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Pennsylvania Notes: Crosby, Drysdale, Bernard, Sedley

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Penguins fans are still waiting on confirmation that Sidney Crosby has signed an extension. Early last month, Rob Rossi of The Athletic reported that a three-year deal in the $10MM AAV range was close to being finalized, but nothing came across the wire. Speculation then ran rampant that he might ink a deal to keep him in Pittsburgh past this season on his birthday, Aug. 7, but that date also came and went without any news.

It’s a situation that has the potential to cast a dark cloud over the Penguins’ season if Crosby remains without a new contract when training camp begins, Josh Yohe of The Athletic writes. “This isn’t good for ticket sales,” Yohe opines. “It’s not good for corporate sponsorships. That lack of buzz around the Penguins right now is deafening, but it grows a little louder every day that passes without Crosby signing a new deal. He’s the Penguins’ heartbeat. He keeps the organization financially stable.”

Aside from the lack of any recent news, there’s no real indication that the relationship between Crosby’s camp and the Penguins’ front office, led by general manager Kyle Dubas, has fractured in the slightest. Both sides have still maintained constant public messaging that signing an extension is their top priority. The 37-year-old is still the team’s most impactful player by a wide margin, coming off a 42-goal, 94-point season in 2023-24.

More notes out of the Keystone State:

  • The Flyers are entering their first full season with defenseman Jamie Drysdale in tow. The 22-year-old defenseman was one half of a blockbuster swap with the Ducks last January, heading to Philly in exchange for the signing rights to 2022 fifth-overall pick Cutter Gauthier. After again struggling to stay in the lineup last season due to injuries, Drysdale enters a make-or-break 2024-25 campaign that will likely set the tone for the rest of his tenure with the Flyers, Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports writes (subscription required).
  • The Flyers’ AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, have signed Xavier Bernard and Sam Sedley to contracts for the 2024-25 campaign, per a team announcement. Bernard, 24, was a fourth-round pick of the Devils in 2018 but never signed his entry-level contract. He’s spent the past few seasons bouncing between the AHL and ECHL, most recently in the Oilers organization with the Bakersfield Condors and Fort Wayne Komets. He spent nearly all of 2023-24 in the ECHL with Fort Wayne, where the 6’4″ left-shot had 16 points, 92 PIMs and a +23 rating in 64 games. Sedley, meanwhile, is entering his first professional season after five years with the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack. The 21-year-old had been invited to multiple Flyers rookie camps in the past. The diminutive right-shot defender led Owen Sound defensemen in scoring last year with 63 points in 64 games.

Blues Offer Sheet Philip Broberg, Dylan Holloway

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The Blues are tendering offer sheets to Oilers RFAs Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway, the team announced (via Matthew DeFranks of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch). In a separate transaction, they’ve reacquired their own 2025 second-round pick from the Penguins to have the appropriate compensation should Edmonton not match one or both of the offer sheets.

St. Louis’ offer sheet for Broberg is a two-year, $9.16MM deal, while Holloway’s is a two-year, $4.58MM deal, per DeFranks. The deals carry AAVs of $4.58MM and $2.29MM, respectively.

Both are at the maximum of their respective categories in the offer sheet compensation thresholds, which the league updated this offseason. Should Edmonton fail to match, the Blues would owe the Oilers their 2025 third-round pick for Holloway and the aforementioned 2025 second-round pick for Broberg.

The preceding pick swap with the Penguins saw the Blues acquire Pittsburgh’s 2026 fifth-round pick and next year’s second-rounder, sending their 2026 second-round pick and the Senators’ 2025 third-round pick in return. St. Louis had sent its 2025 second-rounder to the Penguins in June to get Kevin Hayes’ $3.57MM cap hit off the books, while they acquired Ottawa’s pick as compensation for taking on the final two seasons of Mathieu Joseph’s contract at a $2.95MM cap hit.

New Oilers general manager Stan Bowman now has seven days to decide whether to match the offer sheets or accept the draft-pick compensation. But given Edmonton’s financial situation, matching the bloated short-term deals will be a tough ask.

The second year attached to both deals may be the deciding factor. Not only are the Oilers already over the salary cap today, paying out nearly $7MM in cap hits in 2025-26 for Broberg and Holloway would significantly inhibit their ability to sign pending UFA Leon Draisaitl to what will likely be the richest deal in franchise history.

But if the Oilers decide to match one or both the offer sheets, they wouldn’t need to make any corresponding transactions immediately. Edmonton is only roughly $350K over the $88MM salary cap, per PuckPedia, and teams can exceed that upper limit by up to 10% during the offseason. That’s enough wiggle room to add $6.87MM worth of Broberg and Holloway to the books, but they would need to shed more salary than previously anticipated to become cap-compliant by the time opening-night rosters are due.

