: The Kings announced that Perry has undergone successful knee surgery and will be out for six to eight weeks. That means that he will not be available to start the upcoming season and could ultimately miss more than a month if he winds up missing the longer end of that timeline.
Perry has $1.5MM in performance bonuses in his contract that are tied to games played. However, he only needs to get 50 regular season games played to max out on those so this injury alone shouldn’t stop him from having a chance at earning the full amount of those bonuses.
Friday: According to the staff at Mayor’s Manor, new forward for the Los Angeles Kings, Corey Perry, was reportedly injured in an on-ice incident today at the Toyota Sports Performance Center in El Segundo. The outlet suggests that Perry was taken off the ice in a wheelchair for further medical evaluation.
There’s little information regarding the injury, and it’s unknown at this point if Perry suffered the injury as a result of contact or not. The only information that Mayor’s Manor could provide was that the injury happened along the boards, not on open ice.
It would obviously be a significant blow to Perry and the Kings after the 41-year-old veteran signed a one-year, $2MM contract with Los Angeles at the beginning of the offseason, if he misses significant time due to the injury. Perry was expected to contribute in a bottom-six role, both for his offensive and leadership abilities.
Outside of his 14-year career with the Anaheim Ducks, which included a Stanley Cup ring in 2007 and a Hart Memorial and Maurice Richard Trophy in 2011, Perry’s career has become a point of fascination over the last few seasons. Perry has reached the Stanley Cup Finals five out of six times since signing with the Dallas Stars before the 2019-20 season, after being bought out by the Ducks, but lost each time.
Still, he’s been able to stay relevant and productive in the twilight years of his career. Split between the Stars, Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning, Chicago Blackhawks, and Edmonton Oilers, Perry has scored 76 goals and 159 points in 404 games while averaging 12:51 of ice time per game. Throughout his past six playoff runs, the veteran winger has recorded 28 goals and 52 points in 119 games, averaging 13:17 per game.
Fortunately, the Kings have compiled enough depth, especially on the wing, to sustain such an injury. While Perry’s potential replacement may not have the same value, players like Akil Thomas, Andre Lee, Jeff Malott, or Taylor Ward could temporarily fulfill the role.
Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Marc-Andre Fleury To PTO
The Flower is back where it all began. The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that the club’s legendary netminder Marc-Andre Fleury has signed a PTO with the team and will appear in parts of the team’s September 27th exhibition game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
It is important to make clear that it does not appear that this time that Fleury is set to go back on his retirement announcement from earlier this year and attempt to play one final season in the NHL. Instead, this PTO signing, according to the Penguins, is a way for Fleury to have a “full-circle” moment and celebrate his retirement and his career with the franchise he won three Stanley Cups with. In the team’s official announcement of the signing, general manager Kyle Dubas said:
The entire Penguins organization is honored to welcome Marc-Andre Fleury back to the ice in Pittsburgh. This past year everyone witnessed how beloved and respected Marc is in the game of hockey, but the adoration goes beyond his accolades and career. Marc means so much to our team, our fans and the City of Pittsburgh because of the person he is and the example he set. The Penguins feel he and his family are most-deserving of this opportunity to celebrate this full-circle moment back where it all started in front of the black and gold faithful.
So it appears one should not expect Fleury to be competing with Tristan Jarry, Joel Blomqvist, and Arturs Silovs for a spot on the club’s season-opening roster. Penguins fans nonetheless have reason to be excited by this transaction, even if it is more ceremonial in nature. Fleury, beloved by Penguins fans and hockey fans alike, will now be able to play for the club one last time.
Fleury, who is widely expected to be elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame at some point down the line, is the Penguins’ all-time leader in wins, starts, and goals-against-average. (minimum 50 starts) He was drafted number-one overall by the club at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, and led the team to victory in the 2009 Stanley Cup Final against the Detroit Red Wings. He split time with Matt Murray in both 2016 and 2017 when the franchise won two additional Stanley Cups, and it was Murray’s presence that led to Fleury’s exit from Pittsburgh via selection in the expansion draft by the Vegas Golden Knights.
