Sidney Crosby reveals how close the Penguins came to losing Malkin.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have secured the core of their roster for the foreseeable future and there is now little doubt in the minds of most fans that all 3 of Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin will likely retire as members of the Penguins organization.

That of course makes fans in Pittsburgh very happy and now it may seem like it was always meant to be, but that was not in fact the case. Of course we all heard the rumors of a contract dispute between Evgeni Malkin and the Penguins this summer, but in the end the two sides came to a deal and most believe they never really considered a split.

Recently however, during the NHL's Media Tour in Las Vegas last week, Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby revealed that things may have been a lot closer than most fans believed. Speaking with Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast, Crosby opened up about the fact that he had some genuine anxiety this summer over whether or not Malkin would be a part of the Penguins moving forward.

"I was... yeah I was sweating," admitted Crosby. "Yeah... I mean when it gets that close you know how it is, anything can happen. It was getting right down to the day and there was a lot of uncertainty."

Many fans no doubt understand that the time between the start of negotiations and the signing of the contract can be incredibly stressful for the players involved, but in this particular instance Crosby admits that it was hard on him as well even though he wasn't a part of the negotiation.

"Especially it's hard late in the year, you know it's a possibility you wanna think positive and wanna be optimistic but there's still a chance it might not happen," said Crosby. "I think that uncertainty was tough, for sure it was tough on those guys, it was definitely on me."

There have been some rumors suggesting that Crosby may have played a role in pushing the Penguins towards getting a deal done at the final hour, but when asked if he made any last minute calls or things of that nature Crosby denied it. Crosby instead revealed that his feelings on the matter have been plain to see all along, meaning there was no need for him to make a call or anything like that.

"It's not typically something I do but especially in this one I think it's pretty obvious how I feel," said Crosby. "I mean it's not like I have to declare that. I think it's pretty clear how I feel about those guys... I don't think anybody had to ask me that to get a feel for it."