Edmonton’s short-term crunch could be helped out by Evander Kane, who’s expected to need surgery and will likely start the season on long-term injured reserve. But if Kane and his $5.125MM cap hit aren’t expected to miss the entire season, they’ll still need space to activate him at some point.

On St. Louis’ end, it’s now clear why GM Doug Armstrong was intent on keeping his options open financially this summer, shedding some bad deals for slightly more cost-effective ones. The Blues have $7.34MM in projected cap space, per PuckPedia, ninth-most in the league. It’s enough to take on the AAVs for Broberg and Holloway without any corresponding moves, and they could end up with even more flexibility should defenseman Torey Krug require surgery to address pre-arthritic conditions in his left ankle. That would cost him the entire 2024-25 season and make him eligible for LTIR, allowing them to use his $6.5MM cap hit for relief.

Failing to match either would be a tough proposition for the Oilers, who selected Broberg eighth overall in 2019 and Holloway at 14th overall in 2020. Both are on their way to becoming everyday NHL contributors, with Holloway appearing in all 25 playoff games for Edmonton and Broberg pushing for more NHL minutes after excelling with the Oilers’ AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, last season.

Snapshots: Kuzmenko, Eller, Minten

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Andrei Kuzmenko was one of the Flames’ best players down the stretch last season. The Russian winger scored 14 goals and added 11 assists for 25 points in 29 games after Calgary acquired him from the Canucks in the Elias Lindholm trade. That was good enough for 0.86 points per game, second-most on the team behind Nazem Kadri’s 0.91, despite averaging a somewhat conservative 15:40 per game.

It was more of a continuation of what we saw from Kuzmenko in his rookie season two years ago when he erupted for 39 goals and 74 points in 81 games after signing in Vancouver as an undrafted free agent. But there are warning signs abound with his game, whether it be his sky-high 27.3 shooting percentage during that rookie campaign or his inconsistent play away from the puck that got him benched for a decent chunk of the early going last year before the trade. As such, if Kuzmenko is again among Calgary’s leading scorers this year, expect the pending UFA to be one of the bigger chips at the trade deadline, opines Jim Parsons of The Hockey News.

At 28, Kuzmenko doesn’t align with the Flames’ timeline for returning to playoff contention after selling off most of their core over the last 12 months. Signing him to an extension and attempting to shop him later carries many risks if his expected year-to-year inconsistency damages his trade value. But if he continues to produce at a 60-to-80-point pace as one of the Flames’ lone dangerous offensive weapons in 2024-25, Calgary general manager Craig Conroy could land the best of both worlds by recouping a decent trade return.

Kuzmenko is entering the back half of a two-year, $11MM extension the Canucks signed him to midway through his rookie campaign. He does have a 12-team no-trade list that Conroy would need to work around in potential deadline discussions.

There’s more from around the league today:

  • Penguins center Lars Eller hasn’t been the subject of trade rumors this offseason, but Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now argues he should be. After signing a two-year, $4.9MM deal with the Pens in free agency in 2023, the 35-year-old could find himself as Pittsburgh’s 13th forward come opening night, giving way to offseason additions Anthony Beauvillier, Kevin Hayes and Blake Lizotte. If he won’t be a regular, the Pens would likely be better off giving some NHL reps to fringe prospects like Vasiliy Ponomarev, Samuel Poulin, and Brayden Yager.
  • Maple Leafs center prospect Fraser Minten will be in the mix to land a spot on the opening night roster for the second year in a row, and assistant general manager Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser tells NHL.com’s Dave McCarthy that he’s not too far away from landing a full-time spot after a four-game trial last fall. “He adapts really well,” Wickenheiser said. “He is great to work with from a development standpoint. He’s always curious on his own game. He studies the game of others and for him, it’s just about trying to assist him toward taking that next step to being an everyday NHL player. He’s very close.” After playing in his fourth season of junior hockey with the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers and Saskatoon Blades last season, Minten will be eligible to head to AHL Toronto in 2024-25 should he not make the team out of camp.

Penguins Weren't Opposed To The Idea Of Moving On From Jarry At Draft

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The Penguins weren’t believed to be opposed to moving on from Tristan Jarry back at the draft, suggests Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  Last season was a rough one for the 29-year-old as he posted a 2.91 GAA and a .903 SV% in 51 games, the worst full-season numbers of his career.  In the process, he lost the starting job down the stretch to Alex Nedeljkovic, who Pittsburgh wound up re-signing.  Jarry still has four years remaining on his contract with a $5.375MM cap charge, a price tag that is certainly on the high side for the type of performance he had last season.  While there was some speculation that we could see some underachieving starters trade places this summer, most of those moves didn’t materialize so Jarry will go into Pittsburgh’s camp next month looking to reclaim the starting job.

