Sidney Crosby Makes It Crystal Clear That He Wants To Stay With The Penguins

The NHL trade deadline may not be until March 7, but with the new best-on-best international tournament, the 4 Nations Face-Off taking up a big chunk of February, there's less time to cut deals than it would seem.

One of the biggest names floating around out there is Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby.

He signed a two-year extension last summer which kicks in next season, but the Penguins are in desperate need of retooling, and one way to do that would be to move on from one of the greatest players in franchise history.

However, the man himself is making it clear that he wants to stay with the Pens.

Crosby discussed recent rumors that the team was looking to deal him — which he said was "a difficult part of losing" — in an interview with DK Pittsburgh Sports' Taylor Haase.

"I know how speculation works: Everybody's looking to talk about different things, different scenarios," Crosby said. "I can't control that. I don't know where that comes from. I don't think that it's something I'm going to discuss every time someone speculates something. I'm not going to answer it every time that happens."

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby addressed rumors that the team might try to trade him. (David Gonzales-Imagn Images)

The rumors aren't coming out of nowhere. It would make sense for the Pens to deal Crosby as soon as they can, since they'd likely get the most in return. There'd also be no shortage of teams interested considering he's Sidney Crosby and carries a very team-friendly $8.7 million cap hit. 

However, he does have a no-movement clause in his contract, and he'd need to waive that before any deal can get done.

It doesn't sound like doing that is on his radar at the moment.

"I'm trying to do everything I possibly can for us," Crosby said. "Be at my best, to give us a chance to win every night, to be a good teammate. We all want to get through a difficult point right now. That's my mindset. All my energy is here and trying to do everything I can here."

It's weird to say that trading one of the best players of all-time might be the key to the team's future, but that's the case for the Penguins if they want to avoid a serious drop-off when Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang — the team's core players for nearly two decades — inevitably hang it up.