Penguins Notebook: Stunning Crosby Stat; Why Not Talk?

Sidney Crosby has filled numerous roles for the Pittsburgh Penguins since he joined them in 2005.

He’s been the face of the franchise. A reliable — and often prolific — point-producer. A leader, on and off the ice.

But now, Crosby is occupying a niche that few probably envisioned for most of his career: Iron man.

After appearing in every game just once during his first 17 seasons in the NHL, Crosby has played in 215 in a row, the longest active streak of anyone on the Penguins.

He has not missed a game since April 7, 2022. which means he has made it into all 82 in each of the past two seasons, as well as the first 41 in 2024-25.

There was a time when Crosby’s career looked to be in serious jeopardy because of concussion issues, but those are in the distant past and Crosby’s conditioning and commitment to his craft have allowed him to be a constant presence in the Penguins’ lineup in recent years.

Of course, good fortune plays a part in any such streak. Errant sticks and elbows, bone-bruising or -breaking shots and a virus that runs through the locker room are just some of the things that can put a player in street clothes.

Still, while Crosby hardly represents a clear and present danger to wipe former teammate Phil Kessel’s total of 1,064 consecutive appearances out of the NHL record book, to be so durable at age 37 is one of the standout feats in a Hall of Fame career in which those abound.

What would it hurt?

PHN reported a few days ago that Penguins officials and defenseman Marcus Pettersson, who is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, have not had any discussions about a new contract.

In some ways, that makes sense, since it’s widely believed that Pettersson is one of the guys president of hockey operations/GM Kyle Dubas plans to auction off before the NHL trade deadline March 7.

Still, what would be the downside of at least reaching out to Pettersson’s agent, Peter Wallen, to get a feel for what it would take to reach an agreement with him?

Now, the odds of striking a deal and retaining Pettersson appear to be a bit less than microscopic, but Dubas would have no obligation to give Pettersson anything — be it a particular amount of money, a no-trade or no-movement clause or whatever — that he deemed to be detrimental to his blueprint for rejuvenating the franchise.

Similarly, Pettersson — who did the Penguins a huge favor in 2019 by accepting a one-year deal for $874,125, which was well below his market value, to help ease the team’s salary-cap crunch — would not be compelled to accept anything less than what he believes he deserves.

Nonetheless, if the Pittsburgh Penguins and Wallen could find common ground on a contract to replace the one that carries a cap hit of $4,025,175 without the restrictions imposed by a no-trade or no-movement clause, it likely would raise the return Dubas could get for him as the deadline nears, because the club acquiring Pettersson could count on having him for more than a few months. Or Dubas might even conclude that it’s worth keeping Pettersson around.

Sure, the chances of things playing out that way are tiny, at best, but the Penguins will never know if it’s possible unless they have at least a cursory conversation with Wallen.

No place like it

The Pittsburgh Penguins have finished the first half of their season at NHL .500 (17-17-7).

That projects to 82 points over a full season, which would be far short of the total usually needed to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Nonetheless, they hold the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, although it can’t be ignored that all eight clubs chasing them have from one to three games in hand.

Whether they’re in, or even close to, a postseason berth when the NHL shuts down next month for the Four Nations competition might hinge on how they do during the five-game homestand that begins with a visit from Columbus Tuesday. After that, Edmonton, Ottawa, Tampa Bay and Seattle come to town before the Penguins embark on a season-high, seven-game road trip.

The Penguins are 11-7-2 at PPG Paints Arena, picking up 24 of a possible 40 points. They’d do well to bump up their points-earned pace of 60 percent before opening that away swing Jan. 17 in Buffalo.

While the points they pick up will be the most important number to emerge over the next week-plus, another worth watching will be the attendance.

Per figures compiled for PuckPedia.com, the Pittsburgh Penguins attracted an average crowd of 16,555 for their first 20 home dates.

With capacity at PPG Paints Arena set at 18,190, their turnouts have been 91.01 percent of capacity, the sixth-lowest average in the league through Jan. 1.

That’s neither surprising nor unreasonable, given the team’s up-and-down performance through the first three months of the season and the high cost of pretty much everything associated with going to games, from ticket prices to parking to concessions.

Still, it will be interesting to see if their generally stronger play since bottoming out at 7-12-4 after a 6-1 loss to Utah here Nov. 23, perhaps coupled with the Steelers’ struggles during the past month, bumps up attendance a bit.