According to Hockey Night in Canada’s Elliotte Friedman, Sidney Crosby might end up with a 10-year contract extension from the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The team isn’t allowed to negotiate with Crosby until July 1, but it might not take much longer than that for the two to agree on money and term.
Crosby can essentially name his own price, but in the interest of not crippling the Pens financially, he’ll probably end up with an annual cap hit of about $9 million.
That would be only a mild increase over his current $8,700,000 million cap hit, so by itself, it wouldn’t cause the Penguins to significantly shake up their team. The problem is that Jordan Staal’s contract will expire in the summer of 2013 and Staal is expected demand a significant raise -- one that might result in the Penguins trading him.
There’s no question that a healthy Crosby is worth that kind of money, but given his recent concussion history, inking him to a long-term contract is a gamble. Still, for one of the best players in the world, it’s a risk worth taking.
Related:
Report: Penguins anticipate minimum seven-year deal for Crosby
That story about Crosby wanting a seven-year deal took a weird turn