When you’ve been the face of the NHL for close to two decades, money might not be top of mind as your career comes to a close.
Such is the case for Sidney Crosby, who put pen to paper on a two-year, $17.4 million contract extension ($8.7 million AAV) to keep the good times going with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
NHL super agent Pat Brisson joined The Fan Pregame to talk about his client’s new deal with his lifelong team, and why the decision came from a place of trust and comfort between Crosby and the organization.
“It was very important,” Brisson said about Crosby’s desire to stay in Pittsburgh. “He had many options this summer to maybe go elsewhere, though he wasn’t a free agent yet. He wanted to continue to be consistent in his approach. He feels comfortable with the organization.”
Consistency might be an understatement when it comes to Crosby. Not only has his play on the ice remained at a high level — with the two-time Hart Trophy winner tallying 42 goals and 52 assists for 94 points last season — his $8.7 million average annual value is the exact same figure he’s had since the 2008-09 season.
That number is synonymous with Crosby, as he wears the number 87 and was born on August 7th, 1987. Brisson mentioned that he discussed ways to make sure that the “87” figure appears somewhere in his contract but was hoping that his client would take a bit more money.
“87 I guess is a little bit superstitious, it’s hard for him to hide it, it follows him everywhere,” Brisson said when asked about the continued connection to his seemingly favourite number. “Although we’ll try again to get him to take a little bit more money, that’s where he wanted to be and he’s really happy with it.”
To Crosby’s point, he’s managed to win three Stanley Cups while being surrounded by the 87, so the superstition might come in handy.
But with the new NHL salary cup set to jump from $83.5 million last season to $88.0 million for 2024-25, that $8.7 million figure is comparatively much smaller than the league-leading contracts he’s had in the past.
As it stands, Crosby will take up 9.9 per cent of Pittsburgh’s cap this upcoming season. When he first started taking the $8.7 million deals in the 2008-09 season, the cap was only at $56.7 million, meaning Crosby took up 15.3 per cent of the team’s cap.
“He’s been able to do, financially, very well for himself,” Brisson said when talking about how he’s structured his contracts over his 19-year career. “Although I think players like him should be making more money, they deserve more. But at the end of the day, he’s comfortable with his decision and showed a lot of leadership and faith in the organization.”
According to Brisson, while money is of course a big deal for any player, the priority for Crosby moving forward is winning, and more specifically, winning in Pittsburgh.
Giving his team this discount, Brisson explained, offers Gm Kyle Dubas and the rest of the front office more flexibility to continue to take advantage of a franchise legend that hasn’t yet shown signs of slowing down.
Though they’ve hoped to shift younger in recent years and sold off some key pieces at the trade deadline last season, Brisson hopes that they still do right by his client and make the moves to help their captain hoist a Stanley Cup once more.
“I think they made certain decisions this summer, continuing to try to make the team better but it was obvious they’re trying to go a little younger and competitive …,” Brisson explained. “By virtue of the addition of the two years at $8.7 for Sidney, perhaps it’ll give them the ability to adjust on the go.”