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Sidney Crosby had himself quite the roller coaster of a season in 2025-26 both for the Pittsburgh Penguins and for Team Canada.
Injuries took over some of the narrative, as did disappointments in big games. But on the flip side, Crosby's Penguins turned around what might've been trade rumors and turned them into future plans.
The reality is that many wondered if Pittsburgh was washed up. Their core of Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang wasn't getting any younger.
"Heading into 2025-26, some believed the Penguins would begin a teardown -- with Sidney Crosby (and others) finishing the campaign elsewhere," ESPN wrote on Monday in a non-bylined article.
Crosby and Malkin turned back the clock instead.
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The Penguins made it to the playoffs, and the productivity in particular out of the two legendary centers was enough for Pittsburgh to keep them both around heading into 2026-27 -- a contract Crosby was already under, but with a new one needed for Malkin.
"With Evgeni Malkin already re-signed this spring, GM Kyle Dubas will now look for some upgrades, making use of nearly $38 million in cap space along with a king's ransom of future draft capital that can be used in trades," ESPN wrote.
The cap space and draft picks are very intriguing, because they force Pittsburgh to decide what the real plan is.
The Penguins could try to go all-in on the season ahead, which would come with some serious risk. But if they try to split up a couple different timelines into the same roster, it could be tough to reach their full ceiling.
The cool part for Penguins fans is that Crosby ensured that this band could stay together a little bit longer. No one in Pittsburgh would really want to see the end of this era.
And if they can keep the tune going like this a bit longer, they might have just the right set of possibilities ahead to put together one more special season.
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