Now, with this PTO signed, Fleury will return to Pittsburgh and, even if just for a preseason game, suit up for the Penguins one last time before hanging up his skates for good.
Carter Hart, Others Found Not Guilty In Hockey Canada Sexual Assault Trial
Sept. 11th: According to an update from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the NHL and NHLPA have agreed that the five players will be suspended until December 1, 2025. However, they will be permitted to sign with any team on October 15th. Friedman clarified that the Commissioner Gary Bettman did not have a formal hearing with any of the players, as all five reportedly waived their right to appeal the Commissioner’s decision.
Jul. 25th: As expected, the five players will not be immediately accepted back into the NHL despite yesterday’s verdict. According to a public announcement, the league released a statement, saying, “The allegations made in this case, even if not determined to have been criminal, were very disturbing and the behavior at issue was unacceptable. We will be reviewing and considering the judge’s findings. While we conduct that analysis and determine next steps, the players charged in this case are ineligible to play in the League.”
Jul. 24th: Carter Hart, the first of five players charged in connection with an alleged sexual assault involving the 2018 Canadian men’s national junior team to hear his verdict, has been found not guilty by Justice Maria Carroccia in London, Ontario, according to reporting from The Athletic. Dillon Dube, Callan Foote and Alex Formenton have also been found not guilty of sexual assault. The fifth player charged, Michael McLeod, has received the same verdict. He was the only player charged with two counts – one of sexual assault and one of being a party to the offense.
The allegations against Dube, Foote, Formenton, Hart, and McLeod first became public in May of 2022, when reports emerged that Hockey Canada had paid to settle a lawsuit with a woman, known in court documents as E.M., who said she was sexually assaulted by eight players “over several hours” in a London hotel room on July 18, 2018. No charges were levied as a result of the initial investigation by local police, which was closed in February 2019, but the case was reopened after the 2022 report.
Formal charges were then brought against the five defendants on Jan. 30, 2024. The trial began on April 22, 2025, and the verdicts were reached solely by Justice Carroccia after two mistrials influenced her to dismiss the jury.
The NHL does not have a formal policy for players accused of or charged with domestic violence, sexual assault, or similar crimes. Instead, the four players who were under NHL contracts at the time – Dube, Foote, Hart, and McLeod – were granted indefinite leaves of absence by their clubs shortly before the charges were announced. All of them were pending restricted free agents on expiring contracts and were not extended qualifying offers, making them unrestricted free agents as of July 1, 2024.
Today’s not guilty verdict indicates the Canadian prosecutorial team “failed to meet its onus on any of the counts before me,” Justice Carroccia said today. She did not find reasonable doubt that any of the players’ contact with E.M. was non-consensual, which was the main point of contention in the trial that could have led to a guilty verdict.
When asked about the playing eligibility of the defendants, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has continually deferred action until after a verdict was reached. While none of the players are formally suspended by the league, similar situations have routinely required some sort of permission from league offices for them to play in or return to the NHL. If teams approach any of them with a contract offer, they will presumably wait for that guidance before registering the deal.
Jets’ Adam Lowry Continues To Recover From Hip Surgery
Sept. 11th: Pushing back somewhat on last month’s report, Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press spoke with Lowry today and indicated that although his recovery is going very well, he’s still targeting a return in late October or early November. Still, given that a sixth-month recovery would have projected Lowry for a late November return, today’s update indicates he’s on the early end of the recovery timeline.
Aug. 26th: In somewhat of a surprising revelation, given the original recovery timeline, the Jets shared an update of Lowry taking part in an informal skate this morning, donning his full equipment. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Lowry will be ready to start the season on time, but it does indicate he could be available far earlier than expected. An earlier return should prove a boon for Winnipeg, as they’re set to open the 2025-26 season with Namestnikov and the question mark, Jonathan Toews, as their top two center options behind Scheifele.
