LAS VEGAS -- Sidney Crosby said he's "definitely open-minded" about the Pittsburgh Penguins' playoff chances this season but stressed that his objective is to return to the postseason in 2025-26.
"That's still my goal. I think it's easy, when everyone's doing the pre-season rankings and Pittsburgh's at the bottom, to think, 'Oh yeah, we're just going to settle for that.' I still have the mentality that I want to go out there and try to win. I really hope our team still has that mentality, too," Crosby told ESPN.
Crosby, 38, and the Penguins made the Stanley Cup playoffs for 15 consecutive seasons from 2007 through 2022, winning the Stanley Cup three times. But Pittsburgh has missed the postseason cut for the last three seasons, despite Crosby amassing 278 points in 244 regular-season games, ninth most in the NHL during that span. Despite being sellers at last season's trade deadline, Pittsburgh GM Kyle Dubas has said publicly that the Penguins aren't looking to go into a teardown for a top draft choice. Instead, he's cited the rival Washington Capitals' rebuild -- surrounding core veterans like Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson with young players and shrewd trade additions -- as inspiration.
Crosby shares the mindset that icing a less experienced roster shouldn't mean signaling surrender.
"I think that going younger doesn't necessarily mean that you have to lose. I mean, you still go out there and play to win hockey games," he said.
But the chatter is now unavoidable around Crosby's future with the Penguins. A year ago, Crosby signed an extension that keeps him under contract through the 2026-27 season. Crosby has a full no-movement clause, essentially putting him in control of his future.
There has been speculation that Crosby could end up with the Stanley Cup contending Colorado Avalanche to play with his friend Nathan MacKinnon, who like Crosby grew up in Cole Harbor, Nova Scotia. Or that Crosby could end his career with the Montreal Canadiens, the team he rooted for growing up, who returned to the playoffs last season.
"I understand it," Crosby said Monday. "That's the hard part about losing. Everybody thinks that the losing is the buzzer goes [off], you lose a game and that sucks, but there's so much more than that. It's the turnover. It's the unknown, the uncertainty, the question marks. That's the stuff that's tough."
Information from the Associated Press contributed to this story.