Penguins won't play hardball with Sidney Crosby

The Penguins won't play hardball with Sidney Crosby on his next deal, according to a report this morning from Josh Yohe of The Athletic.

That's a loaded storyline for a team sitting 29th in the NHL at 5-9-2. Crosby, 39, is in the final season of his contract, and the Penguins just lost 6-2 to the Bruins on Thursday night, their fourth defeat in a row.

R i N K Y (@RinkyReport) passed along Yohe's reporting, which says Pittsburgh still views Crosby as a top-tier NHL player and that general manager Kyle Dubas won't play hardball with him or his agent, Pat Brisson.

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The post says it all comes down to how much longer Crosby wants to play. The text we have is cut off, so the rest of what Yohe heard inside the organization stays with The Athletic.

Crosby has no extension signed, and the contract is up at the end of this season. That is why this conversation matters now.

The on-ice picture is rough. He has 10 points in 16 games and sits at -4, and he was held off the scoresheet against Boston while playing 17:15.

Why Dubas has little room to be tough

Dubas has no leverage to push, and he knows it. Crosby is a first overall pick from 2005 who has 1771 points over his NHL career, and he is the face of the franchise.

Nobody expects a standoff. The Penguins have signaled flexibility, so the timeline belongs to Crosby.

The team around him is the real issue. Pittsburgh has allowed 58 goals against 51 scored, and the club is 1-6-1 on the road.

Crosby's ovation in Montreal last Saturday showed how the league feels about him. Few players get that kind of respect in another team's building.

A lot of teams would take a 39-year-old Crosby on any terms. But a winning window is a different question, and the Penguins are far from one right now.

Pittsburgh visits Los Angeles on Saturday, and the Penguins will need a result to quiet the noise around the season. Whether Crosby wants to ride out a rebuild or look elsewhere is the decision nobody can make for him.

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