May 28th: Jets captain Adam Lowry won’t be available at the start of the 2025-26 season after undergoing successful hip surgery on Tuesday, per a club announcement. The procedure carries a five-to-six-month rehabilitation timeline, meaning he’ll likely make his season debut sometime in November.
While it could be a tough start to Winnipeg’s season without their top matchup and penalty-killing center, a roughly month-long absence shouldn’t impact the Jets’ offseason planning too much outside of adding a depth piece down the middle to give them additional insurance through the first few weeks of the campaign. A potential late October return doesn’t guarantee Lowry will miss enough time to qualify for a long-term injured reserve placement at the beginning of the season. Winnipeg general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff must presume Lowry counts against the salary cap to start the year.
The Jets’ center core of Lowry, Mark Scheifele, Vladislav Namestnikov, and Morgan Barron are all signed or under team control for next season, so there likely weren’t going to be many moving parts down the middle for Winnipeg this summer anyway outside of finding a potential upgrade on Namestnikov for the second line. However, Lowry’s absence for the first few weeks will likely allow the Jets to evaluate the readiness of their potential internal long-term replacements for Namestnikov in a top-six role. There’s 2023 first-rounder Brayden Yager, who’s primed to land an opening-night roster spot after scoring 25 goals and 82 points in 54 games with WHL Moose Jaw and Lethbridge this year. 2022 first-round Brad Lambert has gotten a couple of NHL reps over the last two years and might be a candidate as well, although he’s coming off a highly disappointing season with AHL Manitoba (7-28–35, -30 rating in 61 GP).
For Lowry, the hip rehab will mark an inauspicious start to the final season of the five-year, $16.25MM extension he signed in 2021. With Kyle Connor and Cole Perfetti also eligible to sign extensions on July 1, it’s unclear how quickly Cheveldayoff intends to start those talks with his captain. However, it should be expected that they’ll do everything in their power to keep the 11-year veteran in the only NHL city he’s ever known.
If they do opt to engage in extension discussions this summer, AFP Analytics projects the 32-year-old to receive a two-year deal in the $4MM range per season. He’s coming off his third straight 30-point campaign and has averaged at least 15 minutes per game for five straight seasons.
Lowry’s injury also puts a small dent in his climb up the Jets franchise’s all-time leaderboard. His 775 games played are fourth in Winnipeg/Atlanta franchise history, and he needs 69 games to leapfrog Bryan Little for third – that’s still doable next year if he returns at the early end of his timeline and stays healthy the rest of the way. His 121 goals are 10th all-time for the Jets, his 152 assists and 273 points rank ninth, while his +50 rating ranks fourth.
Blues Sign Justin Carbonneau, Nikita Susuev
The St. Louis Blues have signed 2025 first-round pick Justin Carbonneau to his entry-level contract. The team also announced they’ve signed 2023 seventh-round pick Nikita Susuev to his entry-level deal. Carbonneau was one of 33 forwards named to the Blues’ 2025 training camp roster on Wednesday. Reports suggest that he could even have a chance at making the NHL roster straight out of camp, per Marco D’Amico of RG Media.
PuckPedia reports that Carbonneau will have a cap hit of $975K before performance bonuses and an AAV of $1.392MM with those bonuses factored in. They add that Susuev, who doesn’t have any performance bonuses in his deal, will have a cap charge of $855.
Word that Carbonneau could be headed for pro games sooner rather than later comes as no surprise. He was the main standout at the team’s 2025 rookie camp, held immediately following the NHL Draft. Fans were quickly tuned into the high-energy, hefty, and aggressively-physical style that Carbonneau brings to the ice. He was perhaps the best play-driver in the QMJHL last season, and finished the year with 46 goals – tied for the league-lead – and 89 points – second in the league – in 62 games played. Carbonneau was also the only player in the league to record more than 60 points and penalty minutes (61).
