Crosby commits to Pittsburgh, waves away talk of final-act homecoming

Surely, now, the Kid has quieted the chatter.

From the moment his black-and-gold behemoth began to look human, trading trophy-lifting runs for late-season stumbles, prognosticators on this side of the border have wondered often about Sidney Crosby’s next move. At some point, the thinking went, No. 87 would feel the gravitational pull of his home nation, would perhaps don the Montreal Canadiens sweater he sported as a boyhood fan. Or maybe he’d simply aim his greatness at another championship, linking up with fellow Nova Scotian Nathan MacKinnon in Denver, with eyes on hanging another banner.

On Monday, Crosby put that conversation to bed — or waved it away for the time being, at the very least — signing a two-year deal paying him his beloved $8.7 million per year. He’ll be on the doorstep of his 40’s when the new pact expires. And so, in committing to Pittsburgh once again, the captain seems to have made his intentions clear: to play his final NHL game wearing the same jersey he donned for his first one, the only one he’s ever worn in this league. 

“The support, the people, the fans, the organization, just everything over the years — it’s been really special,” Crosby said Monday after the deal was announced. “I’ve had some incredible experiences and memories, and I just want to continue that. Having the opportunity to play with Geno and Tanger this long is pretty rare.

“Being part of an organization like this for as long as I have has been really special. So, I’m just happy to be able to continue it.”

The announcement of the new pact comes months later than many likely expected when Crosby walked off the ice for the final time last season. The delay, he said, wasn’t about considering whether he wants to continue playing in Pittsburgh, but rather, how long he wants to continue playing at all.

“Just the years,” Crosby said of what he was contemplating during the latter stages of the negotiation. “Just not knowing, trying to project how you’re going to feel in a number of years — it’s hard. And just making sure it’s something that made sense for both myself and the team, just trying to figure out in my mind what that looked like.

“I’m just glad that it’s done, and really happy to know that I’ll be here for a few more years. My last contract, I don’t think I thought about the possibility of still playing beyond then at the time. So, I’m just really happy that it’s worked out this way.”

The club is surely thrilled with the circumstances of his return, too, Crosby opting to take less than market value to remain in black and gold — sticking with that familiar $8.7-million cap hit instead of pushing for the $10-million figure many assumed he’d earn moving forward — giving Pittsburgh the flexibility to try to make this final chapter a competitive one.

“Sidney is the greatest player of his generation and one of the greatest players in the history of the game. His actions today show why he is one of hockey’s greatest winners and leaders," team president and general manager Kyle Dubas said Monday, via a team release.

“Sid is making a tremendous personal sacrifice in an effort to help the Penguins win, both now and in the future, as he has done for his entire career.”

In truth, the homecoming dream never really had legs.

That seems to have confounded some who’ve watched Crosby from afar, who’ve questioned how he could simply hold his position on a sinking ship. But for all the competitive fire that still drives the game’s premier elder statesman, there has always been more to Crosby’s story than trophies alone. 

He won the hardware too, no doubt — nearly everything available to him — but from his first steps on NHL ice, No. 87 was part of a bigger picture in the game. He was the league’s saviour post-lockout, Pittsburgh’s saviour too, the leader of a new era for a Penguins franchise that had been on shaky ground before.

Fast-forward nearly two decades, and for an entire generation of hockey fans — and plenty from other generations, too — the sight of that Penguins crest conjures one name, and one number. A mammoth achievement, really, considering the greatness that existed in that sweater before him. 

To dent that immense legacy in this final chapter of his career, just for the chance to play a couple years back home, or to maybe add another Cup ring to a collection that already includes three, never truly added up.

Forget the frenzy that would come with Crosby playing for a Canadian club — it’s been chaotic enough playing south of the border, in a far quieter market. And look past the hefty collection of wonky photos depicting beloved stars in jerseys we forgot they wore, those awkward final seasons we tend to omit when we look back on their time in the game. In truth, we only ever needed to look to the greats Crosby idolizes to map out his endgame: Steve Yzerman and Mario Lemieux. Both icons finished their careers with the clubs they started with, and remained so deeply rooted within their respective franchises, that years later they played a hand in crafting their next generations.

And then there was this past February, when Crosby was granted a glimpse at the other side of the fork in the road. 

It was then that Jaromir Jagr, the other half of the Pens’ first iconic duo, returned to Pittsburgh to have his No. 68 lifted up to the rafters, where it belongs. I was among the group of reporters who sat in a small conference room with Jagr hours before that ceremony, who heard him lament the journey that took him out of black-and-gold, the one that had him scoring goals against his former club, turning cheers to boos when he stepped on Pittsburgh ice.

There was a palpable sense of joy in the stands that night as Jagr took the stage with his former teammates, as he took one last spin around the sheet wearing Penguins colours. It wasn’t just because the longtime Pittsburgh hero finally had his name enshrined in the city’s history — it was because he had come home, because the wrong of him wearing another NHL sweater felt like it had been righted.

“I was with Geno and Sid — you could see they were emotional,” Kris Letang said in the Penguins locker room that night, speaking of the pair he’s played alongside for the past 18 years. “It’s special. Watching those old videos of (Jagr) makes me think of Geno actually, in a big way. And you look at the old Mario, and you’re looking at Sid.”

For Crosby — and for Evgeni Malkin, too — the message that night seemed clear: This chapter of their story isn’t just about winning, about continuing to be great; it’s about cementing their legacy, too. It’s about playing out the twilight of their careers with grace and dignity, after having done all the Penguins faithful asked of them so many times before.

If those dedicated Penguins fans had one last request for the final years of Crosby’s career, it would probably simply be for him to stay. It seems the captain intends to deliver on that front, too.