Sidney Crosby’s new contract keeps him with the Penguins — and in control

Before Sidney Crosby’s first home game at Pittsburgh’s now-defunct Mellon Arena in October 2005, Mario Lemieux walked past a crowd of media surrounding Crosby and into the players’ lounge, where he poured a cup of black coffee.

He grinned and offered his opinion that he would soon be “forgotten.” Then, in an uncharacteristically serious moment, Lemieux predicted that Crosby would “own all my records someday,” nodded, and walked away.

Lemieux may have underestimated it. Crosby gets a chance to break Lemieux’s Penguins records, as well as NHL records held by Wayne Gretzky (most consecutive seasons averaging at least a point per game) and Steve Yzerman (most consecutive seasons as team captain).

“(Lemieux) really said that?” Crosby said Monday afternoon, speaking to Pittsburgh media following his annual delivery of season tickets to an unsuspecting family in Mars, Pennsylvania. “Like, Real?

“Uh, there’s still a long way to go.”

Not for long. Crosby needs 99 goals, 30 assists and 128 points to dethrone Lemieux from the Penguins’ throne in those regular-season categories. He long ago set the franchise records for postseason assists (130) and points (201) and needs just six postseason goals to go one better than Lemieux’s 76.

Still, after signing a new two-year, $8.7 million annual contract with the Penguins on Monday, Crosby will get at least three more chances at a bargain rate to deliver more.

GALLING DEEPER

Crosby’s new Penguins contract is his best assist yet

Whether he drags the Penguins along for the ride — and back to a position of prominence — or becomes the sole reason to care about a proud, now fledgling franchise could determine whether Crosby does what Lemiex did in Pittsburgh: stick around until the end of his career.

Crosby has said he only wants to play for the Penguins. He also wants to chase a Stanley Cup championship.

The Penguins have failed to qualify for the last two playoffs and once again enter a season with one of the NHL’s oldest rosters. Since Kyle Dubas traded star defenseman Erik Karlsson last August, the Penguins’ front-office boss’s most intriguing acquisitions have been a handful of prospects.

Once a rite of passage for Crosby’s Penguins, a postseason appearance is hardly guaranteed before his new contract expires. Interestingly, that contract is structured to allow him to capitalize on an exit before the final season if Dubas doesn’t quickly return the Penguins to contender status.

Crosby’s contract is designated as 35-plus, a notable status under the collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and its Players Association. The contract includes two signing bonuses — essentially a choice by Crosby and agent Pat Brisson to take the bulk of the actual money before Crosby plays the final season of the new deal.

Crosby will earn $780,000 and $1.09 million in salary in Years 1 and 2 of the new contract, respectively. But he will have received $16.31 million in real money before playing a game in Year 2.

Who cares how much Penguins owner Fenway Sports Group pays Crosby, as long as they pay him, right?

Every other GM in the league will care.

With 93.7 percent of Crosby’s salary paid before Year 2 of the new contract, he would be cheap — again, in real-money terms — in any potential trade during the 2026 midseason. By paying the vast majority of Crosby’s real-money before that second contract season, the Penguins could legitimately demand a more favorable return in any potential trade, especially if, as is likely, they were to take a significant chunk of Crosby’s cap hit.

It would only be a one-season success if Dubas retained even 50 percent ($4.35 million) to maximize returns in a deal that would end — albeit likely only temporarily — one of the NHL’s greatest love stories.

Crosby didn’t sign this new contract to not see it through. He has repeatedly said, both publicly and privately, that he only wants to play for the Penguins.

He also said he wants to win, a point he reiterated hours after the Penguins announced his new contract on Monday.

“I’ve had a number of conversations with Kyle throughout the process,” Crosby said of the negotiations. “I think that was reassuring — just based on what we discussed, which is that there’s still a hunger from the organization and the ownership to win and a commitment there.

“I think that’s really important. I feel like as players, for all the different guys that have played here in the time that I’ve been here, it’s something that you build as a culture… something that’s ingrained. And missing the playoffs for a couple years, not being there, it’s tough.

“You want to try to come back in every way possible and make sure we’re competing for the Stanley Cup. So I think that was reassuring to hear and that helped. But no, I think it was more to hear that reassurance.”

After next season, Crosby will be approaching his 39th birthday, and Dubas will have had three full years to chart a course. His franchise icon should be able to look at the roster and assess whether it’s a Cup contender. By then, Crosby’s opinion of the situation in Pittsburgh could depend as much on his opinion of the roster as it does on whether he wants to move on without Evgeni Malkin (who is likely retiring) and possibly Kris Letang, whose final two contract seasons aren’t quite as trade-barrier.

Crosby reiterated Monday how special it was to play 18 seasons with Malkin and Letang as teammates. The Penguins’ Big Three will not exceed 20 seasons, if only because of Malkin’s contract.

If one or both of his dear friends are gone after next season and the Penguins are no closer to winning their first playoff series since 2018, who could blame Crosby for seeking a Cup shot elsewhere in what could be his final NHL season?

The pressure is on Dubas to make Crosby’s decision easy by then. By keeping his cap hit as is, Crosby gave Dubas precious millions to upgrade the Penguins next offseason and the season after. If the Penguins are to be on the rise again after 2025-26, who better to show their next potentially great team how to win than Crosby?

That would be a perfect swan song for Crosby — with the Penguins in the playoffs, one last run before No. 87 is ready.

Then he can take as much time off as he wants, start a family and return to the franchise in whatever off-ice capacity he chooses. He doesn’t have to become an owner, as Lemieux did, but he could.

Crosby’s heart is with the Penguins, he made that clear on Monday.

“It’s probably hard to put that into a soundbite,” he said, speaking from the back porch of a suburban Pittsburgh home, where he playfully exchanged high-fives with children wearing different versions of his No. 87 Penguins jersey. “Support (from) the people, the fans, the organization, just everything over the years — it’s been really special and we’ve had some incredible experiences and memories.

“I just want to continue that.”

(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletics; Photos: Jeanine Leech and Brandon Sloter/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images)