Penguins Delaying Marcus Pettersson Extension

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The biggest storyline from the Pittsburgh Penguins organization over the last couple of weeks has been the ongoing extension negotiations with captain Sidney Crosby. However, the Penguins have another extension candidate in defenseman Marcus Pettersson who has been a consistently steady defenseman since they acquired him in 2018.

In an article from Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now, he asserts that the organization has delayed extension negotiations with Pettersson until Crosby has signed his new contract. There has been no indication that Pittsburgh is uninterested in extending Pettersson but the delayed negotiations could cause some unfortunate consequences for the team moving forward.

Pettersson is far and away the best left-shot defenseman on the Penguins’ roster entering the 2024-25 NHL season as Ryan Graves and newcomer Matt Grzelcyk will handle the other left-side positions in the defensive core. If Pittsburgh is out of playoff contention by next year’s deadline, they could look to move Pettersson for a quality haul but it would create a massive vacancy in their lineup.

The Penguins’ current roster construction does not allow wiggle room on the left side of the defense. The team could move Erik Karlsson or Kris Letang to the left side on the top pairing but that would significantly weaken the other two defensive lines. Pettersson has never been a top point producer from the blue line but his possession and defensive metrics show him to be a valuable presence in their lineup.

Pittsburgh did not significantly improve this offseason to the point of being considered a surefire playoff contender. Although the team would like to have Pettersson around for the long haul; the situation could become complicated if a defensive needy team is looking to pay a big price at next year’s deadline. Much like the Jake Guentzel situation from last year, the Penguins may be better served by letting Pettersson’s extension candidacy play out and ascertaining his trade market next spring.

Poll: What Will Crosby’s Next Contract Look Like?

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Although the Pittsburgh Penguins have experienced major disappointment over the last two years by failing to make the Stanley Cup playoffs, nobody is blaming Sidney Crosby. He has arguably been one of the more underrated players over the last couple of seasons by securing back-to-back 90+ point totals without having much of a supporting cast.

By nearly willing his team to the playoffs and being the organization’s lifeblood, one of the major talking points surrounding the Penguins is Crosby’s upcoming extension. There was some speculation that Crosby would sign yesterday on his birthday but ultimately that never came to fruition.

He’s surely set to increase his $8.7MM salary from the last 11 years but how much higher will he go? Will he look to get the money he has earned or take a hometown discount so that Pittsburgh has the flexibility to upgrade the players around him?

Evolving Hockey currently projects Crosby to land a three-year extension worth an AAV of $10.8MM. Given his inherent value to the organization, Crosby should easily be able to land a similar salary if not more. Given that his longevity in the league is becoming more and more apparent with each passing year, Crosby could reasonably ask for a five-year, $60MM contract from the only team he’s ever played for.

Nevertheless, regardless of what he has earned, the main question still stands. Will Crosby look for a high-salary deal to get the payday he has earned for so many years, or take another hometown discount so the Penguins are better set up for success?

What Will Crosby's Next Contract Look Like?
$8MM-$10MM 63.65% (653 votes)
$10MM-$12MM 30.21% (310 votes)
$12MM-$14MM 6.14% (63 votes)
Total Votes: 1,026

Former Penguins Prospect Colin Swoyer Signs In ECHL

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Scott Billeck of The Winnipeg Sun writes that he doesn’t believe the Winnipeg Jets will pursue a reunion with former Jet Patrik Laine. Billeck cites the Jets’ lack of cap space and poor fit as the reasons Winnipeg would pass on the former 2016 second-overall pick. The Jets would need to move out money to acquire the Columbus Blue Jackets forward, even if Columbus retained half of Laine’s cap hit (something they are hesitant to do).

Winnipeg currently has Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Gabriel Vilardi, Nikolaj Ehlers, Brad Lambert and possibly Vladislav Namestnikov slated to play in their top six, and new head coach Scott Arniel reportedly would like to add Cole Perfetti into the mix as well, further crowding the top two lines. The Jets could move Ehlers out via trade given his contract situation and hesitancy to sign long-term, but he could provide a lot more value to Winnipeg if the new coaching staff can deploy him properly.

