Mark Madden: Is trading Sidney Crosby in the Penguins' best interest?

There are lots of reasons the Penguins shouldn’t trade Sidney Crosby.

The team’s legacy is served best by him being a one-logo guy. (His, too, probably.)

Crosby sells tickets, win or lose. (But attendance did drop by 1,300 per game last season.)

Rebuilding is served by him shepherding the team’s influx of young talent. (Not as much as we like to pretend.)

But solely for the efficiency of the rebuild, what would president of hockey ops/GM Kyle Dubas do if he could operate in a vacuum with no ancillary concerns?

Dubas certainly won’t tell us. He didn’t heighten the wall at the front of his suite above the press box by two feet so he could provide a closer look at his M.O.

But I’d bet that Dubas would trade Crosby.

Crosby would fetch a king’s ransom, even at 38. He’s still one of the NHL’s top five players. You’d want a first-round pick, the other team’s top prospect, and an NHL-ready top-six forward or top-four defenseman that’s under 25. That’s at minimum.

Montreal would reportedly drastically overpay to get Crosby. Dubas should want winger Ivan Demidov as part of the return. Demidov, 19, was the fifth pick overall in the 2024 NHL draft. Offensively, Demidov has got it all.

Here’s the catch: Montreal would probably like to put Demidov on a line with Crosby.

Too bad. To get, you’ve got to give. If Montreal balks, the Penguins can keep Crosby and the Canadiens can keep being vanilla.

For Crosby to leave Pittsburgh, it would have to be the deal of a lifetime.

If Dubas traded Crosby, he wouldn’t have to worry about keeping Rickard Rakell and/or Bryan Rust around so Crosby has quality wingers to play with.

Dubas could go all-in in the attempt to secure a top 5 pick and, the ghost of Nick Perry permitting, phenom Penn State forward Gavin McKenna.

The Penguins aren’t splitting the difference between competing and rebuilding like they have been the last few years.

Not as much, anyway. There’s still an element of that. As long as Crosby is a Penguin.

All that said, I’d keep him.

He’s Sidney Crosby. He’s a Penguin.

The wheel rolls on regarding the drama surrounding a potential Crosby exit.

When asked about it on Monday, Crosby said, “There’s a lot of narratives out there, and I don’t think a lot of those have come from me.”

OK, but the latest narrative came directly from Crosby’s agent, Pat Brisson, who said that a trade “is always a possibility.”

Brisson works for Crosby.

Brisson didn’t go rogue. That’s not what agents do.

Maybe Crosby has buyer’s remorse over what Brisson said.

Maybe Brisson overstepped.

It’s been whispered that Pierre LeBrun, who interviewed Brisson for The Athletic, quoted some things that were off the record. But LeBrun’s a solid journalist. Regardless, Brisson said what he said.

Crosby also said, “I can’t keep having to answer the same question over again because of these narratives.”

Want to bet?

Crosby will be asked about the possibility of a trade over and over.

Pittsburgh media might back off.

But visiting media won’t.

When the Penguins hit the road, Crosby will be inundated with interrogation regarding a move. In cities like Denver or Montreal that could be perceived as a potential destination, the questioning will take on the feel of a recruiting pitch.

It’s easy to feel bad for Crosby.

I believe that his intent is to stay in Pittsburgh.

I know he hates distractions like this. But this isn’t going away.

If the idea was to minimize such talk, Brisson shouldn’t have spoken at all. What Brisson said made it real.

The mistake is Brisson’s for talking, not the media’s for asking.

Brisson threw a hand grenade in the water. Nobody else should be blamed for the ripples.