And incidentally – Sid’s numbers last year were inflated? The dude was playing on a line with Steve Sullivan (a 35 yr old who refuses to shoot the puck) and Pascal Dupuis (who has managed 20 goals exactly twice in 10+ seasons). The worst decision the Pens made last year was forcing him to play on what was essentially a 3rd line with 3rd-line caliber wings. And he still put up over a point a game – walking in to a stretch run without playing in a year. Your comment is just inane.

Like Crosby or not, you cannot deny that his market value has been hurt over the last two years by his concussion issues, and then when he did come back last season he failed to score goals like he was in the year before he was first hurt. This despite the fact he was playing with the hottest offense in the league (which helped to inflate his assist numbers as well btw). Throw in the fact that his contract might not be insured…. and no one is going to pay him to the limit, and hes actually lucky to get what he got.