NHL notebook: Crosby’s agent says a trade ‘always a possibility’; Flames lock up Wolf long term

Two interesting topics made headlines in the NHL world on Tuesday, and we’re going to dive into them both!

Crosby’s agent makes interesting comment 

At the NHL Player Media Tour, Sidney Crosby once again answered questions about his future with the Pittsburgh Penguins, who just missed the playoffs for a third straight season and didn’t exactly improve this offseason.

“I understand it,” Crosby told Daily Faceoff. “It’s not something that you want to discuss. You’d rather be talking about who we’re getting at the [Trade] Deadline or where we’re at as far as are we No. 1, 2 or 3 in the division. But it’s one of those things that’s a hard part about losing. Everybody thinks that losing is, the buzzer goes, you lose the game, and that sucks, but there’s so much more than that. It’s the turnover, it’s the unknown, the uncertainty, the question marks.”

“That’s the stuff that’s tough. And it makes you appreciate all those years that we’re competing and going after that big acquisition every single Trade Deadline. I don’t think I took it for granted, but I definitely appreciate it that much more now.”

Crosby’s new extension with the Penguins — two years at $8.7 million annually — kicks in this season and features a full no-movement clause in both years. That means that while Crosby would be a very intriguing trade target for just about every team in the league, he’s not going anywhere unless he feels like it’s the right fit.

While Crosby certainly seems to be doing his best to quiet trade speculation, his agent, Pat Brisson, went a different route.

“It’s always a possibility, you know? It’s been three years they haven’t made the playoffs. It all depends on how Sid is going to be and how the team is going to do,” Brisson said. “We want Sidney to be in the playoffs every year. We want him to hopefully win another Cup or two. So each year the team he’s playing for fails to make the playoffs, it creates a lot of speculation. In reality, he’s not getting any younger. We’re here to support him. It’s the beginning of the season here. Let’s see how things are going. Hopefully they have a great season and the speculation will go away.”

The Canucks spin on this? The Canucks should absolutely try to bring in Crosby if he becomes available. There’s simply not a better culture setter and leader in the game, and nobody knows that better than Rutherford and Allvin, who saw Crosby up close during their time with the Penguins.

Flames lock up Wolf long term 

Alright, back to reality.

The Flames announced on Tuesday morning that they have extended goaltender Dustin Wolf to a seven-year deal worth $7.5 million annually. Wolf, 24, has one year remaining on his entry-level contract, meaning the deal kicks in for the 2026-27 season and concludes after the 2032-33 NHL season.

The extension follows what now seems to be becoming a trend from Flames GM Craig Conroy, signing young, relatively unproven players still on their ELCs to long-term deals. The Flames most recently did this with Matt Coronato, who signed a seven-year deal with the Flames after appearing in 77 games with the club last season. Wolf is the next on the list, meaning Canucks fans will see him in the Pacific Division for the foreseeable future.

Wolf was the runner-up to Lane Hutson for the Calder Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s top rookie. He picked up Vezina votes and was even in the Hart Trophy conversation for how spectacular he was for a Flames team that nobody envisioned would be as good as they ended up being. Wolf was unquestionably the Flames’ best and most important player last season, and they’re hoping he can continue and build on that level of excellence for at least the next eight years.