After years of attempting to dismiss any suggestion that he may want to leave Pittsburgh someday, both Sidney Crosby and his agent fanned the flames of that conversation this week.<\/p>\n
As recently as June, Crosby\u2019s agent, Pat Brisson, called rumors of Crosby being willing to accept a trade to Colorado \u201cbaseless.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n He was singing a different tune while speaking with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic on Monday<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cHe had another great year last season. He just keeps going. The comparison is Tom Brady,\u201d Brisson said. \u201cWe want Sidney to hopefully be in the playoffs every year. We want him to hopefully win another Cup or two. So, each year the team that he\u2019s playing for fails to make the playoffs, it creates a lot of speculation. In reality, he\u2019s not getting any younger. We\u2019re here to support him. It\u2019s the beginning of the season here. Let\u2019s see how things are going. Hopefully, they have a great season, and the speculation will go away.\u201d<\/p>\n In case you forgot, Brady \u2014 the legendary New England Patriots quarterback \u2014 left for Tampa Bay after 20 years in Foxborough. Crosby just completed his 20th season in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n \u201cBut at the same time, the reason we all talk about this is because he\u2019s such a great player still,\u201d added Brisson. \u201cHe continues to be such a difference maker. Like a Tom Brady, that\u2019s how I look at it.\u201d<\/p>\n OK. That\u2019s two Brady references.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, I\u2019m answering something that \u2026 let\u2019s put it this way, it\u2019s always a possibility, you know?\u201d Brisson said. \u201cIt\u2019s been three years that they haven\u2019t made the playoffs. It all depends on how Sid is going to be and how the team is going to do. I maintain the same position that I believe that he should be playing playoff hockey every year. In my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n Crosby didn\u2019t exactly tamp down the conversation when he spoke to Matt Larkin of the Daily <\/a>Faceoff<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI understand it,\u201d Crosby said of the trade speculation. \u201cIt\u2019s not something you want to discuss. You\u2019d rather be talking about who we\u2019re getting at the (trade) deadline or, you know, where we\u2019re at as far as, are we one or two or three in the division? But you know, it\u2019s one of those things. That\u2019s the hard part about losing.\u201d<\/p>\n When I read the comments, the first thing that went through my mind was that this was some sort of attempt at a power play by Brisson and Crosby to exert influence over the looming sale of the franchise. <\/p>\n My initial belief was that Crosby was perhaps dubious of the Hoffmann Family who reportedly wants to buy the club<\/a> from Fenway Sports Group. Or that he is dubious of any sale at all, and subtracting himself from the equation by trying to force a trade would devalue the franchise.<\/p>\n Furthermore, dangling the idea of wanting out may force the Hoffmann Family into the uncomfortable position of buying the team and then having to play the role of heel immediately by greenlighting a trade of Crosby to Montreal, Colorado, Los Angeles or some other team that may be salivating to get him.<\/p>\n I also had the thought that Brisson and Crosby may be trying to bully FSG into selling the franchise to the Ron Burkle, Mario Lemieux, David Morehouse group that had recently expressed an interest in reacquiring the team, but at a lower price than Hoffmann.<\/p>\n In other words, they may say to FSG, \u201cSell the team to Mario and company for a price they can afford, or we are going to ask out and attempt to remove ourselves as your most valuable asset before you sell to Hoffmann.\u201d<\/p>\n I even wondered if this was an attempt to get the Hoffmann group to open up their shares of the franchise at a high percentage of ownership to Mario\/Burkle\/Morehouse as minority investors. After all, the reported asking price of FSG is $1.75 <\/a>billion<\/a>. David Hoffmann apparently is \u201conly\u201d worth $2 billion.<\/a> He may want some heavy hitters to back him at a minority level to offset that cost.<\/p>\n I have since been told that those last two possibilities are untrue and that if Brisson and Crosby are trying to manipulate the sale of the team to their liking, it isn\u2019t being done with the idea of pushing the franchise back into the hands of Lemieux and Burkle as it was when Crosby first came into the league.<\/p>\n Hey, at least not yet. Then again, as Brisson said previously, I suppose \u201cit\u2019s always a possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n More sports<\/p>\n \u2022 U mad, bro?: Cam Heyward, Keeanu Benton, Broderick Jones take heat from Steelers fans even after win<\/a> So, if it\u2019s not about the sale, what is it? What\u2019s changed over the last three months? Was the organization\u2019s failure to add anyone of substance to the team for 2025-26 the reality check that Crosby needed to understand how bad the team is going to be in the year? <\/p>\n Has the talk of the team ostensibly tanking to get in the Gavin McKenna lottery acted as some sort of wake-up call to Crosby?<\/p>\n Perhaps he\u2019s hearing that trades of his linemates, Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust, are percolating. That could be it.<\/p>\n Maybe Crosby was on board with the roster teardown, but that line had to be drawn at \u2026 well \u2026 his own line. And maybe this is Crosby and Brisson telling general Kyle Dubas, \u201cEnough is enough. If Sid\u2019s linemates go, then he should go too.\u201d<\/p>\n Honestly, I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t know why Crosby and his agent seem to be pivoting about trade speculation less than three months after they were dismissing it out of hand. Crosby is a smart guy. I don\u2019t know what sort of epiphany he needed to have during the quietest part of the offseason to realize how bad things were going to get on the ice once play resumes.<\/p>\n In fact, I don\u2019t know why he didn\u2019t have a sense of such things when he extended his contract prior to last year. Back then, we all knew, as we heard again before the draft, that 2025-26 was likely going to be the end of Evgeni Malkin\u2019s time<\/a> in Pittsburgh. And Kris Letang certainly won\u2019t be here beyond the end of his contract in 2028.<\/p>\n So what changed? <\/p>\n Right now, I don\u2019t know and (for the time being) I don\u2019t care. But if Crosby wants a trade, I\u2019d prefer that he officially ask out before this season so that the team can then feel unburdened by trading Rakell and Rust too and really stinking this year in an effort to best position themselves in the McKenna lottery.<\/p>\n I love the idea of Crosby being here to pass the torch to McKennan like Lemieux did to him. But that warm, fuzzy picture is going to be a hard one to paint. Crosby with Rust and Rakell will likely be enough to help the Penguins win just enough games to dilute their chances of winning that sweepstakes.<\/p>\n So, in the meantime, I guess Brisson and Crosby are telling the hockey world to have it when it comes to trade speculation until one happens or until the Penguins magically start winning again.<\/p>\n I\u2019m sure those of us on this side of the equation will be more than willing to oblige. <\/p>\n Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com<\/a> or via X<\/a>. 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