In other morning notes:

  • Detroit Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde plans to increase the leadership roles of youngsters Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond next season (as per Helene St. James of Detroit Free Press). Lalonde adds that he isn’t worried about the ongoing contract negotiations between the team and the two franchise cornerstones saying that whenever they have spoken this summer, they have not discussed the contract situation. Detroit has used a rotating leadership group the past couple of seasons, relying solely on veterans to fill the assistant captain roles. But with the Red Wings ready to take the next step, it appears they are also ready to allow their younger stars to have a bigger role in the leadership of the team.
  • The Toledo Walleye of the ECHL announced that they’ve signed former Pittsburgh Penguins defensive prospect Colin Swoyer for the 2024-25 season. The 26-year-old joined the Penguins organization on an amateur tryout in March 2022 and eventually signed an ELC. He played 45 AHL games over parts of three seasons and spent the majority of last season with the South Carolina Stingrays, registering two goals and five assists in 40 games. During his AHL career, Swoyer has split time between Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Hershey, tallying a goal and 13 assists.

Penguins Notes: Crosby, Malkin, Werner

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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.

Snapshots: Cotter, World Juniors, Murashov

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The Devils were looking for some more size and speed in their bottom six when they gave up former top-10 pick Alexander Holtz in a trade with the Golden Knights to acquire Paul Cotter, general manager Tom Fitzgerald told James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now.

“For us today and what we wanted to accomplish, adding a guy like Paul Cotter, who we believe has upside and has a little bit of Miles Wood in him. He can skate and is physical,” Fitzgerald said. It’s easy to see the comparable drawn between the current and former Devil – both have 6’2″ frames and above-average straight-line speed. Cotter checks in nearly 20 lbs heavier than Wood, who left New Jersey in free agency in 2023 to sign a long-term contract with the Avalanche.

The 24-year-old played 138 NHL games over the last three seasons with Vegas before the trade, scoring 22 goals and 23 assists for 45 points while averaging 12:44 per game. He finished second on the Knights with 233 hits last year, which would have led the Devils by a long shot – Curtis Lazar was their leader with 179.

More from around the hockey world today:

  • Before NHLers return to the international stage at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off in February, the world’s top U-20 talents will convene again for the World Juniors in December and January. This season’s edition is in Ottawa, and well in advance of the event, The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler, Corey Pronman and Max Bultman took a crack at projecting what rosters may look like for the four traditional powerhouses.
  • After signing his entry-level contract last week, Penguins goalie prospect Sergei Murashov is ready for the jump to North America, he tells Daria Tuboltseva of Responsible Gambling. The 20-year-old is hoping for a chance at NHL action this season, but he’s “ready to spend an entire season in the AHL.” “We’ll see how it goes,” Murashov continued. “It’s a new challenge for me. The Penguins’ coaches have told me about the specific aspects of playing in the AHL.” A 2022 fourth-round pick, Murashov has been one of the best goalies in the Russian junior circuit the past three seasons and had a .930 SV% and 24-4-2 record in 30 appearances with Loko Yaroslavl last season. In a six-game Kontinental Hockey League call-up to Lokomotiv, he continued his strong play with a .925 SV%, 1.84 GAA and his first professional shutout.

Latest On Sidney Crosby Contract Negotiations

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Most teams don’t have franchise-defining moments in the first week of August, but as Jason Mackey of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes, that could happen to the Pittsburgh Penguins tomorrow.  August 7th is Sidney Crosby’s 37th birthday and Mackey wonders if it might be the day that Crosby signs his long-awaited contract extension with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Crosby has been notoriously superstitious throughout his career when it comes to the number 87, carrying an $8.7MM cap hit since the 2008-09 season and wearing number 87 for his entire career. Many in Pittsburgh believe he will sign a new deal tomorrow on 8/7, but it’s fair to wonder what will happen to the team if he doesn’t.

Rob Rossi of The Athletic wrote last week that both sides left negotiations in July feeling comfortable enough that a deal was close and cited sources on both sides of the talks. By all accounts, a deal seems to be close, but as the summer drags on, Penguins fans are becoming more uncomfortable with the extended timeline, and as Mackey points out, tomorrow passing without a contract announcement will surely put fans into panic mode.

Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now writes that there are no updates from his sources on negotiations, but also takes a balanced approach to breaking down the situation. Noting Crosby’s desire to wear one jersey for his entire career as his mentor Mario Lemieux once did for these very same Penguins. Crosby’s childhood hero Steve Yzerman also only wore one NHL jersey, and Crosby has always stated publicly that it means a lot to him to do the same.

Mark Madden of 105.9 The X and TribLive believes Crosby will sign, but he asked the question this week that many Penguins fans are scared to answer. What if Crosby doesn’t sign an extension tomorrow? It would be a scary reality for Penguins fans to face, the Penguins have pivoted to a retool and don’t have much in the pipeline to look forward to. If Crosby was to leave Pittsburgh, it would mean they are locked into many overpriced long-term deals, with a poor farm system and not much hope at the NHL level.

However, that moment isn’t yet a reality, and given Crosby’s superstitious nature and desire to remain in Pittsburgh, it is a reality they may not have to face until he retires.

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