The Penguins are in danger of going through a nightmare similar to last year's, in which they missed the playoffs due to one loss.
They needed to come out of this All-Star break with a convincing win streak to have a chance at controlling their destiny. Instead, they're 3-6-2 in their last 11 games and have an injured Jake Guentzel, who The Athletic's Josh Yohe believes there's a strong chance will be traded at the deadline.
Yohe also writes that general manager Kyle Dubas stated he wants Crosby around for the duration of his career, and that he's "not interested in asking Evgeni Malkin or Kris Letang to disregard their respective no-movement clauses."
I, too, am not particularly interested in asking Malkin or Letang to do anything they don't want to do, but I am not in charge of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Surely, there's more to all of this than what is happening on the surface, especially with a 17-year-strong core. Crosby, Letang and Malkin all have a significant amount of say in their futures, and in the future of the Penguins.
But I'm just not sure what to do with all of the information. My first reaction was that a genie granted Crosby three wishes, and Sid said, "Make me, Letang and Malkin lifelong Penguins." The genie said, "No problem," and did the evil genie thing where the circumstances in which the wishes happened are allowed to change.
Dubas' press conference annoyed me for the sake of Crosby, and for the sake of hockey fans who want to watch Crosby in the playoffs. I simply don't understand how you reward Crosby, Letang and Malkin for their loyalty by trading Guentzel. The Penguins have been blowing it and cannot score, but they're still only a few points out of the East's wild-card spot.
In any event, the press conference had me agreeing with the Empty Netters' take that felt almost trolly to me just three weeks ago. While the Penguins do not intend to trade Crosby, I am starting to feel like they must.
As foreign as it feels and as unlikely as it is, here are some places Crosby and his modest $8.7 million cap hit could go—whether that's at this deadline or ahead of next season.
