The Penguins are already in a period of thinking about the future as they start the very beginning stages of shedding older players, prioritizing the accumulation of draft picks and paying more than just lip service to stocking up on assets that will help down the line.
The next major sea change for Pittsburgh figures to be in the 2026-27 season. Evgeni Malkin’s contract will be done, he will turn 40 and presumably not be playing in the NHL. And just like that the 20 years of the Crosby/Malkin era will be over and done.
We were stringing this project out to wait and see how long Crosby’s expected contract extension will be, but it looks like he’s either planning an announcement in conjunction with his birthday next week or a deep summer surprise, so with nothing going on we can wait no longer and will make the safe assumption Crosby is around for 2026-27.