No, Darren Dreger. Sidney Crosby is not going anywhere

A well-known NHL insider predicted the Pittsburgh Penguins could deal Sidney Crosby to the New York Rangers or Colorado Avalanche this offseason should the Pens miss the playoffs

I suppose the national NHL media got tired of pushing Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang rumors and decided to switch it up and go for the home run with Sidney Crosby.

If you were to search Dreger’s name on Google right now, the top results are articles written by sites in Pittsburgh, New York and Colorado about his latest piece of gossip.

TSN NHL insider Darren Dreger floated the possibility of the Penguins looking to trade Crosby if the Pens miss out on the playoffs this season. He mentioned the New York Rangers and the Colorado Avalanche as potential destinations.

Dreger is quoted as saying:

"“It wouldn’t shock me at all if Sid said, look, I want my legacy to be you collected the pieces based on moving me to the Colorado Avalanche or the New York Rangers or whatever the team is, Colorado makes a lot of sense to me, by the way, but that are going to really jumpstart a rebuild and make this team a contender in the next five years.”"

@NickQuebec on Twitter provided a good video of Dreger’s interview.

Yes. Yes, Crosby will want his legacy in Pittsburgh—after three Stanley Cups—to be that the return the Pens could garner in a trade for him might allow the Pens to compete for a Stanley Cup in the future. OK… suuuure.

Crosby is the second greatest, most impactful hockey player to ever lace up skates in Pittsburgh, almost the 1B to Mario Lemeuix’s 1A. Without Sid, the Penguins could very well be playing their home games in Kansas City this season. He’s a savior, and he’s not going anywhere. For anyone.

And if the thought that new management might be potentially moving Crosby, noted Crosby fan and new president of hockey operations Brian Burke told 93.7 The Fan that Crosby is the only “untouchable” player on the roster this week.

There are many, many reasons why Crosby will not be traded from Pittsburgh. Let’s just cover a few of them.

Crosby is the face of the Penguins, the face of the NHL and arguably the face of hockey still. He’s a generational talent who still impacts the game unlike any other, even at age 33. Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers and Nathan MacKinnon of the Avalanche might be the shiny, new toys in the league, but neither player has the full 200-foot impact Sid does every game.

The Penguins’ game against the Islanders on Thursday was just another example of how Crosby still dictates every game he plays in. His needle-threaded pass to Jake Gunetzel directly set up a Bryan Rust goal, his line dominated offensively and defensively for three periods and the best backhander in league history iced secured an all-too-important second point for the Pens.

The Penguins would be idiotic to let a player of Sid’s caliber leave, even if he ever had an inkling to actually want to leave Pittsburgh.

At 33, even with a player of Crosby’s caliber, opposing teams will attempt to low-ball the Penguins in all trade conversations. The main men in the Avalanche rumors are forward Alex Newhook and defenseman Bowen Byram, the first round picks for the Avs in 2019 and 2020, respectively. It would be great to be offered prospects of that caliber, but the Avs would not trade a 20-year-old and 19-year-old for a soon-to-be 34-year-old. And even if that were the case, the Penguins still shouldn’t trade Sid.

Any offer will pale in comparison to the impact Crosby will continue to provide into his mid-to-late 30s.

Unfortunately, now that these rumors are out there, Sid’s name will dominate national rumor mills regardless of how the Penguins play this season.

Sidney Crosby is a Penguins lifer. That’s the story.