Once that contract is filed Monday and approved, the Penguins are on the hook for years 8-12 whether Crosby plays every game or he plays none as long as he doesn’t officially retire.

It is a violent sport and players get hurt, which is why they insure the contracts, contracts can’t be insured for more than 7 years, so the Penguins (and every team that hands out these deals) are taking a huge risk, financially they’ll have to pay if the player does get hurt.

As to the point of him walking off to Montreal, well if you treat him well and put good players around him then he’ll be inclined to resign and stay in 6 years, if you don’t treat him well and don’t put good players around him then he could demand a trade and that could happen whether he has a 2 year contract or a 12 year contract, make a player feel welcome and they’ll stay.

From a business point of view 105 million over 12 years….how much money does having Crosby bring in over that period, what % of that 100 million is paying for itself?

Again, I doubt any owner in this league would not jump at the opportunity to take Crosby for 105 million, he is so marketable it’s a no brainer.

As well every player is “one hit away” from retirement, they play a violent sport for a living and every team signs contracts with that knowledge. If Crosby (or any other player) gets injured and has to retire the cap hit disappears from the books. As far as the actual dollar being paid out, as Mario said, that team wouldn’t even be there without Crosby so he’s worth whatever they want to pay him…even if it’s to sit in the office.

(Classy move with the salary cap hit too …)

What do they do? Not sign him? Play hardball with him?
8.7 is a very reasonable number I think it was an easy contract for the Pens to offer, I basically have zero doubt that every GM and owner would offer the same deal to him if given the chance to have him.

In the end, yes, he may miss many many games over the life of the contract, but having him makes the Pens a lot of money, if he’s on the ice or not.

stay seated children

This was a move they had to make and I agree it’s a great signing, except for the length (IMO) … Don’t get why this deal needed to be 100 millions. Who cares. Sign him for another 6 years and see what happens then. It’s not like you’ll have to pay him MORE money in the next contract, his cap hit would be the same.

Obviously it’s a risk for the organization who still would have to pay him several million dollars if something terrible happened, but it’s a risk that’s well worth it.

“We hope Crosby’s best days are ahead of him”

You know they are praying he doesn’t get ANOTHER concussion this year, or anytime soon. Otherwise that contract will eat away at the Pens cap… This is not a knock on Shero or Crosby, just the truth. Shero had to be crossing his fingers while Crosby signed the contract. Best player in the world is only worth every penny when he is skating on the ice, not watching from the press box