PITTSBURGH — A group headlined by former NHL owner and superstar Mario Lemieux remains “very interested” in buying the Pittsburgh Penguins, according to a source close to the potential ownership group who has been briefed on discussions.

The interest in reacquiring the team comes nearly four years after Lemieux and co-owner Ron Burkle sold the Penguins in 2021 to Fenway Sports Group (FSG) in a deal that valued the franchise at $900 million.

Last month, The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reported that former owners Lemieux and Burkle, as well as former chief executive officer David Morehouse, now an adviser with the Pittsburgh Steelers, were exploring the possibility of a deal to buy back the Penguins.

Hearing from sources that the group of Ron Burkle, Mario Lemieux and David Morehouse are investigating the possibility of buying back the Penguins from Fenway Sports. Burkle and Lemieux sold the Penguins to Fenway in 2021. Fenway has been looking to sell a partial share. Will be…

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 11, 2025

Since reports surfaced earlier this year that the team was on the block, FSG has stated that it isn’t interested in selling the Penguins.

“We’ve seen the speculation, and as we’ve previously shared with media, Fenway Sports Group is currently engaged in a process to explore a potential minority investment in the Pittsburgh Penguins,” an FSG spokesperson said in a statement. “The focus is on identifying a small, passive partner, and that is the current framework under discussion with potential investors.”

Still, the source said on Monday, the Lemieux group is continuing to consider its financial options and pondering avenues that could see it take control of the Penguins again at some point.

“Maybe it will happen, maybe it won’t,” the source said. “But they’re interested. They’re very interested. And they’re trying to make it happen.”

According to sources close to Lemieux and Burkle, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has been made aware of the group’s interest in rejoining the Penguins in an ownership capacity.

News that Lemieux is interested in once again owning the Penguins sent shockwaves through Pittsburgh last month. He’s not only the greatest athlete in Penguins history but also perhaps more synonymous with the franchise than any athlete has ever been with any franchise.

Lemieux, who led the Penguins to two championships as a player and three more as an owner, still resides and spends most of his time in Pittsburgh.

Since selling most of his stake in the team, the notoriously private 59-year-old Lemieux has mostly stayed out of the public eye. He golfs in Florida when he feels like it and spends time with his friends and grandchildren.

While undeniably the best player in hockey, Lemieux retired at age 31 in 1997. After purchasing the team in 1999, news broke on Dec. 7, 2000 that he had the itch to play again, some 1,321 days after he had initially walked away from the game.

Lemieux and Burkle agreed to sell the Penguins 1,323 days ago.

Perhaps Lemieux misses the game.

Franchise valuations have skyrocketed in the time since Lemieux and Burkle stepped away.

In their most recent rankings, Sportico valued the Penguins at $1.47 billion while Forbes estimated the team’s value at $1.75 billion.

The NHL’s expansion fee — $650 million when the Seattle Kraken joined the league in 2021 — is now reported to be at least $2 billion.

Re-investing in the Penguins could be a costly endeavor.

Pittsburgh has failed to reach the playoffs in three consecutive seasons.

The Penguins sold just 91.4 percent of their available tickets during the 2024-25 season, the lowest mark of the Sidney Crosby era. They had not played with that percentage of empty seats since 2004, the year before Crosby arrived in Pittsburgh.

According to the source, the Lemieux-Burkle group anticipates that the NHL is going to add two expansion teams at some point in the next few years, which would produce a financial windfall for all of the NHL’s teams.

(Photo of Mario Lemieux: Charles LeClaire / USA Today)