As the Penguins drift into the offseason after another underwhelming season you can hear the sounds of vultures circling. The Penguins are heading into a tough section in their franchise arch and people are going to want to pick at the bones.

I totally understand the allure of another fan base wanting to think Sidney Crosby is available. It is a fun thing to speculate about. In this specific case I think it is wasted energy. Sidney Crosby is going to sign an extension on July 1st or close to that date.

Cont'd: "I find it very hard to believe that after Letang signed with term and Malkin signed with term that he's going to walk on them and not see it through to some degree with them"

— NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) March 11, 2024

I’m no stranger to criticizing hockey culture and I think Sidney Crosby is a prime example of hockey culture culture stripping away the existence of a public persona. Crosby is a well-oiled machine. He says the right things and does the right things while playing centrist in every situation he can. One of the exceptions to centrism is loyalty. Hockey culture beats into you the crest on the front is more important than the name on the back. This reality makes a Crosby departure minimal. He’s going to be loyal to the team and he’s going to be loyal to his two best friends on the team. Nothing about Crosby’s history and how he carries himself speaks to him not signing an extension.

For Erik Karlsson things are different. He’s not a Penguins lifer.

Cont'd: "If it's not Ottawa, and don't forget, Karlsson has a lot of control here, it's hard to see where it makes sense. I think the Sens are going to be a really, really busy team in the offseason, I think they had a lot of conversations that will get punted into the summer"

— NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) March 11, 2024

I think Karlsson has had a good season. I also don’t think this is the season people envisioned when he was acquired. At the same time, I think the fact Kyle Dubas was able to get rid the team of multiple bad contracts signed by Hextall gets lost in the shuffle. Karlsson at 10M is way better value than whatever Mikael Granlund, Jeff Petry, and Jan Rutta were going to provide. This was one of Dubas’ few wins as a Penguins executive to this point. I don’t think this trade should be viewed as a regret. It was a must.

I’m not looking to actively shop Karlsson, but if the Ottawa Senators had any interest I would certainly be open to listening to what they had in mind. I can’t imagine it would be anything other than a salary dump. You aren’t getting quality prospects or draft picks in return. Doesn’t hurt to hear them out if they did indeed have interest.

There’s going to be a lot of this as we move forward. This is the new reality.

Thanks for reading!

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