Draft pundits praised Carbonneau’s heft and strength throughout the season. He already stands at 6-foot-2, 205-pounds – plenty of size to cushion an early move to the NHL. If he doesn’t make the Blues, or if the team opts to return him after nine games, he will return to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada for a fourth season. He has already amassed 168 points in 162 games with the team.
On the other side, Susuev – often spelled Susuyev – could finally make a push away from Russian hockey. He has bounced around the country’s major, minor, and junior leagues over the last three seasons. He’s also bounced around organizations, and ended up suiting up for five different clubs – helped along by three different loan-outs – last season alone. His stat line became a slog as a result – officially sat at 12 points in 21 MHL (junior) games, five points in 14 VHL (minor-pro) games, and one point in seven KHL (major-pro) games.
Susuev did spend the majority of the 2023-24 campaign, his age-19 season, on the KHL’s Spartak Moskva. He only racked up six points in 40 games from a depth forward role, but nonetheless gained invaluable experience on a team that finished fourth in their conference. He’s a high-skill winger, with the flash to beat defenders and the instinct to crash the net. His hockey IQ was praised by Russian scouts ahead of the draft, and he could quickly become an interesting player to follow if and when he joins the AHL ranks. For now, Susuev has officially missed the start of Spartak’s season due to injury, and it is unclear what his next step will be.
Sharks Sign No. 2 Overall Pick Michael Misa
The Sharks have signed No. 2 overall draft pick Michael Misa to his entry-level contract, the team announced. Unsurprisingly, he receives close to the maximum allowable compensation. Per PuckPedia, he’ll receive the maximum base salary of $877.5K, signing bonus of $97.5K, and up to $1MM in Schedule “A” performance bonuses each year. His potential Schedule “B” bonuses are up to $2.25MM, $250K short of the max.
Misa was essentially a slam-dunk selection for San Jose after the Islanders took defenseman Matthew Schaefer with the first pick, although there was some smoke that the Sharks were also considering Swedish center Anton Frondell, who ended up going No. 3 to the Blackhawks. Misa, an OHL Saginaw product, was the early favorite for the top choice in the 2025 draft, gaining exceptional status and beginning his OHL career with the Spirit at the age of 15. However, a semi-conservative showing in his pre-draft year had tempered projections for Misa entering last season.
But in 2024-25, Misa looked more like the franchise-level phenom that his early hype awarded him. The left-shot center served as Saginaw’s captain and clicked at nearly a goal per game, totaling a 62-72–134 scoring line in 65 appearances to lead the entire CHL in points and, unsurprisingly, received CHL First All-Star and OHL MVP honors. He was also named the league’s Scholastic Player of the Year. That had him as the consensus No. 2 prospect in the class behind Schaefer, according to every major public ranking, by the time the season came to an end.
There will still be those out there who argue Misa deserved the top selection, especially considering Schaefer’s season ended after just 17 appearances due to a collarbone injury in December. He was the first OHLer to crack 130 points in nearly 20 years, and the last player to score more points in that league as a draft-eligible player was Patrick Kane‘s 145 points in 58 games in 2006-07. Elite Prospects’ Lauren Kelly even labeled him the most complete forward in the class in June.
He thus enters his first professional season with a similar level of hype to San Jose’s No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft, Macklin Celebrini, had 12 months ago. While the Sharks’ flurry of forward pickups in free agency indicates they aren’t necessarily banking on him being on their opening night roster, there’s plenty of flexibility for him to play meaningful minutes or, at the very least, earn a nine-game trial to start the season before burning the first year of his deal.
Kirill Kaprizov’s Camp Rejects Eight-Year, $16MM AAV Offer
The Wild are indeed prepared to make pending UFA winger Kirill Kaprizov the highest-paid player in NHL history, but even that may not be enough to get a contract extension across the finish line. His representation turned down an eight-year, $128MM offer from the Wild yesterday that would have carried a cap hit of $16MM, Frank Seravalli of Bleacher Report relays. That would have been a record-setting deal in terms of both AAV and total value.
