Mark Madden: For the 1st time, Sidney Crosby playing in a different uniform feels real

Sidney Crosby’s agent has put Crosby departing Pittsburgh in play.

Pat Brisson compared Crosby to Tom Brady, who left New England’s dynasty to win a seventh Super Bowl with Tampa Bay. Brisson said a trade “is always a possibility.”

Not before Brisson said that, it wasn’t.

For the first time, Crosby finishing his career in another uniform seems feasible, even likely.

But he won’t leave anytime soon.

The Penguins might be sold to the Hoffman family of Illinois. If that happens, new ownership’s first move won’t be to instantly devalue their investment and cripple incoming revenue by ditching their biggest asset. Nor will Crosby move while the deal is processed. (Unless, before purchasing, Hoffman wants Fenway Sports Group to be the bad guy.)

If FSG keeps the Penguins, it’s too close to the season to trade Crosby. You’ve got to sell tickets. The Penguins won’t win much, but Crosby is worth seeing.

Trading a franchise icon requires time for all parties involved to wrap their heads around, not least the paying customers.

When Wayne Gretzky was dealt from Edmonton to Los Angeles, it happened on Aug. 9, 1988. Two months before the new season started.

Crosby’s feelings and desires are prioritized when discussing this situation.

But when the sale price of the Penguins will be $1.5 billion or more, what Crosby wants doesn’t matter that much. Not just now.

If Crosby leaves Pittsburgh, here’s betting it won’t be until after the coming season.

At the trade deadline is a longshot. Crosby’s addiction to routine makes a midseason move squeamish.

Crosby would have just one year left on his contract after the coming season. That could diminish his trade value. But a team that feels Crosby’s acquisition gets them a Stanley Cup will still pay big.

Montreal, too. Getting Crosby, a childhood Canadiens fan, wouldn’t get Montreal a 24th Stanley Cup. But that illusion would be created, and the Canadiens would sell lots of jerseys. (Dallas would be Crosby’s best bet to win.)

Crosby doesn’t need to win.

He doesn’t need a championship to validate his legacy. (See McDavid, Connor.)

He’s got three Stanley Cups and six gold medals. He’s not desperate. (See Bourque, Ray.)

His desire to compete must be respected.

But if he goes somewhere else and doesn’t win, his brand would be lessened. Albeit very slightly.

Crosby wants to win. But he also craves stability. That’s why the Penguins indulged his preference to retain Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin, and to keep Mike Sullivan coaching a bit longer than results dictated.

But now Crosby is on his third GM in five years and perhaps, soon, his third owner in five years.

Crosby will hate discussing this. He’ll be asked about it nonstop. But his agent started the party.

Brisson didn’t go rogue. Agents don’t do that. They represent their clients.

Mario Lemieux was a one-logo player. He turned down offers of $25 million from the New York Rangers and Montreal to play a single season when the Penguins went into bankruptcy in 1998. He bought the Penguins instead. Lemieux kept his jersey alive.

Lemieux and Crosby seem wired similarly.

But Lemieux didn’t have people in his ear telling him he should leave.

FSG and the Hoffman family respect Crosby, but neither likely romanticizes his continued presence. Crosby didn’t live in their basement as a rookie.

Perhaps Brisson spoke to try to motivate Penguins president of hockey operations/GM Kyle Dubas into rushing the rebuilding process.

That can’t be done. It has to be organic, not on a 38-year-old’s timetable.

Maybe Brisson is attempting to bully Dubas into not trading wingers Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust.

Let’s hope he’s unsuccessful. The Penguins’ biggest priority is finishing low enough to draft in the top five. Get a shot at Penn State phenom Gavin McKenna.

As a Penguins lifer, nobody respects Crosby more than me.

But the team continued after Lemieux retired. It will exist after Crosby.

The aim is to be good then, not placate Crosby during his remaining tenure. That could dig the hole deeper.

If Crosby wants to chase another Cup, he should leave. Because the Penguins will not legitimately contend again while he’s still playing. No hard feelings.