Sidney Crosby’s agent drops bombshell on his client in French interview!
Ahead of the Draft, Pat Brisson stuns with this statement in an executive interview:
Ahead of the first round of the NHL Draft in Las Vegas, Montreal analyst and radio host on FM93 Martin McGuire presents a special show on the event, but it kicked off with an exclusive interview in French with Sidney Crosby’s agent Pat Brisson.
When talking about the future of his client with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Brisson was caught saying that Crosby may not end his career with the club that selected first overall in 2005.
Crosby will be eligible to sign a contract extension with the Penguins as soon as Monday as he enters the last year of a 12-year deal he inked back in 2012, but Brisson revealed that his client and he will speak about the near future since the Penguins do not appear ready to present Crosby with the possibility of making the postseason in the next few years. Translated from French, this is what Brisson said:
“He is a very loyal person and he has one year left on his current contract. However, you have to ask the tough questions with missing the past two postseasons, along with the scarce prospect pool, a decision must be taken soon and we need to talk about the future in July.”
Brisson also spoke about Crosby’s desire to play for at least the next three or four years still, but he could not provide an answer on the pending extension.
Brisson admitted that Crosby usually decides with his heart, but he kept mentioning the age of his client and the window closing in on winning a Stanley Cup. He even dropped a “IF Crosby plays for the Penguins.”
When Crosby was asked about his imminent future in Pittsburgh on Friday, as he was reacting to his selection into the roster of Canada for the Four Nations Face Off tournament, the captain remained mum on the negotiations.
“There’s been a little bit of talk with the draft and free agency and stuff like that,” Crosby said. “It’s something that I’ll keep between Kyle and I, but we’ve had some conversations. I’ll just kind of leave it at that.”
Crosby, who currently counts $8.7 million a season on the Penguins’ books, did not share any details such as the length of a potential contract extension or its salary cap hit.
We will have to wait and see.
“We’re talking,” Crosby said. “I’ll leave it at that. We’ll see what happens.”
It is true that the captain could sign a shorter term deal in Pittsburgh for another shot at a championship, and if the Penguins fail, why not sign as a free agent with a top contender to get one last chance at the Stanley Cup?
As for his next deal, recent reports have indicated that Crosby could accept a massive discount to give the Penguins the best chance to succeed, like we’ve seen both Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci do in the past with the Boston Bruins.
Crosby will be dictating what his salary boundaries will be, but there’s a clear sense he could ask for way less in order to provide his team’s a thick wallet to get top line mates, hence another shot at the Stanley Cup.
That’s IF he stays in Pittsburgh.