Admittedly, seeing a franchise\u2019s biggest current icon plant seeds to angle towards an exit is not a potential topic that\u2019s fun to think about, let alone give spotlight to. After this week, one can\u2019t bury their head in the sand over the matter any longer about what the future could hold for Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.<\/p>\n
As Tim Benz from the Trib pointed<\/a> out, agent Pat Brisson, used the word \u201cbaseless<\/a>\u201d just a few months ago when refuting trade rumors about Colorado. Brisson\u2019s tune and tone has changed quite a bit in the past few months by stating<\/a> a trade is \u201calways a possibility\u201d.<\/p>\n Crosby, for his part said<\/a>, \u201cI don\u2019t feel like I\u2019m there yet,\u201d when it came to thinking about moving on from the Penguins, but he also pointed out how difficult it\u2019s been to slog through losing seasons.<\/p>\n Both Crosby and Brisson ended on hopeful notes for a scenario where the Penguins get back on track with a good season this year and then the matter doesn\u2019t have to be broached. Left unsaid by Crosby but spelled out by Brisson is that it\u2019s now impossible to ignore that the door could open later on if the frustrations continue.<\/p>\n As we all know, a satisfying season is not likely to happen at the team level. The Pens are closer to the beginning of their rebuild than getting back into contention, no matter how much GM Kyle Dubas uses his favorite word \u201curgency\u201d when it comes to seeing them team become good again. These things can\u2019t be rushed, which isn\u2019t breaking any news to Dubas. It\u2019s not that he\u2019s simply paying lip service to the idea of being strong, almost everyone involved in NHL teams has legitimate hopeful that pieces will come together to work out, but the process of building has to be intentional and purposeful, which is the path Dubas has charted.<\/p>\n One angle that I haven\u2019t seen out there in great detail is the impact of what Crosby might have seen this spring and summer firsthand with the situation that long-time Crosby friend, peer, training buddy and fellow Nova Scotian Brad Marchand experienced. Marchand isn\u2019t a star of Crosby\u2019s magnitude, but he doesn\u2019t have to be for their situations to align close enough. Marchand was drafted by Boston in 2006, and played in their organization from 2008-25. He won a Cup there and reached two more Stanley Cup Finals since Boston, like Pittsburgh, was one of the most competitive, consistent and successful Eastern Conference teams of the past 15-20 years. Marchand eventually became the team captain and franchise centerpiece (apologies to David Pastranak) after the departures of Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara.<\/p>\n Marchand\u2019s expiring contract in 2025 and a downturn by the Bruins led Boston to trade him, which was an almost unthinkable move just weeks or months before it happened (or maybe even in the moments after it happened to some observers). Marchand finishing out his playing days as a Bruin always seemed inevitable, until it wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n Completing the trade was only the first step, part two was what came next. On his new team, Marchand was obviously having a lot of fun with the whole Dairy Queen escapade<\/a> adding to his legend, a legend that got more chapters added when Marchancd was one of the Panthers\u2019 top players throughout a Stanley Cup run by scoring 10 goals and 20 points in 23 games. Those experiences wouldn\u2019t have happened if Marchand quietly wrapped up his career in Boston over the next few years.<\/p>\n