It’s the first marginal indication that the 28-year-old superstar’s time in Minnesota may be coming to an end. Wild front office staff and ownership have projected extreme confidence in their ability to get a long-term deal across the finish line ever since he became eligible to sign an extension on July 1. Michael Russo of The Athletic reported last month that the club would essentially let Kaprizov dictate the structure of his contract as long as it was at least five years in length.
Yet that was with the assumption that a $16MM cap hit, a whole $2MM clear of the record-setting $14MM AAV that Leon Draisaitl signed for with the Oilers one year ago, would be enough to get a deal done. If it’s going to take closer to the maximum salary of $19.1MM, it could be back to the drawing board.
While a jarring headline, it’s important to note the Wild and Kaprizov are still extremely early in the negotiating process. Talks didn’t begin in earnest until Kaprizov arrived back in Minnesota ahead of training camp in the last several days.
Seravalli’s report also doesn’t clarify what the basis was for the rejection. It might be a change in salary/bonus structure or trade protection that will take some time to work out, or a desire from Kaprizov to sign a shorter-term contract and give himself another chance to cash in on a deal in his early 30s. While a general hesitance to commit to the Wild, who haven’t won a playoff series during Kaprizov’s tenure, could be the driving force, it’s far too soon to write off the notion of an extension entirely.
In any event, the Wild must ask themselves how far above market value they’re willing to award Kaprizov. While he’s a true superstar and the brightest offensive talent in franchise history, he simply doesn’t have the resume that led names like Draisaitl and Nathan MacKinnon to receive record-setting contracts in recent years. He’s never hit the 50-goal mark, only broken 100 points once, and has never finished top five in MVP voting. All that combines to make his actual market value likely closer to the low $14MM range – even adjusted for the projected salary cap increase to $104MM, according to AFP Analytics.
Since entering the league in 2020-21, Kaprizov’s 386 points in 319 career games are 15th in the league. His 1.21 points per game are 10th. That’s still a whole 224 points less than what Oilers star Connor McDavid, also a pending UFA expected to sign in the $16MM range if he extends in Edmonton, has over the last five years.
Blackhawks At Comfortable Spot In Connor Bedard Extension Talks
Despite little mention of a new deal, it doesn’t seem Chicago Blackhawks fans have any reason to worry about not landing an agreement with their lineup star. Connor Bedard shared that he and the Blackhawks have mutual interest in getting a multi-year extension done with NHL.com’s Nicholas J. Cotsonika during the NHL Media Tour. The young sniper said:
We’re both comfortable with where we’re at. They know I want to be there; I know they want me. So, it’s really not on my mind that much, and I just think when it happens, it’ll happen.
It’s fair to say that Bedard’s extension will have to be unique. The 2023 first-overall pick has filled a distinctly difficult role through two seasons in Chicago. He’s unequivocally the Blackhawks’ top forward, though adapting to a do-it-all role has proven lofty for the 5-foot-10 centerman – especially after two years on a sluggish Regina Pats team. But just like he did in the WHL, Bedard has found his scoring through the struggles. He’s surpassed 60 points in each of his first two seasons, a feat that only two other teenagers – Sidney Crosby and Patrik Laine – have accomplished since 2000.
Reaching further into the bag of superlatives, Bedard’s 128 points in his first 150 games is the third-most recorded by a teenager in the last 10 years, behind Laine and Connor McDavid. He ranks just ahead of Nathan MacKinnon (101 points) and Nico Hischier (99 points). That fact paints a sign of relief for Blackhawks fans worried that Bedard hasn’t broken into the top echelon of scoring just yet. He’s still many, many years away from his prime – and performed at a supreme level for a teenager in the NHL.
