Analyst hopeful Sidney Crosby is leaving the Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins have garnered a lot of attention in recent seasons, and it’s not because of their winning streak. Frankly, it’s been the exact opposite for the Penguins as they face their third straight year without making the playoffs.

For most of the 2023-24 season, TSN analyst Bryan Hayes advocated for one of the world’s greatest players, Sidney Crosby, to leave the Penguins and find a new home. Given a terrible start to the 2024-25 season, Hayes still believes it is in Crosby’s best interest to finish his career in a different jersey.

Hayes joined Jay Onrait and doubled his performance from last year.

“If it ever comes to that, and I hope it does, and I said that on your show a year ago,” Hayes said. “I said, ‘Get Sid out of Pittsburgh,’ because I was afraid that the exact scenario that’s happening right now would happen.”

The Penguins are 7-12-4 in 23 games this season and are just one point off the bottom of the Eastern Conference. With 18 points, they are just two points ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks, who have the worst record in the NHL.

Crosby is still progressing at a decent pace, with eight goals and 13 assists for 21 points in 23 games and major career milestones.

“Pittsburgh is just getting worse, it’s just getting uglier,” Hayes said. “So I’m confident that at some point Sidney Crosby will say, ‘I can’t do this anymore’.”

Crosby signed a two-year contract extension in the offseason to keep him in Pittsburgh through the 2026-27 season. Crosby has also never given the slightest hint that he might want to leave the Penguins.

The goal was always to make Crosby a Penguin for life, and no matter what direction the team goes, that’s the likely outcome.

Hayes went on to say that the Toronto Maple Leafs would make the most sense as a destination if the impossible were to happen and Crosby asked to leave Pittsburgh.

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