Penguins Insider Reveals Possible Sidney Crosby Trade Package Price

NHL insider Josh Yohe of The Athletic speculated in a mailbag published on August 19 about what it might take for a team to trade for longtime Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, who's entering the final season under contract .

Yohe also explored the reasons why Crosby might prefer to stay in Pittsburgh despite the team’s uncertain future, even if that means not having another shot at hoisting the Stanley Cup.

"It will never happen," Yohe wrote, "but if I had to guess, I would imagine the Penguins would receive a 2025 first-round pick, a 2026 first-round pick, a top prospect, and a young NHL player."

Even with only one year left on his contract, Yohe and everybody knows Crosby’s immense value to the franchise that drafted him with the No. 1 pick in 2005 goes beyond his on-ice performance.

"This is Crosby," Yohe wrote. "This would produce 41 automatic sellouts for any team that acquired him. This is an icon playing for your team."

Despite the enticing trade package, Yohe questioned whether Crosby would ever consider leaving Pittsburgh, even if the team undergoes a prolonged rebuild.

Crosby, now 37, has spent his entire career with the Penguins since being drafted there nearly 20 years ago, and his loyalty to the franchise is well-documented.

“Sidney Crosby is very, very, very much above chasing championships in that manner. He isn’t Ray Bourque,” Yohe wrote. Bourque, for context, requested a trade to chase a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche.

Crosby’s loyalty to Pittsburgh is deeply rooted in his character, according to Yohe.

In the end, while the notion of trading for Sidney Crosby is tantalizing and could be a case of "better too soon than too late," Yohe’s analysis suggests that Crosby’s deep connection to the Penguins and his preference for stability make it unlikely that he would seek a move away from the only NHL team he has ever known.

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