But how will that reflect in contract negotiations? Laine opted for a bridge deal after his entry-level deal came to a close, inking a two-year, $13.5MM contract that’d prove to be a proper amount of risk-avoidance. But Laine’s lineup standing, as a goal-dependent winger, can hardly be compared to the firm role that Bedard has already carved out. His standing is much more in-line with players like Hischier or MacKinnon, who each signed seven-year contract extensions after their entry-level deal that carried a cap hit equivalent to 8.9 percent of the salary cap. Using that same marker for Bedard, Chicago could be set to begin negotiations with their young center at a seven-year, $64.8MM contract – which would carry a yearly cap hit of $9.256MM.
On a long-term contract, that deal could be more than worth it. Bedard spent the 2025 summer working alongside many of the NHL’s top emerging youngsters, including Macklin Celebrini and Kent Johnson. While training video is often not an indicator of game performance, it was hard not to notice Bedard’s patented snappy wrist-shot looking a bit stronger, and more deceptive, as he played around some great peers. A summer of honing skills, and a few more years of strength-building, could easily place Bedard in the position of electric goal-scorer that many expect him to fill. He’s already posted two 20-goal seasons in his campaign, and will eye the next rung up the ladder – a 30-goal campaign – next year.
In the meantime, Chicago will sit patient on a deal. Bedard said that he could sign an extension before the season, but may not. If he doesn’t, he’ll have a great chance to a heftier payday on a Blackhawks roster ever so slightly better than their 2024-25 group. Whether it’s sparked by a hot start to the year or a warm reception at training camp, running Bedard’s stay in Chicago through the 2030’s seems to be a matter of when – not if.
Photo courtesy of Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports.
Agent Comments On Sidney Crosby’s Future With Penguins
The agent for Penguins franchise icon Sidney Crosby, Pat Brisson of CAA Sports, spoke to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic about his client’s future in Pittsburgh ahead of a season that has the Pens positioned as one of the few true sellers in the league. While LeBrun stressed that Crosby “for sure only sees himself as a Penguin for life” entering his 21st NHL season, his camp is giving him plenty of room to change his mind if Pittsburgh’s showing this season is as poor as expected.
When asked directly if a Crosby trade before the end of his deal in 2026-27 is possible, Brisson had this to say:
I mean, I’m answering something that … let’s put it this way, it’s always a possibility, you know? It’s been three years they haven’t made the playoffs. It all depends on how Sid is going to be and how the team is going to do. I maintain the same position that I do believe that he should be playing playoff hockey every year. In my opinion.
There remains virtually no chance of a surprise Crosby blockbuster before the start of the season. The Penguins haven’t even managed to trade one of their three major trade chips, wingers Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust and defenseman Erik Karlsson, in the six-plus months they’ve been available dating back to last season’s trade deadline. Crosby could have both those forwards as his wingmen to open the season, either to squeeze as much production out of them as possible to boost their trade stock or simply to give this Penguins team a fighting chance at being in the mix for the playoffs.
As Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas told LeBrun, that remains the organization’s goal – whether that’s via resurgent veterans or ahead-of-schedule growth from the young talent they’ve been busy accumulating over the past several months. “Our focus is on returning the Pittsburgh Penguins to perennial contender status as urgently as possible, “Dubas said. “Taking away our focus from that task would only slow down from a job that requires our full attention and nothing less.”
Crosby himself gave a more in-depth quote on where his mindset is at entering the season to Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin:
It’s not something you want to discuss. You’d rather be talking about who we’re getting at the (trade) deadline or, you know, where we’re at as far as, are we one or two or three in the division?. But you know, it’s one of those things. That’s the hard part about losing. I think everybody thinks that the buzzer goes and you lose a game and that sucks, but there’s so much more than that. It’s the (roster) turnover. It’s the unknown, the uncertainty, the question marks — that’s the stuff that’s tough. It makes you appreciate all those years that we were competing and going after the big acquisition every single trade deadline. I don’t think I took it for granted, but I definitely appreciate it that much more now.