Penguins' Letang says Crosby 'can play until he's 50'

Kris Letang knows Sidney Crosby pretty well, and the Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman thinks Crosby's playing days are far from over.

The 37-year-old Crosby signed a two-year, $17.4-million contract extension with the Penguins on Monday that will keep him with the team until nearly his 40th birthday.

But if you ask Letang, he'd probably bet that it's not the last contract Crosby signs.

"He can play until he's 50," Letang said Wednesday on the opening day of Penguins training camp. "(A)t the end of the day, it's always going to be up to him."

Crosby led the Penguins in goals (42), assists (52) and points (94) last season in his 19th NHL season and will now look to lead Pittsburgh back to the post-season after the team missed out the past two seasons.

"His body is still not decreasing, he still has the same power, the same strength," Letang said. "And on top of that, he's already ahead of everybody with the mind, the brain, the IQ. So, even if one day he starts slowing down, he's still going to be ahead of everybody because of the way he sees the game."

Crosby has made no firm commitments as to how much longer he wants to play.

“Trying to project how you’re going to feel in a number of years, it’s hard,” Crosby said after signing his extension.

Crosby has played in more games (1,272) than any player in Penguins history and trails only Mario Lemieux in every other major category, including goals (592, 2nd), assists (1,004, 2nd), and points (1,596, 2nd). Crosby will begin the 2024-25 season 10th all-time in league history in points. Last year, he became just the second player ever to average at least a point a game in 19 seasons, joining Wayne Gretzky.

If Letang is right, Crosby has a lot of seasons left to climb up the all-time leaderboards.