As Rob Rossi has begun to wave the flag on behalf of the Fenway Sports Group, we are being told that the Crosby, Malkin, Letang era is over. As the Fenway Group is unable to come to an agreement with two of the three superstars leaving us in uncertain territory for the summer and possibly for years to come. There also seems to be an inkling that Sidney Crosby is not happy about the idea of playing without Geno and Tanger. This also put the franchise in uncertainty if Sidney Crosby will stay in Pittsburgh without his hall of fame linemates. One is also left to wonder if he would play here through a rebuild. Hopefully, we won’t be left on the hook for too long on this but while we are hanging here let’s have some morbid fun, shall we?
I present to you the top 3 landing places for Sidney Crosby
01 – Toronto Maple Leafs
Sidney Crosby is already a hero in Canada. He scored the golden goal on home soil to secure a gold medal in the Vancouver Olympic Games. He is an all-around good dude who does a lot for charity and is the model Canadian hockey player. But imagine if Sid the Kid were to head to Toronto, hockey’s mecha, and brought home a cup for the Leafs. They may finally remove England’s Queen from their money and put the face of Sidney Crosby on there.
Legistcly this is tuff Sid makes 8.7 against the cap, but if the Penguins accepted John Tavares in a trade they would actually have changed left over to spend. The Penguins for their point have a top-line center to fill Sid’s role and a potential trade piece as well. Getting Tavares to waive his no-move clause may be tuff, but if Sidney Crosby is at the end of that rainbow for Toronto anything could happen.
02 – Colorado Avalanche
The relationship between Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby is well documented. Cole Harbors’ first and second favorite sons. Sid views Nate as a kid brother and man wouldn’t it be sweet to see them win a cup together? The Avs have a lot of decisions to make every year with their lineup. Guys like JT Compher, and Sasha Barkov continue to play lesser roles in Colorado as a way to win. Sid coming there would bring points and structure that would allow them to move away from guys like Kadri, Compher, and Barkov. Kadri and Barkov are both UFA next year and would more than pay for Sid to join his Kid brother.
03 – Boston Bruins
Boston is in a transitional phase just like Pittsburgh. Patrice Bergeron seems to be retiring leaving the B’s looking pretty weak down the center of the ice. The kicker is the rest of the team is set up for long-term success. Their blue line is deep, their wingers are some of the best in the league, and with the emergence of Jeremy Swayman, they have a franchise goalie on an entry-level deal. Imagine if Sidney Crosby centered their top line with Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak. They may each have 150 points a season. The hard part for Boston is cap space. Even without Bergeron’s cap hit they still have only half a million dollars in cap space heading into the season. They could in theory move some pieces around and use Jake DeBrusk as an asset to the trader, but they would need Pittsburgh to retain the salary of their once franchise savior. That’s like still paying for your ex-wife’s Birchbox subscription.
Ultimately it’s unlikely for Sid to move on from the Penguins. He understands it in some ways damages his legacy. With that being said if Gretzky can be traded anyone can be traded.
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